Steelhead stocks on the Englishman River are looking good — really good — this year, says James Craig of the B.C. Conservation Foundation.
Craig made the comments in light of a joint operation between his group and fisheries scientists with the Province of B.C. that saw divers take to the water in a snorkel survey of the Englishman River from the falls to the mouth.
Three crews snorkeled a total of 15 kilometres of the river, catching sight of 103 steelhead adults.
Historical records for Englishman show that a season’s highest numbers occur in the third week of April.
This is the largest peak count since focused monitoring with the provincial Vancouver Island Steelhead Recovery Plan began in 1998, he said, noting Englishman peak counts over the past decade have averaged 51 fish and ranged from 18 to 73 fish.
He stressed however that although the better return might be seen as news of better fishing opportunities, the river is open for fishing — catch and release — downstream of Allsbrook Canyon only.