about

Swiftwater Guiding was founded by Hans &Oliver Rutschmann in the winter of 1999 and began guiding in the spring of 2000. We are celebrating our 20th season in 2020!

Hans was originally a commercial fisherman that targeted salmon coast wide, he began commercial fishing in the late 70’s and successful provided high quality salmon products for the hotels and restaurants in the Vancouver area. During the mid 90’s the department of fisheries and oceans split the coast into various areas and decreased the amount of opportunities available to the commercial fishing operators. This transition created the need for many to venture into other sectors. Hans decided that he no longer wanted to be away from family for long duration, redirected his love of fishing into providing sportfishing opportunities.

The company thrived and grew to include the entire family and became a full time venture for us all. Has has now retired from guiding full time but does enjoy fishing with a few of his long time guests. The company is now owned and managed by Oliver.

Swiftwater Guiding has grown to a full time charter business with guests that hail from around the world . We provide high quality sportfishing adventures for all species of salmon, Sturgeon, trout and steelhead. We operate locally in the Fraser valley and provide adventure packages from the west coast of Vancouver island to the interior of B.C. We provide half day, full day, multi-day and week long fishing vacations for guests of all ages and nationalities. We pursue salmon and steelhead with all gear types including single and double handed rods.

Its undeniable that sturgeon fishing is one of our specialties. We have been doing this for 20 years and have a proven track record of high success and client satisfaction. We are extremely proud of our fisheries here and work tirelessly to ensure your tourism dollars are spent with reputable guides who excel in what they do