Trout Fishing in British Columbia
British Columbia boasts some pretty diverse trout fishing opportunities for the avid trout fisherman. Our season is pretty much year round and there is usually several different species to target. We are fortunate to be able to fish the entire province and have waters that include interior lakes, rivers and coastal tributaries. This variety ensures that we can target some of the best trout fisheries all season long.
Our season begins in early February for coastal sea run cutthroat trout which come into our rivers and stay to spawn and feed on hatching juvenile salmon. These are the true jewel of the Fraser valley trout fishery and are fairly challenging fish to find and catch. These fish are highly migratory and are never in the same area for long periods of time. They prey mainly on small fish and salmon fry and they will follow the fry closely throughout the spring.
The next trout fishery we would focus on starts in may as our interior lakes begin to ice off. This time of the year trout have held over the winter with fairly limited food so they will begin to feed heavily on the spring time hatches of the interior. This is a unique fishery as we primarily focus on the early spring chironomid hatches that come off in large swarms. The flies can be as small as a size 18 and range right up to a size 8. This type of fly is presented usually very slowly and the takes can be hard or insanely soft. It takes a fine touch and some keen eyes to usually detect a bite but the rewards can be awesome with some day’s as many as fifty fish per angler. Many of the lakes we fish have large marl shoals where you can see the fish cruising along and will be able to see them turn to get your fly. This is some of the most exciting fly fishing you can witness.
The season continues then into the early summer and summer on one of the most pristine rivers in B.C. We begin to fish the upper Pitt River. This river is a glacial river that is on the upper end of Pitt Lake, we would use our jet boats for this type of adventure. We cruise for about thirty minutes across Pitt lake and then up the river from there. If you enjoy wilderness settings with a rich ecosystem of bears, deer, elk and eagles then the Pitt River is just what you will be looking for. We fish the Pitt for sea run Dolly Varden char, cutthroat, and rainbow trout. The dollies in this system are big, often over ten pounds and chrome bright. They fight hard and have an attitude all their own. We fish for them in June with large fish imitating streamers and then begin to go with large bunny leaches and even intruder patterns. These fish are not leader shy or gear shy and will eat flies up to 5 inches long. The salmon begin to enter the Pitt in late July and the trout will begin on feeding on eggs in august as they bulk up on calories for the winter. These trout will continue to feed on eggs right through to the end of salmon season and will continue to eat flesh and eggs into the winter although we will no longer be able to access the pitt once October arrives.
Once we are into the fall we target another river that we will keep a secret for right now. Let’s call it river x, this river has 4 different species of salmon throughout the fall and it boasts some of the most amazing salmon fishing around. We could fish it for salmon but the real attention is the absolutely epic trout fishing for dollies. During the late fall and early winter we fish this river purely for trout and it is unbelievable. We use primarily eggs and flesh patterns either swung or dead drifted. The river is often crystal clear and as we drift through the pools you will see schools of trout move out of the way of the boat. This fishery will last almost to February although by that time we have usually focused our attention on steelhead. If you are local to our area and would like to learn some of our trout fisheries so you can enjoy them on your own please check out our courses and classes page as we have a few great trout fishing courses to get you started.
British Columbia boasts some pretty diverse trout fishing opportunities for the avid trout fisherman. Our season is pretty much year round and there is usually several different species to target. We are fortunate to be able to fish the entire province and have waters that include interior lakes, rivers and coastal tributaries. This variety ensures that we can target some of the best trout fisheries all season long.
Our season begins in early February for coastal sea run cutthroat trout which come into our rivers and stay to spawn and feed on hatching juvenile salmon. These are the true jewel of the Fraser valley trout fishery and are fairly challenging fish to find and catch. These fish are highly migratory and are never in the same area for long periods of time. They prey mainly on small fish and salmon fry and they will follow the fry closely throughout the spring.
The next trout fishery we would focus on starts in may as our interior lakes begin to ice off. This time of the year trout have held over the winter with fairly limited food so they will begin to feed heavily on the spring time hatches of the interior. This is a unique fishery as we primarily focus on the early spring chironomid hatches that come off in large swarms. The flies can be as small as a size 18 and range right up to a size 8. This type of fly is presented usually very slowly and the takes can be hard or insanely soft. It takes a fine touch and some keen eyes to usually detect a bite but the rewards can be awesome with some day’s as many as fifty fish per angler. Many of the lakes we fish have large marl shoals where you can see the fish cruising along and will be able to see them turn to get your fly. This is some of the most exciting fly fishing you can witness.
The season continues then into the early summer and summer on one of the most pristine rivers in B.C. We begin to fish the upper Pitt River. This river is a glacial river that is on the upper end of Pitt Lake, we would use our jet boats for this type of adventure. We cruise for about thirty minutes across Pitt lake and then up the river from there. If you enjoy wilderness settings with a rich ecosystem of bears, deer, elk and eagles then the Pitt River is just what you will be looking for. We fish the Pitt for sea run Dolly Varden char, cutthroat, and rainbow trout. The dollies in this system are big, often over ten pounds and chrome bright. They fight hard and have an attitude all their own. We fish for them in June with large fish imitating streamers and then begin to go with large bunny leaches and even intruder patterns. These fish are not leader shy or gear shy and will eat flies up to 5 inches long. The salmon begin to enter the Pitt in late July and the trout will begin on feeding on eggs in august as they bulk up on calories for the winter. These trout will continue to feed on eggs right through to the end of salmon season and will continue to eat flesh and eggs into the winter although we will no longer be able to access the pitt once October arrives.
Once we are into the fall we target another river that we will keep a secret for right now. Let’s call it river x, this river has 4 different species of salmon throughout the fall and it boasts some of the most amazing salmon fishing around. We could fish it for salmon but the real attention is the absolutely epic trout fishing for dollies. During the late fall and early winter we fish this river purely for trout and it is unbelievable. We use primarily eggs and flesh patterns either swung or dead drifted. The river is often crystal clear and as we drift through the pools you will see schools of trout move out of the way of the boat. This fishery will last almost to February although by that time we have usually focused our attention on steelhead. If you are local to our area and would like to learn some of our trout fisheries so you can enjoy them on your own please check out our courses and classes page as we have a few great trout fishing courses to get you started.