Prince Rupert

Today and tomorrow I had the opportunity to head to Prince Rupert, BC. It was about a 7 hour drive with a mixed bag of weather, a bit of sun and a lot of rain. We checked in to a B&B and got an early night to make sure we got up in time to get out for some fishing. 

The weather started cloudy and a bit of rain but bybthe time we reached the fishing grounds the weather began to improve and by mid morning we had sun shine. A few humpback whales graced us with their oresence and to top it all off the water was calm and the fish were biting. It took all of 4 minutes before we were into our first coho of the day. One of many dime bright fish brought up from the depths. We fished water from 75 ft deep to nearly 500 ft deep with our bait averaging about 60 feet down. After filling our quota of salmon, all coho and one chinook, we took off to fish 200+ feet of water for halibut. It didnt take long there either and we hooked into a few and my first ever halibut. One keeper and the rest were let go. Jigging for them was fun but tiring. 

Crab traps on the way back gave us our limits of dungeness crab and we are back at it tomorrow for more salmon, halibut and maybe some ling cod.

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.