After hearing Lucky's success on coho salmon on the beaches in North Vancouver lately, I was tempted to give it a go as well. It is a fishery that I used to participate, but have lost interest due to its low success rate. After all, maybe Lucky is just lucky. Usually only a few anglers are able to connect with these picky coho salmon each morning. It also requires me to venture into the unknown hours of my typical day, so it's somewhat hard to motivate myself.
With the encouragement of Mark and Carlo, i decided to check it out this morning. I hopped out of bed at 4:45am on cue. After all, anyone can get up if there are fish to catch right? There was just enough time to swing by every Canadian's favorite breakfast store, for a cup of hot chocolate and couple of donuts for the road. As I pulled into the parking lot at 5:40am in North Vancouver, Chrome Mykiss and Lucky were already dressed in waders, and somewhat surprised to see me!
Five minutes later, Lucky had already sprinted down the beach and casted his buzz bomb out. Although it was still somewhat dark, splashes from some silvers could be heard just several feet from shore. Carlo and I followed quickly. The game was on.
As we chatted while retrieving, it took no time for Lucky to get into the first fish. The silver buck came in rather quickly but suddenly darted out when he felt the sand on its belly. Just when Lucky thought he got dinner, the fish had pulled the line way out again. It towed him from side to side, forcing other anglers to back up so we would not get caught up by his line. Gradually, the fish cooperated and came in again. The hook suddenly popped off the fish's mouth, but by this point it was just inches from the beach. Lucky slid the fish up and we got our first catch before 6:00am.
Seeing one caught so quickly had me rather pumped. I casted out my unique lure from Australia, hoping the fish would grab it more frequently since it has not been seen in this part of the world.
My choice paid off, a quick tug took place just minutes after Lucky's fish. A hard hookset sent the light spinning rod bending to its cork. A high leap in the dim light was followed by the dreadful pop. The Aussie lure flew over my head when the fish landed back in the water. It was a rather big fish judging by the size of the splash!
Not to worry, there was no time to sulk as the bites could go off at anytime. I sent the lure back out again. The retrieve and twitch managed to entice another fish soon after! Another hookup and it felt prett solid this time. I slowly made my way back to shore. Like any other coho, this fish darted from side to side with the occasional leaps. It reached the shallows within a minute or two. Luckily the sandy bottom did not startle it. I took advantage of its calmness and beached it in no time. It was a fresh looking doe, estimated to be around 6lb.
After my brief success, the bites turned off like a light switch. We moved to another area, only to find Mark standing with a few other anglers. There were still fish surfacing around him, so we quickly went back to work. Carlo always enjoys a challenge, so he armed himself with a fly rod this morning. After casting and stripping for an hour, he finally had a follower that decided to turn around just several feet from his rod tip.
Mark ended the day with a greenling and a sculpin, so he was not skunked after all.
By 7:00am, the beach was empty once again. Between about 20 anglers, only 3 fish were landed including mine and Lucky's. There was not a shortage of fish, but they are simply quite educated after staging in the area for so many weeks. Although it is often sweet and short, one cannot ask for more. There are not many places where you can fish and possibly retain some fine catches before the start of a working day. Do I dare to spoil myself with a trip to the Tidal Fraser River this evening for some more pink salmon action?
Photographs
Today's prized catch
Here is a photo of the missing adipose fin and healed scar on a hatchery fish, few inches behind the dorsal fin.
An even closer look at the healed scar.
Head of a coho salmon. Notice the white gum inside the mouth, which is one of the characteristics used to identify this species.
The tail of a coho salmon is usually spotless except a few small spots on the top section.
This fishery's regulations can be found in the Area 28 regulations of the tidal waters sport fishing guide:
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/recfish/Tidal/area28_e.htmGood luck.
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Topic: North Vancouver September 3rd, 2007 (Read 5144 times)