On my morning drive today along the river for the second time in three days I saw a fellow landing a steelhead in the same spot. They were both hatchery fish too. As well fishing pressure seems so light of late but of course it was Easter Sunday today. I only saw one car in the Vedder Canal area as well this morning.
As once again the cupboard was bare of fresh fish I thought I would give it a late afternoon try, on the way for some babysitting duties.
When I arrive at the river I see the color is perfect, even though we have had rain for most of the day. I also notice only the odd angler dotted along the stretch I am fishing. I cut up a few chunks of steelhead bait from last weekend's fish and pop it in the bait box, 12 pieces should do.
As my time is limited I work quickly through the usual runs, in a bit of a hurry to get to the current hot spot.
I am not there long after arrival at the run until the Maple Leaf Drennan is gone from view and a fish is quickly airborne, after I had set the hook. It was the best jumpers of the season, for me anyway. One never gets over the thrill of seeing that as well as feeling the action of a fish at the end of your terminal gear.
As it nears the shore I see another hatchery, a typical March fish in the 7 pound range. I know my wife will be happy to have fresh fish once again this week and of course what she thinks is the most important thing.
Thankfully the rain has stopped now so it makes recording the fish on the license easier.
As I head back to the Leaf Mobile I notice the river coloring up some and as we have has some heavy rain and hail the last bit I am not sure if the river will stay in overnight. However the snow level is down so we may be OK.
Only 8 more days before it is time to pickup your 2008 - 2009 license. What a bargin it is for a chance to search for so many different fish species, year round in British Columbia, sometimes we can forget how lucky we are.