SUMMARY: Angling for all Salmon, in our rivers, is over for another year signified by the Coho closure on October 31. In general I think it was a good year. Steelhead is the only target fish now along with the smaller resident Cutthroat Trout, Dolly Varden Char, Bull Trout and White Fish.

Rain started mid week and got heavy by Thursday and blew-out all of the rivers in the northwest. Time to tie more flies and get your gear ready for when things clean up. There was a major flood threat in Kitimat. See the Ron Wakita report below.

FISHING GUIDE REPORTS FOR THIS WEEK ARE FROM:

Ron Wakita, Ariel Kuppers and Tracey Hittel

CURRENT REPORT and summary for Skeena and Tributaries:

Type of fish caught: Coho, Steelhead, Trout and Dolly Varden Char for river. Salmon, Halibut, Bottom Fish and Dungeness Crab for ocean.

Thank you for using barbless hooks!

LARGEST FISH OF THE WEEK: River: none reported this week. Ocean: none reported this week.

Weather: Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Periods of rain beginning late this afternoon. High plus 5. Sunrise 7:37 AM Sunset 4:59 PM. Today's yearly average temperatures: Maximum 8 degrees. Minimum 2 degrees.

Skeena River: due to the heavy rain the water in not fishable. The heavy rains stopped by Saturday and the river is starting to shape up again.

Kalum River: due to the heavy rain the water in not fishable.

Kasiks River: is closed for Coho fishing as of October 31.

EXCHAMSIKS RIVER: is closed for Coho fishing as of October 31.

EXSTEW RIVER: is closed for Coho fishing as of October 31.

Zymoetz (Copper) River: due to the heavy rain the water is not fishable but coming back into shape.

Fishing Report from: Ron Wakita of Reliable Guide and Charters

KITIMAT RIVER: Earlier this week the Kitimat River was in pretty good shape and anglers were able to get out and fish for Trout.

Oct 27 Ariel Kuppers was out fishing on Tuesday and managed to hook five Trout but was not able to land any. Ariel intended to keep one Trout which he had planned to be the main course for his lunch. Ariel said, "I very seldom keep any Trout and I never take a bag, the one time I take a bag and want to keep one, I can't land one!" I guess Ariel must have settled for hamburger or chicken because fresh Trout didn't happen…The photo is a sympathy photo of a Trout that Ariel caught and released last week. The rest of the Trout that are reported in this report are the ones that got away.....Such is life in the North West.

Oct 27 Kitimat Pump House Pool

Oct 29 We received our first snow fall but the Kitimat River was still in good shape.

Oct 30 Almost overnight the Kitimat River rose 7 or 8' according to the River height station. Wow! Radley Park was flooded and the river was in the trees. (Photo Credits to Jennifer Gunyon)

Oct 31 The Kitimat River dropped 6' in 24 hours. We can get drastic fluctuations in river height during this time of year but the change in heights this week was unbelievable! Only a few times in my lifetime of living in Kitimat have I seen the river come up this high. The amazing feature of this week's occurrence was how fast the Kitimat rose and how fast she dropped. The high tides would also have an influence but all I can say is Wow! The Saving Grace is that no life or property that I am aware of was lost due to this freak episode. Thank Goodness!

Summary: With the Kitimat River higher than high, she was also naturally very dirty and fishing was not an option in the latter part of this week. We could only marvel at the power and force of the high water as we watched 60' Spruce trees raging down the Kitimat River. After marveling at Mother Nature, the reality of life in the North West this time of year took precedent. Checking Antifreeze levels, putting the lawn mower away and bringing out the snow blower and the list goes on. After taking care of the change of season issues I spent some time preparing for when the rivers in the North West drop and become fishable. One of the items on the "Things to do List" was to cure up some roe for this Fall/Winter Steelhead season on the Skeena and for the Spring Steelhead season on the Kitimat River.

I usually use Redd Hot Bait Cure made by Procure Inc. but I thought I would try this new product called BorX O' Fire made by Pautzke Bait Company. I intend to use a little of both and let the Steelhead decide which they prefer. Stay tuned!

After I cure the roe, I usually vacuum seal the roe with Tilia Food Saver. I love this machine! Especially for the roe that I am curing for next spring's Steelhead fishery on the Kitimat River. The Right product and the Right tools for the job make an Anglers life a lot easier and a lot more productive. The proof is in the pictures which I hope to have available for these Fishing Reports.

DOUGLAS CHANNEL: With the enormous Rainfall we received, we also received some high winds that prevented even the most hard core boaters from venturing out in the Douglas Channel. Most boaters made an extra trip down to the Marinas to check their boats, fire up the engines to charge their batteries and maybe tie on an extra dock line.

Anglers who leave their boats in the water for the Winter Chinook fishery are accustomed to checking their boats on a regular basis. Such is Life in the North West! We are all waiting for the Winter Chinook fishery to start. Stay Tuned!

Thank You to everyone for providing photos and info for this Fishing Report.

We are booking for next year. Any interested anglers please contact Noel Gyger noel@noelgyger.ca

Hope everyone enjoyed the Fishing Report.
Good Luck! and Good Health!
Sincerely
Ron Wakita

Fishing Report from: Steelhead Heaven

October 21, 2009 Steelhead Report

Our fall season of Steelheading produced chrome bright fish and the spey anglers who joined us on Upper Kalum had a ball.

Landing close to 100 Coho from bright silver to fire engines they were a joy to watch as the fellas were all smiles during the past week.

Attached are pics of repeat clients, with some of the catches of Skeena system Steelhead. The rivers were in perfect shape and quite low, clarity at its peak. The Steelhead chasing flies on the strip before another cast was simply brilliant.

Our clients spent many hours casting and flawlessly was what impressed me the most. I actually felt bad dragging these guys off the water at dark kicking and screaming to make just a few more casts, what an effort.

Booking for March Steelheading as well for the entire 2010 season please book your group early to secure your dates.

Area River Records: Chinook Salmon: Skeena River, 92.5-pounds; Kalum River, 85-pounds; Kitimat River, 74-pounds; Steelhead: Skeena River, 45-pounds; Coho Salmon: Skeena River, 27-pounds.

GUEST FISHING PHOTOS:

Oct 25 Hello Noel, yes please use whatever part of my story and pictures that you find will work for you and don't hesitate to edit out anything in the story to fit your newsletter. You can't imagine how much I love to see your report in my mail box here at work and at home, I read and look at it every week at both places, it sure helps put that spark in my heart for what I refer to as "My Shangrala". Use whatever you like and keep my interest up sending your reports, like I said I love it. Take care. Bill Johnson

Oct 22 Hello Noel, I just thought I would send you this photo it was the last fish of my trip late Monday night (10/19/09) as the light started to fade. As I was fighting the fish I looked up river to the bridge to see if anyone was watching me battle this guy and finally noticed that I was but alone with this nice buck and my imagination wondering when the bears might step out of my side of the river, (river left.) I took the photo and kept fishing, a few more casts and I was into another, possible a bit bigger but only for one good enormous leap from the water and it was off. I made one or two more casts and the fear of me alone on the beautiful Babine River and the noises coming from my mind I decided it was time to start my 1700 mile journey back to the cold desert of Utah.

What a great trip Noel I only fished the Babine due to several reasons with one being I knew I couldn't do any better than I was there and the other knowing the water was down much lower everywhere else, I do wish I had spent a day or so on the Bulkley River since it was so close and it being the river I first fished in B.C. Brad missed a great year but we all have our priorities with me putting off surgery on my rotator cuff by a month being the best decision I could have made. On the trip home I realized that my days on these glorious beautiful rivers of British Columbia are numbered and I need to take every opportunity to fish over these most wonderful fish I started to think "how soon can I come back?" "Just turn the van around Bill"

I'll send a photo along later of my largest this year (39"x 20") I just wish someone could have taken a photo of me holding it, oh well. Hope to see you maybe this next spring, take care Noel.
Bill Johnson

P.S. A true Steelhead fisherman is one that thinks of Steelhead everyday of his life even at times if it's just for a moment. For someone living in an environment that receives only 7" of moisture a year you got to know Noel, I love steelheading. "Long live the fish I love and the places that hold them."

Hi Noel, Take a look at some nice BC fish. We have much more excellent pictures, but all of them should be edited first. Fish don't require any editing! Enjoy, Genady Davidov.

PS. Biggest fish was 39x22, estimated just under 25-pounds.

Note from Noel: the following two nice pics were sent from Genady Davidov. Genady and his two friends from Russia returned this year for another guided fishing trip with their favorite fishing guide Dustin Kovacvich. Dustin guided them on a variety of rivers for Coho and Steelhead. I will post a few more of Genady's pics over the winter.

About the Author

Noel F. Gyger Back to: http://noelgyger.ca/past-fishing-reports.htm Home page: www.noelgyger.ca

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