Here come the chum!

It has been a windy and very rainy weekend but I managed to get out fishing today. The Vedder was blown out today, high and muddy, so I decided to check out the Stave River. When I arrived there were already some people fishing and right away I saw a few fish surface.
The rain fell continuously but it was not going to stop me from having a good day. I was using my center pin again today and at first I was drifting roe in some slack water hoping for an early coho. Unfortunately the only thing it produced was a coloured up pink salmon. After flinging roe for about an hour I decided to change up to drifting one of my go to stave river jigs under a float. That was the ticket! I proceeded to hook into a handful more pinks and 3 chum over the next hour or so until some knobs decided the small barely accessible pocket I was fishing had their name on it. The two guys moved in 10ft up stream of me on a river that had plenty of space and proceeded to bottom bounce their 10ft leaders with pink wool through where I was fishing. Sigh... why people bottom bounce for a fish that readily and whole heartedly attacks offerings sportingly drifted beneath a float is beyond me. After a couple times of them snagging my line I reeled in and left. On my way out I politely thanked them for joining me and leaving so much room because I know how there was such a lack of good water to snag fish in... I don't think they got the sarcasm and i didnt have the energy to educate them in the ethics of fishing.
Anyway, I didn't let it ruin my day. It was a great day out, despite the rain. I think next week I will go back and take my spey rod out for its debut. We will see how long it takes me to learn to spey fish....

Thick with fish

Set my alarm for an early start this morning. The plan was to get to the Vedder river in Chilliwack for first light to try hook into some springs and coho. That was the plan anyway... unfortunately my body decided to sleep through my alarm and I didn't wake up until 7:30 am. Well.. better  late than never. I grabbed my things and drove the long drive to the river.

Fishing today was interesting. The river is so loaded with pink salmon it is difficult to get around them and target other species. I managed to land a few pinks, which was inevitable,  but no springs or coho. I was drifting procured roe again, as my shoulder is a little sore. On a more positive note the rain held off for the most part. There were only a few sprinkles of rain here and there. I didn't even take my sunglasses because of the rain in the forecast and then of course the sun came out and it would have been nice to have them.
I am now looking forward to increasing numbers of coho and the arrival of chum salmon. I need to try out my new spey rod.

On a side note. I stopped off at the Stave  river on the way home to seeing any fish were showing. They were letting out a ton of water out of the dam so the water was not as low as I thought it would be. I didn't fish the river but watched the water for a while, looking for risers. Nothing was showing. I'm sure they will be there soon though.

Vedder pinks video

Over the weekend I stopped at the Vedder and took some underwater video of some pink salmon. I have now uploaded the video to youtube so I thought I would post it here too.

The video shows the salmon in the shallows of the river as well as some juvenille salmonoids and a whitefish. At one point in the video a male pink salmon swims by with what appears to be a lure in its mouth.

Kind of a cool video. I may try it again this year and see if I can get some other species on camera.

Fall on the Vedder

I noticed something today while fishing the Vedder river. The leaves have begun to fall off the trees as the season changes. Thus marks my favorite time of year, when all the salmon return to their natal rivers to spawn.

Fishing began early and in the fog again today. The weather was calling for showers but luckily they did not show up. Although, the sun decided to make an appearance. The river was low and clear, just the way I like it, and there were plenty of pink salmon in the system. I hiked past the crowds to a more secluded spot and managed to land a few pinks and hooked a nice spring which spat the hook before I got it to hand. I was fishing with my center pin, drifting procured pink salmon roe under a float.
Unfortunately as soon as the fog began to burn off the fish went tight lipped where I was fishing. I tried a few other spots but the fish were not cooperating. I don't like the whole fishing shoulder to shoulder scene so finding decent water away from the crowds can be a little difficult.

I would have liked to have got into a few more fish but I guess I can't complain. The weather held and I did get into a few fish on a beautiful day on a beautiful lower mainland river.

A quick stop

It was a dark and stormy night..... .. .. well no.. actually it was a foggy morning and an early start today due to baby sitting duties in the afternoon.

I thought I would check out the lower Fraser River to see if there were any pink salmon moving through. I arrived at the river in Langley at around 7:00 am, and I was back in the car and driving again within half an hour. Langley was dead, no fish showing and only one other fisherman. Could have been that the tide was still heading out and was quite low, but I didn't feel like sticking around to find out. Off to the Vedder river in Chilliwack I went.

I arrived at the Vedder river after battling Saturday morning traffic caused by what seemed to be an unnecessary lane closure on the highway due to "construction". The vedder was looking in good shape and the fog was beginning to lift by the time I got there. I parked and walked in to a few spots and was met with mixed emotions. I was both excited and disappointed at the same time. I was excited to see the large quantities of pink salmon in the river but I was disappointed to see an equally large population of fishermen too. I had forgotten how busy that river gets during salmon season. The last time I was there was the winter steelhead run where the average angler stays home instead of braving the cold for so few fish.

I half heartedly fished a couple runs on the fly, hooking into a couple pinks and filming a little bit of under water action with my gopro camera.

Tomorrow I may go back with my center pin and some roe to see if I can find some springs and coho mixed in with the hordes of pinks.

On the list

I have had some time away from the river this week. It hasn't been away from fishing, as my brain always seems to gravitate towards something fishy. I have been busy reading and tying flies and I even played the odd fishing video game. As I read and tie my mind wanders and it always wanders to where I would like to go fishing.  I usually take a fly fishing trip to the West Kootenays in the summer and it is always a great trip. However I think I would like to expand and try somewhere new.

So as my mind wandered I began thinking of all the places I would like to venture to with my fly rod. Some are more local than others, some require flights and lots of money. The list is endless.

One such place is the Skeena and Bulkley rivers. These rivers have been on my list for quite some time and I think it is time I begin to look into it. I don't think this will be a solo trip, I think this trip is going to be much more fun with a couple of friends. There is much research to do and I don't mind doing it. The idea is in the works and it will be to be continued for now...