Fraser Sockeye

Up early and out the door, with no one hearing me leave. It was a typical fishing day with me heading out early.
I drove out to the Fraser Valley looking for Sockeye which had just opened in the non-tidal portion of the Fraser River yesterday. First place I stopped was in Chilliwack at the infamous Peg Leg Bar. It was 6:30am when I got there and the bar was predictably packed with combat fisherman everywhere. I snapped a few pictures and watched the show for a bit before I moved on and explored the Chilliwack area.

Eventually I found a nice bar to fish from and walked to the far end of it to cast a line. The far end had a soft current and bottom bouncing for sockeye but did look good for bar fishing (note to self: return with bar rod). I did fish the end of the bar for a while before I moved back up stream. Upon heading back up stream I saw a sockeye break the surface. Here is a tip for all you sockeye fishermen out there. If you see fish rising, it is likely that they are rising in a traveling lane so that is the approximate distance you want to cast. It's not set i  stone but it is a good indicator. As I had now seen a fish rise i decided to cast out to what i figured was the traveling lane. It took about 5 casts and I had my first sockeye of the season on the end of my line.
Ten minutes later I had a second one and thus ended my sockeye harvest for the day as the limit is set at two sockeye per day.

After cleaning the fish and getting them on ice in the cooler out came my bar rod and a spin-n-glow. I went back down stream to some nice looking water on a gradually sloped bar and sent out my rig. While waiting for the bell to ring I walked the bar a bit cleaning up loose line and rusty hooks. Unfortunately even the good karma of cleaning up the bar couldn't entice a spring to hit my bar rig.

The day ended with me taking home two beauty doe sockeye. The drive home was long but it was worth it for a great day out.

Vedder Red springs

Today I made it out to the Vedder river. The sun was up early and so were we. The forecast was for hot weather so wet wading was on the menu. Unfortunately for me, I was on the menu too. As soon as I stepped out of the car I realized my mistake. I had forgot the bug spray and the mosquitoes were out in full force.
Beyond the bugs, the water was in good shape. It was a little higher than I like to fish but not unfishable on the spey rod. The visability on the water was good and allowed for our quarry, red chinook, to see our offering as we presented it to the depths with heavy fast sink leaders. They are known as red springs because of the colour of their flesh, pinkish red, as opposed to the white flesh fall springs. This early run does not produce as many fish and does not produce the larger sizes found in the big fall whites. In fact it can be closer to steelheading in that you have to seek out your quarry and find the few fish in the system.

We fished a few nice looking runs under the heat of the sun, thankful for the cold water we stood in. The day did not yield any springs, none were sighted and we heard of none caught throughout the river. However my fishing partner did pull a good size bull trout out of a run that gave up quite a nice fight so the day was not a bust fish wise.

On a side note. If anyone is thinking of fishing this river at this time of the year, there are sockeye moving through too. These sockeye are a part of an endangered run and should be avoided. If you happen to hook into one, and it does happen, please try play it out in a timely manner and release it quickly and gently without taking it out of the water.