Yukon Fishing Information by Cabin Fever Adventures
The
Yukon, Northern British Columbia and Southeast Alaska offer some of the
finest fishing opportunities in the world. Many of Cabin Fever Adventures wilderness
vacations offer plenty of opportunity to catch and eat northern fish.
We practice responsible angling, strictly following all local
regulations and keep only an appropriate amount of fresh fish to
compliment our wilderness meals.
Arctic Grayling: ( Thymallus arcticus)
Arctic
grayling are one of the Yukon's most abundant and appreciated fish.
These fish, are known for the blue tint of their scales, hence their other name "Blue Fish". They are found throughout the Yukon, along the
shores of lakes, in rivers and even high up in alpine
streams, above the tree line. They are easy to clean, yield an
excellent and tasty meal in the back-country and are aggressive enough
that learning to catch them is less challenging than trout.
Grayling are famous for their greatly enlarged dorsal fin. An average grayling in the Yukon will be around two pounds but they can grow as large as 24 inches long and attain a weight of 3.5 pounds. The large dorsal fin covered in rows of orange and green spots and their shimmering blue scales makes grayling a beautiful fish to catch.
Feed: primarily terrestrial insects, also nymphs, snails, eggs and minnows
Size:
Maximum Length: 24 inches
Average Length: 15 inches
Maximum Weight: 3.5 lbs
Average Weight: 1-2 lbs
Season: Grayling are a reliable catch all season
Edibility: Grayling are a mild tasting, medium-textured fish. They are easy to clean and fillet. They are an efficient fish, in that you get a large portion of meat with little wastage. They are also very nicely prepared by simply gutting, scaling and then pan frying or cooking over the fire. The skin is edible and delicious once scaled. The fillets make amazing breaded fish that compares in taste to the finest cod.
Fishing Strategies:
Grayling like to hang out in feeding lanes in creeks, waiting for food sources, such as drowned insects to float past them, carried by the river. They also reside in deep pools in creeks and where creeks enter lakes or larger rivers. Small spinners are very successful at catching grayling and drifting a fly downstream in their feeding lane is also highly successful. Bouncing a small jig along the bottom in deeper rivers works well, while drifting, but leads to snags and broken lines at times.
Gear to Use:
Lures: very small spinners
Spincast rods with light action, line 6 lbs, but grayling are not too easily spooked so heavier lines work well
Fly rods: #4 through #6 weight in 8' - 9' length
Fly line: WF 4 - 7, floating line with sink tips
Northern Pike: ( Esox lucius)
Northern pike have no adipose fin and one dorsal fin close to the tail. They are slender and have a flat snout. Pike have a white underbelly that transitions to light green covered in lighter coloured spots on the side which transitions again to darker green along the back. They have very sharp teeth and a deep mouth so take care when removing lures. Breeding takes places in spring in the shallows or in small creeks entering lakes or rivers. Pike hunt primarily by lying motionless in wait and then exploding with a burst of speed when prey approach too closely. Northern pike can withstand warmer water and poorer concentrations of oxygen then most other northern fish, so they are specialists of shallow waters.
Feed: primarily other fish and minnows, but also frogs and even small mammals such as mice, and young birds, such a ducklings
Size:
Maximum Length:
Average Length:
Maximum Weight: 35 lbs
Average Weight: 8 lbs
Season: Pike are available all season, although they provide a greater fight when the shallow water they inhabit warms up a bit by mid-summer
Edibility: Pike are very good tasting in the Yukon, due to our cold clean waters. They are bony and require some skill to fillet properly, but they are large and yield mild, firm and delicious meat if cleaned soon after caught. Clean the slime off the fish carefully before cutting into the flesh to avoid tainting the meat with a "fishy" taste. It is not recommended to eat the skin as it is bitter.
Fishing Strategies: Pike are aggressive fish and when you combine this with the low fishing pressures of the Yukon, you have a recipe for a reliable fish. If pike live where you are fishing, you are going to catch them. It is best to troll along shore in 10 feet (3 m) of water or less, and look for cover like logs and weeds. In rivers, try the oxbows and stagnant side channels and backwaters. They love hanging out where soil has has slumped into the river on lazy bends with little current. Pike finds spoons almost impossible to resist and are commonly fished with medium-to large-size spoons and spinners. Many local anglers are now fishing pike with large surface flies, plugs and other top-water lures, which bring the pike out of the water as they take the bait. Pow!
Try casting around the edge of a weed bed and hang on to your rod.
Gear to Use:
Lures: big spoons trolled past cover or surface poppers and frog imitations
Spinning or trolling rod of medium to heavy action with fishing line 14lbs or greater with at least 12 inches (30 cm) of steel leader
Fly Fishing: #8 - #9 weight rods in 8' - 10' length
Fly line: WF 8 - 9, floating line and sink tips
Flies: Large streamer flies (rabbit strip), surface flies such as poppers or mouse imitators
Lake Trout: (Salvelinus namaycush)
In exterior colouring, lake trout vary from near-black in colour to grey and almost light green. Almost always they have light-coloured irregular spots over their base colour. Likewise, their flesh ranges from intense deep red, to almost a pale pinkish white. Genetics and variations in diet are believed to attribute to these colour variations. Lake trout mostly hunt smaller fish and minnows, but other aquatic insects and invertebrate are also consumed. Yukon lakes are cold and do not produce a lot of vegetation and are therefore, when compared to southern lakes, quite nutrient-poor. Lake trout in the Yukon grow very slowly in these nutrient starved lakes, yet still commonly grow to 20-30 lbs of size in the larger lakes.
Feed: minnows and smaller fish, and also terrestrial insects, nymphs, aquatic invertebrates
Size:
Maximum Weight: 40 lbs
Average Weight: 5-8 lbs
Maximum Length:
Average Length:
Season: Available late May after ice break-up until the ice forms again in late October. They are best in late May and the first half of June
Fishing Strategies: Trout occur in medium and larger sized lakes that have deep water. Because they tend to stay deep once water temperatures rise, the are easiest to catch for a few weeks after the ice goes out, usually in late May. Large spoons, or imitation minnows and wobblers work well, as do large spinners, and large dry flies. In the colder lakes that are glacially fed, you can catch trout close to the surface all summer, but in the medium sized lakes the trout goes deep after the lake "turns over". At this time you can jig for them, or if you wish to be more successful you have to: use a diving system like a Pink Lady, troll with a weighted line, or use downriggers.
Edibility: Lake Trout are a prized eating fish. They are a relative of arctic charr and have a nice pink colour to their flesh. They have mild tasting skin which does not need to be scaled before it is eaten. The are a very efficient eating fish, yielding little waste. The younger fish in the 2-5 lb range are the nicest fish to keep for eating, leaving the larger fish for reproducing.
Gear to Use:
Spinning and trolling rods use a medium action on small trout lakes and heavy action on larger Yukon Lake, line strength of 15lbs to 25lbs
Lures: medium to large spoons in silver and gold, Rapala minnow imitation lures
Flies: Woolly Bugger, Matukas
Fly rods: #7 - #9 weight, 8' - 10' length
Fly line: WF 7 - 9, floating line with sinking tip
Inconnu: (Stenodus leucichthys)
Inconnu in French means,"the unknown fish". They are also called coney or sheefish by Yukoners. Inconnus are silvery-white with a lower lip that protrudes farther than the upper jaw and has a slight hook shape. Inconnu flesh is snow-white, but if caught when the water is warmer in mid-summer, is mushy and a bit oily and generally unpleasant to eat. Inconnu are common in the Yukon and Peel River watersheds and are found sitting in schools in feeding holes. When you find one inconnu, you always seem to find several. In the Mackenzie Delta of the North West Territories, inconnu can grow to 30 lbs but in the Yukon a 10 lb fish is a prized catch, but they have been known to reach 20lbs. They are an excellent fighting fish, but need to be handled with extra care because their protective scale are easily rubbed off.
Feed: Inconnu are bottom feeders. They eat minnows, aquatic invertebrates, snails etc.
Fishing Strategies: Inconnu occur in both the Yukon and Peel watersheds, so there are lots of places to fish for them in the Yukon. They like pools and back eddies near the inflow of smaller rivers into larger ones. They can be successfully caught on medium-sized silver spoons like Williams Wobblers. Rubber-bodied scented jigs work well too. Inconnu are bottom feeders and are therefore, easier to find when the rivers are low in August or September and the holding pools and back-eddies are easier to spot. If you plan to release this fish, handle it very gently because its scales come off easily.
Edibility: Please catch only one inconnu for your group and taste it before deciding if you wish to catch more. They are best for consumption right after the ice goes out in May or in the late-fall just before freeze up again. Their flesh is much firmer and more enjoyable when the water is really cold. Otherwise during the summer months its meat is considered mushy and oily, but it works okay if you know how to make fish cakes.
Size:
Maximum Weight: 20 lbs
Average Weight: 4-8 lbs
Maximum Length: 30 inches
Average Length: 20 inches
Season: Best eaten right after the ice goes out (although hard to find when the rivers are high) or in the late fall when the ice is about to freeze in. Otherwise they are easier to catch in late August and early September when the rivers drop and the back eddies they like to hang-out in are well-defined
Gear to Use:
Spinning and trolling rods use a medium action rig with line strength of 10-12 lbs
Lures: medium-sized silver spoons or scented rubber-bodied jigs
We don't have any experience fly-fishing for inconnu, but imagine success would be had with snail imitations and leech imitations with sinking lines.
King Salmon: (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
This species of salmon is also known at pacific, spring or tyee. Kings are grey to almost black along their back and are marked with irregular black spots and have silvery sides when living in the ocean. When spawning, their backs are greyish-pink along the top, with their sides turning pink to almost bright red. The males form the typical salmon hook at the end of their lower jaw. Adult kings tip the scales at 15-20 pounds on average , but monsters of 65 pounds have been caught in the Yukon River and its tributaries. Young Kings spend one year in freshwater lakes or backwater channels of the Yukon river before returning to the ocean as smolts, where they live and grow until returning to spawn and ultimately die, between the ages of 4-7 years of age
Size:
Maximum Weight: over 70 lbs
Average Weight: 15-25 lbs
Edibility: King salmon are delicious any way you slice, dice, bake, broil, fry or sushi-roll them!
Please Note: Cabin Fever Adventures does not offer king salmon fishing ourselves, but several of our trips go through Haines and Skagway Alaska, where we can easily include in your vacation a guided salmon fishing experience with one of the local expert companies.
Arctic Charr: (Salvelinus alpinus)
There are two types of arctic charr in the Yukon. The anadromous one migrates to the ocean each summer to feed in the richer waters, but returns to inland rivers and connected lakes to spend the winter. The non-anadromous variety lives in fresh water during its entire life. The Arctic charr has an elongated body when young but get plump as they mature. They have a large range of natural colouring from silvery sides with a deep blue or greenish hue on their back and upper sides in the sea-going version. The land-locked variety ranges from blue hues through to green and light brown on their back, whichgets lighter as it blend to the sides. All Charr have light-pink or sometimes red spots on the upper half of their sides with their belly blending to a creamy white. As char prepare to spawn in the fall they become bright orange. Arctic char live in the arctic watershed rivers of Northern Yukon naturally, but are also stocked by the Yukon government in some accessible pothole lakes.
Feed: Primarily minnows, but also aquatic invertebrates such as fresh-water shrimp
Season: Like their relatives, lake trout, charr are easiest to catch when the ice first goes out in late-May, where they can be found cruising along shore looking for minnows or insects. Once the lake "turns-over" the charr go to deeper waters, but still dart into shallower water along the first major drop in depth of the lake to catch minnows. They are hard to catch during the winter, when they mostly survive off fat reserves built up during the summer
Fishing Strategies:
Charr are a smart fish and not the easiest to catch. They primarily eat minnows once they reach maturity in lakes, but they also feed on microscopic fresh-water shrimp and insects. In spring try a caddis fly where you see rises, or a minnow imitation trolled from you canoe along the shallows, near deeper water. Once the charr go deep, use a down rigger, weighted line, or diving device such as a Pink Lady to get a minnow imitation or medium sized spoon down to 15 feet or deeper. Work the first drop-off of the shoreline to allow the charr to hunt from the deeps, charging up at your lure. Evening or early morning will yield the best success.
Edibility: Arctic Char are perhaps the Yukon's finest eating fish. They are know for their intensely red flesh and delicate taste. They have edible skin that is delicious and does not need to be scaled. They are easy to fillet or are a perfect fish to bake whole.
Size:
Maximum Length: 24 inches
Average Length: 16 inches
Maximum Weight: 10 lbs
Average Weight: 3-5 lbs
Gear to Use:
Spinning or trolling rods use light to medium action, line weight of 6-8 lbs
Lures: Small spinners, or minnow imitators like rapalas. Small to medium-sized spoons work if going after larger charrr
Flies: Matukas size 4-6, Dark Caddis flies (elk hair), Mosquito or bead heads in sizes 12-16, wolly buggers and muddler minnows.
Fly rod: #4 - #7 weight, 8' - 9' length
Fly line: WF 4 - 7, floating line and sinking tips
Rainbow Trout : (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Rainbow trout have a gently rounded nose, black spots on their side near the top, as well as on dorsal, adipose and tail fins, which makes identification quite easy. Combine this with the typical pink to almost bright red lateral stripe, and a bluish-green or even brown colour along the back and you can see why they were given their name. In lake populations with good populations of freshwater shrimp rainbows are known to reach 10-15 lbs, while river Rainbow, such as those found in the Kathleen and Aishihik rivers, are smaller, typically not exceeding 3 lbs. Stocked lakes with excellent rainbow populations have been developed by the Yukon Government near many Yukon communities.
Feed: Aquatic invertebrates and crustaceans such as snails, shrimp and leeches, and aquatic insect larvae (black fly and caddis), mollusks, and small minnows
Season: Rainbow trout are available in stocked Yukon lakes throughout the summer, with the best fishing being right after the ice breaks up in late May.
Size:
Maximum Length: 25 inches
Average Length: 14 inches
Maximum Weight: 15 lbs
Average weight: 1-3 lbs
Edibility: As you can see from the photo, rainbows are a great pan fry fish. The skin is tasty. The larger fish are nice to fillet or to bake whole. The meat is mild and similar to lake trout in texture and taste. The flesh ranges from orange to light pink.
Fishing Strategies: Small spinners are effective for rainbows as are typical trout flies, or leech imitators. Scented powerbait that imitates leeches works well in Yukon lakes as does slowly trolling a small minnow imitation along the first drop to deeper water in summer. Casting your fly where you see rises in the early summer (June) works well as does casting from shore with small spinners. Try to find a spot where there is a thin band of shallow water with a distinct drop to deeper water, and work this transition with your lure.
Gear to Use:
Lures: very small spinners or the smallest Rapalas. Leech imitating (scented) powerbaits.
Spincast rods with light action, line 6 lbs,
Fly rods: #4 through #6 weight in 8' - 9' length
Fly line: WF 4 - 7, floating line with sink tips
Bull Trout: (Salvelinus confluentus)
Often confused with dolly varden, bull trout are distinguishable by a few slight differences. The absence of black spots on the dorsal fin is the easiest difference to remember. Also, the eyes are closer to the top of the head on a bull trout, but this is difficult to determine without one of each species for comparison. The other way to know which fish you have caught is based on the location in the Yukon. Bull trout are found in the rivers of the Liard watershed (Coal River, Hyland River, Francis River, Upper Liard). If you are on a river of the Peel watershed then you have likely caught a dolly varden (but also consider that it could be an arctic charr as well.)
Feed: aquatic insects larvae, terrestrial insects, minnows, leeches, and snails
Size:
Maximum Size: 22 inches
Average Size: 16 inches
Maximum Weight: 7 lbs
Average Weight; 2 lbs
Season: Bull trout seem easier to find in the Liard watershed from mid-summer into the fall, when they are found hanging out in pools and feeding lanes, waiting for prey or a piece of dead insect to drift by
Edibility: Like the entire Salvelinus (trout family), bulls are excellent eating, either filleted or baked whole with the skin on our removed.
Fishing Strategies: In rivers, search for bull trout above and below rapids in holes and back-eddies and at the mouths of tributary streams. In lakes, they hang-out near inflowing creeks and in narrows. Use small to medium sized spoons and spinners and cast your caddis fly or leech imiation on the surfaces of deep pools and wait for some fun. They attack quite aggressively. Shallow trolling near shore close to in-flowing creeks also works in lakes.
Fishing Gear:
Spinning or trolling rods use light to medium action, line weight of 6-8 lbs
Lures: Small spinners, or minnow imitators like Rapalas. Scented jig bodies and scented leech imitators
Flies: Matukas size 4-6, Dark Caddis flies (elk hair), Mosquito or bead heads in sizes 12-16, wooly buggers and muddler minnows.
Fly rod: #5 - #8 weight, 8' - 9' length
Fly line: WF 5 - 8, floating line and sinking tips
Dolly Varden : (Salvelinus malma) 
Dollies are part of the trout family and have a similar body shape. They are dark blue to olive-green on their backs and lighter as you come over on to the sides. Along the back of the fish there are small faded yellow spots and a band of orange and pink spots run down the middle of the fish. The underbelly fades to dusky light-yellow. The spots are usually smaller than the pupil of the eye. Please see above under "bull trout" for how to tell these two fish apart. They can also be confused for arctic charr, which co-inhabit the Peel watershed.
There are three distinct populations of dolly varden in the Yukon. One population inhabits the Peel River Watershed of northern Yukon, the other inhabits the Tatshenshini-Alsek watershed in Southwest Yukon. The third, and smallest population, occurs in Stella Lake in the Haines Junction area.
Feed: Dollies mainly eat other small fish and minnows along with aquatic insect larvae and gastropods (snails)
Size:
Maximum Length: 22 inches
Average Length: 16 inches
Maximum Weight: 8 lbs
Average Weight: 3-6 lbs
Season: Good dolly varden fishing begins in mid-July when river water gets clearer after spring run-off in the Peel watershed and likewise it gets good at this same time when the salmon arrive in the Tatshenshini-Alsek system. The Dollies follow the salmon to feed on their eggs. The dollies in the the Tat-Alsek system provide good fishing until late October.
Fishing Strategies: In rivers of the Peel watershed in northern Yukon, search for dollies above and below rapids, in holes and back-eddies, and at the mouths of tributary streams. Use small to medium sized spoons and spinners and cast your caddis fly or leech imitation on to the surfaces of a deep pools and wait for some strikes. In the Tatshenshini-Alsek watershed use imitation roe or a pixie spoon with the bright orange centre.
Fishing Gear:
Spinning or trolling rods use light to medium action, line weight of 6-8 lbs
Lures: Small spinners, or minnow imitators like Rapalas. Scented jig bodies and scented leech imitators, imitation roe in the Tatshenshini-Alsek system
Flies: Matukas size 4-6, Dark Caddis flies (elk hair), Mosquito or bead heads in sizes 12-16, woolly buggers and muddler minnows.
Fly rod: #4 - #7 weight, 8' - 9' length
Fly line: WF 4 - 7, floating line and sinking tips
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P.O. Box 120, Carcross Yukon, Y0B 1B0, Canada
Phone: 867-821-3003 | Email: info@cabinfeveradventures.com
Toll Free: 1-888-740-0815
