It was so good to get up this morning to get ready for a fishing trip on the Vedder to see FWR up and running again. Triple
Happy New Year to all FWR members and may you catch the fish of your dreams this year.
A lot has gone on I am sure in the last few weeks. We were suposed to go to Campbell River for a badminton tournment but we cancelled out because of bad road condition. That worked out ok in the long run as part of the Tolmie slide came down Friday and I got to film it for Global TV and they used a 35 second clip of the slide and the interview with David from CRAC. Some of you may have seen it. If you go to the Chilliwack Progress web site you can read the article on it.
http://www.theprogress.com/ This wiil effect our fishing opportunities during wet and mild weather for a while. It will be interesting this morning with the warm front that passed through Chilliwack overnight will have done to the river clarity.
The Vedder has seen some good days so far this season but we have had to battle cool temp's, strong North East winds, and iced up guides but that is Winter steelheading. Sunday was a very good day by reports as one angler was into 5 and another angler told me he had heard of 12 hooked in one area.
I have fished a number of days and am 3 for 5 with all 3 being wild and I saw one of the lost ones was a wild also so was still looking for a hatchery entering yesterdays outing. Also my best day was last week while fishing with Nick I landed one, lost one and missed 2 with one angler picking up one of the misssed one on his first drift. Just as he was beaching his I was also into another so we had a double header in the same run.
Had a very enjoyable day fishing in the annual Boxing Day Steelhead Derby with 2:40 Gordie, we fished hard but came up empty. You can read the story on the derby at the article section of FWR.
I posted the above to make sure everything worked ok, continuing now....
Yesterday The wind had finally died down and even though it was -11 it did not feel that cold and could fish without gloves. I hit the lower river to start my which must be close to my 15th trip to the flow.
I was sharing the run I have been fishing to one other angler on the other side. I fished through the run twice with no a pulls and has I finished my second pass two other anglers entered the run so I decided to go to the car to tie some more roe bags and at the same time watch the action from the warmth of the car.
While sipping a cup of coffee and tying the last of the bags another angler who I belived was Brandon a young top angler had moved into the other side and was briefly into one.This seemed to be like a magnet as in no time flat a total of 5 anglers were sending their floats intently through the run. Time to move on, do a few chores downtown before doing some exploring and head towards Fulcrum County although FC was further up from were I relocated to.
Another angler was fishing where I decided to start so I went 2 runs above him and promply saw the tell tale stain of a freshly taken fish in the snow and another a day old or so. In the right area.
I work my way up fishing some good water and then do some bushwacking and reach an area with no tracks in the snow except some large bear prints, some a bit fresh too.
I see a likely looking spot and on the first drift float down, a snag ?. The next drift I feel a tug, still the thought of a snag goes through my mind, roe bag intact. Next drift a little lower in the run down again this time the roe sac comes back a little worse for wear. A new bag bulging with pro cured coho roe is attached and again the Balsa flost in out of sight, I set the hook and the water explodes in chrome. The only problem is the area is littered with snags, the fish respects her run and stays in it out of the rapids below. The fish starts to tire and runs up to just under my feet trying to hide under a fallen alder tree. As I admire the 10 pound or so steelhead I see her plain as day and see she is a hatchery fish but how will I land her, me perched like a bird on a fallen tree. Where is a net as if I had one I could easily scoop her out but who uses a net steelhead fishing anyway.
As I ponder my next move and admire the fish's beauty I feel my heart pounding in my chest with the excitment of the fish laying calmly at my feet, O for a gravel beach. The fish suddenly takes off again finding some renewed strenght and all of a sudden she is gone problem solved and I will have to wait for another chance for a hatchery.
I try a few more casts in the run but nothing so pick my way to the next run that would prove to provide more adrenalin rush. For a while nothing as I work the run trying for a good drift in a odd short of a spot the way the current is running. While looking behind me to make sure one of the bear tracks suddenly does not have a bear in them I feel the resitance on my line followed by a head shake as I do not set the hook. As the fish felt the hook I was not given another opportunity.
I notice just below where I am casting a nice trough of about 3 feet deep is running down the middle of the river. After a few cast float goes down not once but twice, what is this? My answer was given a cast or two later as the water for the second time of the day again explodes in a silver fury as a fish of 12 to 13 leaves its water lay, breaking the silence of the woods with her splash.
This fish also respects it run for a while and for long enough for me to get it within sight distance, another hatchery, will this be number one of the year.It too was not be as all of a sudden the line goes slack, fish number 3 of the day gone. How many fish is there in this piece of water? Are they moving fish or a bunch just resting here. I will never know as there is so much unknown about the habits of these guys. Anyway the bite continues as does my bad luck as several more misses 2 more on for a brief time but all gain their freedom and as I use my last roe bag on the last fish I leave the run disgusted to say the least as my average slipped badly today falling to an 3 for 10 average that is only good in baseball .333.
I go home for a few chores, tie up more roe bags before returning to the scene of the action with a little over a hour of daylight left confident of a nother fish.
I fish to dark, hoping for a repeat performance however that was not come, not even a bite. As I trudge back to the car in the now falling snow knowing this would be a day to remember even though it was not succesfull which in the long run is ok anyway as the fun is in the fishing not the landing. Maybe that is true but it did feel that way this afternoon but a new adventure will certainly be just around that next bend in the river, that next run, that next drift and the splender of that silver shine to this anglers eyes will make these losses easy to be just dim memories in a fisherman's fishing journal.
Today is another go at it but the change in the weather as the temp. has shot up to plus 4 may have put the river out time will tell.
Stay tunned with the revamped FWR, it is so good to be back.
Got to get to the River hope to see some of you out there.
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Topic: Searching For A Hatchery, Vedder January,11 2005 (Read 2428 times)