Pacific Angler Friday Fishing Report: October 23, 2026

OUTLOOK 

It’s a great time to hit the rivers! 

Fall river fishing is keeping things interesting, with plenty of salmon around and lots of opportunities to get out and wet a line. The Vedder is holding good numbers of chinook, coho and chum, while the Squamish and Harrison are offering opportunities to find coho and some hard-fighting chum on the Harrison as well.  The Stave is getting into prime chum season, too! With many of our local rivers running low and clear, it’s a good time to get a little adventurous, explore new water and switch up your presentations if the fish aren’t cooperating. 

We’ve got the latest reports, tips and gear suggestions to help you make the most of your time on the water. Don’t forget to check conditions and regulations before heading out, especially with different species open to fishing on different systems. 

Not sure what to throw or need to top up your tackle?  Swing by the shop and we’ll help you get dialed in. 

Good luck out there, and we’ll see you on the water!  

CLASSES AND COURSES 

FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS 

Chilliwack/Vedder Fishing Report 

The Vedder is continuing to fish well, as is to be expected for mid-October.  The chinook run is now a couple weeks past its peak, meaning most of the fish will now show some colour and be darker. With that said, there are always a couple of late bright fish to keep you surprised.   Throughout the entire river there are lots of chum, which is amazing to see as well. This fishery also creates a great opportunity for new anglers.  

Finally, on the coho side of things, there are plenty of coho around but targeting them has been difficult. With the low water, they get bullied out of most easy-to-fish water by chum and chinook; those anglers who are willing to explore and walk the river are duly rewarded. 

The river is currently running very low and clear, meaning anglers will need to be stealthy. Downsizing presentations is a must. We’re smack in the middle of the season meaning most of the fish have now seen a variety of different offerings. 

 Some great options for tempting fish in tough conditions 
 

Lightening up your presentation can sometimes play a big role. Sizing down your fluorocarbon leaders from 15lb down to 10lb-12lb test sometimes is all the difference that’s needed to get the fish to bite. You can lengthen your leader a tad bit longer than usual (from 18”- 24” up to 24”-30”). Note how the leader change is 6inches, not 6 feet. Small dime sized globs of roe and 8-10mm beads are going to out-produce other presentations in the low and clear situations. 
 
Spinners, spoons, and twitching jigs are all great choices as well. Coming in a variety of shades, colours, weights, and styles mean anglers will want to carry a selection to experiment with and work through until they find the magic ticket. 

 On the chum side of things, there’s lot of them!  They are super willing fish and fight hard.  If the coho and chinook side of things is slow, tie on a pink and purple jig with heavy leader and get ready to hang on!  

 Chum salmon are super fun and bite throughout the day regularly, meaning there is no need to fish leaders longer than necessary as this will help reduce the chance of snagging. A friendly reminder that snagging and/or intentionally foul-hooking fishing is not an accepted form of angling. Snagging fish can also result in broken gear as it is not the intended method the rod was designed for, which can also void some warranties. If you’re looking for jig recommendations, check out Casey’s report on the Stave as he’s got a couple of great suggestions there as well.  

Tight Lines! 

Jordan 

Squamish River Fishing Report 

The Squamish is slowly shaping up with cooler evening temperatures.  Water clarity remains a concern as the fish are there, but it’s a matter of getting them to see your gear. 

Anglers should be flexible heading up the Sea to Sky.  I am a fly angler at heart but with the poor visibility you will find me taking along a spinning rod for scouting.  This gives me the ability to toss a big spoon or twitching jig, locate fish, and then focus on the fly.  I like a light fast rod like the Loomis GCX for coho.  It’s responsive, light in hand and has plenty of power for when you find the big ones.  For a more cost-effective option check out the Shimano Compre or Okuma Avenger Combo.  The spinning rod was pulling weight as I found several fish quickly on the PA Custom spoon.  The bright silver flash and dayglow chartreuse paint was specifically designed for water like this.  

I took plenty of coho on the new PA custom spoon. 

I was out doing some scouting and eventually found a pod willing to play.  The fish I found were concentrated in deeper pools.  The wider runs didn’t show much action and forced me to move along and find those deeper slow spots. 

Once I found the pod, it was time to put the fly outfit to work.  Larger brighter patterns were doing the trick for me.  This might not be your usual coho fly, but Squamish anglers should have a few larger flies for this season.  As the water clears, I size down to the typical smaller copper and metallic style flies. 

The big boys made an appearance and gave my Loomis NRX+ 8 wt a good workout. 

Sink tips are also critical.  I found fish holding in very deep to shallow runs.  Having a collection of sink tips can help you get down to the fish when you need to.  Have a fast sink Versileader or t8 Mow tip in your collection to get down to the deep stuff and a clear tip for when things clear up. 

Fly lines are important as specific lines can aid in casting without additional sink tips overloading the rod.  If you are a dedicated Squamish angler look to an Outbound short with integrated sink tip or Rio Predator in a sink 3. Integrated sink tips can make for a smoother more enjoyable casting experience.  Also, with some of the tight quarters and high banks it can be difficult to get a decent back cast going.  Look to a single hand spey option like the OPST commando smooth.  These single hand lines load great for long roll casts and allow you to strip right to your sink tip without the clunky line to line connections of larger spey outfits. 

Bull Trout eating eggs on the lighter centrepin 

Trout fishing is spotty but improving.  I did take a float out rod for a dip and found trout. There are several places where you can encounter spawning chum in the system.  Rather than targeting the chum (not allowed to target chum in Squamish and tributaries) I take a light centrepin or bead setup out to poke trout.  This didn’t disappoint me as I found a nice bull and a few rainbows to close the day.  You may encounter an aggressive chum doing this, so I don’t recommend light fly rods here.  I did best on dull coloured small 8-10mm beads… larger brighter beads got chum bites, and I didn’t want to mess with any of those. 

Lastly, there have been plenty of critters and wildlife up the river.  I spotted big fresh wolf, and bear tracks everywhere and even had a good look at a few grazing elk.  Keep your bear spray on hand and travel safe. 

Eric Peake 

Harrison River Fishing Report 

It’s the third week of October now, which means salmon fishing on the Harrison will be in full swing.  While the water is still low, there are good amounts of fish in the system.  It’s important to note that the only species open to fishing at the moment are chum and coho salmon.  Chinook, and sockeye are all closed as target species, not just catch and release. With a record-breaking chum return this year, you can expect to see a lot of these fish around.  More coho should be showing up as we progress into October and November, so fishing will only be getting better. 

Coho salmon can be tricky to catch, especially in a large and wide river system like the Harrison.  The key is finding them; coho salmon will stack up in back channels and slower pockets of water.  With the current water levels, they are pretty easy to spot, look for silver almost translucent looking fish with square black tails.  These fish are fairly spooky at the moment, especially once the sun hits the water.  Your best shot at one will be in the early hours of the morning, or on a cloudy overcast day.  

Some of my favorite flies for low water days in the Harrison.

Some of my go to colors for jigs in the Harrison.

Chum salmon are quite the opposite of coho; they are relatively easy to catch.  Simple float fishing rigs with a piece of purple yarn or jig will produce quite well.  As for fly fishing, I would recommend large purple string leaches or prom dress style flies.  These fish are very aggressive and will willingly bite all day long 

 A simple purple or pink colored Jig can be deadly for chum salmon 

Large streamer and popsicle styles patterns work best for chum salmon 

Fishing techniques vary in this system. Spinning gear and fly rods are my personal favorite things to bring when coho fishing.  As for chum, I like to use a 10’6 MH float rod or an 7-9 weight fly rod.  The Reddington Wrangler 8wt fly rod is a great starter fly rod if you’ve been thinking about giving fly fishing for salmon a try.  As for a float rod I like the Shimano Compre 10,6 MH Bait-Caster, paired with a Daiwa Tatula 300 size bait-casting reel.  Chum salmon range from around 8-15lbs in size with some even getting into the 20lb mark. Having a heavier rod and reel is nice when fighting these big powerful fish. 

Currently the water level is sitting at around 8.7 meters, which is pretty low for the Harrison.  With no rain in the forecast for this next week, I’d expect the water level to stay the same.  Low water doesn’t mean fish won’t bite; the chum sure will.  However, if it is coho you are after, I would suggest focusing on the first 2-3 hours of sunlight, or try and pick an overcast day. 

Overall, if you’re planning on heading up that way this weekend, I’d say it’s definitely worth it.  There will be lots of chum and coho salmon around, with many more still on the way.  

Good luck out there everyone. 

Jacob Leboe 

Capilano River Fishing Report 

It’s hard to believe that we’re already more than halfway through October, and it’s ever harder to believe how little rain has fallen this month and how low most of our local rivers are. The Capilano has been hit especially hard by this dry spell, and fishing has been pretty tough as a result- to say that it is low and clear might very well be understatement of the week.  

While the Capilano- and the people that fish it- are no strangers to low water, this year has been exceptional, with the water levels sitting at less than 1m since late September. These exceptionally low flows have resulted in some unbelievably spooky and just downright lockjawed fish. While last week’s small bump in water levels did help move fish through the system, it has since returned to a miserably low state.  

Of course, there are plenty of fish in the system- the chinook run is definitely past its peak, and most fish are getting pretty dark, but they are still around. The coho run is also past its peak, though there are still a ton of the spread throughout the system... some of which are darker than others. Surprisingly, there are also more than a couple chum that have wandered their way into the system, though they aren’t around in significant numbers and are closed to targeted angling anyways. Pretty much all of the fish will be hunkering down in the deepest pools, which should come as no surprise... there’s literally nowhere else they can go. Some pools will hold more fish than others, so you may want to do some exploring to find the most productive pools.  

 Some fish will be starting to colour up a bit, so it can pay to be a bit picky with the fish you choose to retain. 

Float fishing with artificial presentations such as beads, blades, yarn or jigs (no bait until November 1st) and casting spoons, spinners or jigs can produce fish, but fly gear is king in these conditions, and that is an undisputable fact. I bet you never thought you’d hear that from me, but the pigs are flying and hell has frozen over.  

 A decent fish from a quick trip before work.  

Fly gear can present small, subtle presentations with a level of delicacy that no other gear can match, and that is key when the fish are hyper spooky. Small, understated patterns such as Poison Arrows, Muddlers, Cali Neils or Coho Buggers in olive, green, brown, copper or grey have been producing when stripped on a sink-tip or full intermediate line. Don’t forget your fluorocarbon tippet; it’s pretty much a necessity in these conditions. I’ve been running a F/H/I sink tip line with some success, though the slow sink rate means that I do have to let it sink for a while before I start stripping.  

 I am by no means a master fly angler, but I reckon these are all good options!  

You can get away with a lighter rod in these conditions; experienced anglers will have no issues landing coho with a 6wt, though the fact that there are chinooks and chum around means that a 7wt or 8wt is probably a better choice for most anglers... I’ve already had to process warranties for customers on more than a few fly rods that were K.I.A. by chum, and it would be ideal if I didn’t have to process many more!  

While there is some rain in the forecast over the next week, it’s tough to say if it’ll be enough to do much... the current forecast is for a few days of “chance of showers”, and Metro Vancouver usually only starts to open the dam when there has been enough rain to bump the reservoir level up. If that does happen and river levels do bump up, then there will almost certainly be a significant number of fish moving into and through the system, which should result in a few days of good fishing. The Cap usually fishes well though into early October, so there’s still some time to get out there, just make sure you check the conditions before you head out and bring the appropriate gear to suit those conditions.  

As always, stay safe out there.  

Taylor Nakatani 

Stave River Fishing Report 

We are heading into the 3rd week of October which means chum time on the Stave! Mornings are coolers, sun rises earlier, it sets later, and the leaves are changing. It finally feels like fall.  Coho fishing has been quite slow as we still need some rain to help bring in the coho that are destined for the Stave. 

If you’re looking for coho, a 6-8wt fly rod with a full floating line to an intermediate sink tip or a full intermediate line is the go-to set up.  Paired with 8-12lb fluorocarbon and the entire rainbow of coho flash flies, you are bound to find some chrome fish.  You will encounter chum on the fly, it just happens.  One of our favourite flies to avoid chum is Andre’s no-chum fly.  It is a pearly-grey body with a copper bead-head. It is sparse and shiny, the coho can see it but since it doesn’t have much contrast the chum have a hard time seeing it. 

Low clear water means small flies and light tippet!

For gear heads, twitching small jigs (1/4 and 3/8oz), casting small spoons and spinners will work quite well for these coho.  In lower, clearer water, copper and brass are some of the proven go-tos.  If you do notice that everyone around you is fishing the same small brass/copper lure, change it up to a small bright option.  You’d be surprised sometimes at how fishing slightly outside the box can put fish on the bank. 

                                                                                                              Some of our casting and twitching options

On the chum side of things, float fishing jigs are, hands down, the MOST effective way of targeting them.  The super fun thing about chum is that they bite throughout the entire day. There’s no need to try and floss them with long leaders.  Short floating jigs 1-2 feet off the bottom is the way to go.  Any 9’6-11 foot medium/medium-heavy bait casting or spinning rod rigged for float fishing will work wonders.  For leaders go heavy.  You can leave the 12-15lb fluorocarbon at home.  Run a 17-20lb mono or fluorocarbon leader.  Chum have some gnarly teeth that will easily chafe/fray leaders. 

Casey and Alex on a double header! 

 Bobbers Down! 

 Casey