Fall Fishing With Westcoast Fishing Adventures! Coho and Steelhead Salmon!

Pierce Clegg with a fine Spring Steelhead guided by Gill Mckean of Westcoast Fishing Adventures

Coho fishing is slow, The Season will end October 31st, 2011.
The Steelhead season is still strong! Along with the Dolley Varden and Cut-Throat!
Inquiries are coming in daily in regards to our Epic Spring Steelhead Season, if you are considering a trip to experience for a lifetime, please call today. The last week of April is book up, Get a flight seat sale when you tell Hawk Air you are flying with Westcoast Fishing Adventures! Link attached to our web site www.westcoastfishing.ca.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Tight Lines! Gill
~Fishing is our addiction! Guiding is in our blood! Adventure is in our Blood!~

Fishing report for the Skeena river,Nass river, Kitimat river, Terrace BC

I just returned from a trip down south to the Thompson river, to shoot a fly fishing show with Mark Pendlington from sport fishing BC.  This time it was my turn to be shown a quality trout fishery, well guess what we missed the stone fly hatch by a week or so and the wind was blowing 80 km but we decided to launch the 18ft Clackacraft anyway, since I had just drove 15 hours.
What came of the trip? A few hook ups with some beautiful Thompson river rainbow trout, I also could not believe the sheer numbers of salmon Sockeye & Pinks swimming by us all day long. Then the real wind hit 80 km with out a doubt the worst I have seen, making it near impossible to row down the river.  There were waves at times all of 6ft high breaking! I said to Mark & Justin at one point "I feel like George Clooney from the perfect storm". However, if I was not already impressed with the 18 ft Clack, we all were at the end of the day and we lived to tell about the ride, but never got the footage we were looking for maybe net time.


The conditions in the Terrace area have been nothing more than tough to say the least.  On my trip home Sept 28 from Ashcroft, BC the Bulkley was blown as well as every other tributary clear down to the town of Terrace.

The Kalum river has been un-fishable since August and continues to be in the trees and over the banks in some areas.

Copper river is living up to its name Copper in color and unfishable.

Kitimat river has been high & very dangerous for anyone with out rafting experience, as there are some new channels being cut daily as well as new log jams. We have been doing some lake fishing while we wait for the water to recede.

The Kasiks river has been high, but fishable off and on we are looking forward to the cooler temps October will bring as the rain will turn to snow, making the water drop and giving us one last shot at some Steelhead & Coho salmon on the Fly. This is my report for Sept 29 /2011 and it continues to rain at this time.

Tight Lines!

Fishing is our Addiction! Guiding is our Passion! Adventure is in our Blood!
Gill McKean 1-866-578-8552, info@westcoastfishing.ca www.westcoastfishing.ca

Fly fishing the Skeena,Kitimat,Nass rivers for Coho salmon & steelhead

Our fly fishing season review to date August has felt much like September with cooler temps we have seen great water conditions with great runs of all species. Steelhead, Coho salmon, Pink salmon,Chum salmon,Chinook salmon, Sockeye salmon. Well with that said the rain has started flushing out the old Pinks,Chum and any other tired salmon bringing in the silver Coho & Steelhead what a problem to have.

We have been very busy with guests from all around the world most of our groups have been fly fishing with many of them fishing the double handed rods or willing to learn after observing how easy a T 14 tip with a big fly can be fished with ease. As the bulk of the fish make there way up the Skeena river to there native rivers / streams we continue to enjoy great catches of all Salmon & Steelhead.

The rivers are on the rise this week with some heavy rain in the forecast this can make the fishing a little tough however it has its plus side more fresh fish .... All rivers in the region 6 area are stuffed with fish just pay attention to regulations or hire a good guide and you will see and do things you will never forget.


We still have some open spots for Steelhead, Coho, Rainbow trout during September /October please feel free to contact us with any ? you might have about the Terrace area.
Tight Lines Gill McKean

BC fishing report

The Skeena river is now on the drop and fishing is hot.  There are Chinook Salmon, Steelhead & Sockeye in the system at the moment. We are guiding almost every day with just a few openings available for any of you last minute fishers.

Our guided area covers most rivers of Northern British Columbia, Canada including Kalum River, Skeena River and tributaries, Nass River and tributaries also Rainbow trout fishing, remote lakes and other coastal rivers including the Kitimat River and Salt Water charters out of the ports of Kitimat and Prince Rupert. Our fishing packages are the most diverse fishing adventures you will find in the business, we have over 15 years experience on these Northern rivers, unlike some of the local booking agents in the Terrace area, we do not sit in our basement booking trips for others, we get out on the water daily to collect real fishing reports to give you the most accurate information me can provide.

Babine river Rainbow alley catch !

There is a rod day cap on most region 6 waters for guides only, this restricts some guides to access certain waters, however we have guide friends we will hook you up with the best in the business. We also have more working knowledge of the unclassified rivers in the Skeena region than any other in the business and for good reason, we only guide on unclassified  uncrowded water. Most classified rivers in BC are flowing through more urban areas or they are accessible by motor vehicle, they may have great Steelhead fishing, however they are also very crowded during the peak times of the season. At Westcoast Fishing Adventures we look for new water to find solitude for our guests to enjoy a special spot in Northern BC.  We look forward to helping you plan your next fishing vacation.


In addition to booking a guided fishing trip to the Terrace and Kitimat BC area, we also book exclusive helicopter fishing and helicopter adventure along the whole west coast of British Columbia. These trips include heli fishing, helicopter sport fishing, helicopter fly fishing, helicopter spey fishing and helicopter family adventure, luxury fishing vacations, luxury family vacations, wilderness vacations, corporate retreat all based out of a luxury adventure, wilderness resorts. Investigate the great bear rain forest. Lunch is served on top of the world on our beautiful glaciers.
Here is a list of waters that I book guided fishing trips on:

    Above is a photo taken By Mandi McDougal  of a rare Kermode Bear also known as the Spirit Bear.




North Coast:
Skeena River (all four sections 1-2-3-4), Kalum River (upper and lower sections), Zymoetz (Copper) River, Exstew River, Zymacord (Zymagotitz) River, Kasiks River, Exchamsiks River, Ecstall River, Kitimat River, Giltoyees Creek, Kemano River, Kildala River, Kitlope River, Nass River, Cranberry River, Kiteen River, Ishkheenickh River, Kincolith River, Meziadin River, Bell-Irving River and Kwinamass River. I will book other rivers by request such as Babine River, Kispiox River, Bulkley River and Morice River or any other river in BC. I book both classified rivers and non-classified rivers. Prince Rupert ocean fishing and Kitimat (Douglas Channel) ocean charters for Halibut, Bottom Fish and Dungeness Crab.

If you have found this site and read this you are half way to an Adventure of a life time. 
Tight Lines Gill McKean


Our fishing packages  www.westcoastfishing.ca
www.skeenariversteelhead.com

Babine Rainbow Alley update / Skeena river report

Hello all.  I just returned from Rainbow Alley, what a trip, this place never disapoints.  We had steady action in the evening & early mornings, and I mean early-3:00 am.  It's light and the fish are on the bight. 
This spring was late coming, so the Rainbows are still feeding on the Sockeye salmon fry; they hit on a fast swing so this means a down river mend, drop your tip and hang on.  Much like the Sockeye flossing technique on the Skeena river in August, except we are using dry lines weight 5/6 rods, 12 ft leader tapered to 4 pound test.  There has been a small stone fly hatch when we had a little warmer weather, but that was short lived.  However, we will get some sunny days and look out, this spot is like no other, it comes alive with Beautiful rainbow trout!  Average size 1 pound up to 3 pounds, I know their are bigger as I have been broke off  : (

Had an opportunity to hang our with Cory from Webflyz, great guy, with a passion for tying flies as his creativety changes the industry, bringing some very cool patterns for Halibut, please feel free to visit his site and place your order at www.webflyz.com great prices for quality flies.


Also the Skeena river , Kitimat river , Nass river  Rivers are all on the drop, and starting to fish.  The Cranberry river is getting some great fish as well, float fishing eggs is most productive. The Skeena is now fishing well using a variety of methods Back bouncing, Plunking, Kwick fish, Hot shots, Jet divers lur Jensen make all this possible.

The Kitimat river has been incredible, the water is perfect for swinging a fly we have been enjoying 20 to 30 pound fish, this being the average size Chinook Salmon with some tipping the scales at 50 plus.  It is early, the Big Boys will be in the Skeena river starting Mid July Through August.

If you are looking for a professional fishing guide we still have a few open dates please feel free to contact us to reserve your spot.
www.skeenariversteelhead.com
www.westcoastfishing.ca
www.webflyz.com

1-866-578-8552 toll free
Tight Lines
Gill McKean

Babine Rainbow Alley update / Halibut on the Douglas Channel

Darren & Missy with a steelhead on the Kalum river.

Darren & Missy with a halibut on the Douglas Channel.

 Hello all…

A couple of nice photo forwards from Stan Hislop who was on hand to help this cripple and do some fishing too!  If fact Stan is my angler hero…here he is helping out while at home he and his wife, Glenda, have their 30th wedding anniversary apart…we did visit my Uncle Bill and use his radio phone to call Glenda, sing her the song, etc., but there’s more…while Stan missed the anniversary, he also missed the birth of his latest grandchild…both of these things knowingly.  Angler priorities…got to love it.

Jesse is on hand and seems more interested in fishing this season so the second photo shows him with his catch…Jesse has also hooked two fish off the lodge dock, patiently casting and sometimes just sitting there waiting for the strike.

Darren and Missy visited as well and Missy still have the mojo for catching the biggest fish…trout this time instead of steelhead.  But you should have seen the look on her face when she and both Riley (new guide) and Chris (new Trout Lodge housekeeper) all added a healthy amount of DaBomb hot sauce to their hot dogs…now I know of only two humans who can eat this hot sauce without so much as a flinch but all others are in tears, look very uncomfortable and often have to leave the table to have that personal moment of suffering….so  all three had their moments but Missy looked like she had seen her last cast.

Flooding, well yes we are still in flood stage…as of a few days ago Babine Lake was four inches below the highest water level I have witnessed since 1985 and still rising slightly per day.  I haven’t visited the camp in two weeks so I don’t know what’s going on there but I assume some flooding there and hopefully not too much for her to take.  Some of our cabins at the lodge have water just about to the doorstep so like the 1997 season, it will be a high water season.  1997 was a great season for catching fish so we hope for the same this season as well.  Our first guests for the Trout Lodge arrive June 16th and the river, although high, is clean on the upper end including Nilkitkwa Lake and the lower river until you reach Nichyeskwa Creek so we will have almost our full angling area ready to go for opening day and we are lucky to have that.

Some yellow stoneflies have been on the upper river so the dry fly season has just begun, and there is still salmon fry and smolt migrating through the upper river as well.  The weather luckily has been cool and no rain so the water clarity for our trout season is good.  Safe boating will be a key concern around the weir this season as our anchors or any anchors will not hold in that area, but the fish will be there and so will we.

Had a good check up with my knee surgeon so all is well and I am good to go…full recovery is still in the future but the future looks brighter every week…by this fall I should be my reckless crazy self again, sorry! Ha!

Pierce

PS  Forgot to mention a brilliant idea Stan came up with…smoked morel mushrooms.  While Anita, I and our full staff were still yet to arrive at the lodge, Stan picked a five gallon bucket of morels, smoked them in our smokehouse and then Anita made this morel mushroom soup with the smoked morels added in.  That was the best mushroom soup ever and combine that with smoked sockeye salmon from the Fraser River provided by Stan, fresh halibut and crab from Prince Rupert provided by Darren and Missy, and Anita’s fine cooking…well there is only one Babine and one goodwill effort like that!  Stacy Barto is the only other one in this department…

Babine / Nilkitkwa trout fishing upate !

Hello all…

Been working hard to set up my Mom’s cabin and begin setting up the Trout Lodge, but with help from friends, Stan Hislop (photo attached) and Jack DeVries plus a short visit from our son, Julius, and then a few days with our new Trout Lodge housekeeper, Chris George.  Talk about weather…rain on snow…major flooding on the Bulkley River and Babine Lake’s tributaries are running full with a rare report of flooding at Pinkut Creek, a Salmon Enhancement Project feeding Babine Lake.  This could be a rival to 1997 and 2007 since so much snow pack is still in the mountains and some lower sections of the valleys too.  The latest weather forecast is much better with sunny warm skies but that warmth could also produce snowmelt at just the wrong time for the Bulkley and our Steelhead Camp.

The fishing on Rainbow Alley is picking up nicely with Stan, Julius, Chris and I enjoying some nice catches of which some went straight to the frying pan…I think the best tasting trout anywhere.  From my Mom’s cabin we could see daily improvement in the number of feeding fish plus the largest trout are starting to move in as well.  The fry are hatching so it’s great to use a floating fly line with a salmon fry pattern and that’s all you need for a good time.  We are very fortunate to have the 110 mile long Babine Lake to stabilize the water clarity and flows, otherwise there wouldn’t be any fishing at all.  So far the creeks are holding in terms of putting out clean water rather than dirty so we are also lucky there…the rain has been light and steady but on the Bulkley watershed, steady and harder so many homeowners are being evacuated as of yesterday.

Another positive Babine note is the mushroom (Morel) production from all the rains…they will be and are popping up everywhere so we added that delicacy in with our fresh trout and of course Molson Canadian beer and Crown Royal.  Stan is staying at the Trout Lodge now, enjoying the solitude, our dog Sawsha, great fishing and he has plans to not only smoke some fish in our smokehouse, but also morels!  June 1st we will have full staff and lots of projects to do for our first guests arriving June 16th…we still have one full service package open June 16-22 so don’t let the weather and flooding reports stop you from experiencing the Babine on any day…we will be there enjoying the fruits of an incredible watershed that provides opportunities like no other…plus with Anita’s fine cooking and the charm of living in a log lodge and cabins built before I was born, well, it doesn’t get any better…”There is only one Babine.”

www.westcoastfishing.ca        

www.skeenariversteelhead.com

Pierce