Stave River Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
The lower Stave below Ruskin Dam: fall chum and coho, hatchery steelhead, spawning-channel closures and flows set by BC Hydro’s dams.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~6 °C est.
Air / High
6 °C / 13 °C
Wind
NNE 1 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Stave River is a cold-water proposition today: small baits, slow presentations and a long soak. Today brings cloud cover, wind NNE around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 13 °C. Water sits around 6 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:57 PM-1:57 AM and 12:16 PM-2:16 PM: the windows to build the day around.
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.
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: 11:57 PM-1:57 AM, 12:16 PM-2:16 PM, 8:42 AM-9:42 AM. Similar at 13 °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 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 Stave River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (08:10), sunset (17:35), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:57 PM-1:57 AM and 12:16 PM-2:16 PM; minor 8:42 AM-9:42 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Water Survey of Canada station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp6 °C
High / Low13 °C / 6 °C
WindNNE 1 km/h, gusts 4 km/h
Pressure101.62 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 98%
Sunrise / Sunset08:10 / 17:35
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~6 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Stave River
Today is the pick of the week on Stave River, at 3 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, Nov 9 — fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.
Today, Nov 9 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:57 PM-1:57 AM and 12:16 PM-2:16 PM
- Minor period
- 8:42 AM-9:42 AM
- Sun
- 08:10 to 17:35
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Rain, 10 km/h
- Rain chance
- 98%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Stave 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. Late fish in the rivers are dark and done; the coast is quiet until spring.
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. Late fish hold in the lower river; slow presentations near the bottom.
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. The winter run. Slow and deep: float gear right on the bottom, swing slower, and fish the days after a small 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. 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.
Closed parts of this water today: Ruskin and Northrop spawning channels (all year). No fishing in the Ruskin spawning channel, from the inlet near the dam to the boat ramp crossing, or in the Northrop Spawning Channel (in-season change of 18 November 2025). Government of British Columbia.
When to come: the Stave 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 6 °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 Stave River 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. Chum salmon led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Chum salmon led the card at excellent. High of 16 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Chum salmon led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 14 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 non-tidal salmon surcharge to keep salmon and the steelhead surcharge to fish for steelhead.
About this water
Stave River is a river in British Columbia, Canada, covered from the British Columbia reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Stave River: the full guide
The Stave River
The Stave River drains BC Hydro’s Stave Lake reservoir, runs through Hayward Lake reservoir to the Ruskin Dam and meets the Fraser at Ruskin, near Mission. Below Ruskin Dam it is a short stretch of river that fills with salmon in the fall, and its flow is set by the dams upstream. There is no public live gauge on this lower reach; the report here is built from the weather and the season.
Species and seasons
Chum and coho run in the fall, and the river also carries hatchery steelhead: the synopsis notes that Stave River steelhead are marked by clipping the maxillary (jaw) bone to assess hatchery release strategies. Salmon openings and limits come from DFO notices, and all wild steelhead and wild trout from Region 2 streams must be released. Cutthroat trout follow the salmon to feed on eggs.
Where to fish it
The lower river below Ruskin Dam is fished from the banks and the gravel bars. Two spawning channels are closed: the Ruskin spawning channel, from its inlet near the dam down to the boat ramp crossing, and the Northrop Spawning Channel, closed since 18 November 2025 from its intake to where it rejoins the main river, including the tributaries that hold the fishway. Provincial rules also bar fishing within 23 m below the lower entrance to any fishway, canal, obstacle or leap.
Planning a visit
The river is on the north side of the Fraser Valley, between Mission and Maple Ridge. BC Hydro warns of changing water levels and strong currents below its dams, and says the Ruskin Dam picnic site and parking area are closed for a slope repair project, expected to reopen in fall 2026. Bring waders and float gear; the fall rain in the valley is steady, and the banks get muddy.
The water through the year
Releases from the dams and the fall rains set the flow, and summer is low and quiet. The salmon arrive in the fall and thin out by early winter; for the rest of the year the lower Stave sees few anglers.
Reading this report here
Without a live gauge on the lower Stave, the page shows the seasonal water temperature estimate, labelled as one, and builds the score from pressure, wind and sky. The Water Survey of Canada’s only real-time station on the river, above Stave Lake, is far upstream of the dams and says nothing about the water below them.
Licence, access and rules
A BC freshwater licence is needed, with the non-tidal salmon surcharge to keep salmon and the steelhead surcharge to fish for steelhead. The Stave is fresh water down to the CPR bridge, which the synopsis gives as its tidal boundary; below it DFO’s tidal rules apply. Single barbless hooks are required in all Region 2 streams, and in-season changes are posted on the province’s fishing regulations page.
Common questions
When do salmon run in the Stave River?
Chum and coho run in the fall; DFO’s notices decide whether any may be kept.
Can I fish right below Ruskin Dam?
Not in the Ruskin spawning channel, which is closed from its inlet near the dam to the boat ramp crossing, nor within 23 m below any fishway or obstacle; the synopsis shows the boundaries.
Why is there no level chart?
The only real-time Water Survey of Canada station on the Stave is above Stave Lake, upstream of the dams, so it would not show the flow in the lower river.
Is fishing good at Stave 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
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- 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.