Nicholas Dean Outdoors | Terrace, BC, Canada

Fly fishing for giant Chinook on the Skeena River and its tributaries is, simply, a fun sport. Like most other forms of fishing, you have to know your quarry well, where they swim, some of their behavioural tendencies, and of course have the right tackle to pursue them. Guide Jeff Langley (pictured above) and I recently spent an afternoon targeting these fish, and though they were, for the most part, elusive, Jeff did manage to tangle with one briefly for a few moments before the giant Chinook was able to spit the fly. Today I wanted to take a few moments to describe my choice of tackle and tactics for fly fishing for Chinook in the Lower Skeena region.

To start off with, I used a 9143 Burkheimer Spey Rod that was wrapped by Martin Walker of Wind River Fly Rods. This rod is extremely powerful and has the necessary backbone to cast heavy lines and large flies, and subdue all but the largest Chinook. As with Steelhead fly fishing, my favourite reel is an Islander FR4, which has the capacity to hold 250 yards of backing, plus long, thick Spey lines. Though in most conditions I prefer longer belly lines such as mid-Speys, the Airflo Northwest Skagit was ideal for casting the 4 and 5 inch flies to Chinook. Depending on the water depth and speed, I favoured using lead core sink tips in lengths of 7.5 to 12.5 ft, from the Nicholas Dean Descension Sink Tip System. Having different lengths of lead core enabled me to adjust the drift of my fly to ensure that I was consistently in the Chinook strike zone, but always just off the bottom. Maxima ultragreen, in 15 or 20 lb test was my preferred tippet.


Chinook flies can take on several different forms, but one thing tends to remain: the flies are usually, large, very colourful and have lots of flash. If you were to take a look at my fly box below, in particular, you would see flies ranging from 3 to 6 inches, and the majority of these would be chartreuse, orange, blue, pink, purple, black, or some combination of each. The materials making up these flies are predominantly marabou and flash, which move a lot in the water and tend to work better than more rigid flies.


For determining the best holding water, look for a stretch of long, fast pocket water that is followed by a smoother, slower moving run. Like all migratory species, Chinook rest after negotiating a rough section of water, and it is in these slower pools and runs that they are most susceptible to flies. Within these slower runs, look for an inside seam which is slower than the main current. Indeed, when Jeff and I first arrived at a similar run, we saw a fish porpoise right away on the current seam, indicating that there were at least a few fish around. Just be sure that when you hook into one of these giant Chinook, you aren't afraid of sprinting a long ways down a bar...