Nitinat River / Cutthroat

[stevo911]

Hey all,
I'm just starting out (made one attempt at prospect and one at ogden pt). I kiteboard up at Nitinat Lake most weekends, but the wind doesn't come up until around noon, so I wanted to try fishing Nitinat River in the morning/evening. From what I've heard & read there are cutthroat running through there right now.
I don't have any fly gear (yet), just a cheap 5'5 Shakespeare spinning combo with 6lb mono, and a 8' medium/heavy spinning setup. Would either of these be fine for making an attempt on cutthroat (i'm assuming they'd be line shy of the 17lb mono on the big rod)? I've read about casting dry flies just using a clear bubble float and letting them drift. Any recommendations on fly patterns to pick up to try up there.

 

[Tidal Chaos]

I knew a guy that worked at the hatchery that used to catch them on spinners and blades; there may also be the odd early spring or coho in there as well; i have caught them flyfishing in the lower end in mid August (Coho) and then the springs start showing near the end. There are alot of closed areas on the river for fishing and I would stop at the store and see if there are any updates. DFO watches that river quite well and you wouldn't want to be in an area you shouldn't be; most of the good fishing holes are closed for salmon; but it doesn't say in the regs for all fin fish; so you maybe okay for cutties! It would be the wording that maybe the issue as if there are any salmon in the river or in the respective hole it would be considered closed for fishing I believe!

Someone else maybe able to chime in on how argueable it would be with a fisheries officer if you are in a closed for salmon area but are not targeting them; I tend to play it safe and stay away from the closed for salmon areas on the Nitnat completely!

Good luck though; there are some nice size sea runs in there!

 

[KCW]

Check the regs all catch and release. Used to use a canoe and go up and down river back when you could keep the fish. Caught some large cutties and some other fish that we would release because there was not a lot of them. Used flys in the moving water and spoons(len Thompson) in the slow deeper pools. That was along time ago.