August 12, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Fishing
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While making a stop along Highway 16 in Moricetown, I would seriously recommend a stop at Morice Canyon. While here you can see firsthand some fishing done with the traditional First Nations gaff. The gaff is a long wooden pole with a large curved fish hook on the end of it. They fish by thrusting the long hook into the water and spear the salmon coming downstream for the spawning and loop it around on the hook. This traditional style is not done as often anymore because from talking to a few fishermen, they said that they could struggle for quite a few minutes with the salmon and it end up getting away. The salmon would then be too injured to survive the attack of the gaff and would die downstream. We also saw many of these fishermen instead fishing with the great big huge nets. They never kept all of the fish they caught because they have more than enough to feed their families. Sometimes they were catching in excess of one hundred a day amongst all of them, but had no need to keep all of those fish and would release most of them. It was really awesome to watch and I recommend going right down near water level to get a much better look at the action taking place!
August 09, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Fishing
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Located approximately 30 kilometers west of Smithers, BC lays one of the most amazing shows I have seen in Northern BC.
The community known as Moricetown is home to several First Nations people and you will often be able to see them fishing in the Bulkley River using gaffs and nets to catch salmon. Watching the process is absolutely amazing and each fisherman will catch approximately 100 fish per day!
The area that is set up for fishing has been cemented in to only allow water flow coming through one main channel, where the fisherman position themselves throughout the day. In this channel, the water flows so quickly that it creates a waterfall effect and occasionally, you can even see the fish being carried down the fast flow of water!
This is a free activity to watch and it is a great way to get a glance at First Nations history in the Northwestern BC region. The fisherman are more than happy to explain the process and show you some of the daily catches! A must stop for everyone in the family!
August 04, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Fishing
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If you're travelling west of Smithers on Hwy 16, be sure to stop at the Toboggan Creek Fish Hatchery! I visited yesterday and was surprised at how much there is to see and learn.
The Toboggan Creek Fish Hatchery is located 13km west of Smithers. It was really easy to follow the big signs welcoming visitors to the site! The hatchery was established in order to increase the number of Coho and Spring salmon in the Bulkley River system, as well as monitor local salmon populations. Young salmon usually only have a 1% survival rate, but here at the hatchery, that increases to 96%!
I was greeted by the girl who usually provides free tours to visitors, but today she and the other few staff members were busy "clipping" young fish - this is how fishermen identify the hatchery's fish and can report the location where they caught the fish to help track the salmon's journey. It was really interesting to watch the clipping process and how quick but gentle the staff are when handling the fish! I viewed the swarms of young fish in the tanks inside the hatchery (the water flowing through these tanks actually comes from the stream outside) and checked out the large depiction of the salmon's life cycle on the wall. I then wandered outside to the trail along Toboggan Creek - this creek is so nice, I could have happily lounged on its banks for a couple of hours but it was time to hit the road once again.
I really enjoyed my visit to the hatchery and I think it would be interesting to visit at different times throughout the year to see all the different jobs they do. Make sure to drop by any time you're in the neighbourhood - the folks at the Toboggan Creek Fish Hatchery will happily welcome you!
February 21, 2007 | Tips from Travellers >
Smithers, Fishing
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On my way from Montana to Stewart, B.C. and back again I stopped in Moricetown to watch the First Nations Peoples fish for salmon in the Bulkley River. The one fellow pictured caught at least 5 in the 30 minutes I watched. I travelled back home on a different route through the Okanagan and Creston. What a beautiful province you live in.