Anne Vitale
08-28-2008, 11:39 AM
Skeena River fishing report...week of Aug 17-23. This was a camping trip hosted by Jeff Bright in conjunction with Dustin Kovacvich of the Nicolas Dean Lodge in Terrace B.C.
Jeff Bright, myself and 5 other folks from the Bay Area were picked up at the Terrace Airport Sunday evening by Dustin and lodge manager Chad Black. We were taken directly to a municipal boat ramp in town and from there up river about 5 or 6 miles to a camp site. The camp consisted of two large quonset style utility tents --a well equipped kitchen and the other a gear changing tent-- along with 9--one and two person sleeping tents. It looked like a little village tucked in the woods. The surprise amenity we had this year was a hot shower that looked like it was put together by a back woods bricoleur--which, of course, it was. However, I must admit it worked like a charm and we were all thankful for having it. The entire set up was located on a bluff 15 feet above the river bed.
http://www.avitale.com/TentsSkeena08.jpg
Below the camp and running parallel to the river was a long gravel bar that served as our primary fishing station. We each picked out a edge riffle and stayed stationary for most of the time. Here is a shot of the riffle and typical conditions. Steelhead weather for sure.
http://www.avitale.com/SHWeather.jpg
The stones ranged from pebbles (only a few) to head size boulders (a lot) so walking the bar was tough.The broad river you see in the photo is really only a channel of the Skeena. Here the river is one long riffle about 200 yards wide and 5-6 feet deep. The current in the middle is strong and not really fishable so all the fishing is done by wading the edges where the migrating fish are anyway. We soon learned that the fish are all BIG. There are five species of salmon: coho, kings, sockeye, pinks and the occasional chum moving constantly up river. The main prize, of course, is the chrome bright, very large steelhead fresh from the sea.
Although the set up was all that one could hope for, both the weather and the number of migrating salmon coming up the river did not live up to (at least) my expectations. Having fished the same river in both 2006 and 2007, I was expecting far more action than we ended up getting over the entire week. On the bright side, several nice steelhead in the 20 lb range were brought to hand over the week. Many more were hooked but LDRed after a short but sweet strike and series of jumps. I had two such memorable fish on the end of my string but alas they got the best of the fight. In the end the best fish I was able to get to hand is this chrome bright coho. The guide estimated it to be about 12-14 lbs.
http://www.avitale.com/Coho08.jpg
Although there were strikes occasionally, most of the time was spend practicing our spey casting. Since we were on river left you spey casters will appreciate what that means for us right handed folks. Eventually the constant rain and the low fish count took the fun out of the trip for me. Oh well….so it goes.
Here are some other shots.
Jay with a nice fish on:
http://www.avitale.com/JayFishOn.jpg
Dustin K doing his cooking duties. Dustin fed us all like we were lumber jacks --three well rounded meals a day,
http://www.avitale.com/Dustin.jpg
Jeff Bright enjoying a hot cup of coffee after getting up at O-Dark 30 for a morning of fishing.
http://www.avitale.com/JeffwCoffee.jpg
Taking a mid day lunch break on a rare break in the rain.
http://www.avitale.com/Lunch.jpg
Reuger hitch hiking a ride up river on one of our forays away from camp.
http://www.avitale.com/Rouger.jpg
Jeff and Dustin plan to expand this trip next year by at least one additional week. If anyone is interested, let me know and I will get you in touch with Jeff. It is the most affordable fishing venue I know of. I'm going back...see you up there........Anne
Jeff Bright, myself and 5 other folks from the Bay Area were picked up at the Terrace Airport Sunday evening by Dustin and lodge manager Chad Black. We were taken directly to a municipal boat ramp in town and from there up river about 5 or 6 miles to a camp site. The camp consisted of two large quonset style utility tents --a well equipped kitchen and the other a gear changing tent-- along with 9--one and two person sleeping tents. It looked like a little village tucked in the woods. The surprise amenity we had this year was a hot shower that looked like it was put together by a back woods bricoleur--which, of course, it was. However, I must admit it worked like a charm and we were all thankful for having it. The entire set up was located on a bluff 15 feet above the river bed.
http://www.avitale.com/TentsSkeena08.jpg
Below the camp and running parallel to the river was a long gravel bar that served as our primary fishing station. We each picked out a edge riffle and stayed stationary for most of the time. Here is a shot of the riffle and typical conditions. Steelhead weather for sure.
http://www.avitale.com/SHWeather.jpg
The stones ranged from pebbles (only a few) to head size boulders (a lot) so walking the bar was tough.The broad river you see in the photo is really only a channel of the Skeena. Here the river is one long riffle about 200 yards wide and 5-6 feet deep. The current in the middle is strong and not really fishable so all the fishing is done by wading the edges where the migrating fish are anyway. We soon learned that the fish are all BIG. There are five species of salmon: coho, kings, sockeye, pinks and the occasional chum moving constantly up river. The main prize, of course, is the chrome bright, very large steelhead fresh from the sea.
Although the set up was all that one could hope for, both the weather and the number of migrating salmon coming up the river did not live up to (at least) my expectations. Having fished the same river in both 2006 and 2007, I was expecting far more action than we ended up getting over the entire week. On the bright side, several nice steelhead in the 20 lb range were brought to hand over the week. Many more were hooked but LDRed after a short but sweet strike and series of jumps. I had two such memorable fish on the end of my string but alas they got the best of the fight. In the end the best fish I was able to get to hand is this chrome bright coho. The guide estimated it to be about 12-14 lbs.
http://www.avitale.com/Coho08.jpg
Although there were strikes occasionally, most of the time was spend practicing our spey casting. Since we were on river left you spey casters will appreciate what that means for us right handed folks. Eventually the constant rain and the low fish count took the fun out of the trip for me. Oh well….so it goes.
Here are some other shots.
Jay with a nice fish on:
http://www.avitale.com/JayFishOn.jpg
Dustin K doing his cooking duties. Dustin fed us all like we were lumber jacks --three well rounded meals a day,
http://www.avitale.com/Dustin.jpg
Jeff Bright enjoying a hot cup of coffee after getting up at O-Dark 30 for a morning of fishing.
http://www.avitale.com/JeffwCoffee.jpg
Taking a mid day lunch break on a rare break in the rain.
http://www.avitale.com/Lunch.jpg
Reuger hitch hiking a ride up river on one of our forays away from camp.
http://www.avitale.com/Rouger.jpg
Jeff and Dustin plan to expand this trip next year by at least one additional week. If anyone is interested, let me know and I will get you in touch with Jeff. It is the most affordable fishing venue I know of. I'm going back...see you up there........Anne