Hit the Campbell yesterday morning for an early look around and all I can say is "wow!!" is it ever loaded with fish. I've never seen so many in the river so early, it looks just it does on the usual opening day in August. Every pool from the confluence on down is plugged with fish. We started below the logging bridge & could have been limited out in 15 minutes. The fish are very aggressive so far this year & the bite went on all morning. Most of the fish are lazer bright sea lice chromers with some of the males being not bad size. We got one to the beach just over 6lbs & lost a few more of similar size. You can definitely be selective in the ones you keep with so many nice ones around. Hard to believe the run won't peak for another 3 weeks.....can't imagine what the river will look like then All we used to catch these guys was a #2 pink Gammy with either a small piece of pink or chartruse ( green ) wool. A 2ft leader of 8lb test is more than sufficient for these scrappy little guys as it doesn't matter how many you loose, there is always a 1000 more to catch Great time to take the kids out & have some fun watching them catch a salmon

They are calling for a 2 million plus run size of pinks this year to the river from what I was told at tackle shop right on the river there as I stopped in for some new hoochies on my way more north for pinks.

But everyone says the fishing is literally off the hook and you can limit out within 15 minutes if you wanted to I guess it would be a great time to practice or learn how to fly fish while giving you confidence you are doing something right by hooking into some pinks while do it .

They are definetly fun to catch on light gear and they are one of my favorites for the smoker.

I have never fished the Campbell River.
Where would one go to start out?
Thanks.

anywhere on the campbell from the quinsam down to the main bridge will probably be all you need to know to get your limit. I went out twice and caught over 30 total in 4 hours of total fishing time on pink wool.

I am from Washington State and many relatives (marriage) in vancouver, bc area. I am looking to fly fish this week with a brother in law and this would be his first time fishing.

Will we be able to bank fish or wade for his first time on the Campbell River?

thanks for the responses in advance...

MG

No problem fishing the Campbell from shore. There is a lot of accessible area to fish, but also a LOT of people fishing. Most people are pretty good about letting another guy squeeze in, just depends how comfortable you are fishing in a crowd. Doesn't matter where you find a spot, you will find fish. I've never seen so many in the river so early before. Four of us hit it up yesterday & all I can say is WOW!! We hooked easily over a 100 fish in four hours & kept 16 very nice ones. You can afford to be picky about the ones you keep there are so many. We kept quite a few big chrome males between 5-7 lbs & hooked many more. A few fish are just starting to get a bit of color on them, but by far the majority are fresh sea lice chromers. So many pushed in on the tide that we had to stop setting the hook whenever we got a bite to avoid snagging them. You would just have to lift your rod tip whenever you got a bite ( which was almost every cast ) & if you saw a fish flashing under your float you would just tighten up on them. Most of the biters would stay on while any jigged ones would usually roll off of the hook. At one point, my buddy was intentionally using a dull hook to avoid snagging any fish. Worked pretty good too, the dull point would generally slide off the fish's body, but still stick enough in it's mouth to hook them. First time I've ever seen anybody intentionally fish with a dull hook Anything pink seemed to work well including a bare #2 pink Gammy & small pink worms. Chartreuse & pink wool were also hammering them, wish I had a small pink Blue Fox to try just to see. Next time I probably will be doing a little more experimenting for fun.

Directions can always seem a little confusing when you've never been to an area before, so let me try & make it easy for ya. When you come off the inland highway, follow the signs like you are going to Gold River. This will take you out towards Elk Falls Provincial Park.The road follows right besides the Campbell so you know you are going the right way. Right before you get to the park, about a 1/4 mile or so, you will see a large logging bridge on your right going across the Campbell. You can't miss it. Pull over & park right there. You can follow the trails up or downstream, doesn't really matter, there are LOTS of fish everywhere. If you go across the bridge on the highway at the confluence of the Campbell & the Quinsam, you've gone too far.Just turn around & head back a 1/4 mile or so. You will see all the vehicles parked along the road....can't miss them. Down stream is more traditional river runs & pools, while upstream is more like pocket water on the Vedder. Either way, every run, pool & slot is just crammed with fish. Four of us went up yesterday morning.....high tide was aprox. 10:30, so fresh sea licers pushed in all morning. We were using a #2 pink Gammy with a little piece of either bright pink or chartruse ( bright green ) wool. 8lb test & a 2ft leader seems to work best, but it doesn't hurt to experiment. Doesn't really seem to make a difference though, they bite all day long. The fly guys are using any small bright pink fly & catching just as many. Some of the males are quite a nice size for this river, we got a couple just over 6lbs yesterday, so you can afford to be picky about the ones you keep if you want to. Good luck & let us know how you made out.

Ran up to The Island with my son, in-laws not able to join us... Used Fly Rods the first day and got a few hits, but none stayed on or were landed...

Came back Friday morning around 09:00am, but used a rod and reel this time. Almost immediately hooked into a pinkie. Used a silver spinner with just a tad of red reathers just as I thought about changing the lure... I did not have anything green, and they seemed to be hitting anything high flourescent green...

Took a tumble, moving from rock to rock, but bounced up quickly. Was wearing waders, but they really were not needed. We fished the Skagit River earlier in the week, but that River is glacier fed.

I have been to alaska and seen a lot of fish, but holy moley , I have never seen so many fish.

I live in Washington (Ferndale) and my son lives in California. We had a great time. Have not had so much fun years. Thanks for tip about heading North to the Campbell River... Certainly a place that I will visit several times a year...

My son hauled in three and lost about 5. I landed one, but lost several and am amazed at the politeness of the Canadians, when fishing...

Tight lines, and many fishes on your lines...

MRMG88

PS, makes me want to buy that boat sooner...

Well just returned from my trip to Nile Creek, salmon Point and Campbell River.
Nile was great. Huge schools of fish. Caught them on green and pink and all sorts of patterns. Just seemed that you had to get it infront of them. Definitely my best trip there.
Tried one day at salmon point and didn't see a thing. I am used to it being better than Nile, but sure wasn't the case this year. Too bad.
Went to Campbell River three times and it was plum full as everyone has mentioned. Bit of a gong show, but if you get out early not too bad. Was hard to not snag fish but was still able to catch 30+ in the mouth over the three days. Many more in the tail and back. Got better at avoiding foul hooking after a while. Took my dad the one day and he caught his first which was great.
Unfortunately did see lots foul hooked and bonked. Did see a CO once and he fined someone. They could have a field day of they wanted to.
I appreciate the directions that were given and will definitely add this stop to my annual trip to Nile.

is it still pretty hot up there? i am heading up on saturday sunday