[Mick]

Hi all,

I am enjoying fishing in BC for about 2 years now but, unfortunately, next year is probably going to be the last one... :'( (I’ll probably come back as a tourist though ). During this year, I would like to do some great fishing trips and I am still looking for some ideas. According to you, what are the best fishing opportunities of the province? Where should I definitively go before leaving? When it comes to fishing, my greatest pleasure is to find the fish and to manage to get the fish biting, so I am not really interested by fully guided stuffs. I am more than happy to hire a guide for a day to point me in the good direction but after that, I like to be on my own. I was thinking about a trip to the Queen Charlottes for winter steelheads, a kayak trip in the west coast Vancouver Island for migrating salmons. Do you have any suggestion?

Thanks a lot

Mick

 

[Rick Baerg]

Where are you from Mick?

 

[Mick]

A country where a 12 inches trout is big
France

 

[Lastcar]

Skagit for great wild rainbows on the dry in a beautiful classic trout stream setting, Skeena Tribs for steelhead and salmon in a remote setting, Thompson (now would be a good time!) for what is a world famous steelhead fishery, Kamloops lakes for the great rainbows (Leighton, Island, Heffely are some of my favorites), Adams River this time of year for trout gorging themselves on all the available eggs...

 

[eimaj]

Good suggestions, but I'd skip Kamloops and head to hwy24 or maybe Williams lake area for some bows. The Pitt is nice if you want seclusion. BTW have you done Sturgeon on the Fraser?

 

[Generaly]

Hornby island is the best place in my opinion

 

[Rogue0412]

If you want Bows, I would suggest Sheridan Lake or as Lastcar said, Heffley Lake in Kamloops but I live about 10 minutes from Heffley so I am probably biased . By far though, I would have to say my most memorable fishing trips have been Halibut fishing in Prince Rupert and Sturgeon fishing on the Fraser.

Rogue0412

 

[Mick]

Thanks guys,

I already had some fantastic time on the Skagit and Heffley :thumbup: I will go back this year for sure.

I still have the sturgeon to try.

I have never thought seriously about the Thompson. It looks a bit intimidating to me... Huge river, not a lot of fish. I am a newbie when it comes to steelhead and even if I catch some fish in some local streams, I am not sure to be confident enough to enjoy the T.

The Skeena tribs are tempting. Is it possible to fish the rivers without a boat? I do not mind walking a lot to reach the river or lake when I go fishing, but nothing is more frustrating than to bushwack 1 hour to find a spot just OK and then to have to bushwack another 1 hour to reach another spot (It happened quite a few times to me...)

What about Vancouver Island steelheads? I was thinking about the Gold. Is it possible to fish without a boat?

Mick

 

[professori]

Late summer, head to the East Kootenays and fish the St. Mary's, Elk, Wigwam, Bull and all the other rivers in the area for westslope cutthroat. Unbelievable dry fly fishing in very wadable rivers. Or head North and hit the Stellako and the Horsefly rivers, also very easily accessed and great trout water.

 

[Mick]

I looked for informations concerning these rivers on internet... It looks awesome.

 

[newsman]

If I had to recomend one river it would be the Thompson. Hit is in early August for large Bows during the Stonefly hatch. Take it from one who does it every year, the Thom can spoil you for life. Make sure you go in early Aug though because once the big push of socks go through it's all over. "Big dries for big Bows, I tie my own size 4 2x long Stimulators.

 

[Gordie]

Well I'm a relative newbie on river fishing, but I used to have a great time fishing for halibut at the tip of Vancouver Island. Port Mcneil or Port Hardy. Have not done it in a while, but everytime I went I had a blast.

 

[gneissone]

Haida Gwaii

Haida Gwaii - Freshwater:

Easy access for most of the major rivers and some of the lakes. Cutthroat trout and Dollies available / abundant / big year round, salmon in the fall, steelhead in the winter. Great steelhead / salmon guides include Norm Desilets (250-557-4447, $200 per/day/rod, great meals, very knowledgable) and Brian (can't remember his last name but has a great website http://www.nadenlodge.bc.ca/river.htm ).

My favourite time of year was (not living there now) May. Gray whales everywhere, fantastic fly-fishing for dollies and cutties on all of the major flows (and on the beach) and the big springs are starting to show up on the west side. A couple of days on the river and a couple of days on the chuck....Yes Please!

Gneissone

 

[vanislealoha]

If you Kayak the west coast of the island try fly fishing for coho around tofino area.

 

[Mick]

Thanks a lot everybody

Choosing is gonna be difficult

 

[Nelvy]

After reading through this post you just might get the idea that there is good fishin' to be had throughout the province. :thumbup:

 

[Daumzilla]

If you marry a Canadian woman, you don't have to leave..

 

[High Velocity]

If you want Bows, I would suggest Sheridan Lake.....

X2 !! Love that lake. Lots of big rainbows caught every year.

Check out the pics here :

http://www.sheridanlakeresort.com/




Sent from my iPhone when I should be fishing.

 

[allofthisforyou]

Late summer, head to the East Kootenays and fish the St. Mary's, Elk, Wigwam, Bull and all the other rivers in the area for westslope cutthroat.

While in the area I'd want to check out some of the lake fishing. This seems to be the main area of BC stocked with the Gerrard strain of rainbow trout which, if you don't know, can get huge (by rainbow standards). Late summer might be slow, but I imagine these things feed pretty deep (i.e. you'll need a downrigger or a Jet Diver to get down to them) so the heat probably doesn't affect them as much.