guided fly fishing trips
on the
pristine upper pitt river bc
Guided Fly Fishing trips on the pristine upper pitt river!
Words or articles can be tough to describe what can only be experienced in real time. This is the case for fly fishing on the Upper Pitt River.
Location: Grant Narrows boat launch on Pitt Lake, 35 minutes east of downtown Vancouver, BC.
Getting to the Upper Pitt River: Requires a 35 minute scenic jet boat ride to the north end of Pitt Lake and into the Upper Pitt River.
The Fishing: The Upper Pitt River is a gem partly due to it’s 100% Catch and Release program. We walk n wade along the shoreline of productive runs. These runs are filled with very aggressive sea-run Dolly Varden and Bull Trout. Average sizes are 2-4 lbs but do reach weights over 10 lbs.
Getting to the upper pitt river
Leaving Grant Narrows boat launch, we head north 25km up Pitt Lake to the North end. This is where the Upper Pitt River drains into the lake. The geography of the area is steep mountains that thrust straight up offering no passage by road to get here from the south end of the lake. This means the only way to get to the Upper Pitt is by jet boat or helicopter. As we like to say “It keeps the riff raff out!”
Fact: Pitt Lake is one of the largest tidal lakes in the world.
The Terrain
Google Earth was used to create the image to the right(or below on mobile). The mountains are part of the Coast Range system which spans hundreds of miles! Many of the higher areas have snowpack or glaciers that provide melt off year round. 7,500 feet is the higher mountain elevations.
Lush Douglas Fir and Cedar trees permeate the landscape.
Some photos from the upper pitt river
Our Instagram for the Pitt river
The fly fishing
Season: Mid May to early July
Mother Nature dictates when we go to the Upper Pitt. It is fed by snow pack, rain and most importantly the upper elevation ice fields. The river is not big so when run off is occurring at moderate to higher levels this is when we go. This will give the Upper Pitt some nice colour. When it’s that bluish green with 1-3 feet of visibility you’re going to get fish!!
Fly Fishing method
Having the right fly fishing gear is critical for success. That’s why we use top quality reels, rods, and fly line.
We like to use 7 – 8 wt setups with floating line and a fast sinking sink tip. Our main fly line is the Rio In Touch Outbound Short. For the sink tip it’s Rio T-11 or T-14 in lengths of 5 to 8 feet. We custom make all sink tips with a loop on one end so we can easily change up if we need a different length to suit the conditions.
For reels we use Galvan Rush. They are machined aluminum and built to last, plus very good looking.
For flies we tie all our own. Intruders are the primary fly choice here. Colours are black, blue, olive, purple for the most part.
Upper Pitt Guided fishing rates
1 person $800
2 people $1000
3 people $1200
Add return transport from downtown Vancouver for $125
*Not included: angling licenses & 5% sales tax.
All Upper Pitt trips include all high end fly gear, waders/boots and hearty organic food to fuel your day.
For any fly fishing info call Brian at 1 604 864 5445
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