My first advise to you fishguy is to exept that man's concept of time and season do not appply to fish and wild life. Over my years of study (40) I have seen anglers supply charts predicting runs & hatches; none have been more than 60% accurate. Temperature both air and water are the determining factor and who can predict those year to year. The following is a general rule of thumb:
Winter Steelhead move into our local waters in Jan & Feb, but can come in during late Dec. Usually fishing for them is slow during these times due to the cold water. Activity picks up as the water warms in March and April, but can be cut short with the freshet. In years were we experince a cold spring Steelheading can be good in early May, but one has to deal up with allot of spawners at that time. Summer Steelhead which enter our river in late summer through fall tend to be more aggresive feeders again due to warmer water.
Trout while availabe all year tend to be sluggish until the water warms 55 F is what I look for. Action tends to be better after the spawn. Again water temp is a factor I have seen rainbows spawning locally as early as Feb locally and as late as Aug in some high elevation lakes in the Cariboo. I find Trout to be the most flexable fishery, because when the lakes have gotten to warm during late July, Aug, and Sept, the streams have come back into shape after freshet. Then by the time streams levels are to low, the lakes have dropped to active tems again.
Salmon are available most of the year in some years Coho move into the Cap as early as April and Springs can show up in Fraser Valley waters in May. Generaly though we start looking for Salmon in June, Coho in the Cap and Springs in the Fraser. Sockeye can show up in early July or as late as early Sept, but usually show in mid August. Pinks, in the years they come in are a late August fish but can be as late as Oct. Chum can show as early as late Sept, but are ususly a mid Oct fish. This past year they did not show up in any great numbers until mid Nov. Coho in the Fraser tribs muost oftain show up in three runs the first in Sept, the second in late Oct and the third in mid to late Dec. This last Coho runs showed up in the thrid week of Jan, this year (that is right (2008)
So you see it's a grand game and that is what keeps it interesting. Keep a log and refer to it year after year; in time you will see patterns that will give you an overveiw of when prime-time will be but you will still have to keep an eye on things. It part of being the top preditor. You won't get it a day, but that's okay. Think of it like an apprenticeship; you can be a journeymen in 4 year but it take a lifetime of study to become a master and everyone starts in the same place.
