Steelhead
Good
The winter run. Slow and deep: float gear right on the bottom, swing slower, and fish the days after a small rise in water.
Bulkley River at Smithers Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
The Bulkley near Smithers: fall summer steelhead on a Class II classified water under a bait ban, with a live gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
2.99 m89.5 m³/s
Air / High
2 °C / 5 °C
Wind
NW 1 km/h
Sources: Water Survey of Canada station 08EE005, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Bulkley River at Smithers is in its winter rhythm: slow, deep and around the brightest hours. The gauge reads 2.99 m, up 0.11 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind NW around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 4 °C. Water sits around 3 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:35 PM-2:35 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Chinook (spring) salmon
Slow
Winter feeders on the BC coast, deep and slow, on the calm days only. In the Great Lakes, the run is over until next fall.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 12:17 AM-2:17 AM, 12:35 PM-2:35 PM, 9:35 AM-10:35 AM. Similar at 6 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. 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 (08:48), sunset (17:36), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:35 PM-2:35 PM; minor 9:35 AM-10:35 AM. New Moon, 0% 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 2026-11-09 01:55.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp2 °C
High / Low5 °C / 1 °C
WindNW 1 km/h, gusts 6 km/h
Pressure101.46 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain94% cloud, 89%
Sunrise / Sunset08:48 / 17:36
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~3 °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 Friday Nov 13, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Friday, Nov 13 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Nov 9 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 12:17 AM-2:17 AM and 12:35 PM-2:35 PM
- Minor period
- 9:35 AM-10:35 AM
- Sun
- 08:48 to 17:36
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 5 km/h
- Rain chance
- 89%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
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
Open now Closes Jan 1, 2027. No fishing in any stream of the Skeena watershed upstream of Cedarvale 1 January to 15 June. The Bulkley above the Morice confluence is closed all year; no angling from boats from the Morice to Barrett 15 August to 31 December. Rule as read from Government of British Columbia on 2026-09-27.
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. The winter run. Slow and deep: float gear right on the bottom, swing slower, and fish the days after a small rise in water.
Coho salmon
BC coast: July to September; rivers: October and November
Open now Closes Jan 1, 2027. No fishing in any stream of the Skeena watershed upstream of Cedarvale 1 January to 15 June. The Bulkley above the Morice confluence is closed all year; no angling from boats from the Morice to Barrett 15 August to 31 December. Rule as read from Government of British Columbia on 2026-09-27.
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. Late fish in the rivers are dark and done; the coast is quiet until spring.
Chinook (spring) salmon
BC coast: spring to late summer; Great Lakes tributaries: September and October
Open now Closes Jan 1, 2027. No fishing in any stream of the Skeena watershed upstream of Cedarvale 1 January to 15 June. The Bulkley above the Morice confluence is closed all year; no angling from boats from the Morice to Barrett 15 August to 31 December. Rule as read from Government of British Columbia on 2026-09-27.
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. Winter feeders on the BC coast, deep and slow, on the calm days only. In the Great Lakes, the run is over until next fall.
Sockeye salmon
Summer, only when DFO opens a fishery
Open now Closes Jan 1, 2027. No fishing in any stream of the Skeena watershed upstream of Cedarvale 1 January to 15 June. The Bulkley above the Morice confluence is closed all year; no angling from boats from the Morice to Barrett 15 August to 31 December. Rule as read from Government of British Columbia on 2026-09-27.
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.
Closed parts of this water today: Bulkley above the Morice confluence (all year). No fishing in the Bulkley upstream of the Morice/Bulkley confluence. Government of British Columbia.
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 3 °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 dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 7 °C, wind to 3 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 3 °C, wind to 6 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 4 °C, wind to 6 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. The zone-by-zone seasons and limits are on British Columbia fishing seasons.
Access
A BC freshwater licence is needed, with the steelhead surcharge and a classified waters licence from 1 September to 31 October, when the Bulkley is Class II water, and a bait ban applies.
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 valley around Houston and Smithers and down through Moricetown Canyon to the Skeena at Hazelton. Its summer steelhead are fished in the fall, largely on the swung fly, and it is one of the classified waters that, in the province’s words, contribute to BC’s reputation as a world-class fishing destination. Smithers 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 in late summer and are fished through September and October, and all wild steelhead must be released. Coho run in the fall under DFO notices, and cutthroat and rainbow trout live in the river. On 30 July 2026 the province assessed that year’s Skeena summer steelhead run as modest or abundant and said the fishery would proceed as normal, while keeping the option of time and area closures.
Where to fish it
The river from the Morice confluence at Houston down past Smithers toward Moricetown is fished from the bank and by boat, with runs that suit the swung fly. No angling from boats is allowed between the Morice River and the CNR bridge at Barrett from 15 August to 31 December, nor in Moricetown Canyon or within 100 m below it at any time. The Bulkley above the Morice confluence is closed to fishing, and the Suskwa and Telkwa have their own entries.
Planning a visit
Smithers is on Highway 16, with an airport. Non-guided non-resident aliens may not fish the Bulkley on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 September to 31 October, and non-residents buy classified waters licences by the day, for set dates and waters, up to eight consecutive days on each licence. The province asks anglers in the Skeena watershed to seek permission before crossing reserve lands.
The water through the year
Snowmelt raises the river in late spring; it clears through the summer, and fall rains can colour it for days before it drops back into shape. The classified period and the steelhead stamp requirement both run from 1 September to 31 October, and colder weather slows the fishing toward the end of it.
Reading this report here
The gauge shows whether the river is in shape: a rising, coloured river after rain is hard to fish for a day or two. Thirty days of readings are charted, and cloud and pressure feed the score.
Licence, access and rules
A BC freshwater licence is needed, with the steelhead surcharge and a classified waters licence from 1 September to 31 October, when the Bulkley is Class II water, and a bait ban applies. Salmon are managed by DFO, and in 2026 DFO closed Skeena mainstem sockeye from 28 August; check the Region 6 in-season changes and DFO notices before fishing.
Common questions
When is steelhead season on the Bulkley?
The fall, mainly September and October; wild steelhead are released, and the steelhead stamp is mandatory from 1 September to 31 October.
Is the Bulkley a classified water?
Yes, Class II from 1 September to 31 October; during that period you need a classified waters licence on top of the basic licence and the steelhead surcharge.
Where is the Bulkley?
In northern BC, around Houston and Smithers, flowing through Moricetown Canyon 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
- Pages checked
- www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-r
- www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-r
- www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-r
- www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-r
- notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=3651
- 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.