During the first week of September, I had the opportunity to fish the Campbell and Oyster rivers during daylight hours.
I had a prime seat location at dusk to sit back and look at activity on the river. The tide was coming in, and at my location, I could view the chinook and pink salmon entering the river system to make their way to their spawning grounds upstream. I could see the large splashes of water, indicating the chinook was moving upstream, and there were plenty of pinks on the move. At last daylight, several anglers were coming off the water with a catch of pinks. The water level was getting higher with the incoming tide, their day was done, and they had to move out of their fishing location.
With the high tide in, several kayakers had moved from upstream to the lower reaches of the river, 16 members of Riverspirit Dragon Boat had made their way through the area, and they headed back to their launch site.
The next day, the Oyster River was my destination to scout around to see if the pinks were in the river. They were there, but the river banks were full of people cooling off in the water, and it was time to head out of that location. At this time of year, the pinks will be coming to the end of their spawning cycle, and the coho will be entering the river systems locally. Beach fishing is a way to get out and continue the fishing activity well into late October. You will see fly casters with long Spey rods casting out coho pattern fly patterns in blue and purple, the spin casters will go to lures in the same colours. A good pair of waiters and boots is a must for this type of fishing. Key areas to note are Salmon Point, Saratoga Beach and Miracle Beach.
The 10th annual Fall Coho Fishout will be held in October for three days (starting Oct. 4) at the beach in front of the Miracle Beach Provincial Campground. This is a great meet for experienced and beginner fly fishers. I hope to attend Saturday afternoon and will keep you posted before the event.
I have confirmed fly-tying dates here in Campbell River, held at the Seniors Centre and the Library. At the library: dates are Nov. 24, Dec. 29, Jan. 26, Feb. 23 and March 30. The times are from 1 to 3 p.m. Seniors Centre dates are: Nov. 8, Dec. 6, Jan. 10, Feb. 7 and March 7. If you want to learn how to get started in fly tying, these sessions are free to attend, and tools and materials are provided at no charge. It's a chance to come out and try your hand at learning to get the basics down and then progress at your rate. Ed Cargill will be there to help set up, and we get to learn how to fish the Campbell River and know what to use.
