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.
Harrison River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, Sep 25, 2026 from live weather and water data
The Harrison between Harrison Lake and the Fraser: huge fall chum runs, coho and cutthroat, with a live gauge below Morris Creek.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
8.87 m
Air / High
13 °C / 18 °C
Wind
NE 6 km/h
Sources: Water Survey of Canada station 08MG022, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Harrison River rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 8.87 m, easing 0.09 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind NE around 6 km/h, steady pressure near 1006 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Water sits around 12 °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.
Chum salmon
Fair
The run. Float fish pink and chartreuse jigs, wool or roe through the slower runs and the back eddies.
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. Similar at 16 °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 coho salmon here? Check the size and bag limits with BC Freshwater Fishing before you keep anything; the Coho salmon page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Harrison River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:58), sunset (18:58), 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 08MG022 (HARRISON RIVER BELOW MORRIS CREEK).
River level, last 30 days
Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 08MG022. Latest reading 2026-09-25 04:40.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp13 °C
High / Low18 °C / 11 °C
WindNE 6 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure100.55 kPa, steady
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset06:58 / 18:58
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~12 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Harrison River
The best day on Harrison River 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
- 06:58 to 18:58
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Rain, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Harrison River: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
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.
Chum salmon
Fraser Valley and Island rivers: October and November
The late-fall salmon of the lower mainland and the Island, big and hard-fighting. Runs the Vedder, the Harrison and the Stave in numbers some years. Retention depends on the run and the DFO notice. The run. Float fish pink and chartreuse jigs, wool or roe through the slower runs and the back eddies.
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.
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.
When to come: the Harrison River 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
Coho salmon
Chum salmon
Steelhead
Chinook (spring) salmon
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 12 °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 Harrison River 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 18 °C, wind to 8 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 17 °C, wind to 8 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 22 °C, wind to 18 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 non-tidal salmon surcharge for salmon; the Harrison’s own rules, and any in-season changes, are in the synopsis linked below..
About this water
Harrison River is a river in British Columbia, Canada, covered from the British Columbia reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Harrison River: the full guide
The Harrison River
The Harrison River is short and powerful, running about fifteen kilometres from the foot of Harrison Lake past Harrison Mills to the Fraser, and its fall salmon runs, especially chum, are among the largest in the Fraser system. The Chehalis River joins it, and the bald eagles gather on its flats in late fall. The Water Survey of Canada gauge below Morris Creek supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Chum salmon run in huge numbers in October and November, with coho in the fall and chinook earlier; cutthroat trout follow the salmon runs to feed on eggs. The retention rules are set in the synopsis and change in season.
Where to fish it
The river is broad and slow in places, fished from boats and from the bars near Harrison Mills and the Chehalis confluence. The Fraser at Mission, downstream, has its own page. Kilby Provincial Park, at Harrison Mills, gives access to the lower river, and the Chehalis confluence is a well-known meeting point for fish and anglers.
Planning a visit
Harrison Mills is about ninety minutes east of Vancouver, and Harrison Hot Springs sits at the head of the river on the lake. In late fall the eagle festival brings visitors to the flats; the eagle viewing areas have their own rules. The Weaver Creek spawning channel, off the Morris Valley Road, is the place to see the salmon in the fall.
The water through the year
Harrison Lake buffers the river, so it rises and falls more slowly than the valley’s other rivers; the Fraser’s level backs up into its lower reach during the freshet.
Reading this report here
The gauge shows the lake-fed flow and the influence of the Fraser; fall rains lift it gently. The chart shows the last 30 days; pressure and sky build the score.
Licence, access and rules
A BC freshwater licence is needed, with the non-tidal salmon surcharge for salmon; the Harrison’s own rules, and any in-season changes, are in the synopsis linked below.
Common questions
When is the best fishing on the Harrison River?
October and November, when the chum and coho run.
Why do cutthroat follow the salmon?
They feed on the eggs that spawning salmon drop.
Where does the Harrison River start?
At the foot of Harrison Lake, at Harrison Hot Springs.
Is fishing good at Harrison River 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 08MG022 — HARRISON RIVER BELOW MORRIS CREEK
- 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.