The Coldwater is shut for nine months of the year, and opens on the first of October to what is usually a low, clear river running north beside the Coquihalla. The coho are arriving on the gravel in the upper river, the
bull trout are up there with them, and the traffic on Highway 5 goes past at speed without a glance at the water a stone’s throw from the shoulder.
Think of it as a mountain river that turns into a ranch river. It rises near the Coquihalla Lakes, just below the summit, and runs north down a valley it shares with the highway, the old Kettle Valley Railway and a pipeline. North of Brodie it squeezes through its only canyon, then widens into cobble runs past Kingsvale and the Coldwater reserve, and comes into Merritt to join the Nicola as its biggest tributary. Three parts, then: the upper river around Coldwater River Provincial Park, the middle river along the highway, and the lower river below Midday Creek.
The upper river is the one to find. Above Midday Creek is where the coho spawn from October to December and where the bull trout live, and the stretch around the provincial park, about 50 km south of Merritt, is mountain water a few minutes off a highway exit. The bull trout all go back, but there are few places where you can find them on the same gravel as spawning coho, within earshot of a four-lane highway.
The middle river, from the park down past the canyon to Midday Creek, runs right alongside the highway, and the bridges along it are the ways in. The canyon north of Brodie is the steep, broken section; fish above or below it rather than through it.
The lower river, from Midday Creek into Merritt, is gentler cobble water through reserve and ranch land, with Coldwater Road running up the valley from town. This is
steelhead spawning water, and resident rainbows hold in its runs.
The season is short, and by December the summit end is winter. When the Coldwater closes, the Nicola below Merritt is open only in January and February, with trout catch and release; it is closed from 1 March to 30 September.
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.
How to fish it
Fish one fly at a time, from the bank where you can. Start with a weighted stonefly nymph dead-drifted through the deeper runs, casting upstream and following the fly down with the rod tip. Where coho are spawning, change to a single egg pattern and drift it through the slower water below the redds, standing well off the gravel so you don’t trample eggs. For bull trout, swing a streamer slowly across the tail-outs and through the soft water beside the main current; if they follow and won’t take, go darker or smaller. In low clear water, stay back from the edge, keep your shadow off the run, and move on after a few good drifts.
Regulations
The Coldwater is in Region 3, a stream fished with a single barbless hook. There’s no fishing from 1 January to 30 September, so the season is October to December. You may keep trout of 25 cm or more, no more than four a day from streams and only one over 50 cm, with a possession limit of two daily quotas; bull trout are catch and release, and all wild steelhead must be released. Fishing for steelhead needs a Steelhead Conservation Surcharge Stamp. In-season closures can apply, so check the regulations and in-season notices before you go. The Nicola River, which it joins at Merritt, is the next water.