Winter
steelhead come into the Nimpkish from Broughton Strait, opposite Alert Bay, and the run peaks in January and February. By southern standards they are not big fish. They fight as if they were, and the people who know where they hold keep it to themselves.
It is the longest river on the north Island, and it is two rivers with a lake between them. It rises on the slopes of Mount Alston and runs north-west down a logged valley past Woss, with Highway 19 beside it, until it drowns in Nimpkish Lake, long and deep under the Karmutzen range. It comes out of the north end as a different river, short and forested, and reaches the sea a few kilometres east of Port McNeill. Its name is an anglicized form of 'Namgis, the people whose territory the valley is.
The lower river is the one with the reputation. Its best pools are a short walk from the road, and it carries winter steelhead, sea-run
Dolly Varden in spring and every kind of Pacific salmon in its season. There is no formal trail and the water is dangerous, so you walk and wade it carefully or not at all.
The middle river, from the head of the lake up to where the Davie River joins above Woss, is the stretch most people only see through a windscreen. The highway runs beside it for kilometres, with pullouts and rest stops that drop you onto runs that fish well to a fly. Below the Woss River the flow almost doubles, and summer steelhead, resident rainbow and cutthroat share it.
Above the Davie is logging-road country, closed from 1 December to 15 May, and the place to go once summer has settled in.
Then there are the side doors: the Davie itself, coming down out of Schoen Lake to join just above the Woss camp, and Woss Lake at the end of its own short river, with a campground on its shore.
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.
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
The valley has been logged hard and is still being logged. Below the lake the river is known for strainers and sweepers, trees down in the current that will pin anything that drifts into them.
Steelhead on a river like this rest where the current eases, in the soft water at the tail of a pool or along the inside edge of a run where fast water meets slow. Resident trout hold along the same seams and under the wood. Fish the edges before the middle.
When to fish it
From December to the middle of May the headwaters above the Davie are closed, so winter steelhead mean the lower river below the lake or the Woss stretch between the lake and the Davie, with January and February the peak. Sea-run Dollies follow in spring on the lower river.
From 16 May the whole river is open again. June through September is summer steelhead time, and the water above the Davie is yours to explore. Salmon fill the river through late summer and fall.
How to fish it
One fly on the line, swung or drifted, and one change at a time. For steelhead, cast across and a little down, mend to slow the fly, and let it swing through the soft water at the tail of each run. A dark fly suits low winter light; if a run gives you nothing, change to something smaller and fish it again slower before you move. Take a step downstream between casts and cover the water rather than waiting on one spot.
For resident trout on the Woss stretch, work the seams and the wood with a small fly drifted close to cover. If they won’t come up, go deeper along the same edge. Whatever you hook, play it quickly and land it in shallow water. Bring no gloves to a wild steelhead.
Access and safety
The lower river runs through Lower Nimpkish Provincial Park, about five kilometres south of Port McNeill. The park is undeveloped wilderness and the river itself is outside its management. You can reach the north end from the Nimpkish Heights subdivision, though there is no formal trail, or come down from the north end of the lake on foot. Do not float or swim it. Black bears work the banks in spawning season, and bald eagles nest along it. The rules list no closure for the river below the lake; check in-season changes before you go.
Nimpkish Lake draws windsurfers and kiteboarders, which tells you about the wind. The launch is at the Western Forest Products recreation site at Kim Creek, beside the Nimpkish service station on Highway 19 between Woss and Port McNeill, with picnic tables there and at Kinman Camp.
The middle river is reached from the highway pullouts and from logging roads around Woss. The rules list no closure for the stretch from the lake up to the Davie; check in-season changes before you go. Above the Davie the river is closed from 1 December to 15 May.
The upper valley is a working forest. Expect loaded logging trucks, and ask the Western Forest Products office in Woss about roads before you drive them.
Regulations
The Nimpkish is a Region 1 stream: a single barbless hook and the stream bait ban apply all year. Release all wild trout, all wild steelhead and all char, including Dolly Varden. You may keep hatchery trout, marked by a healed scar where the adipose fin was: no more than 2 from streams within a daily quota of 4 trout, and only 1 over 50 cm, except that 2 hatchery steelhead over 50 cm are allowed. Fishing for steelhead needs a steelhead conservation surcharge stamp on your basic licence.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada sets salmon seasons and limits; check them before you fish for salmon. Check the regulations separately for Nimpkish Lake, the Davie and Woss Lake.