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[Rodney]

Today marked the 11th outing since the Tidal Fraser River re-opened for salmon fishing. I decided to drop by Garry Point Park once again for a couple of hours around flood tide. Since the bulk of the salmon run has gone by and none have been taken, I decided to only arm myself with the light spinning rod this time for bull trout. What has been impressive so far this season is the abundance of bull trout and cutthroat trout. To date I have seen four cutthroat trout caught and released, which is a good sign considering none were seen in previous years while fishing for fall salmon.

I finally have been testing out a new spinning rod that was built from a 4wt Rainshadow blank. It is a sensitive rod as expected and it bends beautifully with a trout on.



The softness of this rod is a disadvantage when spincasting because it is hard to get a good hook set, especially if a thicker hook is used. Yesterday I had trouble picking up the strikes that I had, so today I downsized the hook to a thinner one and the change paid off.

I fished the shallow bay in front of Pajo's Fish and Chips as usual. Kids were throwing rocks into the water, dogs were swimming on the beach, large boats were roaming by constantly, who would think trout and char could be picked up with all the disturbance. At high tide, the depth I am fishing at is between 3 and 6 feet. During low tide, these areas would be completely dry. Once water returns, fish also return to feed on critters around vegetations.



I managed to hook three today. The first small one darted into the shallows and pecked on the lure right in front of me. After a few kicks, it got off pretty easily. The second and third fish were much larger, estimated to be between 2 and 3lb. Both fish were hooked within a few casts, so they must have been schooling together. Knowing how soft the rod is, I gave it all on the hook set and the rod bent straight to the cork each time. Both fish were hooked fairly far from shore so they provided pretty lengthy fights.



As requested...



Still have to work on the facial expression.

Rodney's October 2008's Tidal Fraser River bull trout count

Date	# of fish hooked	# of fish landed
October 10th	1	1
October 11th	2	2
October 12th	2	0
October 13th	2	1
October 15th	2	2
October 18th	2	0
October 22nd	1	1
October 24th	1	1
October 25th	2	2
October 26th	4	2
October 27th	3	2
Total	22	14

[BwiBwi]

Hollllyy crap!!! you just offended that sculpin!!!!   

[troutbreath]

Smile and the worlds your friend ......work on the smile Rod

[fishseeker]

I had a go on the Fraser North Arm Sunday afternoon not expecting much and was very surprised to see something snatch my spinner right at my feet.  It was pretty amazing because I saw my spoon disappear and I felt the hard tug but I didn't see the fish! (They must be incredibly well camoflaged)  Next two casts and I was into another that got off.  Next few casts there was a hard tug and I pulled in what I assumed was a cutthroat trout because it had the bright red slash under the gills and heavily spotted like I'd seen in the pics (first cutthroad for me) - they fight like demons and I was sure it would get off. 

I released that one and made a bunch more casts but there was nothing - I can only assume a school moved in where I was fishing and quickly moved away.   It was very satisfying because I had always heard about cutthroats on the Fraser but so far that spot had only yeilded pikeminnows and peamouths.

[Rodney]

Good to hear that you've had success. They indeed school most of the time. I like to move around when I spin until I find the fish. Even better, I like to cling myself onto a roe fisher since fish have a tendency to hang around all that scent in the water. Another cutthroat encounter for me today, report to come.

[fishseeker]

Thanks Rodney it's been fun.  I definitely want to head out to Gary Point again - are they around November/December too?

[Rodney]

Thanks Rodney it's been fun.  I definitely want to head out to Gary Point again - are they around November/December too?

I have caught them in November and December but the fishing is generally slower because most of the fish move into tributaries where they would feed on salmon eggs and flesh of dead spawners. The tributaries fish well until late April. We enjoy fishing it when not targeting steelhead. Spoons and spinners would still work well, but float fishing with egg patterns from November to January can be deadly.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2005/1205_02.html

[fishseeker]

I do remember reading that article before and I have heard the Stave might be a good place to head out Late december or January.   Might try fly fishing some fry patterns and wooly buggers that have red heads imitating roe - will give it all a try.

Very helpful, thanks again Rodney.

[Rodney]

For flyfishing, look into trout beads at the tacklestores. They work great when fished under an indicator for them in December and January.

[fishseeker]

Wow! thats a beautiful bull (or dolly varden? still can't tell the difference).  I have yet to get one of those but I am certainly inspired after my first cutthroat last Sunday.

I will definitely take a look in the stores for these.  It might be a preferred setup because I really like float fishing -even better if I can combine that with fly fishing.  Thanks again for the tip rodney.

[adriaticum]

Nice bull, no bull.