Well my sister and brother in law just got back from a Skeena river and trib rafting trip and reported they got some trout. But upon closer inspection looks like they actually landed a couple of nice pinks! You can see how they might have been mistaken for trout as one is so shiny and has some pink on it but one has the obvious spots and the other is very faint. Well done!
As a British Columbia and fisherman I can not express how lucky we are at this time of the year.
Generally for most fisher people August might be a time for casting dries on a river but in BC I am grateful for the multitude of options that are available. At the start of August I got to dry fly fish a classified river as well as fly fish Cariboo lakes for large rainbows.
Meanwhile just minutes from my house I was able to tap into some white sturgeon as well as some sockeye and pinks from the mighty Fraser River.
Also this month my fly fishing buddy took me Czech nymphing for some steelhead.
All of these opportunities taking place in the month of August and in BC.
It doesn’t get much better than this. Looking forward to next month targeting coho, chum and fall Stillwater rainbows! Stay tuned.
As usual, this epic fishing trip consists of some great buddies and big fish as well as having the chance to hangout at with our favourite Cariboo friends El and Marla.
This year we managed to fish 6 lake days and 2 river days. We hit four different lakes and introduced the guys to one new one this summer.
In the stillwater, boobies and leeches were the ticket. Water temp and weather was a little cooler with mornings as low as 4 degrees. Some hotter afternoons but nothing like we have had in the past.
On the river, there were no hoppers. The wetter summer seemed to have delayed the hoppers. As for fish, the fishing on the river seemed slower with the residents present but no sign of lake rainbows. When this happens my theory is that the salmon that come early into the system were not present or late so the trout from the lake haven’t followed into the system. Regardless some nice rainbows were caught on nymphs and hoppers. I snapped off two big bows on big brown hopper patterns that could also pass as a small mouse.
The Cariboo is such a great place to explore as many of the lakes in this region are filled with big fish. I found it interesting that usually the lakes we fish in this region do like the Tequilla Boobie but other patterns have worked effectively as well. On one day, my flies were not working but as soon as I put on the fly that everyone was using (Tequilla Boobie from SFOTF – big yellow foam eyes) that seemed to be the ticket. Overall, it is amazing that we can tap into so many fish and big fish during the month of July ini Stillwater.
Already looking forward to Fishmas 2026 but in the meantime I will be enjoying my sturgeon fishing, salmon and fall lake fishing over the next couple of months.
Stay tuned as we are heading back up to the Cariboo at the end of September to tap into some big bows.
Good memories and some excellent fishing as always.
fishingbuddha 