It’s so much fun to take anglers for their first pink salmon fishing experience. This year, we focused solely on fly fishing in Campbell River. The river has a catch and release fly fishing zone only.  Anglers can stay away from crowds and enjoy a peaceful fishing session.

Brent and I went to the Campbell River this year to catch pink salmon with flies for the first time. Brent is an experienced fly fisherman, so he only needed a floating line with a sink tip since he had his own 7wt rod. I had all the flies he needed as well.

The Campbell river can be very daunting due to a lot of pressure and the number of anglers that have to fish together. His first stop was the fly fishing area with catch and release fishing. 

I find an 8 wt rod to be the most effective. As a result, I have a little more muscle to land them and reduce the fight duration. Since you catch and release, I try to minimize the fight duration. 

When I cast down the river, the fly will land about 40 feet from shore, where I will let it swing towards the shore. The salmon I catch are usually holding 10-15 feet from shore.

It is easy to see that the riverbed is brown if you look closely. The extreme heat and drought we experienced this summer caused the brown algae to bloom, making it very difficult to wade and maintain position.  The worst thing to do would be to venture too far out as your footing was never secure.

Whenever anglers who share an adventure say let’s do it again next year, I’m thrilled.