My fishless streak continues...
I must have pi$$ed off the Goddess, for she is determined to keep me skunked this steelhead season.
So much so that I have to make a trip to the SSS next weekend and with the help of the Nog hopefully get into a steely or two.
The weather in Chilliwack was very cold in the morning, but quite pleasant in the afternoon.
Tad and I started below KWB and worked the area religiously. Tad had briefly one on, but it didn't materialize.
We were there from 7:30 - 11:00, and didn't see any fish caught. I was fly fishing and my buddy was fishing gear.
The water was quite cloudy, with visibility no better than a foot. The river had come up almost a full foot from the day before. It did begin to go down in the afternoon.
From KWB we moved upstream to the train bridge area and worked the run above and below for two hours.
Nada...no action, no fish. Visibility same as at KWB.
After lunch at Pointa Vista, we moved all the way up to the Ranger Run area. Beautiful crystal clear water, phenomenal setting, but again, no fish. From there we drove downstream to Allison pool area, where we met a young fellow who said he had released one at Tamahi. Not being one who rushes to an area only because somebody caught a fish there, I decided to go back to the train bridge, whereas Tad fished the section from below the crossing all the way to Peach. None of us got into fish.
Late in the evening, the fish started rolling in, and you could see them splashing all over the place, but surprisingly, they weren't interested in any of the flies I offered them. There were another three top rods fishing double-handers in the area, and they, too, were surprised that the fish was so active in the water yet uninterested in the offering.
Overall, it was a good day. The upper, mid and the lower rivers are three entirely different ball games these days. The upper river below the clay slides and the mid river are the worse, as it seems that a good portion of the clay from the slides manages to settle by the time it reaches the lower river, but it sure keeps the mid river unpleasantly murky. I wish I could have gone fishing today, but I had to deal with some chores at home that required my immediate attention.
There was a surprisingly small number of anglers on the river overall - it must be that many people are discouraged from fishing it because there is not much happening in terms of fish caught.
Yet, it is always a wonderful experience to be out there, especially in the still fairly wild upper river. Here's a picture of my fishing buddy Tad working hard a beautiful run that we had all to ourselves for about an hour:
Enjoy it out there and tight lines.
Milo
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Topic: Chilliwack River, March 21st 2009 (Read 1247 times)