By September the head of the Chilko runs red.
Sockeye up from the Fraser crowd onto the gravel where the river leaves Chilko Lake, Tŝilhqox Biny, and the river’s wild rainbows and
bull trout hang below them, eating what washes loose. The grizzlies come down to the same water for the same reason.
The river is short, and it comes in three parts. First it is the clear, cold outflow of a mountain lake, wide and deep, and this is the trout water people drive half a day of gravel for. Below the first bridge it picks up speed and drops through long rapids into a volcanic gorge, country that rafters know far better than anglers. At the foot of the gorge a glacial river comes in from the south, and the last stretch runs grey to its meeting with the Chilcotin.
Start at the top. The best of the trout fishing is in roughly the first twenty kilometres below the lake, from the outlet bay down toward the bridge at a place called Henry’s Crossing. In July and August the rainbows come up to big stonefly dries, and on summer evenings caddis bring fish up all over the outlet. Most of it is fished from a boat, because the river is big and the gravel bars you can wade are few. This upper river is classified water, so you need a
Classified Waters Licence on top of your basic licence to fish it.
The gorge is the part to leave alone with a rod. Two long rapids, Bidwell and the White Mile, lead into Lava Canyon, which runs between cliffs of old lava flows and ash beds and is graded Class V at high water.
The lower river, below the Taseko, is the stretch most people only see from a raft. It doubles in size there and carries the Taseko’s silt. Its trout are unproven rather than absent, and an evening with a streamer along the line where the turquoise water meets the clear is how you would find out.
Below the mouth the Chilcotin carries it all east toward the Fraser, and behind the outlet the lake holds bull trout along a shoreline that takes days to work.
Water and habitat
The river leaves the lake through a narrow gap. Just past it is a hole deep enough to need a very fast sinking line, then a bay around an island where trout cruise the shoals and rise in the evening. Below the island it settles into a true river, too wide to cover from one bank, with deep runs, seams along the drop-offs and only a few gravel bars. A run below a cable span and a pool called the Blue Hole are known lies. The good water carries on through a reach called Canoe Crossing, and below that the river gets harder to boat. Some banks on the upper river are private.
How to fish it
Fish the upper river from a boat if you can. Run or row up, then drift and cast to the side or quartering downstream, and row back up for another pass. A 9-foot 5- or 6-weight is right. The trout are seldom choosy about pattern, so when they refuse, fix the drift before you change the fly: a stonefly dry has to float drag-free along the seam, as the natural does.
Start with a golden stone dry on a floating line. If nothing comes up, cut it off and tie on a stonefly nymph, on a fast sinking line in the heavy runs. Minnow patterns work tumbled along the bottom or stripped fast. For the deep fish at the outlet, swim a Woolly Bugger on a very fast sinking line. At dusk go back to the floating line and a big deer-hair caddis. In September an egg pattern drifted below spawning sockeye is the fly.
Access and safety
The upper river is four to six hours from Williams Lake on rough gravel; take a high-clearance vehicle. From Tatla Lake on Highway 20, head south on Tatlayoko Road and follow the Henry’s Crossing road to the bridge, the usual put-in for boats. Past the bridge the road goes on to the north end of Chilko Lake and a campground inside Ts’ilʔos Park. The upper corridor and the campground are in the Tŝilhqot’in Declared Title Area. In recent years the Tŝilhqot’in Nation and the province have closed public access between the lake and Henry’s Crossing in September and October so the bears can feed; check current notices from the Xeni Gwet’in before you go.
Grizzlies use the whole upper river while the salmon are in. Stalling a motor in that current is dangerous, and below Canoe Crossing only experienced rafters or jet boaters should carry on. Lower down, a recreation site at the Chilko-Taseko junction is where many raft parties start or finish; the road in crosses Bidwell Creek where the bridge washed out long ago.
Regulations
On the whole river, fishing is closed from 1 November to 10 June. Trout and char are catch and release under a bait ban, with a single barbless hook. All steelhead must be released, and steelhead fisheries in the Chilcotin watershed may be closed, so check the regulations for them. Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets the salmon rules; check them before you fish for salmon.
From the lake down to Brittany Creek the river is fly fishing only, and from 11 June to 31 October it is Class II classified water: you need a Classified Waters Licence on top of your basic licence, but not a Steelhead Stamp. Upstream of the bridge at Henry’s Crossing you may not angle from a powered boat from 11 to 30 September, and a 5 km/h speed limit applies on part of the river; check the regulations for where.
Below Brittany Creek, through the gorge and down to the Chilcotin, the fly-only rule lifts. The bait ban, catch and release for trout and char, and the barbless hook still apply.