Our Fisheries
Campbell River is an incredibly diverse place to fly fish as it hosts a variety of trout species, all 5 species of pacific salmon, as well as steelhead that can all be targeted at certain times of the year. There are endless opportunities for lake fishing, rivers around every corner, and an endless coastline, all of which boast many different opportunities and species! Here is a brief overview of some of our most popular fisheries!
Sea Run Cutthroat
Rods
9’ - 10’ single hand rods in a 5wt - 6wt, switch rods in 4wt – 6wt. Fast action rods are best for casting in wind and achieving distance.
Here on the coast of Vancouver Island, we are blessed with a fantastic saltwater cutthroat trout fishery! These are cutthroat trout that have left their natal streams to feed in saltwater. They provide a very interactive fishery as they can be seen feeding and chasing bait along the shoreline. This is absolutely a must do if you are visiting the area as it is certainly one of our favourite species to chase.
Reels
Semi-sealed or fully sealed reels with machined aluminum frames are recommended for saltwater use. Cast frame reels are not as durable and more susceptible to corrosion. Choose a reel that balances your rod the best!
Presentation
We recommend floating lines that can handle small to medium flies, or the occasional intermediate sinking poly-leader if it’s windy and wavy. Heavy butt tapered leaders will help turnover flies at distance or in the wind, 9 foot, 2X, 3X or 4X leaders will do the trick.
Saltwater Pink &
Coho Salmon
Beach fishing for salmon before they enter freshwater is a must do on Vancouver Island and especially here in Campbell River. Salmon will stage and wait for rain at river estuaries before they begin their spawning run, making them vulnerable to us fly anglers walking the beaches and estuaries looking to intercept them. This is a thrilling and rewarding fishery that doesn’t always come easy, it takes patience and effort, good casting and even better presentation. Although there are days that fish jump all around and can be caught seemingly at will, the most successful anglers are those who anticipate and key in on the most subtle disturbances on the surface. Pink salmon are smaller and known for being an easier target and very willing biters, with the coho being the high stakes high reward target!
Rods
9’ - 10’ single hand rods in 6wt – 8wt, switch rods in 5wt – 7wt. Fast action rods are best for casting in wind and achieving distance.
Reels
Semi-sealed or fully sealed reels with machined aluminum frames are recommended for saltwater use. Cast frame reels are not as durable and more susceptible to corrosion. Large arbor reels with smooth drags are recommended for fighting salmon.
Presentation
We recommend floating lines that can handle small to medium flies, or the occasional intermediate sinking poly-leader if it’s wavy. Heavy butt tapered leaders will help turnover flies at distance or in the wind, 9 – 12 foot, 3X – 1X leaders for pink salmon, 9 – 15 foot, 2X – 0X tapered leaders for coho.
Campbell River Pink Salmon
Rods
9’ – 10’ single hand rods in 6wt – 8wt, switch or spey rods in 5wt – 7wt. Medium to medium fast action rods are often preferred when needing to cast sink tips.
The Campbell River is famous for its pink salmon run with returns sometimes reaching as many as 2 million fish! This of course makes for some incredible fishing and makes for a great fishery to learn how to fly fish as there is no shortage of opportunity!
Reels
Large arbour reels pick up line faster when fighting salmon, for switch and spey rods it’s a good idea to go up a size or two to accommodate shooting heads. A reel with a smooth drag will help protect your tippet and leader when fighting fish that jump and run hard.
Presentation
We prefer shooting head systems for river salmon fishing as this allows us to fish a variety of different sinking tips depending on how deep or fast the water is. Skagit shooting heads are designed for casting sink tips and bigger flies and will give you the most versatile setup, Scandinavian shooting heads will be better for distance, smaller flies, and give you a softer presentation when casting. When fishing sink tips we generally use between 4 and 8 feet of tippet, 1X or 2X tippet will be good for pink salmon.
River Trout Fishing
Trout fishing our local rivers has no shortage of variety. There are small populations of rainbow trout in lots of places, and all our coastal systems will have sea run cutthroat trout seasonally or even year-round. You’re best fishing seasons are timed with the salmon life cycle, in the spring the salmon fry and smolts will be heading to the ocean and the trout key in on this migration, and in the fall the trout will heavily key in on salmon eggs while the salmon are spawning.
Rods
9’ – 10’ single hand rods in 3wt – 5wt, 10’ – 11’ euro-nymphing rods in 2wt – 6wt, 10’6” – 12’6” switch and spey rods in 3wt – 5wt.
Reels
A reel that balances your rod is important, perhaps choosing a reel that’s a size up or down will balance your rod better. We recommend asking us at the store for recommendations or asking to try and put a few reels on the rod you are purchasing to test its balance. For euro-nymphing rods it is strongly recommended to use a full cage reel to prevent the ultra thin nymphing lines from slipping behind the spool and into the reel.
Presentation
We generally recommend all purpose floating lines, or Scandinavian shooting heads for river trout fishing, or euro-nymphing rigs, however there is a large range of tactics and lines that serve different purposes, we recommend chatting with us in the shop to help you get paired with a setup that will work for you.
Stillwater Fishing
Vancouver Island has more than 50 stocked lakes that have rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, or kokanee. Plus, hundreds of other lakes that contain wild coastal cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and even some dolly varden in select places. Some lakes are stocked with catchable size rainbow trout and often have fishing docks and good watercraft access for easy fishing opportunities. Other lakes are trophy managed lakes which are often fertilized and intended to provide anglers with opportunity to catch trophy sized trout.
Rods
9’ – 10’ single hand rods in 4wt – 6wt. Stillwater rods are often fast action to cast sinking lines at great distances.
Reels
Stillwater anglers often choose cassette reels that have interchangeable spools, this allows them to have a variety of floating and sinking lines.
Presentation
To optimize your time on the water, it is a good idea to have a few options for fly lines. The serious anglers will have nearly every sink rate available to cover all depths and strategies, however, having a floating line paired with an intermediate or moderate sinking line will get you fishing!