Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fly Fishing Cafe => Topic started by: fiskekongen on April 20, 2008, 08:00:33 AM
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hey all you diehard flyfishers! i am from denmark, and i am new here. my friends and i, are going to BC in late september, for some salmonfishing, probably in vedder, Harrison, and Frasier, (if other rivers close to are better, then let my know.)
this is my first time fishing for pacific salmon, so i need some advice, if you would be so kind.
there are countless of flypatterns, and i cant tye them all! if some of you profs can give my 4 or 5 different patterns, for coho, chinook, and chum, i would be thankfull!!, and maybe size of the hook, and how to fish them. have been looking at different pages at the internet, but i just cant choose, or narrow down the patterns, so please a little help, from you guys.
thank you. :o
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For Coho I generally stick to smaller minnow/streamer style patterns like the popular Bead Head Rolled Muddler (Silver/Olive/Blue) or bucktail streamers like the Mickey Finn. Generally my Coho flies are in the 8 - 2 size range.
http://www.salmonflytying.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/bead-head-rolled-muddler.jpg
http://www.maineflyfish.com/flytying/mickey_finn/mickey_finn.jpg
The First 4 Flies on this page are also great flies for Coho in BC.
http://www.flyfishingbritishcolumbia.com/flies.html
Of Course an Olive/Brown/Black or even flashier estaz woolly buggers all work great too.
I havn't fished for Chum/Chinook very much at all but the popular method for them seems to be swinging steelhead style flies like a bunny leech or alaskabou style patten. I've taken chum on Coho patterns as well as seen Chinook take a small rolled muddler so it's hard to say what will work on any given day. Most Steelhead/Salmon stuff is tied on 1/0 hooks.
If you have the chance I would stop by a local shop when you get out here unless your tying all your flies before you come. Michael & Young is a great fly only shop in Vancouver and Surrey with great staff that can help you out with flies you will want. Reaction Fly & Tackle in Abbotsford is both gear and fly but have some great people in there that can hook you up with some patterns as well.
Also just so you know and not to discourage you but the Vedder in Salmon season is a complete gong show. There is very little etiquette and shoulder to shoulder 30 guys in a run in some spots. It's also heavily dominated (95%+) with gear guys who often give no regards that you are fly fishing and will drop in anywhere around you frustrating the hell out of you :) Just be prepared to avoid the heavily fished spots or to speak up and tell someone to **** off if they are being idiots.
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thank you very much!
your plan is to target coho, but chum and chinook are definitely also on my list! I would like to fight a big chinook, I have caught Atlantic salmon, and cant wait to add another salmon specie to m book. I have heard that it can be pretty wild in he high season, but we are going without a guide, due to the finances, so we have to know were the fish are, and where to go. and this is the best known place.
If you have any other hotspots, which are not so crowded, I would be thankfull, for some insider ideas!!
I plan were to tie all my flies before leaving, probably not the best idea, but i love to catch the fish on my own flies.
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It's easy to walk away from the crowded spots, theres lots of nice runs on the river you just have to be prepared to do a bit of hiking. Some spots are more gong show than others, last year I was down by the water drift fishing with a float and some other guy cast right over my head and was fishing above me, I thought he just didn't see me or something but then he started to time his casts to plunk it over my head and into the run right after I cast mine. Pretty inconsiderate I'd say.
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i dont mind a little hiking at all, but how about the lilloet or skeena, how far away are those rivers from fraser, and how are the conditions there.
if anybody has some great patterns for chinook, and descriptions on how to fish for them, that would be super! I know that some patterns are hard earned, and some are personal secrets, but just a few would be great. I am guessing that coho and chinook flies are different, and so are the wat to fish for them perhaps.
otherwise thank for some insider knowlegde, that was great, cant wait to visit your country, and maybe battle some beasts.
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The Stave River might have some Chum showing up then and it's close by. My secret fly looks like yarn.
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The lower Lillooet river is accessed by jet boat only pretty much but can be a great fishery if you are looking to take a guided trip. The upper Lillooet can be hiked into but I've never done any fishing there so I can't say what the access is like. From what I've heard it's mostly 4x4 access and a lot of walking so a guide is probably something you want if you're not familiar with the area. The upper is accessed near the town of Pemberton which is north of Whistler and about a 2-3 hour or so drive from Vancouver.
The Skeena and its tributaries are probably a 10 hour drive (Maybe a little more or less? Havn't been) from Vancouver and if you wanted to go up that way I would suggest getting a guide.
Just for some additional info on the local rivers if you don't know much about them.
The Fraser is big muddy brown looking river that I have never really fished apart from backwaters for cutthroat. Most people bar fish certain spots in salmon season and considering it's usually shoulder to shoulder gong shows on the popular bar fishing spots I don't know how you would even try and fly fish it.
The Harrison is a wide , slow moving river that as far as I know needs to be accessed by a boat. There may be a couple spots you can attempt to hike into but I've never bothered to try and havn't really heard of many people doing this. If you hired a guide with a boat supposedly it's a great river for fly fishing and should be very productive.
The Vedder is your best choice as it's a long smaller river with tons of access points , ability to hike the entire river and a good hatchery program.
The Squamish and it's tributaries are like the Vedder but with lower returns for the most part. Chrome chum out of the ocean are the biggest draws to the area and with less crowds and access points if you're looking for less crowds then try that way.
There are other smaller tributaries of the fraser along with some sloughs that you can try. I'm not going to bother listing all of them but with a little research or dropping by a local shop like M&Y Fly or Reaction I'm sure they will give you some more options.
If you don't mind crowds and don't want to hire a guide then the Vedder is a beautiful river with plentiful salmon returns that should keep you busy for as long as you are here. If you want less crowds but less fish try the Squamish area. If you can afford hiring a guide then try the Harrison or Lillooet.
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The Harrison is a wide , slow moving river that as far as I know needs to be accessed by a boat. There may be a couple spots you can attempt to hike into but I've never bothered to try and havn't really heard of many people doing this. If you hired a guide with a boat supposedly it's a great river for fly fishing and should be very productive.
Harrison has plenty of walk in access on both sides of the bridge. It gets quite busy with foot traffic when the coho arrive.
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it's a good 16hrs to the skeena but well worth it, not just for that river but the handful of other top notch rivers in the area.
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fiskekongen, like others have suggested or what I have replied on another forum, it maybe a good idea to look into heading to Northern BC or Bella Coula area, or even look at some of the Interior BC rivers that offer some really excellent trout fishing in September.
As another Danish friend of mine puts it, coming all the way here to fish the Chilliwack is like only playing at Tivoli when visiting Denmark. Although solitudes can be found when fishing in the Fraser Valley, you will find that fishing pressure is quite high. The Chilliwack River is an extremely productive river, but it is also the most heavily fished in British Columbia. If you do choose to fish it, then a longer walk will get you to some uncrowded spots. I would go to Fred's Custom Tackle (http://www.fredscustomtackle.com/), which is located beside the river, and pick up a map of the river. On your way to Chilliwack, it is also a good idea to stop by Reaction Fly and Tackle (http://www.reactionbaits.com) and talk to Daryl, Ferdi, Terry about fly patterns.
September is just a the beginning of the salmon season, so the coho and chum salmon fishing maybe tough. Chinook salmon fishing on the Chilliwack on the other hand, just might be good this year. Usually coho and chum salmon is best in October and part of November in Southern BC.
Definitely don't neglect the trout fishery. Although we heavily market our pacific salmon fisheries in BC as you may have noticed over there, the trout fisheries in BC is really first class and avid flyfishermen from out of town would find it very appealing. There are productive fisheries that are only 2 to 3 hours away from Chilliwack.
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The fly I was using last year was the christmas tree fly. Last year was my first year fly-fishing salmon and the coho seemed to loved it as I only fly-fished for 3 days and hooked 7 on it (only went out for about 2 hrs each day). I also found you were hooking chum almost every cast when they were around on this fly because the chum seem to like the green. The colours are green, blue (sometimes red) and silver. The ones I used were red and green with a hint of silver. Springs like big flies... just get it in front of them and they will normally hit it.
(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg25/fishing_in_summer/christmas_tree.jpg)
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Nice photo.
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fly/christmas_tree.html
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Lol I know.... searched it on google ;).... guess what site came up ;D ;D
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If saltwater flyfishing is of interest to you I'd recommend checking out Tofino on Vancouver Island as well. The fish are fresh, fight hard and last year there were lots of them. http://www.weighwest.com (http://www.weighwest.com) is probably the easiest place, but you can make other arrangments too. They drop the rates after the first week of September and we did really well Sept 18-20 2007.
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i cant thank enough for all the great inputs! but it is also very difficult task to choose between all those opportunities, i guess that we are staying near the vedder/chilliwack area, due to some sturgeon fishing as well. but if the salmon fishing is bad one place, then maybe we have to move. i know that the gong show is there, but driving around, not knowing anything about the hotspots, would not be smart, when we are only there for 10 days. local knowledge is probably the key, but our goal is to catch pacific salmon, coho 1 choice!! i thought that September, in the end was the top season, but what do i know!
lets hope we get a successful trip anyway.
ill probably write again just before departure from denmark! choice of line? i will just bring floating, sinking, sinktip, and intermediate
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Are you hiring a guide for a day of sturgeon fishing? If not, you definitely should as the best result can only be done from a proper boat setup. If you decide to hire a guide, do it early, because most guides are already booked up for September. If you hire a guide, perhaps ask for a salmon/sturgeon combo trip - 4 hours of salmon fishing in the morning (perhaps the Harrison) and 4 hours of sturgeon fishing in the afternoon. Have the trip planned near the beginning of your stay, and get lots of info on fishing spots etc from the guide while you fish. The guide is not only there to find you fish for the day, but is also a walking vault of local fishing knowledge. If you need a recommendation on which guide to go with, let us know.
I still think you guys should plan out a day/overnight trip to the Skagit, or the Thompson (if it is open) while you are here. You can still base in Chilliwack. Find out exactly where to go (from either the guys at Reaction Fly and Tackle on your way to Chilliwack, or from us) before you settle down in Chilliwack to minimize travelling/searching time.
Also keep in mind that the river condition, weather, fish return can be unpredictable, so it's best to bring this thread back up to the top again a couple of weeks before you leave so you can get an update before finalizing your trip plan.
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yes we are planning to hire a guide for the sturgeon fishing. sounds like a good idea to make it a combo trip, at least for some information about accessible spots, for a no-boater! i will definitely bring the post back up 2 weeks before departure, so i maybe can get updates!! is it really necessary to hire a guide before departure! is it not possible to contact some at arrival??
anyway, thanks for all the great response, you have all given me great information, and will return soon with more questions, when our trip is comming closer!
brake a leg.