Photo: Fishing the massively wide Skeena River near Terrace, B.C. Guide, Kevin, shoves off the jet boat as we're off to hit the next hole on a beautiful early April afternoon.
We’ve had lots of customers asking about how our hosted trip to the Skeena for spring steelhead faired here recently so here is a little trip report. Overall, however, it was pretty dang awesome!
We fished our butts off but were rewarded with some nice weather and really good fishing. One fortunate angler would also find himself posing for photos with the steelhead of a lifetime… and then an hour later he would land one even bigger! As always, none of this would be possible without our friends at Skeena River Lodge. Mucho appreciation goes out to them to say the least! Contact us to arrange a trip with Skeena River Lodge.
Photo: The main building at Skeena River Lodge includes a cocktail bar, the kitchen and dining room. This is where the fish stories abound. Numerous other buildings surround the main building including very nice individual guest cabins.
We arrived in Terrace, BC via a quick drive to Vancouver and an even quicker flight to Terrace. Within an hour we were at the lodge munching on hors d'oeuvres, sipping a cold one and enjoying the first of a week’s worth of stellar dinners.
We were blessed with great weather all week long with morning temps in the low 30’s and afternoons over 50-degrees. The rivers were a little on the low side but it was nice to not have much rain all week.
Photo credit: Guide Felix, Skeena River Lodge. This chromer hen started things off on the morning of our first day. Taken on an Orange and Pink Hoh Bo Spey. She plucked the fly four times on one swing. The next cast, she clobbered it.
We fished the main Skeena River and two other Terrace-area tributaries throughout the week. Most anglers were touching a fish or two each day. There were also a few ridiculous days, one of which I was lucky to be part of, where my fishing partner and I hooked a combined eight fish for the day, each landing three of them. That’s an amazing day for a winter steelhead trip! The next day, I wouldn’t touch a fish all day.
Each day, we’d leave the lodge by 6am and were usually on the water right about the time it was just light enough to operate a boat. We’d use either jet boats or rafts for transportation on the river, which one depending on which river. All fishing is swinging flies and Spey rods from 13’ to 14’ in 7wt or 8wt were the choice tools.
Photo: We were certainly blessed with nice weather and it was sure nice to have sun on your face most days after mornings in the high 20's.
Leaders are heavy with the guides encouraging the use of 20lb at a minimum. Sink tips are surprisingly light, especially when you consider the size of the main Skeena. But, it is a wide, flat river and most of our fishing locations were less than four feet deep.
Unweighted or lightly weighted flies were most appropriate for most of the waters we fished. The guide’s really like tubes but shanks or flies on traditional hooks all got some playing time. My most-used fly for the week was the good ol’ Hoh Bo Spey in Orange and Pink.
Photo: Kyler R put on a fish hooking show one morning, literally stopping his fishing so that I could go through the hole to catch up. Throughout the week we also fished a few tributaries in addition to the main Skeena River. Our guide, Brandon, is one of the most knowledgeable and impressive anglers I've ever met.
One day on the river our guide for the day, Kevin, started hooting about a text he had just received from Mike Van Wormer, guide and Sales Manager for Skeena River Lodge. I asked him what was up and he showed me the following photo. Don L from Florida had landed a monster!
Photo Credit: Mike Van Wormer, Skeena River Lodge. Don poses with a straight up monster. This was fish #1 of three that day on the same hole.
Don was upriver a few miles and fishing with Mike. Mike had Don fishing one of those spots that is hard to recognize until he explains it to you. Then, you say things like, “Ahhhh, yes. I see it”. This hole was a good one for most of the group throughout the week, but nobody would experience was Don L would accomplish there.
About an hour later, Kevin was hooting and hollering again. This time it was another text from Mike about Don. He landed his SECOND 20+ pounder out of the same hole! This fish, in the photo below, would wrestle out of Don’s hands before the full photo session could get underway, but look at the girth on that thing! THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why we go…
Photo Credit: Mike Van Wormer, Skeena River Lodge. Don's second fish was even larger but didn't stick around long for the photo session. He would hook and land a third fish soon after, but it was only like a 15-pounder. :-O
A fish of that size continues to evade me, but I did land one of the most fun steelhead I’ve ever had a chance to shake hands with. While fishing on a smaller tributary with guide, Justin, we made a short stop at an unusual location to rig up a rod for my fishing partner. Justin asked me to fish a very skinny piece of water while they rigged up the rod. He had spooked a good fish off the tailout the morning before and was shocked to see the fish sitting in gin-clear water only about 12-inches deep on a soft tailout. I must admit not having a ton of confidence when seeing how flat and shallow the water was, and did I mention GIN CLEAR water?!
Justin finished rigging up the rod and was now standing on a log behind me and elevated above the river a few feet. He is a very animated individual who is incredibly enthusiastic and entertaining just to listen to. He has created his own, very hilarious vocabulary and likes to use words like “starfished” to describe when you’re super tired and lay down on your bed.
Anyway, while fishing that shallow little pool with Justin behind me, he suddenly starts lighting up and yelling, “He’s waking! He’s waking! Do you see him?”. I couldn’t see what he was seeing but just then felt a sharp yank and watched the water swirl at the end of the line. It didn’t stick but I knew what just happened. The fish had followed the fly and nipped at it but didn't fully commit. Justin then started, in a slightly calmer tone, saying he was waking back to his original location at the tailout. The water was so shallow, this fish was pushing a wake just moving the 12 feet from one place to another.
Justin advised fishing the next presentation with a bit more speed on the fly so the fish would have to quickly react to it. I made the cast and corresponding adjustments to my mend. The fly quickly tracked broadside across the little pool. After only a few feet, Justin lit up like a firecracker once again. “Do you see it?! Do you see it?! He’s waking after it!!”. I couldn’t see it so I crouched down closer to the water to change my angle of view. Just as I did, I could see the wake after my fly. It was like one of those videos of the Orcas chasing seals up onto the beach! I had just enough time to recognize what was actually happening when I felt the line rip tight and see the water explode. When a 3-foot long fish gets hooked in 1-foot of water, it is quite the commotion!
Photo: This fish waked across the tailout TWICE to hit the fly, hooking up the second time. The skinny water on the tailout in the background of the photo is where he was sitting.
Justin let me name that hole since he’d never heard of anyone taking a fish there. I named it Orca.
There were lots of smiles on this trip. Steelhead fly fishing isn’t easy. Even when you’re in the best locations in the world, its still steelhead fly fishing. But that makes it all the more rewarding when things come together and result in memories you’ll have forever.
Many thanks to everyone that was on the trip and who always make it so much fun to share experiences and enthusiasm for this shared passion. Also, many thanks to our hosts at Skeena River Lodge, including the guides, managers, chefs, and everyone else. We look forward to seeing you again next year!
Michael Bennett
Pacific Fly Fishers