We hit the Stamp for our annual guided trip over the past weekend. We had no expectations given how terrible last year's trip was and how negative recent reports were.
Arrived at the Stamp Falls Pool late Friday to meet an angler on his way back saying he was there all day and did not see a thing. A few minutes in we noticed some fresh fish migrating along the rock wall in groups of 2's and 3's. We counted 10 over a course of an hour. They were high and looked like they were on a mission to head further up the river. Nothing settled in the usual spots and nothing was willing to bite.
We stayed at a newly opened lodge (
www.westcoastriverlodge.com ) or at least under new management. It is at a great spot on the river and the new owners are wonderful people and "get" the whole fishing crowd. I highly recommend it, as it is far better than any other in the area. We also ate at Little Bavaria on Friday. What a nice change to the typical Vancouver fare. I would highly recommend this place (and make a reservation). We ate at the Clam Bucket, as we usually do on this trip, the next night and what a disappointment. This place has gone down hill. The regular staff is gone, the menu has changed and they are using cheaper ingredients. We will not be back.
The next morning we met our guide Ken Meyers (
www.fishmyster.com ) right on the river below the lodge Saturday morning and headed up river. After checking out the falls pool and seeing it was holding no fish anywhere, we fished all around the island below. Saw a couple fish moving around in another run below, but were not holding. Mid-day we hit another run below the falls pool. I landed and released a feisty summer run. Was nice to finally have something on. My buddy then played a ~5lb hatchery doe... but lost it at the boat after a few runs. About an hour later, I hit a ~7lb hatchery buck in some fast water and into the boat it went. That was it for the day.
The next day we got an earlier start because we wanted a particular piece of water at the confluence that one of the local guides pretty much has his name on. At first light we saw 2 seals splashing around at the confluence drop off... nice. Ken met us just after 8am and we fished the water we wanted. My buddy landed a ~7lb hatchery buck around 9:30am. I landed a the same sized fish with sea lice on it an hour later. We stayed for another couple hours and headed up river. We fished around the island below the falls pool and saw a few fish moving around but none settling. We checked out the falls pool one last time and saw a school of about 10 chrome fish had moved in and were sitting in the prime spot. They were not interested in anything and after an hour we packed it in for the trip.
Hatchery Buck
After 10 years of fishing this river, this may be our last trip for a few years. I have seen many water systems in my life and one can always tell when they are in trouble - I am not a biologist but grew up traveling BC with one. Unfortunately, this little gem is now tarnished in my opinion. The river bed which used to be a greenish blue is now a greyish brown. Apparently something called "rock snot" has infested the river and it travels the world on the felt soles of fishermen's boots (so I hear). Regardless of how it got there, it is now in that river and it is no where near as fertile as it once was (again, in my opinion).
If you are planning a trip, I would think about what you want out of it. For us it was more about the R&R than actually fishing steelies. We saw two groups come through the lodge both Friday and Saturday. Neither of them caught a thing. Out of 6 boats on the river, we were the only ones who had fish to the boat on both days and I know one did ok on Saturday but was skunked on Sunday.
Good luck out there and tight lines!
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Topic: Stamp River, January 17th - 19th 2014 (Read 2342 times)