The Blackwater Company

Ron Thompson has now completed his 35th year running guided trips on the Blackwater River in British Columbia. Being the only float trip outfitter, he continues to provide our guests with an unmatched degree of privacy and solitude as they enjoy the splendid wilderness dry fly fishing that only Blackwater rainbow trout can provide.

The warm and hospitable Blackwater climate encourages both prolific rainbow trout populations and hatches of caddis, stonefly, mayfly, dragonfly and other aquatic insects and indicates dry fly fishing as the method of choice nearly all of the time.

The deluxe float trips are run with two anglers per fly fishing guide and boat and a camp crew proceeds ahead to prepare all lunch and camp-sites. And although they are float trips, generous time is taken to wade the riffles and pools.

When I say deluxe, I'm not kidding. The camp crew goes ahead of the group and finds a perfect place to set up lunch and when the rest of the group arrives, lunch is spread out on tables with everything you could want at a spot that also has good fishing for those who simply can't wait. After the perfect lunch, the crew cleans up and pushes ahead of the group once again, to find the perfect camp for the night. Here they set up all the tents, air mattresses and sleeping bags and have a roaring fire ready when the group arrives. Then, dinner is served with gorgeous meals cooked in Dutch ovens (things like cornish game hens stuffed with wild rice, strawberry shortcake etc.) all served with wine at a sit down table.

To top that, there are on-demand hot water heaters so you can take a hot shower before turning in. This is definitely not roughing it. In the morning after a nice cooked breakfast, you take off for another day of dry fly fishing for wild rainbow trout. The views are magnificent with tons of wildlife viewing opportunities and all the fish you can catch in a day. 100 fish days are not uncommon.

The Blackwater River is home to an abundant population of rainbow trout averaging 14 inches, with the largest just over 20 inches. They attack dry flies readily and anglers are rarely tempted to fish by any other method. At season opening, June 15, the stoneflies and caddis flies are thick. The caddis continue hatching throughout the summer. The first couple of weeks can involve some amazing stonefly activity and the long, early summer days provide ample opportunity to release more native rainbow trout than you ever imagined. Rounding each bend, another stretch of trout domain unfolds which has likely not seen an angler since our visit the previous week. Those occasions when another fly fisher is encountered are so rare that they are curiously pleasant.

The trip begins in Quesnel, British Columbia. You travel commercially to Quesnel and then join the group for your 6-day adventure. The first item for consideration is the "choice" between a trip on the Lower Blackwater and a trip on the Upper Blackwater. Historically, we ran trips on the lower river until about 10 years ago at which time we began floating the upper section when conditions on the lower river were less than ideal. In general, the upper Blackwater river conditions offer the best trip for the first half of the season and the lower Blackwater conditions are best for the latter half.

The Blackwater River float trip is limited to 8 guests arriving on Sunday and departing on Friday. The upper Blackwater trips require a float plane fly-in to Kluskoil Lake at an additional charge.