Skeena River Chinook - the Last Few Weeks

Big, bright, strong and over 40 lbs - a somewhat typical Skeena River Chinook Salmon just in from the salt chuck. Lloyd Martin Photo

With water levels dropping and clarity significantly better than previous weeks, Chinook fishing on the mainstem Skeena in the last week of July and first week of August was nothing short of incredible.  An average day saw 6 to 12 fish hooked, and the best day, experienced by father and son duo, Bill Stanberry and BJ Stanbery, was an amazing 22 fish hooked and 15 landed! Average size was 20 to 40 lbs, with many in the 45 to 55 lb range.  The Skeena sure is one amazing fishery - there aren't many places in the world where you can find fishing like this for trophy Chinook!  Even though our main 2011 Chinook fishery is now closed, there is still some great fishing to be had just outside Terrace.  Or, if you'd like to consider a trip for 2012, email me, or check out our Trophy Chinook brochure for more information.  Here's a few of the better fish our clients caught during the last two weeks:

Doug Martin joined his brother Lloyd for his first ever BC fishing experience, and what an experience it was!  Doug outfished his brother on a few days, and got one 60 lb monster too.  Lloyd Martin photo

Sky Richard with an average Skeena River Chinook Salmon - about 35 lbs. Lloyd Martin photo

You know it's a big fish because two grown men strain to lift it!  This is Doug's big 60 lb Skeena River Chinook. Lloyd Martin photo

Well over 40 lbs. BJ Stanbery photo

Mid 30s. BJ Stanbery photo

A chrome 45 lb Chinook for Bill Stanberry. BJ Stanbery photo

A 60 lb Chinook for Bill Stanberry - his biggest fish of the week. BJ Stanbery photo

Dustin Kovacvich and BJ Stanbery are both very tall men - 6'6" and 6'5" respectively - and this Skeena River Chinook still looks huge!  A good one in the mid 50s. Bill Stanberry photo

Even when the water was high, Sky Richard and his guest, Bill Kalm were able to find some fish on the Kalum River, by fishing seams just off the bank.  Bill Kalm photo

Bill Kalm is all smiles after landing this mid 20s Kalum River Chinook.

More Chinook Fly Fishing on the Kitimat and Copper Rivers!

This absolutely stunning 40 lb Chinook Salmon was caught by Jeff Bright on the Kitimat River a few short weeks ago - his biggest fish ever!  And yes, it was caught while swinging a large fly on a spey rod!  Chinook Salmon are absolutely outstanding game fish on the fly, and while it's never easy, putting your dues in for a fish like this sure is worth it in my books.  jeffbright.com photo

Same fish, different angle.  Kitimat River Chinook sure are girthy, and mean.  This fish took Jeff downstream through two pools, and his guide, Sky Richard, had to give chase with the raft, manoeuvring around logs, stumps and other mid stream obstructions.  jeffbright.com photos

A classic portrait Jeff Bright portrait shot of a bright Kitimat River Chinook and the chartreuse fly that fooled it. jeffbright.com photo

Here's a good selection of Chinook flies for using on the Kitimat, Skeena and Copper Rivers.  Big, bright and flashy is often what works best, though of course you need to factor in local water conditions too.  Chinook seem to have a soft spot for chartreuse, blue, purple and orange.

Joakim Sjoholm Lennart landed this 30 lb Chinook on the Kitimat River last weekend, by slowly stripping a chartreuse bead head fly through a slow moving back channel.  Such edges and seams are great spots for Chinook to rest on their upstream migration and it's here that they're most receptive to flies.

Don Nelson fighting a Chinook on the Kitimat River and trying to keep it out of the wood.  jeffbright.com photo

That's Don Nelson and Nicholas Dean Lodge guide, Sky Richard with a feisty 30 lb Chinook. jeffbright.com photo

The Copper River is an excellent river to target Chinook Salmon on the fly, and Joakim landed this 20 lb fish at one of the first pools he fished.  Nice work, Joakim!

All in all, it's been a very successful couple of weeks targeting Chinook on the fly, and this season lasts until the end of the month.  Check back again soon for more updates!

Epic Chinook Fly Fishing!

Few moments in fly fishing are as electric as the grab of a large Chinook (King) Salmon.  Here, Don Nelson and Nicholas Dean guide Sky Richard pose with a 30 lb Chinook caught while swinging a large fly on one of the Kitimat River's numerous seams.

Fly Fishing for Chinook Salmon was nothing short of epic last week here at Nicholas Dean Lodge!  Jeff Bright - writer, conservationist and Nicholas Dean trip host - joined us last week with long time repeat guest, Don Nelson to sample the Chinook Salmon fishing that the Skeena region has to offer.  In short,  they hooked thirteen Chinook last week and landed eight, averaging 25 lbs.  Jeff also managed to land a monster, bright chrome fish that is deserving of its own story, to be continued in another post...

Fly fishing for Chinook is never easy and in some sense you could say that they're sometimes even more difficult to hook than Steelhead.  But, when conditions align like they did last week for Jeff and Don, the rewards are often BIG!  Big game fly fishing, indeed...

Don's first Chinook of the week - a bright 20 lb fish.

Swinging a fly through a soft pocket, Don Nelson landed this fish after a 45 minute battle.

The Kitimat River sees a number of "Jacks" - smaller Chinook less than 65 cm in length.  What they lack in size they do make up for in aggressiveness and fight!

Sky and Don with another Jack Chinook Salmon.

A great way to cap off the trip for Don - a 30 lb Chinook from the depths of a small side channel seam.

Nicholas Dean Lodge Promotions

Chinook Salmon have long been called the "King" of Salmon, and for very good reason. These fish are the largest of the Pacific Salmonids, and can reach weights of 100 lbs or more. Science has shown that the largest of these species, for some unknown reason, spend an extra year in the Ocean, giving them more time to feed and grow. The Skeena River, in particular, is blessed with a robust run of these large multi year fish and, as a result, can provide some of the very best Chinook fishing in the world. And, because these massive fish are concentrated in the margins of the river, you have a better chance of hooking into a trophy here than anywhere else. So if you've ever considered going on a trip for large, tackle busting fish, and you have some holiday time booked off this year in June or July, this is your opportunity. We are now offering a 5% discount off the regular main lodge package rates for the following weeks:

~ June 29 to July 5, 2008
~ July 6 to 12, 2008
~ July 13 to 19, 2008

These dates are set in the middle of our prime time Chinook fishing season, and we expect that the remaining spaces will fill up quickly. Contact me at the lodge at (250) 635-5295 or email me at chadblack@nicholasdean.com to reserve your space today. For more information on our Trophy Chinook package, please click here.

Who knows, you could be the next angler in line to set one of the "Nicholas Dean Lodge 2008 Records," or, better yet, a world record...

Nicholas Dean Lodge Weekly Fishing Report - No. 476

Hello Anglers,

I'm happy to report that I can finally say, "hello from sunny Terrace, BC." It's been an unusually cool spring this year, so having several warm, sunny days in a row has been a definite plus. The delay in warmer weather has also had its own implications, however, as it appears that the early runs of Summer Chinook Salmon that typically appear in late May and early June are late in arriving. Over the weekend, and for several days this week, we had clients out fishing on the Skeena and Kitimat Rivers, and though a few fish were caught, it's been slow fishing for this time of year. The Skeena River still remains high even though its levels are dropping, and was borderline fishable last week. The the Kitimat was at the opposite end of the spectrum. Owing to its relatively small watershed when compared to the Skeena drainage, the Kitimat tends to rise and fall faster than the Skeena, so conditions between the two rivers are often quite different. Last week, the Kitimat was low, clean and dropping - not necessarily the best conditions for bringing fresh Chinook in from the Ocean. However, Ron Wakita of City Centre Hardware in Kitimat, has mentioned that there have been some higher than normal tides, which should bring more fresh fish into the rivers. Moreover, with all the rain forecast for the weekend, flows in the Kitimat will likely rise and bring with it a wave of fish waiting in the Douglas Channel harbour. And, as the season progresses, the Chinook run will continue to build, and provide more reliable fishing for anglers wanting to feel the headshakes of a heavy fish...

Over the last week, we've also had a few "celebrities" in our boats. Gionata Paolicchi, a renowned journalist and writer from Italy, as well as famous soccer player, Ighli Vanucchi, joined our friend and Italian booking agent, Stefano Gay, of Le Reve House Adventures (www.lerevehouseadventure.com), for 4 days of fishing. Gionata has been an avid angler throughout his lifetime, and has written for several different magazines in Italy. Ighli is a famous midfielder and also team captain for Empoli, and fishing just so happens to be his favourite pastime when not training or playing soccer. Both anglers were successful in hooking into Chinook last week on the Ocean and in the Kitimat. After a slow first day of fishing on the Skeena, we arranged for them to fish with guide Wes Owen aboard his boat in Douglas Channel, and Ighli started the day off right by landing a 28 lb chrome Chinook. Not long after, Gionata followed up with another Chinook around 20 lbs. When Chinook Salmon are bright and in good physical condition, they are renowned for their fight whether it is in the Ocean, or the river, and this day was no exception. When I picked up Gionata, Ighli, Stefano and group in Kitimat, you could tell that they felt a little more rejuvenated after having a successful day on the Ocean, and tying into Chinook for which the northwest is well known for.

On a different note, you never really know what a day of fishing can bring, whether it's the number of fish caught, or other rare, humourous expriences. After having dinner one night, I asked Stefano if the group had had a chance to take some good photos. In response, Gionata picked up his laptop and we started going through several of the photos. There were some great pictures of fish and of the group, scenic river shots, and panoramas, but there were a few pictures of a bald eagle that caught my eye. Earlier that day on the Kitimat, one of the guests had been fishing a spoon, and a small trout had been hooked. Without warning, this particular bald eagle swooped down to the river's edge and scooped up the trout in its talons and flew off. Well, it's not every day that you see this happen, but it's even more rare to actually see your line flying through the air! With the hook from the spoon still embedded in the trout's mouth, it was a precarious situation, as you certainly didn't want the hook to come out of the fish and into the eagle. So, Sky decided to take action, and I will always have the picture that followed etched into my mind. On a large gravel bar, Sky is holding a stout Chinook spinning rod, which is bent quite heavily down to the cork, and at the other end of the photo, a large eagle is flying desperately in the opposite direction, trying to get away from the force that is pulling on its prized catch. Luckily, for both the eagle and Sky and the guests, the eagle dropped the fish and wasn't hooked. I guess you never really know what to expect on a day of fishing...

If you are interested in receiving the Nicholas Dean Lodge Weekly Fishing Report directly, you can sign up by clicking here.

Until next week, tight lines and screaming reels.

Chad Black
Operations Manager
Nicholas Dean Lodge
http://www.nicholasdean.com/
chadblack@nicholasdean.com
(250) 635-5295