British Columbia Fishing Blog

As summer winds to an end, the camping supplies and trout rods get packed away until next spring, and the drift gear gets dusted off from being stored away since last steelhead season. Salmon season is almost here and it is time to get ready.

Often I start the season off overly eager to get into one of my favourite game fish, coho. This means getting to the river well before sunrise, at a time of year when there aren’t many fish in the river yet. Still, when you start a day with this it is hard to complain about not catching fish.



During September my days on the river are mainly trips to scout out the river to see how it has changed since last season. However, getting the chance to hook a couple springs helps get me back into the swing of things. Sometimes it takes a few take-downs to get your “hook-set reflex” back, and it’s better to miss a few Springs than a few coho.



October is one of my favourite months of the year. The air gets a little cooler and the day is a little shorter,



The trees change colour,



and on top of all that, the Coho start to show up in decent numbers.



October is the time to put the hours in stalking coho,



because they are there,



and often willing to bite.



The nice thing about coho fishing is that a great day isn’t just one or two fish; it’s much more than that.







If you’re lucky enough to get a hatchery marked fish you can likely retain it, depending on the regulations.



These aren’t the only reasons I love coho fishing; the fact that they will attack nearly anything when “the bite” is on is another factor. This can include spoons,



and flies.



The other reason that I love coho fishing, is the opportunity to catch other species, like bull trout,



which can often be plentiful when you find them.



There are also cutthroat trout.



If you are lucky, resident rainbow trout are also around.



Of course, there is likely to be a few chum salmon mixed in with the coho.



When November rolls around the weather gets even colder, as the snowline creeps down the mountains.



Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees,



but this doesn’t mean that coho season is over. There are still plenty to be caught.



Although some might begin to get a little coloured,



there are still clean fish around.



As we near the end of November I have started to gear down my efforts for coho. They are beginning to spawn and it is best to leave them to it.



It’s time to turn my focus onto steelhead….

Yesterday, we followed Kurt and Barry from the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC to Green Timbers Lake, where they released 150 brood rainbow trout. These trout, which have been used for producing catchable Fraser Valley rainbow trout that anglers enjoy catching at urban lakes, weigh up to 8lb. They are released at the end of each year as their production lifespan comes to an end. Rather than just disposing them, they are usually released into a few selected Lower Mainland urban lakes, where new and young anglers have an opportunity to catch a big trout.

This was also our first shooting with a new video camera that will follow us around in future fishing outings. The finished product was satisfactory. My apology in advance of the shakes, which will be worked on in future video. Other than that, I am quite pleased with it. I hope that you find the video informative. Kurt and Barry will be releasing another batch of these fish into Mill Lake today. Good luck if you decide to head down to Green Timbers Lake or the other urban lakes in the next several weeks.

It is freezing outside, almost too cold to fish. I’ve put up this video to kill the fishing bugs for those who find it difficult to get out today. This was filmed a few weeks ago while I was out fishing for coho salmon in the Tidal Fraser River with my dad. I had the camera set up beside my dad and let it run while he attempted to hook one. You can read more about this trip in this previous blog entry.

With coho salmon season slowly coming to an end, it is time to switch gear and target species. Fishing in Vancouver does not end when the weather gets cold, it happens throughout the year.

Most salmon either have spawned or ready to spawn in their natal streams. This brings out another group of fish – Trout and char. They congregate behind spawners and wait for opportunities to feed on their eggs when deposited. The death of spawners also bring out scavenging animals and birds.





Yesterday, Nina and I decided to spend the day chasing these egg feeders. Most of these fish are between 1 and 4lb, so a baitcasting setup would seem like an overkill. The alternative is to fly fish for them, but we decided to try something different. We used a long light spinning rod to float fish for them. Normally spinning outfits can be a pain to use for float fishing in rivers because you constantly need to feed line to the current. Our fishing location was tiny side channels with minimal flow, so this was not an issue for us.

The terminal setup is fairly simple. A small float is fixed to the main line and around 5 to 7 grams of weight is added to balance it. The leader is of course not too long, to avoid accidentally foul hooking any spawning salmon that we may come across. Just above the hook, a trout bead is threaded on. This simple presentation aims to imitate single eggs that drift down from redds.





It did not take very long for us to connect with fish once they were located in a channel. The float dipped repeatedly with many misses, but we managed to bring in a few bull trout.





If you have packed up your salmon gear and are wondering what you can fish for now, definitely give this style of fishing a try. Even though this is primarily a catch and release fishery, it gives you a chance to appreciate the late fall beauty of our coastal salmon streams.

During our stay at Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa, we visited Weaver Creek spawning channel. This is another highlight that all should check out when visiting Harrison Hot Springs. It was developed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in the mid 1960s, which aimed to increase spawning opportunities for salmon. Three pacific salmon species can be found at this spawning channel in September and October. They are sockeye, chum and pink salmon.