As usual a warm welcome to the fishing journal, a short one today.
Slipped out to the scene of yesterday's action ay first light and walked out with sthslayer to the river. We notice there is a strong East wind blowing, one of the first of the season. Our coffee we sip as we walk is a welcome beverage to the nip in the air caused by this out flow from the Interior.
Sthslayer heads to the top run and I join Ross at the other spot. The wind is blowing stronger out in the exposed river proper making getting as good a drift as we would like difficult. By mending the line during the drift did help some to try and keep your offering drifting at the speed of the current. Too much of a belly in the line has the wind catching my 12 pound test main line therefore speeding up the float and my terminal gear. A steehead could get whiplash if he was to strike at the bait going by at 10 - 0.
No action at the run I am fishing but as I look upstream at just the right time I see sthslayer just setting the hook. I can see he is into a nice fish so I head up to help him with the tubing if it is a wild fish. Sthslayer is angling for the brood capture program as well. The fish fights well, looking like it was a resting fish. As sthslayer gets it to the beach area we see it is another hatchery, a doe in the 11 pound range a very nice fish indeed. Ross removes the hook as sthslayer wishes to continue fishing and the fish is back in the river for some other angler to catch.
I move back to the run I am fishing and the angler that was fishing beside me gets into a fish just as I get ready to cast. I move down to him hoping for a wild but it too is a hatchery doe that does not put up much of a challenge for the angler, his first of the year. I ask him if he wishes to retain it but he too says he wants to continue fishing so it is sent on her way, another hatchery for someone to catch.
A while later I move down to a small sidestream close to were I connected yesterday and I miss a fish twice in a row, steelhead, trout, dolly or a white fish, one never knows do they. I fish some other nearby water and return to the spot of the takes but I do not get a third opportunity to see what it was.
I return to the starting run for a few casts and then move to the top run and work through it once again. Another angler comes to the starting run and I see him strike and miss a fish from the top run that I am still fishing. A few casts later I see his rod bending with the steelhead now hooked.
Once again I move down checking for a wild but to my disappointment but to the lucky anglers satisfaction it is a nice hatchery doe.
As the angler says he has to go to work shortly he retains it. We notice a slight seal rake on its side, the second seal bite I have seen this season on a steelhead. The happy angler now jogs out of sight, his steelhead's bright sides glimmering in the now bright sun rising above the tops of the mountains.
I start working the run again, with renewed enthusiasm and another angler I know, another retiree,
comes from upstream and we chat. We are taking about the Thompson River Steelhead and how much water is taken from the smaller rivers in the Thompson watershed for irrigation purposes that are causing problems for the migrating fish and their offspring.
In the middle of our conversation and when I am not concentrating like I should, my visiting guest who is watching and admiring my Maple Leaf drennan I guess says loudly, "there you are". I too see my float going down, I strike a little late but soon enough I would have thought to connect but I do not. I concentrate for the next few casts almost certain for another chance but it does not come. Why is it, I often wonder when the steelhead will not come back, does the strike and disturbance caused by the float scare them away to another part of the run, especially in clear water? who knows, I certainly do not hazard to guess.
My friend apologizes to me but I say "it is only a fish, nothing to worry about not gettingit". Sometimes we take this hobby of fishing way too seriously, as I have said before, some of the locals say I should not give reports like I do on the net but once again fishing is supposed to be a fun and enjoyed and shared by all. As a friend told me a few days ago, a lot of this is old school thinking, I myself have been guilty off this in the past also. As one ages your thinking changes and in the whole scheme of things in our world, this is the least we should be worried about. There is so many other issues that threaten our fish now and in the future than sharing fishing stories.
I fish for a while longer and meet Trout Slayer and two friends who arrive in the area, they have seen nothing so far. I am sure we will get their report later.
I decide to head for lunch, leave the area to Trout Slayer and to take the afternoon off, this fishing is almost turning into a full time job but a good one none the less.
I will be punching my time clock at 7:15 tomorrow morning once again on the Vedder, to start another journal, another story from the great outdoors that hopefully will be a trip that will yield a wild fish or two for the tube.
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Topic: A Windy Day, On The Vedder, Jan. 24 (Read 3584 times)