Kitimat Information

[338Bluff]

Starting a new thread so as not to derail another. If Kitimat is ok to put a small boat in (Harbercraft 18ft) I'm seriously planning to go give it a try. Looking for some more info.

Where is the best place to stay and launch from?
Best Tackle shop to get gear and advice from?
General safety or local conditions that need to be observed...or at least where can I read up on it? Could be going as early as July 25th unless there is a better time to go.


Thanks

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by 338Bluff

Starting a new thread so as not to derail another. If Kitimat is ok to put a small boat in (Harbercraft 18ft) I'm seriously planning to go give it a try. Looking for some more info.

Where is the best place to stay and launch from?
Best Tackle shop to get gear and advice from?
General safety or local conditions that need to be observed...or at least where can I read up on it? Could be going as early as July 25th unless there is a better time to go.


Thanks

Yeah Kitimat is protected waters in the channel. Wind can still blow pretty good. We have gone out there in an 18 foot boat before without a problem. We stayed at the campground and Marina, was years ago can't remember what it was called. Just hope for calm weather and you can go way out. Have to hit the run for good fishing though otherwise long run to open ocean for better action.

It was MK Bay Marina where we stayed. Pretty nice with a little river running in so you can watch the salmon coming into the river to sniff their way home.

[lund17]

Kitimat was my father’s choice of destination when I was a small kid and it is now my choice for salmon fishing. The area is great location to be able to things yourself at your own pace and it’s not too busy that you are going to agony the locals. I have made 15+ trips in the last 26 years. You are completely save to launch a 18ft boat in Kitimat at the MK Marina and head out onto the Douglas channel. MK Marina is under new ownership so I don’t know what’s going on with it as there were a lot of locals concerned about it 2 years ago. It is the only place to launch a boat so it has to be still operating. Check out their website. There are lots of locals with 16ft to 18ft boats that head out on a regular basis. I have taken a Lund 1700 Fisherman out there half a dozen times and had no problems. I have upgraded to a Duckworth 1800 it handles the rougher water better now. Make sure you have a VHF radio and listen to the weather channel every day and during the day as the wind will blow down the channel and sometimes making coming home a really rough ride. If they predict a small craft warning I don’t go out or get off the water ASAP. The great thing is if you can’t head out onto the salt, there are a lot of rivers full of salmon for a guy to try as well.
There are a few different places to stay most every place caters to fisherman. My preferred place is Kitimat Lodge http://www.kitimatlodge.com , but they do book up very early in the season. There have been at least one (maybe two) new hotels built in the last year so there are more options now. I did stay one year up in Terrace when things were booming in Kitimat but the hour drive every morning and night wore me down after being on the water.
Bradley’s Bait Shop located in the mall, is the only place left open that I know of for tackle. MK Marina has a small selection also if a guy gets into a pinch. Phone ahead to see if they have saltwater salmon stickers. They have run out in the past years and then a guy has to run back up to Terrace to get them. Home Hardware closed down last fall, a local institution that did not changed in almost 60 years, and an experience you had to see to believe. I am sad to see it go.
As for timing, I always head out the last week in August that goes into the September long weekend. That’s when the locals come out in droves to fish for Coho. I have chartered in the past and the guides always recommend that time of year. Usually more rain at this time of year but better fishing. There is still good fishing in July/August for Chinook and you would have more success with Halibut right now.
Have a look on the internet and check out the tourism page for Kitimat.

[Fishhunter]

I don't know if the cabins in sue channel are still there but that's where we always stayed. I can't believe the tackle shop closed down Ron was a great guy and very helpful,he put us on many fish and also told us about the cabins. We spend all our time in Rupert now but kitimat was good to with great scenery.

[Marty S]

You can buy gear at Bradley's Tackle Shop or the Home hardware store, both have lots of gear. You might want to go stare at the skin mount Chinook in Home hardware too! It's a pig!

If you want chinooks, the earlier you go the better, but I think the spring run on the Kitimat is much thru, but there will be mass amounts of pinks and chums. If you want to target coho, then go a little bit later. If you would go mid August, you should be starting into the coho hot and heavy.

Don't let anybody convince you that chums are garbage fish. Fresh chums are good, just a more mild flesh, the big ones have a good amount of oil to them. That is if you like hitting a few on the head! Way better eating than pike walleye and whitefish in my books, especially the filth we have down here in southern Alberta with all the new algaes. But if the chums have been in the river a while, I'd just turn them loose.

[338Bluff]

Thanks for the replies. Appreciated.


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[Brandonkop]

Just so you know you can buy your license and salmon stamps online from the comfort of your home and print it out as many times as you want. That's works for tidal waters or bc freshwater.

[Wild&Free]

hit the river too. honestly the most fun I ever had catching Pink Salmon was in the Kitimat, so fresh and silver and the buggers literally swim in tight circles with you get them on the hook. Makes you go wtf is this thing doing!

[338Bluff]

Been reading a fair bit and looking at my Navionics chart. There are tide rips in the channel. How do you deal with those in a smaller boat? Is it possible to have decent fishing within a couple miles of the marina?


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[lund17]

Originally Posted by 338Bluff

Been reading a fair bit and looking at my Navionics chart. There are tide rips in the channel. How do you deal with those in a smaller boat? Is it possible to have decent fishing within a couple miles of the marina?


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Do you have a model number of the Habercraft boat that you will be using. I could have look at it and make a recommendation. In the past I have seen boats as small as a 14' zodiac with a 25HP head 30 miles or more down the channel. They just pack a lot of jerry cans. Even with my boat, if my main motor was to fail, I can get home with my 9.9HP kicker. You might have problems with something smaller than a 9.9HP.

As for fishing, you bet you can have decent fishing within a couple of miles. At the mouth of Clio Bay and just off Clio Point are good spots and are only 4 miles out of the marina. I see lots people trolling from 2 miles to 4 miles out all the time. I always start here before moving further down the channel. A couple of things I have learnt is to ask the locals how much rain they have had in the last week once you arrive. No rain, the rivers and streams will be low and the salmon will stack up in the channel till it rains and the rivers flush out. I have limited out within 2 days on a couple of my trips because of this.