Since we are finally having some satisfactory weather, I wanted to take advantage of it by going down to the Tidal Fraser River to fish for a few hours. This was also an opportunity to see how the fishing is before next Saturday's event
Fish for the Future so I can provide bit of a preview to make things more exciting.
Being the first Tidal Fraser River outing of the year, I had to dig out all the gear from the storage. As I was rigging everything up, my friend Chester phoned and wanted to go fishing when he found out I was going. The two of us headed down to London's Landing/No. 2 Road Pier at 4:00pm when incoming tide was just starting to happen.
The pier was crowded, but the atmosphere was excellent. Families were out enjoying a fine day of fishing. I made Chester go around to hand out Fish for the Future flyers while I set things up.
The responses seem to be very positive, hopefully we'll see a big turnout next weekend.
The setup is rather simple. A fixed weight at the end of the main line is used to anchor the rig to the bottom. A leader branches off from the main line about 1 foot above the weight. The leader is about 8 inches long and a size 14 hook is used. Bait of choice were dough and dew worms, which pretty much cover ten different species that we can catch down there.
The anticipationAccording to the regulars at the pier, fishing has been slow unfortunately. Our first couple of hours reflect their findings, both Chester and I did not get a bite. Once the river had risen about 3 feet, we started to get the odd tugs. Chester was the first one to connect with a fish, his first fish in Canada in fact. He has never fished in Canada until now, but has fished in other parts of the world. It was a small northern pikeminnow.
After his fish, the action died again. I was beginning to feel the anxiety as I was not about to get skunked. 30 more minutes went by, nothing was still happening. Finally while Chester was on the phone with his new fling, I hooked three in a row.
Awhile later, he decided to leave but I wanted to catch some more fish. A couple more peamouth chubs were hauled in, but then I hit the jackpot.
Starry flounders are rare but not impossible to catch in the Tidal Fraser River. This one was about 14 inches long. It swam away freely after a couple of photos were snapped.
Just before I left, I noticed a film of gasoline being brought in from the tide. It was coming from the shipyard.
I'll be making the RAPP report now.
The fish are there, just more challenging to catch. Saturday's weather forecast is look very good. Those of you who are coming down, don't forget your hat and sunscreen.
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Topic: A surprising catch at London's Landing on July 2nd, 2007 (Read 2765 times)