Upper Pitt River in BC

Scslat

Scslat

Anadromous Angler
Forum Supporter
Anyone fished the upper Pitt River in British Columbia? I'm planning a trip with a couple of friends in mid-July. Anyone had any experience there at that time of year? My understanding is that we'll largely be targeting sea-run bull trout, maybe some early salmon. But I'm also wondering about the population of rainbows and cutthroats at that time. Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve
 
Maaaaaybe 😉


Been a few years but I used to go up there with some friends who live just over the border every year. Very cool fishery with a very high barrier to entry to say the least.

It can be very, very temperamental with conditions. It's one of those where any hiccup in runoff can blow it out, but it can also get way too low to get up there too (if you're going up in a jet sled).

Otherwise, swing some streamers and see what happens.

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Thanks, Evan. That high barrier to entry means that we need to book ahead, so no good way to judge the conditions. We'll need to get lucky on the weather, but it's our first time up there so at least we'll start to figure it out. Either way, should be a bit of an adventure.
 
Scslat said:
Thanks, Evan. That high barrier to entry means that we need to book ahead, so no good way to judge the conditions. We'll need to get lucky on the weather, but it's our first time up there so at least we'll start to figure it out. Either way, should be a bit of an adventure.
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How are you guys doing it? Having someone take you in a sled across the lake?
 
We hired a guide and are staying in a cabin. They provide transport to and from the upper river and will guide us for a couple of days. We bring our own food. My hope is to figure it out enough so that next time I can just hire a ride up and back (there are a couple folks who do that) and camp for a week.
 
I live in Vancouver BC, so it's a potentially great resource if I can figure out how to get a couple of epic weeks every year for just the cost of a round-trip jet boat shuttle each time.
 
Scslat said:
We hired a guide and are staying in a cabin. They provide transport to and from the upper river and will guide us for a couple of days. We bring our own food. My hope is to figure it out enough so that next time I can just hire a ride up and back (there are a couple folks who do that) and camp for a week.
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It can be really far between runs you actually fish, so unless you have transport around up there, you probably won't get very far on your own. There may be some walkable programs, but seeing how much ground/water we cover when we do it, I can't imagine doing a DIY without available transport.
 
OK, thanks for the input. I'll have that discussion with the guide when we are there.
 
I worked that area for DFO from 88-90. You'll be early for any salmon but you'll find dollies, small RBTs which are likely steelhead smolts and a few SRCs. I don't think the dollies are anadromous there but not sure. Fished only a couple spots when time permitted and got only dollies with biggest about 2 pounds and that was using hardware. There were some grizzlies there at that time. The river is noted for its large sockeyes with in excess of 10 pounds not out of the question but they arrive later. Pitt Lake can also be a nasty place for wind. Should be a great trip.
 
Thanks, ABITNF, for the input. Our time on Pitt lake will only be in transport, so hopefully we can get out of the weather on the boat.

Does anyone think that we are making a mistake going at this time of year. I know that I'll be between the steelhead and salmon runs, but was hoping there's be good fishing for trout and char. Maybe that's not accurate?
 
Scslat said:
Thanks, ABITNF, for the input. Our time on Pitt lake will only be in transport, so hopefully we can get out of the weather on the boat.

Does anyone think that we are making a mistake going at this time of year. I know that I'll be between the steelhead and salmon runs, but was hoping there's be good fishing for trout and char. Maybe that's not accurate?
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I always went in mid/late June to early July. So you're timing it right for bulls. I've never seen/caught any salmon though. It always gets too low by mid July all the years I was planning trips.
 
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