April 18 These photos of Wayne Van Velzen, Eric Van Velzen and Peter Grogan were submitted to me by Peter and Eric.  The highlights of their Steelheading trip to the Kitimat River is best described in Eric's own words: 

 

"Hey Ron, I bet the fishing is great up there right now. Wish I was still there but the memory is always with me. Got some real nice fish on the last couple days of the trip. Got one a couple hours after seeing you on the river there. So here are a few pics for you. The one of my dad is a hatchery fish maybe 13 or 14 pounds caught in the tail-out of the pool just upstream from the little Wideene confluence with a weighted white and black palmered marabou streamer with a bit of electric blue flash. The pic of me with the fish is in lower sawmill caught on a pink intruder variation, weighted as well. What a fight on both of them. oh baby. The first one took on the dangle as I was lighting a cigarette believe it or not, and the second one hammered it way out on the swing. What a delight. Tight lines Ron, and thanks for sharing and being so welcoming on the beautiful Kitimat River. Till next time,

Best Regards,

Eric Van Velzen and Company"

 

 

 

April 22 Ariel Kuppers drifted with Bill Neighbors and his son Dave on the Kitimat River.  Dave landed a 13lb Steelhead float fishing

with roe and yarn.  It is always refreshing when a father and son continue to enjoy the passion for fishing together into adult years.

Well done Bill and Dave!

 

 

April 24 Ariel Kuppers and Jesse Houston were fly fishing the upper Kitimat River and Ariel landed this Steelhead and lost another.. Ariel was using his Sage VT2 Spey rod and a Ross CLA reel.  Ariel was fishing with a Chartreuse and White Intruder style Fly that he tied himself.  Congratulations Ariel! 

 

 

April 25 I had the pleasure of drifting with my two sons Brandon and Corey.  It is always gratifying for me to fish with my sons.  We all take turns on the oars and who ever is on the oars when a fish is hooked earns the title of Captain for the rest of the trip.  I am happy to announce that I was on the oars when Brandon hooked and landed this beauty.  This earned me the title of "Captain Daddio" and the ability to remark "Who's your Daddy!".  We were Hot Shotting with G Loomis Hot Shot rods and a #35 Luhr Jensen Hot Shot.

 

It would be nice for the Kitimat River water level to rise a bit with some of the rain that is forecasted for this weekend.  The problem with hoping for a little rain is that in the North West you have to be careful what you wish for.  Sometimes it doesn't stop!  Here's hoping for a little rain!  It would help the fishing conditions to get a little rise in the Kitimat River water level.  I suspect with a little rain a lot more Steelhead will move into the Kitimat River.  Stay tuned...

 

Chinook Salmon fishing won't start until mid May although there is always feeder Chinook wondering around the outer waters of the Douglas in search of baitfish.

 

The beauty of the Douglas Channel is that there is so much that she has to offer in addition to the awesome fishing.  There are Killer Whales, Sea Lions and all kinds of Sea life to marvel at.  There are Natural Hot Springs to soak in.  Kayakers, wind surfers and Sail boats also enjoy the sheltered waters of the Douglas Channel.  We are truly blessed to live minutes from the wonders of nature and plentiful stocks of the Douglas Channel.

 

Below are a series of SPECIAL REPORTS I (Ron Wakita) have received for other area rivers:

Calvin Higano 

Yours truly

SPECIAL REPORT Apr 20 Kalum River. I had the pleasure of fishing on the Kalum River with my good friends Noel Gyger, Calvin Higano and Glen Kilcup Tuesday morning.  Glen invited us on this trip with his Jetboat.  We hooked 4 Steelhead and landed 2.  We landed one using a spoon rigged up on a 7' Trophy XL rod and an Abu Cardinal 704 Spinning reel spooled up with 30lb Tuff line Duracast.  This rod and reel Combo handled this Kalum River Steelhead very nicely and was caught and released using Gibbs Catch and Release Net.  The Gibbs C & R Net has a very soft mesh with allows anglers to net Steelhead and release them unharmed back into the river.  Calvin landed the other Steelhead using a Sage 2106 rod and a Shimano Calcutta 250TE reel.  Calvin was the "Hot Rod" on this trip.  Calvin landed one and had a another 2 Steelhead on which released themselves after a bit of a tussle.  Calvin is a very gifted angler who has brought some very effective Steelheading techniques to the North West.  One of his techniques Calvin calls "Dredging" and another would be the method which he cures his bait.  Calvin uses Pautzkse's Pink Fire Cure on both his Chinook roe and on his Prawn bait. As most Steelheads already know the quality of the bait is critical to Angler success.   A huge Thank You to Glen for an awesome morning fishing trip on the Kalum!  Noel said he got some good video footage and will post a clip next week.