Coho salmon
Excellent
The river run. Float gear with roe or a jig, or cast spinners and spoons in the slower tailouts after a rise in water.
Bulkley River at Smithers Fishing Report
Updated Fri, Sep 25, 2026 from live weather and water data
The Bulkley near Smithers: summer steelhead on the swung fly in fall, a classified water with a live gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
2.88 m72.7 m³/s
Air / High
4 °C / 8 °C
Wind
WNW 4 km/h
Sources: Water Survey of Canada station 08EE005, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bulkley River at Smithers rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 2.88 m, easing 0.08 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind WNW around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 8 °C. Water sits around 11 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Chinook (spring) salmon
Good
Fish are staging or moving to the rivers. On the coast, the deeper banks and the winter feeders; in Great Lakes rivers, drifted roe and spinners in the deeper runs.
Steelhead
Fair
Fall fish on the move: float fishing with roe, beads or jigs, and swung flies through the tailouts.
Tie on: Float and roe · Swung fly through the tailout · Jerkbait, long pauses · Hair jig on the rock. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Warmer at 14 °C with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
British Columbia requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$11.43. British Columbia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with BC Freshwater Fishing before you keep anything; the Steelhead page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Bulkley River at Smithers today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:20), sunset (19:19), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Water Survey of Canada station 08EE005 (BULKLEY RIVER NEAR SMITHERS).
River level, last 30 days
Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 08EE005. Latest reading 2026-09-25 03:55.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp4 °C
High / Low8 °C / 3 °C
WindWNW 4 km/h, gusts 10 km/h
Pressure101.13 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 75%
Sunrise / Sunset07:20 / 19:19
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~11 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Bulkley River at Smithers
The best day on Bulkley River at Smithers this week looks like Saturday Sep 26, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Saturday, Sep 26 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Sep 25 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 07:20 to 19:19
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 5 km/h
- Rain chance
- 75%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Bulkley River at Smithers: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Steelhead
BC: winter run December to April, summer run into fall; Great Lakes: fall and spring
Sea-run rainbow trout, the fish of the Vedder, the Skeena system and the Island rivers in winter, and of the Great Lakes tributaries in fall and spring. In BC wild steelhead are released; a steelhead conservation surcharge applies on top of the licence. Fall fish on the move: float fishing with roe, beads or jigs, and swung flies through the tailouts.
Coho salmon
BC coast: July to September; rivers: October and November
Silver, aggressive and surface-oriented. Feeds hard along the BC coast through summer and runs the Fraser Valley and Island rivers in fall, the Vedder and the Stamp among them. Hatchery coho are marked by a clipped adipose fin; what may be kept depends on the water and the DFO notice. The river run. Float gear with roe or a jig, or cast spinners and spoons in the slower tailouts after a rise in water.
Chinook (spring) salmon
BC coast: spring to late summer; Great Lakes tributaries: September and October
The biggest Pacific salmon, called spring or king on the BC coast. Feeds along the kelp lines, points and tide rips of the BC coast before running rivers in late summer; introduced to the Great Lakes, where it runs the tributaries in fall. Retention on the BC coast changes by area and by DFO fishery notice. Fish are staging or moving to the rivers. On the coast, the deeper banks and the winter feeders; in Great Lakes rivers, drifted roe and spinners in the deeper runs.
Sockeye salmon
Summer, only when DFO opens a fishery
The Fraser and Skeena salmon, prized and tightly managed. Recreational sockeye fisheries open only by DFO notice in years when the run allows; many years they stay closed. Out of season.
When to come: the Bulkley River at Smithers calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Steelhead
Coho salmon
Chinook (spring) salmon
Sockeye salmon
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 11 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Bulkley River at Smithers today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 5 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at excellent. High of 10 °C, wind to 5 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Coho salmon led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 8 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
BC freshwater fishing licence, from C$11.43 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by BC Freshwater Fishing and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the British Columbia licence page before you keep anything.
Access
A BC freshwater licence is needed, with the steelhead surcharge and a classified waters licence.
About this water
Bulkley River at Smithers is a river in British Columbia, Canada, covered from the British Columbia reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Bulkley River at Smithers: the full guide
The Bulkley near Smithers
The Bulkley River runs through the farming valley around Houston and Smithers and down through the canyon at Moricetown to the Skeena at Hazelton, and its summer steelhead, fished on the swung fly in the fall, draw anglers from around the world. Smithers, under Hudson Bay Mountain, is the base. The Water Survey of Canada gauge near Smithers supplies the level, the flow and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Steelhead arrive from late summer and are fished through September and October; wild steelhead are released. Coho run in the fall, and cutthroat and rainbow trout live in the river. The Bulkley is a classified water, with extra licences and rules.
Where to fish it
The river between Houston and Smithers, and below Smithers toward Moricetown, is fished from the bank and from drift boats, with runs that suit the swung fly. The Moricetown canyon, where the river narrows, is a traditional Wet’suwet’en fishing site. The Morice River, the Bulkley’s headwater above Houston, is a fishery of its own with its own rules.
Planning a visit
Smithers is on Highway 16, with an airport, guides and lodges. The fall steelhead season is busy; the classified water rules limit anglers on some sections on some days. Guides book up months ahead for the peak weeks.
The water through the year
Snowmelt raises the river in late spring; it clears through the summer, and the fall rains can blow it out for days before it drops back into shape. By late October the nights freeze and the fishing slows, and winter closes the season down.
Reading this report here
The gauge shows whether the river is in shape: a rising, coloured river after rain is unfishable for a day or two. The chart shows the last 30 days; pressure and sky build the score. Cloudy days often fish best.
Licence, access and rules
A BC freshwater licence is needed, with the steelhead surcharge and a classified waters licence. The Bulkley’s rules are in the synopsis linked below.
Common questions
When is steelhead season on the Bulkley?
September and October, for summer steelhead, released when wild.
Is the Bulkley a classified water?
Yes; it needs a classified waters licence on top of the freshwater licence and steelhead surcharge.
Where is the Bulkley?
In northern BC, around Smithers, flowing to the Skeena at Hazelton.
Is fishing good at Bulkley River at Smithers right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Water level and flow readings
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 08EE005 — BULKLEY RIVER NEAR SMITHERS
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.