Terrace and Kitimat

This week I was out in the Terrace and Kitimat area with my family on a camping trip. Naturally I took a few rods with me. I mean you can't camp along the mighty Skeena River and not fish it.
The first couple days posed a challenge fishing wise. We fished near the campsite, on the main stem Skeena and got nothing. Not even a bite. Talk to one old guy there who had fished six days with nothing to show for his efforts. The frustrating part was there were fish rolling frequently, close to shore, but none were biting. We tried flies, spoons, spinners and bar fishing. Most other people on the shore were bar fishing and no one was even getting a nibble.

The third day we decided to give the Kitimat river a try. We arrived at the river and hour before high tide in the area thinking a fresh push may come in with the tide. To our amusement, at the end of the gravel road just off the dyke road, there was a sign saying no camping or parking within 30 meters of the river bank (or something to that extent). We had a laugh because just beyond the sign and right on the river bank were a couple of campers. Then we looked to the right where the road turned and our jaws dropped followed by howls of derisive laugher [Bruce]. We saw about fifty more campers just down the road, again right on the bank. We had our laugh and moved on.

When we got out of the truck we hike a kilometer or two and found a nice pool. Out came the rods and not the reels. Unfortunately I left my reels back in the truck so I hiked back to get them. When I finally returned it was time to start working the water. It took us longer than I thought to get the first fish but after that the flood gates opened and many more were landed. We landed a few decent chum and a bunch of very chrome pinks. Three of which came home with us. Among the catches I was also fortunate to hook a real nice looking cutthroat that was about 12 inches long and put up a scrappy fight on the fly rod.

All in all a good day out despite not finding what I really wanted. A big ol' Kitimat chinook. Maybe next time.

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.