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May 1, 2002
 This
week has been an especially banner week as we were fortunate
to watch steelhead do there mating dance right beside us.
This is a reality that only few steelheaders have witnessed.
Seeing these wild fish in their own habitat spawning was a
treat. As I was flyfishing three feet from shore, I noticed
a male steelie bunting at his females side as they graciously
diverted themselves around me not missing a beat as he forced
her downstream of us. This was recognised by my fishing partner
as well who was also amazed. They continued down the run splashing
and frolicking in the hot afternoon sun.
This has been the story lately on the Kitimat River. High
water levels and weather in the 20's has brought in a fresh
run of fish. We have had some cold nights so the river has
cleaned up quickly. We have been landing dime bright females,
wild and hatchery, as you can see in the attached photo.
We flyfished a side channel of the Kitimat with floating lines
and a nine foot leader. I was using a Wally Waker with a Riffle
Cricket conversion, the Wally Cricket. It skated quite nicely
and I find with the greased line technique making mends works
quite well. I also found that the floating line was also making
itself useful as a strike indicator. As the wind was nasty
I decided to switch to a wet fly, a Egg Sucking Leetch, and
landed two nice Cutthroat, pounders at best. Still a welcoming
pull on the flyline and air acrobatics once hooked. I attached
small twisty lead to my leader, 3ft up, and the fly worked
excellent. It was fish on instantly.
The Kitimat Kombo is still our best fly with the metal heads
and we are going to try it out next week on the Kalum River.
The Kalum is getting a nice spring run of Chinook as well
so it will be a challenge if we hook one on the fly. We will
be using a variety of flys, wet and dry techniques included.
Anglers tip: While we were floating the Kitimat we
encountered a group that was inexperienced in river rafting.
They were using a cartopper (aluminum lake boat) with small
oars. We watched in horror as these gentlemen slammed into
numerous log jams, amazingly avoiding a swim in the river
or even worse, pulling a friend from under a logjam. I caution
those who are not experienced, to be very careful when on
this system as mistakes can be costly. I suggest you hire
a guide for a day and if you can learn some techniques from
these experienced people, you can venture out on your own.
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