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[chris gadsden]

This report can not be too long as have to meet George shortly for a early morning breakfast before we start another fishing adventure today somewhere in the Valley, if the water conditions
ons permit.

Yesterday was another early start as Nick and I met up for the last duck hunting trip of the season as it was closing day. As I had a nice bag of corn fed birds hanging in the shed I decided to hang up the gun for this trip and video the morning shoot.

The day dawned with a slight East wind, patchy fog clinging to the sides of the surrounding mountains and some stars poking through the clouds as we completed the blind in the black berry bushs that I had started the day before.

With the blind complete, decoys placed and a slight hue of colour from the sun rays starting to appear from behind Mt. Cheam I fired up the video camera and shot some the scenery of the begining of the day, birds of several species were starting to leave their night roosting areas to search for food that never ends for them.

It took a while before the ducks began their morning flight, not as many as the day before but I was able to capture Nick bagging a few birds including the first one that just missed me and the camera as it landed about 4 feet behind me right in the middle of a pile of blackberries that Nick had to hack to  later with his machette to retrieve.

In reviewing the film now as I make a copy for Nick I was able to get a few decent shots of the hunt including a number of frames of the blackberry bushes that I am nestled in to try to keep hidden from the view of the circling birds.

It was good to get some pictures also of Nick's bird dog Annie retrieving some of the ducks from the chilly waters of the flooded corn field and the surrounding ditchs.

The time passed all too quickly but with a few plump mallards in the bag it was time to head for a 9 am meeting at The Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve with the City officials regarding the dyke issues along the Chilliwack/ Vedder River. It went well I thought, as Gwyn, Nick, and Lew represented the interests of you, the sports anglers very well. Lew kept the minutes of the meeting and I feel he will share some key points on this thread later for you.

Following this we had another meeting, this for the Chilliwack/Vedder River Cleanup Coalition the main topic being the cleanup for the 29th which I hope a number of you will be able to attend. Always good to meet old and new friends we have met through FWR the last few years. I always appreciate the work Rodney does for CVRCC and other environmental and educational issues through the Lower Mainland.
You will able to see some of this work and that of the CVRCC at the Sportsman Show at the Tradex at Abbortsford in March. Drop by for a chat as most CVRCC directors will be there taking a shift through the three day event.

We welcomed at the meeting two new young directors as Gordie 2:40 and George have come aboard, welcome guys it is good to have some new younger people to carry the CVRCC banner on when some of us older fellows can not longer do so.

With all this work behind us for the day time for some fishing but first Rodney, Nina, George, Lew and I headed for Cookies the best little restaurant in the Valley for a enjoyable lunch and some good friendship.

With us all fuelled up now and with George as our guide it was off to some of his secret spots to seek some finfish. The day was just beautiful, the best of 2005 so far, making up for the miserable weather Mother Nature has given us the last few weeks. One day blizzards, then high winds, freezing rain and followed by monsoon conditions recently that have swollen most rivers to unfishable conditions.

I hopped in with George and Rodney, Nina and Lew joined the caravan as we headed East.

I will have to stop now and let Rodney, Nina, or Lew complete the days events in words and picture form as well as I have to leave to meet George as we are GOING FISHING.

[the_pict]

its always a pleasure to read your reports chris 

[Athezone]

Thank's for the report Chris a always an interesting read. It's been a long time since I duck hunted, about twenty years and it stirs up
thoughts that have'nt been awakened for quite some time. Nice. I am going to be at the clean up and will definitely be doing some fishing afterwards as I have been chomping at the bit for some time now. And I'm sure, as the weather improves most people on this board will be. Good fishing all.

[Rodney]

Oh sure! Leave the actual fishing part to me.... I'll do those later, as Nina and I are on our way out to a show. Photos to come as well.

[Rodney]

Well, I am not as descriptive as CG, but here goes.

After the fantastic lunch at Cookies (which was surprisingly cheap for its quality, I paid 15 bucks tax and tip included for two deluxe burger with fries and salad), I was eager to get out there. The expectation wasn't big, as the weather condition had not been exactly optimal. After more than two weeks of staring at this screen and no fishing, I was just happy to see the river.

George's secret spots were really no secret, as we were parking our cars beside the creeks and fish within ten feet from the cars. There isn't a spot that would guarantee cutthroat trout during every outing of course, since the fish are highly migratory. We ended up trying out several different spots, with no luck at most of them. CG managed to connect with a cutthroat briefly, so he believes. He also managed to haul the prized catch of the day out of the water, a 10 inch mountain whitefish. Or was it 12 inch....

My Drennan Crystal Avon briefly sank yesterday, but I was busy posing in front of the camera as Nina snapped away as usual. Meanwhile, Lew spent a great deal of time hunting for worms on the ground... Underwater logs seemed to be very friendly to Buckeye yesterday, as they wouldn't let go of his roe sacs at many occasions.

We ended the day by the Fraser at mouth of Maria Slough, but once again the cutthroat were being very illusive. It was certainly nice to get some good scenary photos however, the colour contrast yesterday was fantastic as you can see in the photos below.

Nick popped down to see us just before we were packing it in, with his surprise in the back of the truck - a 16lb hatchery steelhead. The boys were pressuring me to pose with the fish, but I strongly declined as I think my first will come very soon... Beautiful fish indeed, look how broad the tail is.

For your viewing pleasure


Lew, Buckeye and CG trying hard to connect with a cutthroat trout.


Me, modelling with my new jacket that Nina bought in Christmas, and CG in the background. Float fishing with roe sacs. If you look closely... you'll see a yellow spot by CG's feet... That's the world's biggest roe bucket!


The lonely mountain whitefish, which was not enough to feed all five of us, so it went back freely. Check out those roe stained hands!


Nick's hatchery steelhead, the smile says it all.


"When are the boys going to quit?" She wondered as boredom began to set in.

I'm sure Buckeye, CG AND Lew will add some more stuff that I've missed. Thanks for a good fishing day.

[Steelhawk]

What a beauty! Is that a Vedder fish or Chehalis? Nick's has got to be a steelhead master. Every time Chris wrote a report, Nick seemed to have a fish. 

[Buckeye]

The day was beautiful for sure, made all the better by the excellent company of Rod, Nina, Lew and CG. Too bad the Fraser River was in such poor shape or I’m sure we would have found more fish than we did.
To continue the story, Rod and Nina had to leave as they had a long drive ahead of them to get home. Lew, CG and I decided to give it one last try a few hundred yard upstream. This place has a nice even ripple about two feet deep all the way across the stream for about 50 yards. We get quite a few bites, but land only 2 whitefish. Their mouths are so small it is tough to hook them, and when fishing with roe in a bait loop often they are hooked on the outside of the mouth. Only the most skilled of anglers can consistently hook them inside the mouth, right CG?

A few more pics:


Chris is quite proud of his bait bucket




Don’t miss that bite!




A proud fisherman




A beautiful day




It’s getting dark Lew!

[canoe man]

excellent read from all of you, and that is one sweet fish
keep up the great work guys tia   cnm

[blueback]

Nick popped down to see us just before we were packing it in, with his surprise in the back of the truck - a 16lb hatchery steelhead.

He told me that fish was 17lbs. !!

[pepsitrev]

wow great reports from the both of you and love those pics fantastic i would say see ya all @ cleanup this sat