[ulsterfisher]

Hi there,
Feel like the only non canadian on this site, haven,t read all the site note,s yet, but well impressed :thumbup:
Travelling to B C next year from Northern Ireland for what I hope is going to be an excellent holiday . Never having fished in Canada before any advice would be appreciated. There will be four of us travelling, solely to fish the Fraser area for salmon and if possible trout. Nothing is finalised so here are some question,s that I hope are not repeated every week,
What are the best date,s to fish for salmon up river where you are flyfishing to reasonable amount of fish,
on a suitable sized river, i.e. not irish lake size, (having read about the size of some of your river,s)
are you better to hire a local guide for all our trip,
what licence,s cover us to fish, salmon, steelhead etc.
is organised or individual trip,s the best,
hoping to hear some opinion,s soon
Bill

 

[Fish Finder]

First off welcome to the board! :cheers: We have a more than a few non residents aboard who are regular contributers. ;D I'll try my best and keep this brief. ;D The Fraser river has many salmon and steelhead bearing tribs, that can be fly fished at one time or another usually begining in May right through till the end of Nov. If I had to choose the one time to visit for your best chances at some salmon, then I would go with mid to later October. Prime time! By then you or your hired guide should you aquire one, will have more options as to where go and chase some salmon.

Next year will be an even year so the pink salmon will be absent from our south cost streams. However you'll still be able to have fun with our Coho, Chum, and Chinook salmon.
To keep things simple as possible, an 8 weight single or 9 weight double handed system with some good back bone, paired off with a multi tip fly line set up will cover all your bases. I would contact a guide service and see about getting a trip taylored to your needs. It may be the way to go, if you really want to see and get the whole experience of getting out into the beauty our province has to offer and away from the potential angler traffic of the usual spots. As well as using our open board, I suggest using our search engine at the top of the tool bar to help you in finding anything you may want to know. There's a ton of great info at your finger tips. Let us know if there's anything else.

Finder :cheers:

 

[ulsterfisher]

Thank you fish finder for your help . :thumbup: I found that it would cost me 50 dollar,s for an eight day licence, a guide is recomended, due to the size and area available to fish and you answered the rest of my question,s , but there is alway,s more
Chilliwack seem,s to be the prefered base according to our local agent,s selling trip,s to B.C. We are not looking for a wilderness, comfort after a hard day,s fishing is hard to beat, but a little solitude is never far away I hope,
Is a sink line preferable, sink tip,full floating, I know this can depend on condition,s but what is the norm,
again thank,s for your patience and info,
Bill

 

[eimaj]

The most popular choice for around here is a line like RIO's Versa-tip system. Or you can always like mentioned swing a shorter 2 hander, with tips. It aint always pretty but it gets the job done.

 

[Rick Baerg]

Hi ulsterfisher, welcome to the board! Yes the norm here in the valley is a 7 or 8 weight rod with a multi tip line, http://www.rioproducts.com/product.php?recKey=14 The Rio tip lines are the best IMO as a guide they are the lines I prefer. The eight weight versa tip comes with a floating, clear, type 3, type 6 and a type 8 sink tips. Perfect for every river situation.

:cheers: Rick

 

[coho_killer]

Welcome to BCFR If you felt like a stranger it won't last long! I like the idea of hearing members not from british columbia to post about there fisheries they enjoy where there from! Welcome abord! :cheers:


CK

 

[steely_crazy]

Welcome there ulsterfisher

:cheers: Guinness

 

[Britguy]

Welcome ulsterfisher
i am a non Canadian (hence Britguy)
but i do live here in this beautiful country
I love to fly fish although no expert like Rick
i have the 8wt versa set up and had many a good day on all conditions
fast, slow, deep and shallow waters and it has done well for me

I would recomend a guide for the first day

Then let us know when you are heading over here and maybe one or two guys will hook up with your group and give a few tips on the local waters :thumbup:

 

[ulsterfisher]

Hi guy,s
Thank,s again for all the info , really appreciate the speed of your replie,s and your welcome,s. No real date decided yet, but will post it here as soon as. four men and what date,s suit what people, I am sure you have all been there.
Thank,s also for the p m,s, will keep all suggestion,s re: guide,s in mind.
If the actual fisher,s that we meet on our trip are as friendly as you lot, then we will be more than happy.
Will check the site daily,
Bill

 

[marooned]

Welcome aboard! I was in northern ireland recently (belfast) and I loved it. One of my favorite places in europe actually. The old bushmills tour etc. etc. Some of the friendliest people to boot. I'd love to go back and try my hand at some fishing one day.

 

[Pat AV]

Hey Bill welcome,

If you are stuck on fishing the Fraser it is very good......and there are lots of good guides that ply their trade on it's fish filled waters.

But I would suggest looking into making Terrace your base camp instead of chilliwack.

If you are flying here and hiring a guide anyway the extra expense will be marginal and well worth it IMO. More room to fish bigger fish to catch and in my opinion better fly opportunities.

From a hotel room in terrace around mid october with a rental 4x4 truck the options are staggering. Just thinking about it makes me excited for next fall when I will be returning to the area.

Just somthing to consider.....

If you do decide to stick with the Fraser and Chilliwack there are some really great options as well, you really can't loose!

:2cents:

Pat

 

[speyghillie]

Hi Bill,
I would take everybody,s advice, fishing in Canada is different to fishing at home, guess what i do for a living yes a Spey Ghillie.
I have been fishing in Canada and in BC twenty times over the last four years, so have a little bit of experience, I can tell you that i had some friends out fishing with Rick and they had the best day ever, get a guide and jetboat and get away from the combat.
It really is beautiful to fish in BC thats why i have been there 20 times, one idea for you would be to fly into Calgary and drive through the Rockies to BC, shorter flying time and a beautiful drive with direct flights to Calgary, let me know if i can help with car hire, accomodation ect with having been there so many times i might be able to help.
Thanks Gordon.

 

[South Texas Salt]

Bill, welcome to this site. Backgound, I am not local either, from down in South Texas. We started fishing B.C. about 5-6 years ago, based on what I had heard and read, nothing more. That was a good decision. I will let the experts on here give you the fishing info, times, tips, etc., they know what they are talking about. The fellow fishermen on this site have provided great information to us for years, they will help you also.

After fishing there 4-5 times for a total of say 20 days, here are my observations:
Very friendly and helpful people on and off the water(OK, I will admit better than Texas)
Beautiful country
Plenty of fishing opportunities and catching of fish
Outstanding guides
Partial to our only areas we have been, Chilliwack and Agassi.
By memory, think we have fished around July 1, Aug 1, Sept 1 and Oct 1.

Keep up your correspondence and research the information on this site and it will of great benefit . Salt.

 

[Thor]

Hello and welcome. Time is often the most important factor when travelling. "Quality" time would be best recieved by hiring a guide wherever you choose to go. The knowledge and experience you will gain in a short amount of time, IMHO, is well worth some cash.