PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Ron Wakita with his son Corey (15 years old) holding a beautiful Kitimat River Steelhead caught April 26 2009
With 2010 Steelhead just heating up, I plan to do a lot of Steelheading with my favorite Steelhead partner,Corey. Corey has been training on the oars for 3 years and should be ready to take full command of the Driftboat this year while we are Hotshotting. Stay Tuned for photos of Steelhead caught by yours truly with Corey on the oars.
Fishing Report from: Ron Wakita of Reliable Guide and Charters
Fishing Report from: Ron Wakita of Reliable Guide and Charters,
Kitimat B & City Centre Hardware & Sporting Goods
"Kitimat's Largest Tackle Shop"
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wakita@telus.net
www.reliableguideandcharters.com
KITIMAT RIVER:
The Kitimat River height bumped up slightly with some rain we had this week and then dropped back down later in the week. The change in river height usually influences the fishing in two ways. An increase in river height will attract more fish into the river, which this time of year would be Steelhead. The other effect the changing river height will have, is the fish in the river will move around, which this time of year would be the Trout.
We have witnessed both of these influences in the results of the catch numbers of the anglers. Many anglers were reporting very good results in their favorite holes when the river was low but after the river bumped up, the same anglers reported that the Trout had moved.
We also received more reports of anglers hooking fresh Steelhead this week which we assume migrated into the Kitimat during the higher water. The challenge now is to figure out where the fish went. Many anglers are in search mode looking at the changes in the river and identifying new Steelhead runs and holding pockets. ( I call these Steelhead motels). My Associates for Reliable Guide and Charters are out doing Pre-client trips (I call them homework drifts) to locate the best runs for the upcoming Steelhead season. Many of the avid Steelheaders are doing the same. Steelheaders follow a similar strategy as Big Game hunters. Scouting out certain areas prior to the season usually means success can be measured in the results of those who did a little "homework".
The passion for fishing for Steelhead is something that cannot be explained. It is something that has to be experienced.
Mar 16 Travis lost a couple of Trout on Fly. He was using Green Egg Sucking Leech.
Mar 17 Justin Lowes reports losing a Steelhead right at the beach. Justin was out fishing the Kitimat with Emma Kuppers but they weren't able to get a photo when Justin managed to get the Steelhead into the shallows. Justin comments that it was a bright, silver buck and he sounded pretty fired up when I was talking to him.
Mar 19 Marc Girard lost a Steelhead and landed a Trout drifting the lower Kitimat with Al Smith and Richard Piche.
Steelheading is just getting started on the Kitimat River which will improve with every tide. Many Steelheaders are on the Kitimat both drifting and walking into and down their favorite runs. The Cable Car launch is now open to launch driftboats as Marc Girard drifted this stretch on Friday morning. I plan to organize my driftboat for a drift right after I submit this report to Noel. See you on the water!
DOUGLAS CHANNEL:
A Fisheries consultant was in our store saying that he caught a bunch of Eulachon in the Kitimat River. Fishing partners of my father always said that Bottom fishing and Crabbing usually improved when the Eulachon started to show. Feeder Chinook also improves when the Herring in the Kitimat Harbour are spawning which continued this week.
Although there are signs of improved Bottom fishing and Winter Chinook fishing, many boaters continue to be focused on Crabbing, particularly King Crab.
Most boaters are Crabbing with hoop traps and there have been reports of pretty good results. A group of local residents harvested 5 King Crab on Saturday. Anglers are reminded that the daily quota for King Crab is 2 per day. Many other boaters are also reporting excellent results with Dungeness Crab saying that, "they are big and they are all full".
Special Report:
March 20 Glen Kilcup of Fish Hawk Guiding kindly submitted this to me. For more info please contact Glen. "bgkilcup" < scudfishin@telus.net>
So after a 2 week wait for weather, Mike Primeau, Jeff Langley and I finally got out on the ocean down the work channel for a day. The weather was calm, not much sun, but no wind all day...that was great.
We started trolling for a few hours on the hunt for Chinook, but this showed nothing. On our last pass Mike hooked a small ling cod trolling but he was quite small and was released. We then migrated over to a favorite Halibut spot were in less than 10 minutes we had our first quillback rockfish...( we caught 5 for the day) After a few quills, Sculpins and the odd gray cod, the Halibut finally showed up after a couple of hours for a half an hour of none stop action...we all got our Chickens! I even hooked a sea cucumber...I always seem to get those! Even though it was a good day and numbers of fish weren't bad, we still didn't see any large fish at the popular spots. Nearing the days end we came across a herring bloom about a quarter mile long...that was cool. Mike had a herring rig and he caught multiple herring ( sometimes 4 or 5 at a time) so we had lots of those little nickel firecrackers and a few 4 inchers to add to our bait selection...It was a gas just watching him!. I jigged a chrome Buzz Bomb under the herring at 50 feet and got 4 greenling, which are quite tasty so I'm told. My buzz bomb also hooked 2 halibut at 160 feet.. Mike also had success on a similar setup. Jeff employed a Gibbs Mudraker with a large squid tail and herring. He was diligent all day waiting for the big payoff...but it never happened...tough day there for Jeff. Our jig rods and reels consisted of Calcutta 400's by Shimano and St Croix wild river steelhead rods 10' 6 medium action and Jeff had an Abu Garcia 7000 with an HMX rod. Rod lines were Berkley XT 20lb. On the meat sticks we used Abu Garcia 6 foot Workhorse rods with Big Game 10000 reels loaded with Berkley Big Game 130lb braid. The terminal end was Gibbs spreader bars and 1lb ball weights with 9/0 Gamakatsu hooks and Cortland fluorescent green 200lb braided Dacron line. For Halibut fishing, this is strong and real easy to untangle when things get messed up down there as it does some times. Great day with great friends. Glen
March 21 Rob Lafferty sent me these photos of 2 King Crab that he and Joel Bonneville harvested. Well done and Bona Petite!
The bounty of Seafood that can be harvested from the Douglas Channel is incredible and the decision of what to target is sometimes difficult. The beauty of our lives in the Kitimat is that we are blessed to live in a place where we can enjoy the magic of the Sea within minutes of our homes. Stay Tuned!
Reminder to all Anglers that Fishing Licenses expire March 31st.
Thank You to everyone who submitted photos and info for this Fishing Report.
Good Health and Good Fishing!
Sincerely
PS We have started to book up for the 2010 Fishing Season. To ensure we can accommodate your dates please book early. Please inquire about our All Inclusive packages and our Combo packages. Any interested anglers please contact Ron wakita@telus.net
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