By Don Daniels
Anglers who fish locally or journey to other rivers for trout and salmon, enjoy rain showers which move fish into pools and raise water levels enough to enjoy a day of fishing.
The hot and dry weather locally has river levels low and at the moment, a trickle of pinks are moving in slowly to their spawning grounds; rain is badly needed.
Last week, I crossed the single lane bridge in Sayward and I noticed a number of people cooling off in the Salmon River. I made my way to the pool and asked them if they were scaring away the pinks. The group is a travelling seniors group who travel around the Island enjoying outdoor activities. I was able to contact Rick Howard and he had mentioned that with the hot weather the Salmon River was a great place to be for the afternoon.
The pool is a great place to cast a fly for trout or pinks and in weeks to come I will give it a go and spend some time on the Salmon River.
I met a new couple that recently moved here from Comox and we had a chance to take the fly rods out and try fishing for pinks in one of the areas that has very little angling activity. This time of year you can wade out and spincast for pinks and getting down with a lure, jig or fly is the key.
I met with Dave Fife and he had showed me a jig that can be bottom bounced in the river and he was having good success. All hooks are barbless and bait is not to be used. There is a fly fishing only zone on the Campbell and Sandy Pool is well attended this time of year with anglers, at times, standing shoulder to shoulder.
The Oyster and Quinsam rivers are at a low level and it is clear that rain is badly needed to get pinks moving into the upper pools. Newcomers to the area need a license to fish and you have to know the regulations on each river to avoid getting a fine and even getting your equipment seized by DFO or RCMP.
Discovery Passage is busy with anglers and those who know the area and are experienced are getting their limits of Chinook, coho and pinks. For Chinook, size restrictions are still in place and the annual limit is 10. Charter companies have been busy and the fishing season could extend well into late September and October.
At the time of writing, rain is not in the forecast and a number of salmon anglers are getting out in their boats using an ultralight spinning rod and finding pinks. Others are casting out or jigging for salmon to change things up and have some fun and simply experience the fishing activity around Campbell River.