Skagit River

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Skagit River

Destinations

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Destinations

Skagit River

Country: Canada

District:

Type: River

Location size
River: 120 km

Distance from
Vancouver: 120 km

Overall info
bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/skagit/

The Skagit River is a beautiful small river that starts its journey in beautiful Manning Park in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The river is an extremely clear river, and starts out in the high country as a very small stream.

Total Length in close to 120km, but the best fishing is found in the lower 30kms.

Beautiful small river within 1.5 hour drive of Downtown Vancouver.

How To Get There

From Vancouver, drive on the TransCanada hwy (East). There are two places to get to the Skagit River, one is just East of the town of Hope, B.C. (15kms). Stay of the #1hwy (TransCanada) once you reach the town of Hope, follow the #3hwy (Crowsnest) past the Hope slide and past "Sunshine Valley", once past Sunshine Valley you enter Manning Park and will then see a sign that says "Sumallo Grove Day Use area" pull into this day use area and walk in the 0.5km to the river.

For the Lower portion of the river, Take the #1 (TransCanada) east until you get just West of the town of Hope, you will see a sign on the Hwy that says "Flood Hope Road/Skagit Valley". Take this exit and follow the signs to the Silver Skagit road. This is a 56km long gravel road and will drive along side the Silver/Hope Creek, then get to Silver lake and then 20+kms later to the Skagit. The Skagit flows south and you will only get to it at "26 mile Bridge" once you get to the bridge, you will follow the river for the next 20kms to Ross Lake which is primarily in the USA.

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Location Details

There are many points of access to get to the river in the lower portion, and only a few in the upper. In the lower river there are many pullout to camp at, as well as many day use areas to park in while out fishing.

To start, you have 26 Mile Bridge Day use area - also has a full Campground (Forestry, with NO facilities) close by called Silvertip. After 26 mile day use, the next one is about 5km south and it is called Rhododendron Day use, another 4-5kms you come to Strawberry Day Use, then again another 4-5kms you come to Nepopicum Day use area. After that, you reach Horse Camp day use area, and again a few kms later you come to Chitinton Bridge Day use, this is the final day use area on the Skagit. After Chitinton, you will come to Ross lake Campground and the USA border.

The river is VERY fishable from the upper region at Sumallo Grove, all the way to Ross lake. There are a few interesting side trips close to the Skagit as well. There are several lakes close by that have some very good fishing for Rainbow Trout, Bull trout, and Cutthroat Trout. Ross lake holds Rainbow Trout and Bull Trout, Silver Lake has Rainbows, while close by Jones lake has Rainbows and Cutthroat trout.

The water of the Skagit, Ross lake, and Silver lake is crystal clear, cold and clean, while Jones lake is a bit tea colored and at much higher elevation. While in the area, you can go for a swim in Siler lake (Silver lake has a campground as well), go for a beautiful walk in the meadows at Chitinton, or go for a drive to the Famous Hope, Slide. If you are the type that like to hike, you can hike in from sumallo Grove and follow the Skagit River trail that follows the river all the way from Sumallo Grove to Ross lake. This is a 40+kms hike, but there are several spots to stop and camp for the night before moving on down stream fishing and hikeing.

The Scenery in the Skagit vally is STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL. You are still in coastal forest, so it is thick and very lush. The mountains are sharp with snow capped peaks for most of the year with the months of Late July-Mid September having no snow in most years on the peaks.

Species

The Skagit River holds 3 species of fish, Rainbow Trout, Bull Trout and some Dolly Varden. The Rainbows average 15-17 inches in length, but there are Rainbows up to 22 inches in the system. The Bull Trout get very large. The average Bull Trout in the system are 3-4 lbs (20-22 inches) but there are many fish that are larger, with 5-10 lb (23-34 inch) fish being caught daily. The Dolly Varden are few, and catching then usually means that you are either fishing the dozons of tributaries or are fishing at a part of the Skagit when a creek comes in as the Dolly's spend almost all of their lives in the smaller tributay creeks. The Dolly's are usually smaller 1-4lbs (16-20 inches).

How To Fish

During spring months with high water levels, it is preferable to fish with a heavy nymph, caddis larvae, jigs and gold-head type flies. Dry flies such as the olive dun, red and blue quill and orange tag are effective at this time, usually in sizes from 20 to 14. A local specialty is a small bug with pale orange tip and brown hackles along the whole body, sized 16.

Equipment

If you plan on targeting Bull Trout, come prepared with heavier tackle. You will need a six weight fly rod to tackle the larger fish in the system. For Rainbows, a 2-4 weight fly rod will be perfect. Rod length is up to you, but under stand you may need to do short casts (5-15 feet) and in some palces on the river long ones (20-75 feet). I recommend a 9' or 9'6" rod. As for fly lines, for the Rainbow Trout all you will need is a good floating line, however for the Bull Trout you will need a good floating line as well as a very fast sinking tip. You can use a 6' type VI sink tip to make sure to keep the heavy flies in the zone the whole time. For leader, again, for the smaller Rainbows, have 3-5lb Mono and fluorocarbon leaders with you, for the Bulls, I would make sure you have 5-8.5lb Leaders as these are large strong fish that will look for any kind of debris in the water to wrap around, so you want the strength in leaders to be able to keep them out of danger zones.

Practical Info

All levels of FlyFishers with enjoy this fishery, But as always, the more seasoned FlyFisher will do better in this wonderful river. There are several Campgrounds in the general area, (Silver Lake, SilerTip, Ross Lake) as well as many places you can pull off the road and camp (legally). All the locations above are for the lower river, the upper river has a few places to camp as well, but they are only for people that are willing to hike in 10-15kms as there is NO way of getting to them by car. For those who prefer to stay in a hotel/motel/ B&B, the town of Hope is close by and has many places to stay. For more information on where to stay in Hope, Go to the following link.

There are no tackle shops close by, but there are several back towards Vancouver.

There are no guides allowed on the river, so it is all up to you, but if you talk to people in the local tackle shops or go to local fishing forums they are more than happy to give out information on the araea and the river. For Fishing forums, try FlyBC.ca.

There are no lodges on the entire Skagit river system, this is one of the reasons it is such a wonderful place to visit and fish. Unfortunatly, if you want to stay in a Hotel, B&B, Cabin, or Lodge, you will need to drive about 45 minutes to get to the river every day.

The fishing season on the Skagit is from July 1st-October 31st. Rememer though, this river does get very affected by snow melt run off, so the river is usually very high in the first 2 weeks of July but can still be fished if one is careful. The best time to fish the Skagit is August-September.

You will need to get a B.C. freshwater fishing licence to be able to fish the river. The Licence can be bought at most local fishing stores as well as online though the BC Government at: http://www.fishing.gov.bc.ca

The Skagit river is a Catch and Release River, so ALL fish caught MUST be released back into the river. Also, you MUST use a Barbless hooks!!

General info
bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/skagit/
General info
www.vancouverisland.com/parks/?id=116
General info
www.bcadventure.com/ianforbes/skagit/skagit.phtml
Fishing forum
forum.flybc.ca
Fishing forum
www.fishingwithrod.com
License
www.fishing.gov.bc.ca