Nanaimo River

[mthornton]

I have been fishing the nanaimo river river a few times lately. I know there is tons of chum but I was wondering if anyone has been catching any coho lately and what they are using. I usually use small homemade spinners. Seems to work good. Any information appreciated![8D]

 

[Eagle Eyes]

was up there huntin today...dont waste your time its all chocolate and blown over the banks in some spots, even the highest of tribs.

 

[Eagle Eyes]

maybe down below the lakes its clear....above it looks like coffee tho

 

[bigguns]

any steelhead showing
and where on the river[?]

 

[wetbeaver]

seems like there is hardly any stealhead in the nanaimo river. fished the opening last year 5 or 6 times during prime times and conditions, even floated it a few times with a number of people and the total count for the time we spent there was 0. and there was alot of others with the same count. I have seen a few swimming the river but no real numbers. A buddy said that he was swimming up at the bore hole(upper river) and he seen tons of fish but couldnt make out what they were that was in the summer too, my guess is that they were pink salmon but you never know they could have been steel. Good luck if you fish nanaimo river,it is now way blown out i had a look at it this morning, so maybe a few have entered.

 

[wetbeaver]

i drive over the bridge every day and if i have ever seen the river blown out and ugly its now. Phoned the d.f.o. and the fish hatchery and both said the river is blown out. And yes the pinks do go that high to spawn, i also know buddy who was swimming in the river knows the difference between springs and other types of fish he told me that they were all smaller, almost like trout. as for the coho there is a few in the system now so they are worth a try, just over a week ago i seen them jumping in departure bay like crazy( could have been chum) but i think they were a little too close to shore. if anyone fishes nanaimo river post an update i might try it out this weekend if the water levels go down a little.

 

[Rum Buddies]

quote:those were springs you mostly see there in the summer.

I was fishing the river in the winter about ten years ago and an old guy told me that there used to be a spring run of chinooks that entered the nanaimo, maybe they were remnants of that run?

 

[wetbeaver]

yes there is a spring run of chinook that go up the nanaimo i think they enter as early as april, and i know you can deffinantly see them in may.

 

[Oglthorpe]

There are actually 3 runs of chinook in the Nanaimo. Spring, summer and fall. The spring run only has a handful of returning fish. They will enter as early as March. If it was this year then those were not pinks. Chances are that they were chinook jacks as the borehole is a low water barrier, and sometimes the adults can make it through, leaving the jacks to pile up. Hopefully some coho came with this high water, as the numbers were very low before the rain event. I know the province did a steelhead swim last spring and saw very few steelhead.

Wetbeaver-I guess that was me that you talked to when you called the hatchery.

 

[wetbeaver]

oglthorpe i used to do lots of volunteer work at the hatchery you probably would know me if you seen me i used to do work with patty, doris, henry, and alex. the fact about the three runs of chinook is very interesting. However in some of why wild adventures this summer floating down the river in an innertube on a couple of occasions i8 stummbled accross a few dead pinks on the shore and i do know my fish ID very well and these what i saw were 100 percent pinks, not saying that they werent jacks in the bore hole but that is were i got the idea from. lots of them were also very chrome so i know they werent evn salmon. will come by soon and say hi and see what is going on (this isnt cliff is it i see you riding your bike to work often)

 

[Oglthorpe]

Wetbeaver- That must have been before my time, I have been there for a little more than 2 years. We have been doing swim counts since the end of August weekly and we have seen 1 pink the whole time. Last year we released 600,000 pinks so there will be a big return next year. The year before, no eggs were available = no return this year.

 

[mthornton]

What time of year do you fish for jack springs and where? Also what kind of flies or gear do you use? Thanks[8D]

 

[whitewater_cowboy]

Can't say I actively pursue the jacks, though they are incidental to chasin' their big brothers and sisters. I start looking in the tidewater holes as early as late August...pick any river with reasonable return numbers. I prefer an 8 wt. and shooting head system...fly pattern I feel is unimportant, colour and size are the issue. I've had success on a 2" cerise wooly bugger and a bastardized 'mickey finn' fl. orange over chartreuse, gold tinsel body size 8 stainless. And forget the steelhead techniques. Rare to find a spring that comes to a swung fly. I try to get it in their face and keep it there as long as possible. Give it a shot next year. If you hit a chromer down low, you might wish the 8wt. were a 10wt. Tight lines!

 

[Oglthorpe]

Just remember that you can't keep chinook on the Nanaimo anytime.

 

[Oglthorpe]

The summer run was pretty good this year. We figure about 700 made it up to the lake this year, where it is usually 300-400.