Eagle River

Below the Perry the river carries more water and far more gravel, and that gravel is the point: it is spawning and rearing water for sockeye, coho and chinook. In the fall, trout and char hold just downstream of active spawners, in the slower water at the tail of the gravel where drifting eggs settle and a fish can feed without fighting the current. Earlier in the season, look for them where a riffle drops into a deeper run, along the seam between fast and slow water.

Rainbow trout and bull trout are what you fish for. Before the spawn they feed on insects at every stage and run small. Once salmon start to spawn, eggs become the main food, and that is when the larger fish turn up. Leave the staging chinook alone; they are on their way to spawn.

The whole river, from the head of the lakes to Shuswap Lake, is closed to fishing from 1 January to 30 June every year, so nothing on it can be fished before July. July and August are small-fly months, on the lower river and in the nature park, best early and late in the day. September and October are the egg months, wherever salmon are on the gravel; the lower river shows spawners first. After heavy rain, give it a day or two to clear.

A 4 or 5 weight is enough. In July and August, start with a small nymph dead-drifted through the head of a run; if fish are rising, change to a small dry and fish the seam where the fast water meets the slow. For bull trout, swap to a larger streamer and swing it across the deeper runs. Fish often follow a moving lure or fly into shallow water before they take, so let the streamer finish its swing before you lift.

Once the salmon are spawning, fish one egg pattern, with or without an indicator, drifted naturally behind them. Stand well downstream and to the side of the spawners, never on the gravel itself, and let the egg tumble along the bottom through the slower water below them. If drifts go untouched, go smaller and closer to the colour of the real eggs, add weight to get it down, or move to the next group of fish. One fly on the line at a time.

From Sicamous, the Trans-Canada runs east along the river, and it is in sight of the road for much of its length. Where it swings away, side roads reach it: on the lower river, look for the roads between Sicamous, Solsqua and Cambie. The nature park is reached by turning onto Malakwa Road, across from the KOA campground, then right along the frontage road for about 700 metres to parking and two picnic areas with pit toilets. Upriver, the highway rest stop at Craigellachie, where the last spike of the Canadian Pacific was driven in 1885, is an easy place to stop beside the water. A campground at Yard Creek, south of Malakwa on the highway, has been the usual place to camp, but its operation has been in doubt, so check that it is running before you count on it.

Much of the lower valley is farmland: don’t cross cultivated, posted or private land without permission. Pull well off the highway at pullouts, where traffic is fast. Near the lakes, rockfall and avalanche control are part of the valley, and a sign at Clanwilliam Lake warns of unexploded avalanche-control ordnance; don’t pick up debris. Watch for bears and other wildlife along the river, more so when salmon are in.

On the whole river, rainbow trout and char are catch and release, and bait is banned downstream of Griffin Lake. A single barbless hook is required on all streams in the region all year, and boats are held to 5 km/h. Salmon fishing is set by Fisheries and Oceans Canada; check its rules before you cast anywhere near salmon. Check the provincial regulations and any in-season changes before you go.

The river ends in Shuswap Lake at Sicamous, and the Perry River, where the lower river begins, is the obvious next water; check the regulations for it before you fish. Up the valley, Three Valley Lake sits under its cliffs, waiting for the day the river runs too coloured to fish.