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[chris gadsden]

In the canyon i remember fishing the sandhole the shale run and carters, many years ago mostly wild fish, but stacked up at times, also remember seeing cougars on two occasions. couldn't do the hike nowadays lol.

Never made that trip and never will now. Caught a total of 4 steelhead on this river, one on New Year's Eve. Caught 2 on ghost shrimp, 1 on a spin and glow   and the other on bait, lovely fish.

[gipetron]

Thanks for all the feedback! I think that I'll give the river a shot one of these days as I've been going camping there for years anyhow. Just haven't fished it as I'm just starting fishing for steelhead. Probably stick to the vedder for most of my fish only days.

[Pat AV]

Man I miss that river we used to park right at Purdys and walk down to the mouth, fishing beautiful water all the way. Lots of good times in the Canyon too.

Interesting to see so many people putting names to pools, especially in the canyon I never felt the need but I guess I don't talk to people about where I fish enough to warrant the energy expenditure of a naming system.

I still remember catching my first steel in the big run down stream from the hatchery pool, seems like yesterday even though it was 21 years ago, damn that makes me feel old.

[WEEFISH]

I got my first Summer Steelie while fishing for Coho in the fall a few years ago....What a sight to see when I reeled that in   

[FlyFishin Magician]

Man I miss that river we used to park right at Purdys and walk down to the mouth, fishing beautiful water all the way. Lots of good times in the Canyon too.

Interesting to see so many people putting names to pools, especially in the canyon I never felt the need but I guess I don't talk to people about where I fish enough to warrant the energy expenditure of a naming system.

I still remember catching my first steel in the big run down stream from the hatchery pool, seems like yesterday even though it was 21 years ago, damn that makes me feel old.

I'm with you Pat!  I never heard of names for the canyon pools.  I just heard of them referred to by number - 1, 2, and 3 (as you go further up the canyon).  I suppose I'm not old enough to know them by name!  LOL.  So 21 years ago?  That is a long time ago dude. 

[winter steel]

Personally, I love that river. Not because it offers the consistency of fishing a river with holes that never change, but instead the fact that it does change significantly, and thus offers a new challenge every time one is out. I have had multiple fish days (steelhead) on that system when you would think that none were around and skunked when the water was perfect. It is a bit of an enigma. I guess I just like the solitude and challenges the river has to offer. No, it is not the Vedder in terms of fish numbers and thus anglers, but I don't think I would ever want it to be. I enjoy the fact that each river is different and offers subtle clues into unlocking the mysteries that differentiate success from failure for anglers. I get a lot of satisfaction in just staring at my float and watching it go down and if there is a fish at the end of the line, a true bonus, tight lines WS.

[the carp]

a lot of the old canyon names come from long ago before there was a hattchery on the river, access was not from the north side, and required some scary hiking and even roping in to some runs.

[brownmancheng]

Roping into canyon runs? Sounds very intense

[Steelie1030]

I remember the three ropes that you had to rappel down to get to the canyon. Did this in the late 70's. The water would be black with coho but they were tough to catch. I also remember the chums swimming across the road in really hi water. Used to catch coho behind the trees in the forest when the water was so high that you couldn't get too close to the river. Saw a cougar early one morning in the middle of the one-lane bridge as we were walking across in the dark. My favorite run was the church camp run. We used to get there at 4 am to get a good spot and take firelogs to burn as we waited for the first crack of light to appear. I think we were one of the first to use glow sticks in the top of our floats so that we could fish in the dark. Talk about obsessive compulsive. I still think that standing in that water all day screwed up my feet. Almost lost a fishing buddy when we tried to cross the river in the dark one time and didn't quite make the other side. Ah the memories!!

[Pat AV]

  So 21 years ago?  That is a long time ago dude. 

I was 14 and had been trying to catch my first for 2 years, of course I was not able to fish as much as I would have liked since I had to beg/borrow/steel rides to get to the river.

I remember my dad had walked back to the hatchery to warm up his hands and I stayed down at the river, and wandered down to the big run downstream from the hatchery pool. I found a couple of pieces of roe sitting on a rock and figured I would give it a try. I did not know how to tie a bait loop yet so just stuck it on the hook and cast it out into the seam. Got a nice little hatchery buck on my second or 3rd cast with the roe. It was coloured up and only about 7 pounds but it was my first.

I put the second chunk on cast to the same spot and hooked a much bigger one, that I lost. I was now out of roe and couldn't find anymore for the life of me on the rocks. So I went back to meet up with my dad and tell him the exciting story!!

When I got home I was so excited all I did was run around the house yelling "Steelhead!" over and over again. My mom got fed up after about half an hour and sent me outside so I just ran around the block for another hour yelling instead.

[VAGAbond]

I got my first Summer Steelie while fishing for Coho in the fall

x2, in 2011

[milo]

Roping into canyon runs? Sounds very intense

It is...I went to the canyon only once and it was in late October 2000. I went with a couple other guys with whom I don't fish anymore. We were guided into the canyon by a FN fellow and he took us well off the beaten path.

We departed Vancouver an hour or so after midnight, got to the meeting spot near three o'clock in the morning, and then descended to the canyon through some really nasty stretches. All we had to hold on to were roots of trees and some ropes placed strategically in some places. Because we often needed both hands to hold on to the roots or ropes, we had to strap our rods to our shoulder with belts or cords and carry them like a gun.

Once down by the water, fishing was easy-peasy even for an inexperienced salmon fisherman that I was at the time, almost like shooting ducks in a barrel. Not much excitement after hooking into 20 fish (coho and chum) in practically as many casts. We had our limit of hatchery coho before daylight properly set in. We did use glow sticks attached to our floats.
I also remember that it was horribly cold that morning, and all too soon we ran out of firewood.

I think that route still exists, but for the life of me, I wouldn't be able to find it. Even if I could, or if someone offered to take me there again, I wouldn't go. It was way too much trouble climbing back up with four hatchery coho each to add to the load. And that was when I was 39 y/o. Now at age 50 and 30 pounds heavier, I don't think I'd make it back up without help from a helicopter, a rope and a harness.

But it is definitely something that has to be experienced at least once while you are in your prime.

[Fisherama]

Love hearing this old time stories!  So this may be a dumb question, but for those who have been fishing this river for a long time, what would you attribute to the diminishing salmon and steelhead runs on this river? I mean compared to another hatchery enhanced river such as the Vedder which, although is a shadow of what it used to be, seems still to be faring quite well...  Did the shifting of the river away from the hatchery have that big of an impact?

[the carp]

great story Milo, sounds like the old spar tree run, i saw some strange things while fishing the canyon back in the day, one time a large buck deer swimming downriver, only thing was he was bleeding badly with half of his rack torn off, we figured maybe a cougar attacked him and he escaped by jumping in the river, often wonder if he survived. I remember crowding on the easter seal run, picket fencing for coho, but every one getting along fires on the beach, everyone short floating, like 3ft. with peach wool, and everyone limiting out and having a great time, sure miss that run.

[gipetron]

Where is a good spot to get access to these canyon pools? I know there is a trail at the end of the campsites on the east side of the single lane bridge, does that go anywhere you could get back down to the water?