Most people who know the Ashlu know it from a kayak. Its canyon is a hard whitewater run, and paddlers drive a long way up the Squamish valley for it. Below the canyon, though, the creek flattens out for its last couple of kilometres, and every autumn coho and chum come up out of the Squamish River and stack up there, because the canyon is about as far as they can go.
The creek has three parts, and a gorge splits them. At the bottom is the short lower creek, from the Squamish up to a powerhouse at the foot of the canyon: the only water that sees salmon and
steelhead. Then comes the canyon itself, with a two-tier falls at its head and much of its flow taken out above and piped down to the powerhouse. Above the falls the upper creek runs for a long way into the Coast Mountains beside a gravel road, and it holds resident fish only.
The lower creek is where to start. There is no road along it between the main bridge and the mouth, so you walk in on rough trails and pick your way down the bank. Coho arrive from October, chum through the late autumn, and the late-running steelhead of this valley show from late winter into spring.
Bull trout follow the salmon in to eat their eggs.
The canyon is for looking at. It is fast and steep, and the flow in it changes with the hydro scheme, so leave it to the kayakers.
The upper creek is the hunch. It runs beside the forest service road above the falls and holds trout and char that have never been to sea. Little has been written about fishing it, so treat it as unproven water rather than empty water. Go in late summer or early autumn when the snowmelt has dropped, and walk down to it wherever the road comes close.
Where the creek meets the Squamish there are wide gravel flats laced with channels, and past them the big river runs on up the valley toward the Elaho.
Fish in this water
Each fish is rated by its strongest evidence. A rating says how sure we are a fish is here, not how many there are, whether it is worth fishing for or whether you may keep it.
Confirmed
Recorded on this water in the last 15 years, or named for it by a fishery agency, its fishing rules or a fishing publication.
Likely
Older records here, recent stocking, a local guide or fly shop, a guide listing, or recent records on connected water nearby.
When to fish it
The rules list no seasonal closure on any part of the Ashlu (check in-season changes before you go), so the calendar is the fish and the water. October through December is salmon time in the lower creek, with bull trout on the eggs behind them. Steelhead come late here, so March to May is the window for them below the canyon. From late spring into midsummer, snowmelt runs the creek high and often too fast to fish. In late winter the opposite can happen, with the lower creek too low and clear for much success. Late summer into autumn is the time for the upper creek above the falls, once the melt has passed.
How to fish it
The lower creek is fast water, so get the fly down quickly. For rainbows and bull trout, fish a weighted egg pattern or a stonefly nymph under an indicator, drifted through the seams at the edge of the fast water and the slower water behind boulders. If nothing comes after a few drifts, add weight before you change the fly; the fish sit near the bottom. For bigger bull trout, swing or strip a large, flashy, weighted streamer deep through the bottom of a run and fish it hard. For coho, a sink tip and a bright fly worked through the slower water where they rest is the usual way in; if they ignore it, go smaller and darker.
In the upper creek, fish lighter: a dry fly on the soft water if anything is rising, a small nymph in the pockets if not, and keep moving up from pocket to pocket.
Access and safety
From Squamish, take Highway 99 north and turn left onto the Squamish Valley Road. Follow it up the valley until it turns to gravel, then cross the Squamish River bridge onto the Ashlu road. The powerhouse sits just upstream of the main bridge over the creek, and the lower creek runs from there down to the Squamish. A free campsite sits beside the Squamish near the mouth of the Ashlu, and it is popular with anglers and campers. Beyond the powerhouse the gravel road climbs past the canyon and the falls to the upper creek. Valley roads wash out after heavy rain, so check road conditions before you set off.
Wade carefully. The creek is cold and swift enough to knock you over, and its level can change below the hydro scheme. Black bears, cougars and wolves live in the valley, so carry bear spray and keep a clean camp.
Regulations
The Ashlu has a bait ban, and as in every stream in the region you fish a single barbless hook all year, with one fly on the line. Wild trout and char, including bull trout, must be released. All wild steelhead must be released, and you need a Conservation Surcharge Stamp on your basic licence to fish for steelhead at all. The tributaries of the Squamish River are closed to fishing, with the Ashlu among the few exceptions, and the side creeks that feed the Ashlu fall under that closure. Salmon rules, including coho and chum, are set by Fisheries and Oceans Canada; check them and any in-season changes before you go.