Northern stream fun

Yesterday I made it out fishing with a friend to a little river that will remain nameless. I met him at his place early in the morning and we packed in all our rods, waders, gear, water, food and of course the shotgun as we were headed into Grizzly territory and you can never be to careful. Although we did not see any we did see eight or nine black bears.
I took my 8 weight and 5 weight fly rods with me in hioes for two different species; Arctic Grayling and Bull Trout. We had heard both could be found there.

The road in was long and rough but it appeared o one had been in for some time. The area we fished was beautiful with no signs that any other people had been there. The rocks were slippery and the water was very clear. Hiking down stream we came to a bend and found a really fishy looking pool so we set up our rods and began our day.

I started with my 8 weight and a big streemer fly I had tied up the night before, fishing the faster water above the pool first. As soon as I made my way into the deeper (3 feet deep) stuff of this little stream I was in to fish. The first one was an 18" rainbow with gorgeous colors. Second was a slightly smaller rainbow and third put a huge bend in my rod.... the third fish to be fooled by my fly was a real nice double digit bull trout. How could such a big fish be in such a small stream? This thing was a tank and fought hard until, to my dismay, he managed to spit the hook.
We tried to get another bull, and we could see a couple in there, but they didnt want to play. Switching to my 5 weight we caught rainbow after rainbow between 10 and 18 inches and even managed a couple chunky 2lb whitefish. Unfortunately, no grayling. Grayling is a fish I have never caught before and one I wanted to cross off the bucket list.

After playing with lots or rainbows on the dry we decided to head out and give another creek we had seen on the way in a try. When we arrived we spooked two black bears who tore off into the bush. Making plenty of noise we set up to fish a small pool in the new stream. Caddis dries were the ticket again and we were soon onto fish. Unfortunately the first few were whitefish again, but then something different rose and smacked my fly. Finally, I could cross Arctic Grayling off my list. What a beautiful fish.

The water was crystal clear, the weather was great and the fishing and scenery was amazing. Only down side was not landing the big bull but you can't win them all.

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.

Capilano Hatchery

I was in North Vancouver this afternoon for my daughter's dance competition.  Since we were so close, we made a last minute decision to visit the Capilano hatchery after the dance performance.
We didn't stay for too long, but just long enough to check out the fish ladder, the hatchery displays and the fish holding behind the viewing glass.
If you haven't been to the hatchery I highly recommend it. It is a great place for the kids to learn a little about pacific salmon and steelhead and also get up close to see adult fish as well as juvenile.
There were a few nice coho behind the viewing glass that had made their way up from the Capilano river as well as one lonely steelhead. My kids enjoyed seeing the fish and exploring all the exhibits. It was a proud father moment when my youngest walked up to a display and promptly said "That's a sockeye daddy, it is red with a green head. And that's a chum, because it has purple stripes." Not bad for girl who just turned 5 two weeks ago.

After the hatchery we took a walk down to view the carnage at the Cable Pool. There were plenty of rods fishing the water and after speaking to a guy, there had been a couple of coho caught earlier that day.

The coho run in the Capilano consists of smallish coho typically and is an earlier run than the rivers of the surrounding area. The coho in the river are notoriously tight lipped and often shoot up the river quickly after the water level rises. When the water is low, they stage at the mouth of the river circling around in the ocean water waiting for the next heavy rain.

On a side note, in case you are planning on fishing the river, there is NO RETENTION OF STEELHEAD on the Capilano river and you would be wise to familiarize yourself with the proper identification of these fish.