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April 1, 2003
 As we have now begun our season here in Skeena country,
the Steelhead are coming in nice bunches and our friend from
the UK, flyangler Paul Crowson was nailing them on the upper
Kalum stretches. A low river was what we received and it
made for very sweet fly water. We fished many runs and tailouts
and found that allot of our hookups were staggered throughout
the seven mile drift. The Steelhead we landed were winters
as well as fresh runs. Large Dolly Varden Char, as well as
aggressive Cutthtroat trout and loads of resident Rainbows
were all taking the same fly. We experimented with a flybox
of ammo but we kept on returning to the same fly.
 Day 1 we get a early start, Paul lands a nice Cutty early
in the AM. We are bundled up tight, it is March 22 and the
weather is rainy and chilly. We see a cow and calf moose,
cross the river below us, the mother unsure of the structures
upstream of her. She quietly crosses the deep river with
the calf and they melt into the bush. We are in complete
silence as we meander around yet another corner with a fishy
looking tailout. We drift past the run and pull out below.
Paul and I enter the frigid water and pull the 16ft 3man
Oddessy Raft to shore. As I have fished this run so many
times I walk Paul to the top the run as if it were myself
fishing this remarkable Steelhead hold. Paul makes one cast
and swings his fly into position, he is doing exactly the
proper thing a good Steelheader would do. I tell him,” do
the same thing again, that was excellent”. Paul makes
another cast a clone of the first and he lifts his rod, ZZZZ,
the drag is screaming. Before I could say anthing the fish
exploded, fully out of the water, silver on its side. It’s
a fresh one I tell him. Paul is pumped, the Steelhead runs
right at him trying to slack line him, but Paul strips line
by hand and the fish is still on. He gathers his line and
reels the remainder on the spool. The fish takes another
run and finally decides to make its way out of the fast water.
We take a digital picture, high five one another and off
it goes. Pauls first BC Steelhead, a respectable 10 lb female.
Day 2 we hit Trout and Char all day and lose count of the
numbers. We find a very small creek flowing into the river
giving it some colour. We decide to pull out and fish it,
as it looks supreme. Paul lands at least three in this run
and we take some more pics, the evening is perfect. While
wading in the creek there was a water temperature difference
from the creek to the mainstem. This is a spot that was holding
spawning Cutthroat and I attached a pic to this report so
you can see its colours and of course it’s a nice size!
 Day 3 we start early and plan to fish till 7PM, this was
going to be our longest day, and Paul was adament that he
wanted another taste of that Steelhead power. The morning
was serene and the weather was very mild. We had sunglasses
on all day. A cold evening brought clear, sunny skies and
we could see every mountain top in eyesight. Each hidden
corner we drifted around, revealed another white snow capped
peak, different from the last. Paul looks at me and says “this
is Steelheadheaven, isn’t it”,
I crack a smile and he knows what I am thinking, he is so
right. We decide to fish a stretch of water that splits the
river in two and then spills into a very nice trough. Paul
enters the bottom of the run and wades to his ankles. He
need go further as the bottom is out of eyesight two feet
further. Paul hooks a chrome Steelhead, again a jumper and
a very large girth it indeed has. I comment, “this
is your biggest yet”. Paul has the fish within six
feet of the rocky shore and his flyrod goes straight. The
fish is gone! We look at each other. What happened? We reel
in the limp line and the fly is gone, broken at the knot
closest to the fly. We had commented earlier on our difference
in knots when it came to attaching the monofilament to the
fly. I prefer the clinch knot, Paul was using the buffer
loop knot. For some reason Paul landed more fish than his
guide and I am not positive but I think it was the knot and
the action the fly possessed when tied in this manner. Of
course Paul always fished in front of me, but I did get some
chances to hook just as many fish, I guess you’ll have
to try both and see for yourself. We fished the lower stretch
and fished a popular run that we enjoyed the day before and
landed a nice Trout. Paul worked the run that flowed against
a tree and made a very nice tailout. As he worked it down
he looked back and said, “ I just had a take!”.
Another cast and I saw his line tighten, you got one! Paul
pulled back and nothing. It must be those darn trout again.
Paul swung the fly again in the tailout. A small tug and
the hook was set. This was a very nice steelie that he played
and a patient flyfisherman was awarded. I also attached the
digitized Steelie.
We enjoyed great fishing, conversation, and of course awesome
food at the lodge. Also the peace and quiet was a excellent
closure to a starry nite and a warm bed.
Next week the Halvorsen group from sunny California will
be joining us for some great action on the Kitimat, Skeena
and Kalum rivers. These fellas are spending a full week with
us and are coming at a great time as we have had a very big
rain. The rivers have come up three feet and are on the downward
climb. I have also been chatting with the local Haisla Indians
and the oolichan run is like none in the last ten years.
This to me is the start of a large run of fresh Steelhead
and Salmon. Have a good one.
Tracey John Hittel
Kitimat BC Canada
250 632-9880
250 639-4277
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