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.
Stave River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, Sep 25, 2026 from live weather and water data
The Stave below Ruskin Dam: fall chum and coho on a short, dam-controlled river in the Fraser Valley.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~12 °C est.
Air / High
13 °C / 14 °C
Wind
ENE 2 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Stave River is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind ENE around 2 km/h, rising pressure near 1006 hPa and a high of 14 °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 13 °C. 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 (07:00), sunset (19:00), 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
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 temp13 °C
High / Low14 °C / 11 °C
WindENE 2 km/h, gusts 4 km/h
Pressure100.55 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset07:00 / 19:00
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~12 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Stave River
The best day on Stave 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
- 07:00 to 19:00
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Rain, 14 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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. 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 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 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 Stave 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 11 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 15 °C, wind to 11 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 20 °C, wind to 11 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 closed area below the dam and the Stave’s rules are in the synopsis linked below.
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 runs from Stave Lake through the Stave Falls and Ruskin dams to the Fraser at Ruskin, near Mission; below Ruskin Dam it is a short stretch of river that fills with salmon in the fall. Its flow is controlled by the dam, and the lower river is where the fishing is. 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 salmon run in October and November, with coho alongside; the retention rules are set in the synopsis and change in season. 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; the area immediately below the dam is closed to fishing. Mission and the Fraser have their own page. Access is from the roads around Ruskin, where the Lougheed Highway crosses the river, and parking is limited on fall weekends.
Planning a visit
The Stave is about an hour from Vancouver, near Mission and Maple Ridge. Dam operations can change the flow quickly: watch the water level and follow the warning signs. Bring waders and float gear; the Fraser Valley rain in the fall is steady, and the banks get muddy.
The water through the year
Releases from the dams and the fall rains set the flow; summer is low and quiet. The fall run is the season. The run starts in October, builds through late October and November and fades by December; the rest of the year the lower Stave is quiet.
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. A cool, grey day with light rain is often the best weather for the salmon here.
Licence, access and rules
A BC freshwater licence is needed, with the non-tidal salmon surcharge for salmon; the closed area below the dam and the Stave’s rules are in the synopsis linked below. In-season changes are posted by the province.
Common questions
When do salmon run in the Stave River?
Chum and coho in October and November.
Can I fish right below Ruskin Dam?
No; the area below the dam is closed. The synopsis shows the boundary.
Why is there no level chart?
There is no public live gauge on the lower Stave below Ruskin Dam.
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
- 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.