homathko & southgate rivers
- Thread starter Lawman
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Dave H
Well-Known Member
I enjoyed one of the best days of my life on the Southgate some years back.
I used a Bow River Bugger fished off a sink-tip and couldn't keep count of the numbers of fish.
Virtually any "minnow imitative" fly should work.
For spoons it's the same thing, any small Kroc type spoon will work. I used one for the last 20 minutes of our day and brought to hand 12 cutties in that time. Hooked one (or more) on every cast.
Our pilot did tell us we had the best trip he'd ever flown up there so your mileage may vary.
Bulls and cutts feeding on chum fry is a great combination.
We went in March (26th) so hope you're not late.
Good luck.
Take care.
I used a Bow River Bugger fished off a sink-tip and couldn't keep count of the numbers of fish.
Virtually any "minnow imitative" fly should work.
For spoons it's the same thing, any small Kroc type spoon will work. I used one for the last 20 minutes of our day and brought to hand 12 cutties in that time. Hooked one (or more) on every cast.
Our pilot did tell us we had the best trip he'd ever flown up there so your mileage may vary.
Bulls and cutts feeding on chum fry is a great combination.
We went in March (26th) so hope you're not late.
Good luck.
Take care.
Dave H
Well-Known Member
With such a cool spring you may hit it right on.
We had a cloudless and dead calm day which meant the scenic value alone was worth the trip.
Also found that just dead drifting flies, mending as required, was far better than trying erratic retrieves often used for cutties. Also found that when using the spoon it selected almost 100% for cutties as opposed to the Bulls.
We also had a major bug hatch that day starting around 11:00 AM and lasting an hour or so. Lots of fish feeding splashily in the shallows then but none of us had brought our floating lines so we just kept on catching fish on sink-tips and never fished that hatch. Stoneflies I think they were.
Anyway, hope you have half as good a trip as we did 'cause that will mean you'll have enjoyed an awesome one for sure. Ours was awesome plus. LOL
Adding a couple pics for ya:
Take care.
We had a cloudless and dead calm day which meant the scenic value alone was worth the trip.
Also found that just dead drifting flies, mending as required, was far better than trying erratic retrieves often used for cutties. Also found that when using the spoon it selected almost 100% for cutties as opposed to the Bulls.
We also had a major bug hatch that day starting around 11:00 AM and lasting an hour or so. Lots of fish feeding splashily in the shallows then but none of us had brought our floating lines so we just kept on catching fish on sink-tips and never fished that hatch. Stoneflies I think they were.
Anyway, hope you have half as good a trip as we did 'cause that will mean you'll have enjoyed an awesome one for sure. Ours was awesome plus. LOL
Adding a couple pics for ya:
Take care.
Last edited:
Derby
Crew Member
Sorry for the delay Dave H 
That was my best day freshwater fishing in my life. Would recommend it to anybody. We boated to Dent Island Lodge from CR, then their guide took us up Bute in a nicely set up Jetboat that had lots of room for more and we had 8 guys/gear. Southgate was our first stop, fished a few holes and it was non-stop action, I literally had to release a fish after every cast. If one got off, another would take it. They were mostly Dolly Varden in the 3-4lb range and a few were caught up to 6. A few cutties were in the mix as well.
Headed over to the homathko, it was starting to silt up, the fish were there and would follow the spoons in and hit a few feet from your feet, but not in the same numbers. So we finished the day back on the southgate and the action was the same as earlier, It was insane fishing, you look down the line of guys and everyone was fighting a fish. Not sure on numbers but I don't think anyone in our group landed less than 50. Already looking forward to next year.
hmmm small pix? you can try https://picasaweb.google.com/lawman73/SouthgateRiverTrip?feat=directlink
That was my best day freshwater fishing in my life. Would recommend it to anybody. We boated to Dent Island Lodge from CR, then their guide took us up Bute in a nicely set up Jetboat that had lots of room for more and we had 8 guys/gear. Southgate was our first stop, fished a few holes and it was non-stop action, I literally had to release a fish after every cast. If one got off, another would take it. They were mostly Dolly Varden in the 3-4lb range and a few were caught up to 6. A few cutties were in the mix as well.
Headed over to the homathko, it was starting to silt up, the fish were there and would follow the spoons in and hit a few feet from your feet, but not in the same numbers. So we finished the day back on the southgate and the action was the same as earlier, It was insane fishing, you look down the line of guys and everyone was fighting a fish. Not sure on numbers but I don't think anyone in our group landed less than 50. Already looking forward to next year.
hmmm small pix? you can try https://picasaweb.google.com/lawman73/SouthgateRiverTrip?feat=directlink
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Dave H
Well-Known Member
Thanks Lawman. Sounds like you had a day to rival ours for sure. We choppered in so moved to a couple of different places during the day but stayed on the Southgate the whole time.
It's nice to know there are still places like that although I must confess that in some ways, at the end of the day, it was like eating way too much ice cream all at once. You can get spoiled when there is literally no challenge involved in catching fish methinks, but I'd do it again in a flash too. LOL
Stoked for you.
Take care.
It's nice to know there are still places like that although I must confess that in some ways, at the end of the day, it was like eating way too much ice cream all at once. You can get spoiled when there is literally no challenge involved in catching fish methinks, but I'd do it again in a flash too. LOL
Stoked for you.
Take care.
searun
Well-Known Member
x2 Been there on several occasions both in the fall and spring. Amazing place, but in the fall take a GUN! Got lucky once and had the loggers adopt us at Scar Ck camp - they gave us a truck and all the food we could eat so we turned a one day fly in trip to a two day fish extravaganza. Haven't been up for a few years, so its time for another trip.
