The Cheakamus River is a beautiful tributary of the Squamish River that runs parrallel to the Sea to Sky highway between Squamish and Whistler. Only the lower 17kms are Salmon and Steelhead bearing and hold the biggest resident Dollys, Bulls, and
Rainbows due to a waterfall which acts as a natural barrier. Not too far above the waterfall is a dam so in between the two is unfishable. Above the dam you can find Rainbow trouts although they are a lot smaller than the ones found below the waterfall. The
fishing is still recovering after a tragic accident, a railway tanker carrying sodium hydroxide crashed and spilled the chemical into the river drastically affecting the fishing population. The accident was in 2005, so the river is still recovering and looking
better and better every year. The best time to fish this river is between August and May because the other months are affected by freshet and unfishable. The river has hatchery Coho, Chinook, a strong run of Pinks, smaller Rainbows in the 20-25cm range,
large Dolly Vardens and Bull Trout and a very sensitive, recovering Steelhead run.