The Harrison River 

The Harrison may be short but its a very important tributary and is one of the fishing hot spots in the Vancouver area. The harrison river is only 18 km long but it offers some of the most consistent fishing in the fraser valley. The lillooet River is the tributary which feeds harrison lake, although the lillooet River often blows out with glacial melt the material sediments out by the time it joins the Harrison River and dumps into the Fraser. Its basically fishable water 365 days a year. 

The Harrison is a shallow river with the exception of a deep channel which follows the original river bed for the entire length of the Harrison River. The river is an important migration route for all 5 species of pacific Salmon as well as Steelhead and Sturgeon. The Harrison is also one of the best fisheries for sea run Cutthroat trout in the Fraser valley, the trout survive on a diet of Salmon fry as they emerge from the gravel and begin their life cycle.

There are a couple of real hot spots on the Harrison, one of the most popular spots is where the clean water of the harrison mixes with the fraser water, at certain times this section is literally alive with fish of all species. The other productive stretch is between Kilby and the Fraser. Our guides know every inch of the Harrison we have lots of spots which fish well at different flow levels. The Cutthroat trout are often found around the feeder streams entering Harrison lake. You can ofter find the Cutthroat by watching for rising trout, but they move around quite a bit so you really have to keep your eyes open and follow the fish. 

The winter months offer some of the very best Cutthroat Trout fishing available in the Fraser valley, small salmon fry patterns and egg patterns work great for the hungry trout. These cutties grow to 5lbs with the occasional fish getting to 10lbs. 

Steelhead are available starting early in the new year and peaking in mid April and these Steelhead are usually in the weight range of 7-15 lbs

The Salmon fishing starts as early as mid June, with the first of the Chinook entering the system. The Sockeye follow the Spring Salmon and hang in the river between July and September before moving into the lake to spawn. The runs of fish continue to flood into the river, next is the coho followed by the Chum and on odd years the pinks. for such a short river it gets a truly incredible amount of fish passing through.