The Koksilah has no lake at its head to carry its flow through the dry months. By mid-August it can fall low enough to put its coho,
steelhead and trout in trouble, and in dry years the province has ordered farms and industry along it to stop drawing water. What this river gives an angler comes in two short windows: June, before the water falls away, and October and November, once rain has lifted it and salmon are back in the pools.
It is a small, clear river, and it comes down in three parts. The upper river runs through canyon and forest west of Shawnigan Lake. In the middle it passes under the Kinsol Trestle, an old railway crossing that now carries a trail high above the water. Below that it comes out into the farms and woods around Cowichan Station, crosses under the Trans-Canada Highway and joins the Cowichan’s south branch just above Cowichan Bay. Its season is short: the rules close it outside June, October and November.
The upper river is the one to find. A small provincial park on a logging road west of Shawnigan Lake gives you canyon water with no developed trails, only paths down to the river, and it sees most of its visitors at weekends. Clear water like this is good cutthroat holding water, and the light pressure when the flows are in shape is the reason to make the drive.
The trestle reach is mostly something you look down on. The road from Shawnigan Lake reaches the south end of the crossing, and the river below is salmon water every autumn. From up there you can read its pools before you go looking for a way down to them.
The lower river is the easy one to reach and the place sea-run cutthroat turn up. Near Cowichan Station a park strings trails along both banks, joined by a suspension bridge, and from there the river runs on through private land to the estuary. In autumn, chum and coho come up through this water, and the trout follow them.
When you have fished it, go down to the estuary and up the bigger river that swallows it, past Duncan toward the lake.
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.
Water and habitat
With no headwater lake, the Koksilah’s summer flow depends on rain, and wells and irrigation pumping from the gravels along it draw it down further. Expect it low and clear in June, and pushed up after autumn rain before it drops back. Cutthroat hold where a riffle spills into a pool and under the cover of logs and undercut banks. Once salmon spawn, trout on rivers like this sit just downstream of the redds, picking off loose eggs.
When to fish it
June is the clear-water month, with the river dropping toward summer and every pool readable from the bank. Evenings are the time to be on it, as they are on the Cowichan in June.
October and November are the salmon months. Wait for rain to lift the river, then fish it as it falls and clears. Sea-run cutthroat come in with the salmon, and the lower river from Bright Angel down toward the highway is where to look first.
How to fish it
This is small water, so fish it from below, keep low and make short casts. A light rod is plenty. Carry one fly at a time. In June, the Cowichan’s caddis carry over here: start with a grey-brown deer hair caddis around size 14, dead-drifted along seams and pool heads. If nothing rises, change to a small weighted nymph and fish it deep through the same water.
In October and November, dead-drift a single egg pattern through the slot below spawning salmon, standing beside the gravel and never on it. For sea-run cutthroat in the pool tails, swing and strip a small streamer such as a rolled muddler; if they follow and turn away, go smaller or slow it down.
Access and safety
For the upper river, leave Highway 1 at Mill Bay on Shawnigan-Mill Bay Road, follow it to Shawnigan Lake, turn right onto Shawnigan Lake Road and take Renfrew Road, a logging road, to Koksilah River Provincial Park. It is a day-use park: no camping and no fires, and bears range through the backcountry around it. The Kinsol Trestle is reached by road from Shawnigan Lake to its south end. Bright Angel Park, a regional park near Cowichan Station, has parking, a swimming beach and the footbridge. The lower river runs through private land; ask before you cross it.
Regulations
The Koksilah is closed to fishing from 1 December to 31 May and from 1 July to 30 September, and the same row covers its tributaries, among them Kelvin, Patrolas, Fellows and Glenora creeks. The rules list no closure for the river in June or from 1 October to 30 November; check in-season changes before you go, including any drought closure. On Region 1 streams, use a single barbless hook and no bait (with some listed exceptions), and release every wild trout and wild steelhead.