Spring Steelhead - A Journey to Paradise in Northern BC - Part 1 of 3

How should I start a report about the best fishing trip of my life? What defines a fishing trip as the best? I would say it has nothing to do with the amount of fish caught. For me, it has more to do with the challenge chosen, with the learning, with the man-environment interactions and, above all, with The Reward. In spey fishing for steelhead, the number of fish caught may be the factor of lower importance. When I started my six days journey of self-guided fishing to Terrace, I just wanted to meet one goal:  to catch ONE wild Steelhead from the Skeena River system, one of the last wildlife refuges with the biggest wild Steelhead in the world.

Self-guided trips are not easy. The access points may not be what you expected and when you finally find access, you still need to find fish. The BC fishing regulations is one of Canada's most complex regs, favouring local fishermen and guides. Even for residents of other provinces of Canada (my case) who want to fish the Classified Waters,  it is necessary to pay a daily rate of C$ 20 or $ 40 (according with the Class of the river) only to have the right to fish in these waters. Still, I consider this system better than being required to pay property owners the right to fish on their land as in the case of Atlantic salmon rivers in Scotland and England, or be forced to hire a guide, as in the case of some eastern Canadian provinces while fishing for Atlantic Salmon. In British Columbia, despite the strong regulation, it is still possible to DIY without necessarily being hosted on a expensive lodge. Rivers are difficult to access, but for those venturing on trails and dirty roads, there is some good sections of water available. Some river systems such as the Kitimat River and Nass River are fully open to the public. The Kitimat broodstock Steelhead are just as good as any wild Steelhead fishery in BC and its shallows waters are easy to wade; therefore, a good option for the DIY angler.

Spring fishing in Terrace is pretty much steelhead only, with chances of catching some early Chinooks (called Springs). The spring run is considered one of the smallest, but usually produces large fish. There are also winter steelhead that remain in the rivers while the water temperature is still cold. Northern BC is one of the few places in the world with steelhead all year long. I was considering other options on the West Coast such as Olympic Peninsula in Washington, Sand River and tribs in Oregon and Vancouver Island, in BC. However, knowing that a virtual friend from the Spey Pages online community would be in Terrace as well, I decided that this would be my destination. We didn't arrange to meet anywhere specific. We just knew that we would probably meet each other somewhere there. The guy is a hardcore steelheader and a very skilled outdoorsman. In DIY fishing, the friendships that you make are just as important as the fishing.

Hitting the road in Terrace

First contact with the Skeena River

On the first day, I went looking for access points to the Kalum River, which would be the focus of my journey. It was a quite frustrating initial search. There were some pull outs but they were not as obvious as it seemed on my virtual search. My idea was to follow the creeks until the point where they flow into the Kalum, but on the first attempt I realized that it wouldn't be that easy. The idea of distance changes a bit when you are hiking alone for the first time in a land with bears, wolves, coyotes and moose. I had to confront myself with my own fear in the first day of travel! I found a small dirty road that led to a track that should give me access to the river. In the middle of the walk I hear the sound of a car coming down on this dirty backroad. As the little truck pass, I waved to the driver and I asked if it was far from the river. The guy told me he was also curious where this trail would lead as well. He noticed that I was not a local. Hence he asked "Hey, are you Bruno?" I said "Yes .. Hey, wait a minute, Speypages?! ..." We laugh a bit and celebrated the coincidence. We decided to explore that access later, because he would show me a spot where he had caught two fish earlier in the day. Good!

The first impression of the Kitsumkalum is stunning. The river has more classical steelhead structures than I have ever seen here on the Great Lakes tribs. Typical configurations run-pool-tail-run with beautiful glacial greenish waters, almost turquoise. Each run must be fished for hours, because there are not too many access. Fish it completely and fish it again, an again. DIY Spey fishing for Steelhead is a spiritual experience, an exercise in faith.

Beautiful BC

The Kitsumkalum River

This afternoon we did not catch anything. A misunderstanding of the fishing regulations led me to believe that I could not fish with my buddy on the river the next day (residents only on Sundays and he is a BC resident). As he was also not so sure, we decided that we would avoid problems and fish different rivers. I would try the Kitimat and he would dig a little more on the Kalum. Wherever we had better results, we would get together to fish the next day. The Kitimat seemed very shallow and I spent a day casting on the most promising spots and nothing, I got skunked. My partner also reported that he did not catch anything. However, he told me that the next day he would show me some secret spots and made ​​me promise not to reveal it to anybody. And that's the way that is going to be, all that I can say is follow the creeks and find out the rest for yourself. We started early, trying to be the first to present the fly to the fish. Although I didn't catch any steelhead this morning, I caught my first Dolly Varden, a beutiful resident of these waters.

The Kitimat RIver

Spey rules

Searching for access…

My First Dolly Varden could not resist an Intruder fly

We got skunked again on this morning and we moved for a very special spot on the afternoon.

Sacred waters

It did not take long and my friend caught a nice silver hen. This was the first time I was seeing a west coast steelhead! A musclebound fish, still fresh from the Pacific Ocean!

At this spot it was only this fish. We hit a pool below. Nada. My body began to ache from casting heavy sinking tips all day. Skagit rules; cast, mend, swing the fly, retrieve and cast again. Hundreds of times a day. "You must believe…" I kept repeating to myself

We moved to another spot again. This time we would try to find the access that we gave up on the first day. The spot was worth the effort of hiking on a little longer trail. After a few casts, I feel that famous 'tug' that only those who swing for Steelhead knows. The animal heads downstream on the run and all that I see is a pink flash cutting the emerald water. To my delight, this was a classic double striped Steelhead that I have always dreamed about. A colourful fish that only BC produces.

The spot worth the walk

My first BC steelie was caught on a big purple Intruder

My friend was leaving on the next day. He helped me a lot on the hunt to catch my first BC steelhead and I will be forever grateful. He would not leave back home to Prince George without seeing me to catch my first west coaster! However, before going, he wanted to catch one more fish himself as well. We decided that we would insist on this point until the end of the day. His effort and generosity was rewarded in the late afternoon, when another massive silver Steelhead almost took the rod from his hands!

End of the First Part