Kanaka Creek comes down off the flank of Blue Mountain, between Alouette and Stave Lakes, and cuts a sandstone canyon on its way to the Fraser. At Cliff Falls both of its arms pour over ledges of soft rock into pools deeper than they look. Below them it turns into a lowland creek that salmon still run up from the big river, past back gardens and under road bridges, to a counting fence in the middle of Maple Ridge.
There are four parts to it, and the rules take one away: the canyon, from Cliff Falls up to 112 Avenue, is closed to fishing at all times, and the whole creek is closed from 1 May to 30 June. Above the canyon is a small creek in farm country. Below it, a shallow, snaggy stretch runs down to the 240 Street bridge, and below the bridge the creek slows into water deep enough to paddle, winding out through an oxbow to the Fraser.
Start at the bottom. The slow lower creek below 240 Street is where
steelhead,
sea-run cutthroat, chum and coho all turn up, and it is the easiest water on the creek to reach. A flat trail follows it from the Fraser Riverfront, with wooden viewing towers over the marsh, and a canoe launch lets you put in and drift down to the mouth to see how the creek meets the river.
Above the bridge the creek goes shallow and fills with fallen wood, too snaggy for a boat, and this is where the trout get interesting. When chum are spawning on the gravel, cutthroat hold just below them to pick off loose eggs. It is short-rod water, fished upstream into the pockets under the logs, with houses up on the banks.
Above the canyon, by the hatchery on 256 Street, the creek is small and runs through fields and woodlots. The hatchery raises coho, chum and cutthroat for the creek, so there are fish to find, but treat it as water you learn by walking: read it before you rig.
Walk the trail from the hatchery to Cliff Falls without a rod, to see the pools nobody may fish. Then come back down to the fence at 240 Street, where the creek keeps count of what came home.
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
A 4- or 5-weight with a floating line covers the whole creek. In the slow water below 240 Street, strip one small fry or minnow pattern along the logjams and the edges of the oxbow. If nothing follows, slow down and swap to a small dark nymph crawled near the bottom. Where chum are on the gravel, drift a single egg pattern just below them, and keep your feet and your fly off the spawning beds. Above the bridge, wade upstream, keep low, and make short casts into the pockets under the wood; if a pocket gives nothing in a few drifts, move on.
Access and safety
The Fraser Riverfront has a parking lot, washrooms, and a canoe launch about 130 metres from the lot, and the Riverfront Trail runs about 3 km, mostly flat, upstream from it. Cliff Falls has a gravel lot by a municipal sports field off 252 Street. The hatchery is on 256 Street south of Dewdney Trunk Road, with parking near the seniors centre, and the Canyon Trail runs 1.2 km from there to the falls, with some steep hills. At the falls and in the canyon, the cliffs are steep and slippery and the pools hide snags and drop-offs; stay out of the water there. Bears, cougars and coyotes use the park, so make noise and leave no food. The lower creek runs past homes: stay on park land.