The Stamp River is one of British Columbia’s top producers of steelhead, and chinook salmon. Two things that make the Stamp unique – the early arrival of large numbers of steelhead and huge returns of chinook salmon. Unlike many other rivers, the Stamp has only two seasons of interest to avid anglers – fall/ winter and winter/spring. But those two seasons provide some of the hottest steelhead and salmon angling found anywhere on the West Coast.

Like most island rivers, the Stamp travels a short course from mountain crest to the sea. The Somass is a marriage of two good sized rivers – the Sproat and the Stamp. The Stamp begins in the foothills and rushes seaward to its junction with the Sproat which flows only a few miles between the outlet of Sproat Lake and its junction with the Stamp. From that junction downstream cartographers call the river the Somass, but local steelheaders simply call the whole system the Stamp.

The Stamp is a hatchery augmented river, which simply means that massive annual hatchery plants from the Robertson Creek hatchery, assures anglers the maximum opportunity to catch and keep a marked (adipose clipped) hatchery steelhead and chinook. The Robertson Creek hatchery plants roughly 8,000,000 chinook fry and 2,500,000 coho. Robertson Creek chinook form the backbone of a huge commercial fishery in both Alaska and British Columbia. This result is enormous returns of adult chinook to the Stamp. In a good year as many as 90,000 adults make it back to the Stamp. Mixed in with all those chinook are up to 20,000 coho.

Fall/Winter

The Fall season on the Stamp gets under way with the arrival of the first chinook about September first. By September tenth large numbers of chinook and coho intermingle to provide phenomenal fishing.

The best fishing for bright chinook usually peaks around September 22-28, but fishing remains strong until the high waters of early October. Stamp River chinook are usually good biters and respond well to salmon eggs, Vibrax spinners fished without a float and Colorado spinners fished beneath a float. When fishing roe, I prefer cured chinook eggs. The redder, the better. I do well casting Vibrax spinners in sizes three to five. My favorite colors are brass and gold. A third deadly chinook technique is to fish a deep dish Colorado or Indiana spinner under a float. The trick with this rig is to position yourself above the fish and let the float slowly work down to the fish while holding back on the float just enough to make the spinner blade flutter alluringly.

I look for chinook in slow deep pools. On a good year you can see chinook stacked so thickly that the entire bottom of a pool seems to be covered with fish. Typical Stamp River chinook average about 22 pounds, but fish in the forty-pound class are present. When the run peaks, good anglers can expect ten to twenty hookups a day.

Early season coho are often hard to hook. The combination of warm water and large numbers of chinook make the coho skittish. The best coho fishing usually comes after the first heavy rains raise the river and cool the water. Coho fishing doesn’t usually get hot until early October. The Stamp River coho are larger than those in many B.C. rivers. They average nine pounds with an occasional fish in the high teens. For coho I prefer gold and silver spinners sizes three to five. Long light leaders will often take even skittish coho. I usually use ten pound test leaders as much as long as 40 inches.

Summer run steelhead are also present in the fall. A typical return of summer runs is 2,000 to 4,000 fish, but these fish can be very difficult to hook. They also seem to be spooked by the large number of chinook and coho in the river. Summer runs typically begin arriving in late June and peak around September fifteenth. Fishing for summer runs is best before and after the peak of the salmon runs. These fish travel very fast, shooting upstream to the hatchery in only a few days.

Fly fishers often do well for summer runs if the river is low in July and August. After that, spinners, Cheaters and Corkies seem to work best. Sand shrimp work well for summer fish before the salmon arrive. Once the salmon begin spawning, sand shrimp are ignored in favor of salmon eggs. Once the salmon run peaks, the steelhead begin gorging on chinook eggs. After mid September any form of salmon egg or imitation eggs works well. I prefer small spawn sacks with fresh coho or chinook eggs. Others have found success with Jensen Eggs, and small Spin and Glows in egg colors.

Winter/Spring

The Stamp River has the earliest returning winter steelhead in British Columbia. If the river is high, good numbers of winter fish may arrive as early as mid November. The peak of the ruin is usually from December tenth to January fifteenth. Thanks to the huge plants from the Robertson Creek Hatchery, winter steelheading on the Stamp is often phenomenal. Skilled anglers can hook between five and ten fish per day. On an exceptional day you might have twenty hook ups. Fishing for winter run fish remains good until late February. After that, fishing can still be excellent, but as the season progresses the mix of fresh fish and down streamers tilts toward down streamers. Fishing for “kelts” or downstream fish holds up well into April.

The top setups for winter steelhead on the Stamp are cured roe, sand shrimp, and pink plastic worms. I fish with cured steelhead roe in its natural color. I use a float, with an eight-pound test leader and number two hook. I cut my roe into very small pieces, about the size of the finger nail on your little finger. My second favorite winter steelhead bait is small sand shrimp. These are also fished under a float on a long light leader.

The Stamp is the center of the pink plastic worm universe. When I first visited the Stamp, plastic worms were used by more than 70 percent of all anglers. Today, worms are not as popular, but many Stamp River steelheaders still swear by the worm. Worm fishers prefer pink worms. Favorite colors are various shades of pink ranging from purple/pink to pale pink. A local favorite is called the “beanie weanie”.

You can find beanie weanie worms at the Gone Fishing Tackle Shop. Favorite sizes are from three to five inches long. Worms are also fished beneath a float. The usual rigging consists of a six-inch dink float, several split shot or a slinky, a 18 to 30-inch leader and the worm. Worms are rigged by threading the leader thru the worm with the hook protruding anywhere from the middle of the worm to the tail. For some reason worms seem to trigger savage strikes. While the occasional steelie will nibble and tug at the worm, more often they slam it like a freight train.

Approximately two-fifths of the Stamp river steelhead are of hatchery origin. You may retain two hatchery fish, but all wild fish must be released. If you fish above Stamp Falls, you will find that almost all winter run fish are wild. Hatchery summer run fish will migrate above the falls, but winter run hatchery origin fish seldom make it above the falls.

River Access

Unfortunately, much of the Stamp flows through private property. Bank anglers have only a handful of good fishing areas. The top spots for bank access are The Money Pool, Falls Pool, The Rifle Range, and the Paper Mill Dam.

Boat anglers have two drifts to fish. Jet sleds are banned except guides who have clients in the boat. The upper drift features some tricky rapids. It is not recommended for inexperienced boaters. The upper access launch site is at the hatchery and the take out is at the campground above the falls. Remember that most fish in this stretch will be wild fish, which may not be retained. In addition this section of the river has a bait ban in effect after December first. The lower drift launch site is at The Star Shingle Mill. The take out is at the city park on Service Road.

Planning a Trip

If you arrive on the island via the provincial ferry, as most do, the Stamp is only a short hop from your landing in Nanaimo. The Island Highway takes you north to the junction with the Port Alberni highway. From there to Port Alberni takes less time than it might to tie a dozen steelhead leaders. Port Alberni marks the juncture of the Somass and a long fiord that pierces nearly to the heart of the island from the wild Pacific shore.

Lodging is available through Murphy’s at two lodges in Port Alberni. The Timber Lodge Motel in town also caters to steelheaders.

Rules and Regulations

All anglers must have a non tidal sport fishing license. In addition, a salmon license is required if you wish to retain a salmon and a steelhead licence is required as well. Anglers may retain two chinook per day with a possession limit of four salmon. Two coho may be retained. Only hatchery steelhead may be retained. These are identified by a missing adipose fin.

Guides

First time visitors would do well to hire a guide. By the time you calculate the cost of bringing your boat across on the ferry and the hassle of trying to spot your car, a guide seems like a very good bargain.