Lodge Recommendations

JodyRay · Dec 11, 2022

Now that I'm retired, I want to check something off my bucket list. I'm looking for recommendations for a steelhead fishing lodge on the Skeena River for the late summer run. I've looked at quite a few, but I'd like some recommendations from someone that's been up there.

Thanks all.

albula · Dec 11, 2022

Just a thought. Determine if you really need a lodge. There are many DYI opportunities available with a bit of homework. Not all the good fishing requires a jet boat and someone to tell you where to stand. This comes from someone who fished the Skeena drainages for some 25 years traveling there from the states. Some years the fishing was better than others but all trips were magical and created great memories even if the conditions and results were not stellar.

Salmo_g · Dec 11, 2022

But if you do want to stay at a lodge, Nicholas Dean Lodge near Terrace is a good one.

sleestak · Dec 11, 2022

I've spent a fair bit of time in Skeena country over the last 13 years. Never used a lodge, but virtually all of them are reputable operations given the nature of the guiding/permitting system there. You need to define what you want from your experience a bit more...do you want to be pampered, or would you prefer booking a guide and dealing with your own lodging/food/etc. and having more personal freedom during non-fishing time? Is there a particular river you are more interested in? Do you want a full on wilderness trip where you fly into a lodge for a week?

Personally, if I was going whole-hog, I'd probably try to get into one of the lodges on the Babine in late September or early October.

JodyRay · Dec 12, 2022

Thanks, Salmo.

Sleestak & Albula, I'm kinda in Rumsfeld mode right now; I don't know what I don't know. Particularly, I don't know if I'll be able to make a trip every year, so if this is my only chance, I want it to be as productive as possible. Hopefully, I'll learn enough from this trip that I'll be able to do another trip in the future that's more DYI. So, it's not that I want to be pampered, I want to use the available resources to cut the learning curve.

sleestak · Dec 13, 2022

JodyRay said:
Thanks, Salmo.

Sleestak & Albula, I'm kinda in Rumsfeld mode right now; I don't know what I don't know. Particularly, I don't know if I'll be able to make a trip every year, so if this is my only chance, I want it to be as productive as possible. Hopefully, I'll learn enough from this trip that I'll be able to do another trip in the future that's more DYI. So, it's not that I want to be pampered, I want to use the available resources to cut the learning curve.

I would recommend grabbing a copy of Trey Combs' classic "Steelhead Fly Fishing" from 1991. Jump to the chapters on the rivers and read them. There are chapters on the Bulkley, Sustut, Babine, and Kispiox among others. Not so much for "where-to" but to help you understand the nature of each river and provide some perspective.

Nailing down one system as likely to be the most productive is difficult as weather and water conditions can play a huge role in your success.

Jump over to Flywater Travel and check out their listings for BC. They have about 8-10 lodges listed up there that cover a wide variety of options. I don't know if Ken Morrish is still at Flywater, but he has spent a lot of time up on the Skeena and can probably help steer you in the right direction.

Rob Allen · Dec 13, 2022

Halloween at Babine Norlakes lodge. That would be my choice.

JodyRay said:
Now that I'm retired, I want to check something off my bucket list. I'm looking for recommendations for a steelhead fishing lodge on the Skeena River for the late summer run. I've looked at quite a few, but I'd like some recommendations from someone that's been up there.