Steelhead...

[cam]

Anybody making plans to head up to Skeena country this fall? I plan to be in Smithers the first week of Oct. Early reports look promising, hopefully the rain subsides . I may possibly be fishing solo this time around, if you plan on being in the area let me know there may be room in the drift boat!

 

-Cam

[Mykiss]

Fairly certain that I will be up there for a couple of weeks in late September to early Oct. Dates not nailed down as of yet..however reports coming in from the Skeena are promising as alot of Steel are being caught lower down...Rain right now in the Valley is a good thing as the bump in the rivers will move the fish in to the smaller systems.. Not a fan of fishing low gin clear conditions....A perfect level in the Bulk is 0.5-1.0m for primary water level....fished it in blown out stage of 2.0+m and in super low 0.2m both make it tough fishing however I would almost take the half blown out conditons(as long as there is a foot of vis) over very low water.. But then again I'm not one of the "dry or die" steel hunters. Where do you stay up there Cam? More than welcome to hope over to the Flo for a bevie or 2 but giving away the secret spots I would be hung

[SilverDoctor]

Planning to be up in Terrace with the brother in law for the latter part of October if all goes well with work and family. My stomping ground is the Zymotez (Copper) and some tribs. Also love the Kalum, Gitnadiox and Kwinamass. Can't pin a date as yet. I've been blessed to the the big rivers for Steelies almost ever year.

 

Here is a local report:

 It rained just about all week and the rivers are struggling to remain in fishable conditions.  The Skeena however has turned brown. Most of the colour is coming from the Zymoetz (Copper) River. The Kitimat is high also.  If there is any good news in any of this it is that this should move in lots of fresh Coho.  Fish the edges and the clean seams and you may be able to keep the bite going.  Tyee test fishery still showing very good number of Steelhead, Coho and Sockeye moving through…best in many years actually. Ocean fishing remains good as the Coho start migrating to their home rivers.  The Nicholas Dean Lodge “out-post” camp did pretty well for the first few days of the week then things slowed down.  Most of the fish in front of the camp must have moved up river.  Same can be said about the Kitimat River, fishing was very good at the beginning of the week and then slowed down.  Please read the detailed report from Ron Wakita of Reliable Guide and Charters.  WOW…they had some GREAT Coho fishing early in the week.  What’s that old saying, “we cannot control the sky”.  Nice day today so hopefully the rivers will shape up soon. 

[cam]

Fairly certain that I will be up there for a couple of weeks in late September to early Oct. Dates not nailed down as of yet..however reports coming in from the Skeena are promising as alot of Steel are being caught lower down...Rain right now in the Valley is a good thing as the bump in the rivers will move the fish in to the smaller systems.. Not a fan of fishing low gin clear conditions....A perfect level in the Bulk is 0.5-1.0m for primary water level....fished it in blown out stage of 2.0+m and in super low 0.2m both make it tough fishing however I would almost take the half blown out conditons(as long as there is a foot of vis) over very low water.. But then again I'm not one of the "dry or die" steel hunters. Where do you stay up there Cam? More than welcome to hope over to the Flo for a bevie or 2 but giving away the secret spots I would be hung

 

Yes indeed this early rain is ideal conditions for bringing fresh fish into the system. I'm not looking for secrets just looking too hook up with like minded individuals that eat breath and live the Chrome...

I normally fish the Bulkley as this area I know best, however if I'm solo I'm willing to fish anything that's fishable from the Copper on up!! I'll most likely be there fishing from Oct 2nd-6th I normally stay at Two Rivers Lodge in telkwa or the Fire Weed in smithers. It will be a short trip this time around as my wife and I recently added another little boy to the family. I was going to pass on the trip this season but now that the days are getting shorter and the evenings cooler I'm having trouble sleeping and my wife knows that I'll be alot more productive if I can get my ass to skeena country for a few days rather than stumbleing around the rest of the winter in a haze dreaming of the chrome...

[rusty]

I'll be up there last week of October for my first trip to the area. Would love to hook up and learn a bit!

[bcubed]

I'll have a day in smithers on october 25th after my flight gets in at 9:30 before i go to the babine on the 26th..won't have a car though..

 

worth it to get a classified for that, or just wait till i'm on the babine?

[cam]

I'll have a day in smithers on october 25th after my flight gets in at 9:30 before i go to the babine on the 26th..won't have a car though..

 

worth it to get a classified for that, or just wait till i'm on the babine?

 

Hell Ya unless you want to sit in smithers all day . THere is good fishing on both sides of the river up stream from the bulkley river bridge when entering smithers from telkwa direction. Both sides of the river have fishable water upstream and down but you may have to share some water! Many fish get caught in this section, after all the up stream spawners all pass through this section like any other section of river . I'm usually at the end of my day when I drift through this section right before the boat launch but I've seen plenty of fish hooked passing through.

[Mykiss]

Bcube,

 

I figure it would be a good idea to go to oscars/or Mcbike and pick up a daily classified for the day.. Like Cam said you could either hit the 'horn and talk about Steelhead or you can go hook into a steelhead.. Tonnes of good water in or near town..not sure how your getting from the airport into town but get a drop off or hitchhike to the highway bridge...stop on the east side walk upstream to the golf course and past to the red rock and fish it down past the bridge... huge piece of water and @ that time of year very little pressure apart from locals.