Dean River Chinook Salmon are pretty awesome critters.
At BC West we catch them mostly in the bottom mile and a half of river, so they’re hot and bright, and just like their steelhead cousins, they’re as powerful as they come. We hook quite a few of them and we land lots of smaller ones, but everything has to go right to land the big boys (and girls).
Brian Niska pulled it off last week. Great fish, Brian.
Please leave for those of us that can’t come until 7-10.
Great fish!
Can you share what fly was used, and maybe a detail or two? Pretty please.
Loc
Loc, this fish was caught on a green Mikey Prawn tied by Mike Orlowski, one of my shop employees here in Whistler. The fish was caught at the head of Bill’s run and despite making numerous long runs, never left the pool. I just got back from teaching a spey improvement week on the Dean and am already looking forward to getting back there next year. Dean Chinook are incredibly strong, some of the fish hooked required a chase in the boat. The largest fish I landed took us all the way from Slide run to tidewater.
Thanks! I leave the 8th. Hope the run will not be over.
Loc, I am confident that there will still be lots of fish around when you get to the Dean on the 8th. I know Mike is busy tying up your prawns-please give him a call at 1-888-822-3474 as he has a quick question for you.
Good luck!
Brian
The real secret to this photo is it is not the biggest fish he caught.
It was the first big fish. This photo just happened to get posted first and in his humility Mr. Niska did not want to hog band width. The next day he hooked three and land two that were bigger, one maybe 25% bigger.
Not to under rate this fish. Brian’s (left) arm was so tired from the fight that it was shaking as he tried to lift the fish…he almost had to call in help for the photo.
Brian,
What is the usual date of the opener for Chinooks on the Dean? and Is there a time when the bigger Chinooks hit the river? Thanks! Klint
Klint, the river opens for fishing on June 1 and it is pretty typical for the first good push of fish to appear towards the end of first week of June. I think a lot of the largest and strongest fish arrive throughout mid June coinciding with the early season higher water. Even though fresh fish will run through till mid July, I like fishing the Dean in June cause the higher water tends to cause the fish to slow down and hang in the lower river a bit before making their way up the canyon.btw I am doing 2 spey improvement weeks there next year if you are interested in joining the fun.
Brian Niska