Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Steely on August 10, 2011, 10:15:18 PM
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Decided it is time to try this flow for the first time. Heard lots of positive things and figured it was time to get out and fly fish some pinks. Here come the questions. First is it worth the trip up yet, I have heard they are in but confirmation would be appreciated. Second, never been there so is there a good starting point. Don't want any secret spots, just a general area of where to start looking. Road names and or directions would be appreciated. Lastly, I checked the regs and it says 2 pinks, is there a reason it has been non retention in the past. Hopefully I can get my grandfather and myself into a few pinks so any info would be greatly appreciated.
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confirmed, squamish is good right now , and its pretty good chances you'll get into a few fish if the water clarity is still alright. yesterdays clarity was good.
going to squamish: turn left at the wendys/tim hortons take that road 300yards (till dead end) turn right , take that road past the railway mueseum(the road will turn into that direction) later on your right hand side about 100 yards past the mueseum theres a little dirt road . take that road and you will see the cars parked less than a km up . i think its called squamish bar and its one of the more popular spots
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Thanks for the reply. I will now just get the road names from a map. Is there any spots where we can walk and explore to find spots to ourselves. Not a huge fan of crowds with my fly casting ability, a few people are fine just not shoulder to shoulder
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Removed because they were up long enough ;-)
tight lines
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Thanks for the reply. I will now just get the road names from a map. Is there any spots where we can walk and explore to find spots to ourselves. Not a huge fan of crowds with my fly casting ability, a few people are fine just not shoulder to shoulder
I was fishing the mouth of the Mam and there were quite a few people there, with a little bushwhacking I was able to find a spot to myself (I considered myself VERY lucky to do so), that happened to be an almost ideal spot with a good stretch of slower water for the fish to hold in and was able to get multiple hook ups on my little pink clousers.
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Lastly, I checked the regs and it says 2 pinks, is there a reason it has been non retention in the past.
The reason it has been closed the last few years is multi faceted:
1) 2003 large return followed by a huge flood in October when all of the eggs in the gravel. Subsequent fry monitoring on the Cheakamus indicated around 0.5 % survival of the eggs.
2)2005 return being monitored for a possable opening and then the CN Rail Caustic Soda spill in the Cheakamus . River closed to protect what was left of the spawners.
3) 2007 rebuilding
4) 2009 the run indicators did not look overly promising so it was closed in river. Fish arrived a bit later than the last few cycles.
5) This year...?
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Thanks for all the help guys. I completely forgot about the spill. Hook, thanks for the directions. Heading up first thing tomorrow :)
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Both Hook and Kasanin have given you directions to the same spot.
It is by far the most popular and most crowded spot on the river. But for good reason you should have no problem getting into fish there if you can find some room.
The wonderful part about the squamish though is you have miles of river that hold fish. The mouth of the mamquam is a good place to start but you can find a little solitude if you explore around a bit.
Please remember this river has been closed for retention for many years and with good reason. Please treat it with respect as well as other anglers, typical meat hole attitudes will not be tolerated on this river.
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Haven't fished that area for years but I recall a fair amount of nasty QUICKSAND located near the Mamquam mouth.
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Haven't fished that area for years but I recall a fair amount of nasty QUICKSAND located near the Mamquam mouth.
Still there.
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Please remember this river has been closed for retention for many years and with good reason. Please treat it with respect as well as other anglers, typical meat hole attitudes will not be tolerated on this river.
sorry newbie question, I just want to confirm, so there is still close for retention? or its okay now? incase I go there and fish. I have the regulation booklet on my hand but I dont see anything..
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sorry newbie question, I just want to confirm, so there is still close for retention? or its okay now? incase I go there and fish. I have the regulation booklet on my hand but I dont see anything..
You wont see anything in the book. You need to check the in season updates online <http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/fresh-douce/region2-eng.htm (http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/fresh-douce/region2-eng.htm)>
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It is open for two pinks. Check the online regulations as that's where recent regs changes are shown in red. We are catch and release guys anyway but I didn't want to bawl someone out for keeping a fish if they are allowed to.
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was at the confluence earlier, pretty crowded but i saw fish rolling and being pulled in. didn't have my fly rod otherwise i would have stayed
good luck
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Will be heading up there with my fly rod asap, will let y'all now how it goes. Likely sometime this weekend.
Fav fly is a number 10-4 2X streamer, pink calf-tail for the tail, pink crystal chenille body, bead chain eyes and a couple of turns of pink schlappen. Lightening quick to tie, very easy to cast, can get down deep enough (usually)
J
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http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/xnet/content/fns/index.cfm?pg=view_notice&lang=en&DOC_ID=134465&ID=recreational (http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/xnet/content/fns/index.cfm?pg=view_notice&lang=en&DOC_ID=134465&ID=recreational)
The Mamquam and it's confluence with the main stem Squamish are by far the most busiest places to fish especially on the weekends. It's very popular spot for single hand and spey rodders so be mindfull of their backcasts as you approach the beach.
If you must fish there try going downstream away from the crowds and find your own piece of water to fish. Fishermen in general have a herd mentality and tend to congregate where they see a crowd fishing and we all know what crowd conditions propogate... ie Fraser river this weekend. You could also find your own piece of water by simply driving along Government Rd. and look for parked cars,dead giveaways to walk accessable fishing spots.
A little ways along in the Brackendale area off Judd road is another area which will give you 3kms of very nice fishable water. Look for the posted "river access " sign on the left. At the end of the road is a parking area with access to the dike and river. From that point one can fish upstream or downstream.
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Hey guys
I have just moved to Whistler for the summer and I'm very keen to go Salmon fishing. I have fishing rods, plenty of pink lures, a non-tidal fishing licence but I don't have a car!!! If I catch a bus to the greyhound bus terminal in North Garibaldi (see link below), is there anywhere to fish that is within walking distance (maybe 3km max)? I suppose I could also catch a taxi but would prefer to save the money if possible.
Thanks a lot!
http://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Whistler,+British+Columbia&daddr=40446+Government+Rd,+Garibaldi+Highlands,+BC+V0N+1T0+(Greyhound+Canada)&hl=en&ll=49.742176,-123.131247&spn=0.013035,0.037894&sll=49.729251,-123.138542&sspn=0.052152,0.151577&geocode=FUi2_AIdwcmr-CmHe5UDsjyHVDH2z_V16EG3Sg%3BFYYJ9wIdvQ-p-CH-BMtKeT8TACl145TrDfmGVDEVfTlafg_jfA&gl=ca&mra=prev&z=15
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Hey guys
I have just moved to Whistler for the summer and I'm very keen to go Salmon fishing. I have fishing rods, plenty of pink lures, a non-tidal fishing licence but I don't have a car!!! If I catch a bus to the greyhound bus terminal in North Garibaldi (see link below), is there anywhere to fish that is within walking distance (maybe 3km max)? I suppose I could also catch a taxi but would prefer to save the money if possible.
Thanks a lot!
http://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Whistler,+British+Columbia&daddr=40446+Government+Rd,+Garibaldi+Highlands,+BC+V0N+1T0+(Greyhound+Canada)&hl=en&ll=49.742176,-123.131247&spn=0.013035,0.037894&sll=49.729251,-123.138542&sspn=0.052152,0.151577&geocode=FUi2_AIdwcmr-CmHe5UDsjyHVDH2z_V16EG3Sg%3BFYYJ9wIdvQ-p-CH-BMtKeT8TACl145TrDfmGVDEVfTlafg_jfA&gl=ca&mra=prev&z=15
Mark, If you were to follow Government Rd North about 500m to where there is access to the dyke road, you would be within sight of the river. Follow the dyke road south and you will find access to that first bar (I have not fished that bar personally so I cannot comment on the quality of the water or how submerged it is, but it seems easily accessible. If you follow the dyke road south for another 2 kilometers you will come to the the rail bridge and the mouth of the Mamquam that everyone is talking about.
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Awesome! Thanks a lot!!! Might head down there on Monday and give it a shot. ;D
Just to confirm, is that area non-tidal? Don't want to be fishing there with the wrong licence....
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The tidal boundary for Squamish River is "A line between signs on the rock bluff on the west side of the river mouth, on a piling in the river mouth, and at the site of the former FMC chemical plant on the east side of the river mouth."
If you are fishing anywhere upstream from this boundary, most likely you are, you need a non-tidal/freshwater fishing licence.
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Awesome! Thanks a lot!!! Might head down there on Monday and give it a shot. ;D
Just to confirm, is that area non-tidal? Don't want to be fishing there with the wrong licence....
Yes the river portion is non tidal (unlike the Fraser, the Squamish tidal boundary is at the mouth).
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I'm confused about the areas that can be fished on the Squamish River.
According to the regs:
Retention of pinks is allowed in "Squamish River downstream of boundary signs at the powerline crossing approximately 1.5 km upstream of the confluence with the Cheakamus River."
Can I assume, then, that pink retention is not allowed further up the river off the Squamish Main FSR, etc.?
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Yes.
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Great, thank you.
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I was down at the railway bridge on Monday and there didn't seem to be too many around yet. I only saw three landed in about 3 hours in that spot. Given what people were saying around me I guess it gets a lot better than that. Might try again next week.
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I was down at the railway bridge on Monday and there didn't seem to be too many around yet. I only saw three landed in about 3 hours in that spot. Given what people were saying around me I guess it gets a lot better than that. Might try again next week.
The fishing can be quite tidal dependent as it is so close to Howe Sound. Your best chance is to time your outing so it coincides with an incoming tide, when new fish would move into the lower section of the river. The alternative is to fish further up or Cheakamus River where fish are mostly staging rather than travelling, but they tend to be not as fresh.
Just a reminder to all that pink salmon retention will close in a couple of weeks from now on the Squamish River. Here's a DFO notice regarding this from yesterday:
http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/xnet/content/fns/index.cfm?pg=view_notice&lang=en&DOC_ID=135153&ID=recreational
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I was down at the railway bridge on Monday and there didn't seem to be too many around yet. I only saw three landed in about 3 hours in that spot. Given what people were saying around me I guess it gets a lot better than that. Might try again next week.
There should be lots in the system. Fished last week and saw lots being caught where kosanin and hook are giving directions to. Almost all were fresh and bright, some with sea lice still.
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Thanks Rodney!
So here is a tide forecast - http://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Squamish-BritishColumbia/tides/latest
So for today/Thursday, do you think anytime between 3-9pm is a good time or is there a particular point during the incoming tide which is better? Hope I'm not asking for too much, just want to catch my first Salmon!!! :)
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Thanks Slurpie, I just looked at the map and it's not far from where I was fishing. Definitely saw people walking back over the railway bridge and from that direction holding a couple of pinks. Might have another go later today if the timing is good with the tides.
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fishing during the incoming tide has always been my preference