[jefferson]

I went out to the Harrison river for the first time on saturday. We drove the boat up past kilby under the highway bridge and found some shore to fish off. I was casting spoons (orange and gold, orange and silver) nothing. Then tried float fishing roe sacks. not one hit all day. There were lots of people around that were catching fish, but I could not see what they were using. I like how clean the river is and the area is beautiful so I wan't to learn how to fish this river. Can anyone tell me what the most popular method of fishing is.

Thanks

 

[Steely]

The best way to learn how to fish a river is watch what others are doing, If one guy is catching and other others arnt watch what that one guy is doing! You might even want to go and ask someone for some tips, and they would probably be happy to help you.

 

[Big Green Machine]

Jefferson,

It's a big wide river, more like a lake so you have to narrow things down by spotting fish first. Where you able to spot fish? These other people catching fish, were they on the bank or fishing from a boat? I like your choice of technique. Just be patient and resist the urge to line the fish which is what a lot of people are doing even though it looks like they are fishing. For the springs you can anchor up and basically bar fish for them using a flatfish or the usual roe and spin n glo.

 

[SNAG-N-BAG]

fly fishing is also a prefered method of fishing the harrison

 

[jefferson]

It's a big wide river, more like a lake so you have to narrow things down by spotting fish first. Where you able to spot fish? These other people catching fish, were they on the bank or fishing from a boat?

There were lots of people lining the banks, and some fishing from boats. It looked like the people in the boats were jigging. They must of been bar fishing.
I guess I will need to put in more time. I've always been told to fish where everyone else is fishing if you don't know the area. I was very surprised at the amount of people out there.

 

[oakey]

Can anyone tell me if it is acceptable to access the actual river through the aboriginal reserve ??

I have not fished the river for a long time but would like to go again if you can get to the actual river and walk a bit

 

[dmuskrat]

The best way to learn how to fish a river is watch what others are doing, If one guy is catching and other others arnt watch what that one guy is doing! You might even want to go and ask someone for some tips, and they would probably be happy to help you.

Steely, I agree with you for the most part but I would like to add a caution to your post.

I was fishing the Chilliwack the other day. It was just after 11 am and I walked up to a pool being fished by 6 other guys. Their was one guy there who was catching the fish. He had a spring on about every other cast. His leader was about 4 ft and his float to weight was about 10 ft. If there is any doubt, he was dredging the bottom and snagging the 20 lb plus springs in the mouth. This guy pretty much thought he was the poo. Then the other 5 guys, one by one, started to increase the length of their leaders and soon enough, all of them had on 4 ft leaders. They all began to reef on their hooksets on every cast and eventualy most of them had spring on.

Lots of torture to the fish because everyone was copying the shady methods of that one person.

 

[Lastcar]

Poo?

 

[fishortho]

I don't think Jefferson had his question answered yet. Firstly, you do need a boat and you need one with enough power to get you up the first fastwater area below the pumphouse....This river can be shallow in some spots so be careful if you are running a prop. You can find a nice spot with a gravel bottom, nose anchor the boat and bar fish, or you can backtroll plugs and spoons. You can also just cast spinners and smaller spoons into the backwaters for coho...You can flyfish any part of the river and you can also gearup and fish sturgeon...In the springtime the cutty fishing is very good from a boat.......Try and avoid the crowds, a lot of fish concentrated in one area will draw crowds and there are questionable fishing methods likely being employed....It's a big river and you can always catch fish away from the crowds.......Ortho 8)

 

[eimaj]

Jefferson, it's a big river that has certain areas that the fish congregate in. I don't mind helping out with some locations. Feel free to PM me or email me if you'd like. But the mosty fun you can have on that river is just explore it, use some poloroid specs to watch the water and just scope the fish out. That's one of the best things about that system is the water is so clear you can spot them everywhere. :cheers:

 

[jefferson]

Thanks for the info, I'm going to put the boat in on sunday and explore. Do the fish stray from the main stream of the river? It looks like the bay is more like a lake, is it worth fishing.

 

[marko]

If thier there, there will be signs of movement and porpoising. Good luck on the hunt..!!

:beerchug: Marko

 

[Crazy Drifter]

Hey Jefferson. Once you get above the bridge, the river does have many side channels and little guts and runs. I generally stay away from the crowds, but stay with in reason of the main channel. What I'm gettin at is the main channel always produces , but the fish do cruise the off shoots and smaller guts, Just remember when cruising in the back channels two things, they can get shallow in a hurry, and b) the fish spook easily. If you sneek in there try flipping a a lge spoon, ie kitamat or a koho. blue and chrome have worked good for me in the past. If your working the main channel try lge blue fox's ,or mepps. I did see a boat on the first weekend of oct using a spin and glo rigging like we use in the fraser, and it was producing quite well for them. No matter how you slice it it's a beautiful river to fish :cheers:
Crazy D

 

[RiverRat]

When I was younger I used to scramble across the train bridge at Kilby and spend the day fishing off the rocks on the other side. I don't recommend anyone try that though. Other than boat access which is what most of this thread seems to be about, is there a decent opportunity for fly chuckers in the area as well, if so, point me in the right direction - I don't mind a good hike!

RR

 

[cobble]

I always look for milling fish and put my efforts into the pockets of deep water and cover (logs, trees, etc.). There are a few small channels that attrach the fish (they are almost like hotels for fish). There are a couple channels that drain Harrison Bay across from Kilby and few others along the dike. The fish can move around depending on weather, time of day, and fishing pressure, so spend time there, pay attention to how others are making out, and use your boat to explore the river.