Feeling crabby...

For a change of pace I decided to leave the rods at home today and go crabbing with my daughter instead. We dropped her sister off at school and went off to Belcarra to crab off the dock.
We arrrived at the dock to find a half dozen people already there and a nice thick fog blanketing the water. Down go the traps and we sat and watch the birds. The day did not produce any legal sized crab, but we did get a lot of smaller ones on the chicken and fish heads we were using as bait.
It is never a wasted day out though, and I took the opportunity to educate my daughter on the difference between male and female crab. The seal was also hanging around which did provide some entertainment for my daughter.

Casting Practice

Another beautiful day in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia! It is still January and I should be bundled up when I go fishing at this time of year, possibly battling ice or snow. However, it was so warm today I was nearly down to fishing with a T-shirt.

This trip was another attempt with my spey rod to hook into some steelhead on the Vedder River. The river was low and clear as we have had little rain in the last week or two and the river
was looking good. Unfortunately, no fish were caught. I did get in some good casting practice though, and as the saying goes... practice makes perfect. I am far from perfect though, but my casting is improving. Hopefully my next outing will produce a fish and boost my confidence in spey fishing.

Back at it

After taking a little time off away from the water, I went for my first trip out this year. The trip was to the Vedder and was supposed to be yesterday but the day before that saw torrential rain so I figured the river would blow out. It was blown yesterday but the water level today was on the drop. A dropping river after a bump in water level is exactly what I wanted, hoping that a push of fresh fish came in with the rain.
It was a beautiful sunny day with a bit of a chill in the morning. In fact, the guides on my spey rod and the line started to ice up a bit early on. As soon as the sun came up over the mountains the frost began to disappear and the frozen guides were no more. I flogged the water I  various locations in the mid to lower river to no avail. First thing in the morning I saw a guy land a nice chrome hatchery steelhead just down from where I was and I did see one wild steelhead caught and released across the river from me a little later on. I also stumbled on a few coho huddled up in  their reds looking a little rough and worn.
It is still early in the season and I am hoping to get out for steelhead a decent ammount this year. If the weather stays as it was today I will be happy.

Low water coho

I fished the Stave today in what was supposed to be a rainy day. Much to my surprise the day was warmer than I thought and not a drop of rain fell. When I arrived the water was very low as the tide was out. My first destination was almost dry except for a smallish pool below some shallows. In the pool were many chum and coho swirling around. I tried a few casts into the tail out, steering clear of the main body for fear of simply snagging fish but I soon moved on. As I walked the river I found a few nice spoons someone had snagged on various stumps that had previously been submerged. I walked down stream and found more coho holding in what little water was left. Many of the coho were colouring up but there were some nice chrome fish in there too. I fished a few side channels on the fly, holing a small presentation would be the ticket. Alas, the fish were too spooked by the lack of water. I waited until the tide started coming back in and went back to my original spot. A few casts in and I was into my first fish. It was a hatchery coho, about 7 lbs but was more coloured up than I like to keep so I let it go. The day progressed and the tide rose. By the end of the day I had landed another coho (wild and released) and a handful of chum.

The season is winding down and at this time of year I often take some time off from fishing until steelheading gets into full swing. Although... I may get out for one more trip before that happens...

Rain, Wind and Coho

After a fantastic summer, and a very good fall, we finally have the rain Vancouver is known for. Today it rained quite heavy and the wind was out to make things worse. I left the fly rod and spey rod at home today. I didn't want to fight the wind. I also didn't drift a float, I decided to stay below the surface and try something different. I was casting spoons and spinners. Despite targeting coho, I did manage to land more than 10 chum salmon. Fghting through the thick schools of chum wasn't easy but I finally found some nice slow water and hooked 2 nice coho. The second of which was hooked on a silver hammered croc with an orange stripe and was easily in the double digits size range and was as chrome as they come. The fight was fantastic with lots of acrobatics and long runs. Unfortunately for me the fish spat the hook about 8 ft from my feet.

When I left the river it was still raining hard, the wind was viscous and my hands were numb but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

First things first.

Last night I got a text from my brother in law asking if I wanted to go fishing today. My answer was of course "yes", and luckily I had the day off. I dropped my daughter off at school and drove out to meet him at the boat launch. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, we hoped in his boat and set off for the Stave River. I had a few productive spots we could visit and I knew we would be able to hook into a few fish there. My brother in law had never caught a chum, never landed a salmon from his boat and had a new rod and reel to break in. We beached the boat on an island and fished a side channel. Before he had even set up his rod I was into my first fish of the day. I landed the fish and went over to talk to him and explain a few things about his new rod and reel set up (how to cast/adjust it). His third cast and his float plunged under the water. On the end was a nice chum doe. We landed the fish and sent it back on its way. This was his first chum ever and his new rod and reel were now broken in; he was quite pleased. As the day progressed we both caught many more chum at a couple of different locations. Each place we moved to produced fish. It was neat to be able to access different parts of the river by boat and to see the large school of fish swim around us. The last place we stopped we switched things up a bit and fished it for about half an hour targeting coho with spoons. I managed a couple of chums on the spoon I used and he hooked and landed a beauty chrome coho! His first coho ever. Again, his smile was big and we agreed it was the nicest fish of the day. A quick picture and the wild coho was released to do its thing.

It's always nice to get people into fish they haven't caught before. I know I get excited when I catch a new species.

Coho fly

Tonight I was tying a few flies and jigs and I thought I would add a little substance to this blog, so I decided to add a productive coho recipe. This fly is easy to tie and I am not sure if it has a name already. I created it from some supplies I had and it seems to work quite well. I have had sucess with it on a few flows in the past. Enjoy!

Hook: Size 4 Tiemco 7999
Tail: Rainbow crystal flash
Under body: Medium copper crystal chenille
Body: Medium UV Copper UV polar Chenille
Head: 3/16 hot red bead