Happy B.C. Day! With the peak of the summer begins the peak of fishing around southern B.C. This weekend the Fraser Sockeye Run had not opened yet so we decided to focus on the Upper Pitt River which is a fabulous wilderness experience. There are a number of ways to get there, helicopter, jet boat, boat-bicycle it all depends on the coin you are willing to part with and the energy which you wish to expend. If you are going to do the boat-mountain bike route, then be sure to pack the $2.00 inner tube repair kit. The river and the road runs for over 50 km and though most of the road is flat gravel, getting up there without some foresight can mean a lot of unnecessary walking!
The valley has everything, bears (black and grizzly), moose, elk, deer, eagles, salmon, steelhead, bull,rainbow and cutthroat trout. It is famous for it's bull trout which can be over 10 lbs. At the start of August, the largest sockeye salmon in the world enter this river and they were definitely in the system though notoriously hard to catch.
The valley has everything, bears (black and grizzly), moose, elk, deer, eagles, salmon, steelhead, bull,rainbow and cutthroat trout. It is famous for it's bull trout which can be over 10 lbs. At the start of August, the largest sockeye salmon in the world enter this river and they were definitely in the system though notoriously hard to catch.
In summer the water is just cool enough for a refreshing swim and with the recent heat wave, shorts and running shoes and the odd dip was a welcome refresher from the heat. The azure glacier blue water had three to 5 feet of clarity which makes a large streamer fly easy for the fish to see, but still gives you cover to wade and not easily spook the fish.
Given the glacier/groundwater source of the cool water the fish would be in two to three feet of water on the long runs and in deep pools and would still hit the fly at 2:00 pm in the brightest hottest part of the day. Sun screen was a must and when the heat cranked up it was the shade that beckoned us to rest, not the slowdown in the fishing!
Given the glacier/groundwater source of the cool water the fish would be in two to three feet of water on the long runs and in deep pools and would still hit the fly at 2:00 pm in the brightest hottest part of the day. Sun screen was a must and when the heat cranked up it was the shade that beckoned us to rest, not the slowdown in the fishing!
Just for variety we switched to target Sockeye but the bulls kept taking the lure while the sockeye continued to play hard to get. No matter, some of the larger fish will put a sweet bend in an 8 weight flyrod!
The Pitt River is a catch and release fishery and this helps maintain the sporting populations of bull, cutthroat and rainbows. As the salmon runs start to build now and into November, the more cuttys and rainbows will slip out of Pitt Lake to feast on the wayward eggs cast by the spawning Sockeye, Chinook and coho salmon. Truly a fun fishery!
As river levels will continue to drop, passability by jet boat will continue to get tricky. This year the river braided at about 8 km to the extend that it took a really good run to get the jet boats up on a high plain to clear the riffles before finding deeper water. After that, biking/walking/wading and drift boating will take over till the rains return in Sept/Oct.
As river levels will continue to drop, passability by jet boat will continue to get tricky. This year the river braided at about 8 km to the extend that it took a really good run to get the jet boats up on a high plain to clear the riffles before finding deeper water. After that, biking/walking/wading and drift boating will take over till the rains return in Sept/Oct.
The Pitt River valley is rainforest and at times looks like a scene from Lord of the Rings. The massive moss enshrouded maples look as if they are about to come alive and come walking towards you and pick you up into the canopy. Under that canopy, the tell tale hoof marks of Roosevelt Elk, moose and deer told of wandering residents that might step out onto the gravel islands in the river bed to watch some lucky fly fisherman.
The really good news is that the test catches in the Fraser River have gone up to 30 to 70+ Sockeye and a decent number of Chinook so the Department of Fisheries is opening the sport Sockeye fishery on Wednesday, August 6, 2014 in the middle Fraser and Harrison Rivers. The Fraser is open in all of region 2 and the Harrison is open from the confluence with the Fraser to the Hwy 7 bridge. This is until further notice and means that it will be mayhem on the river as boats and bottom bouncers line the gravel bars and fight for a spot to catch their two sockeye per person per day limits. Time to get out there and get fishing!!!!
The really good news is that the test catches in the Fraser River have gone up to 30 to 70+ Sockeye and a decent number of Chinook so the Department of Fisheries is opening the sport Sockeye fishery on Wednesday, August 6, 2014 in the middle Fraser and Harrison Rivers. The Fraser is open in all of region 2 and the Harrison is open from the confluence with the Fraser to the Hwy 7 bridge. This is until further notice and means that it will be mayhem on the river as boats and bottom bouncers line the gravel bars and fight for a spot to catch their two sockeye per person per day limits. Time to get out there and get fishing!!!!
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