Continuing Chris Tucker’s quest for Pacific salmon on Vancouver Island ….
23 August 2026
Well, we are on the move again. Kali and I were unexpectedly presented with the opportunity to move to Campbell River, and we jumped at it. The wife is delighted at being closer to family, and I will have one of the best salmon fishing rivers on my doorstep! Win-win.
Unfortunately, the move has landed right in the middle of the pink and Chinook run, so evenings and weekends have been spent packing and painting, rather than wetting a line.
Rather than trust the moving company with my rod collection, I decided to drive them up to the in-laws house for safe storage.
However, I just couldn’t resist a little detour before dropping them off… The river was just too tempting.
I lined up my 8WT spey rod and grabbed a couple of my ‘three-ingredient’ needle flies: fur, marabou and a piece of flash. I have learned that it doesn’t need to be anymore complicated than that.
My usual run was lined up with anglers so I decided to head a little up river to find some space. I fished for about 2 hours with not so much as a piece of weed. It was a pleasant temperature with some lovely fly water, so I wasn’t too bothered. With my trip to the Conuma River coming up, it didn’t really matter to me whether I caught or not.
Just when I thought I really should be getting back to help pack up the crockery, I felt that unmistakable thud.
The fish roared up river and ripped off line. After about a 10 minute battle, it accepted its fate and slipped in the net. A Chinook of about 20lbs. As ridiculous as this may sound to many, it’s one of the babies. Still, I didn’t care.
