Horsefly River

The Horsefly is the biggest river feeding Quesnel Lake and the main sockeye spawning river of the Quesnel system. In a big year about half a million sockeye spawn in it, and the lake's large rainbows come up behind them to eat eggs. These are Horsefly-strain rainbows, a late-maturing, lake-dwelling strain that grows past 9 kg in Quesnel Lake, and the river is where they feed and, when they are old enough, spawn. Bull trout follow the salmon too. The whole river from Quesnel Lake up to Horsefly River Falls is catch and release for trout and char, artificial fly only, and it is Class II classified water from June 1 to October 31.

It is a mid-sized freestone of riffles, deep runs and log jams. Local guides float it in self-bailing rafts, since hard-bottom boats are not practical here, and get out to wade where they can. You may not angle from a powered boat below the Woodjam Bridge. The river opens June 1. Summer is dry-fly water: caddis in late June and July, stoneflies in July, then hoppers and attractors. Fall is the main event. The sockeye spawn in September, best seen near the town of Horsefly in mid-month, so egg patterns behind the redds and flesh flies late in the run are the fall program. Read the gauge above Quesnel Lake for the lower river, and the gauge above McKinley Creek for the upper river.

The fall fishing rises and falls with the sockeye, and the big runs come one year in four. The 2014, 2018 and 2022 runs each put about half a million spawners in the river. 2026 was the next year on that line, and the one after is 2030. Other years put a few hundred to about 70,000. The Quesnel sockeye stock is listed as endangered. Every angler who needs a basic licence also needs a Classified Waters Licence here from June 1 to October 31: BC residents buy one annual licence, and non-residents buy it by the day. Horsefly is a small forestry town about an hour from Williams Lake, with a store, gas, a cafe and a pub.