The clam-man was still going at it when I drove by this afternoon. Somehow, he managed to catch another one!
Two clams in one day on the Fraser River, that takes skill for sure.
I decided to fish from 6:00pm until dark and attempt to intercept a fish or two during tonight's weak incoming tide. Surface activities were rare. Once awhile a few fins stuck out in front of me, indicating small schools of fish passing by.
At around 7:00pm, I had my first hit. It was a light one, so I left the rod alone and slowed down the retrieve slightly. The spoon was already fairly close to shore. I could see it in front of me soon after the initial hit. I then spotted a small pink salmon following right behind it, then took another bite at it. At this point I set the hook, it gave it a few shakes and popped off. The spoon flew over the head.
The following cast, I was surprised by yet another tap. This time it was quite distinct so my reflex set the hook. I could feel that it wasn't hooked firmly. Another silver doe rolled and circled around, took a long fast run along the edge of the shoreline. It too popped off just when I thought it would be netted. This fish actually felt more like a coho salmon. I guess I will never know.
As the sun went down, rollers started to show up. Before my retrieves, I twitched the spoon several times. Somehow I believe this triggers turbulence in the water and alerts the surrounding fish. It works for me quite often, and did again tonight. After the twitches, I had a huge hit just when I started turning the reel handle. A big buck surfaced in front of me after a minute or so with the entire spoon swallowed! This fish wasn't going anywhere. It beached itself and hopped into the net after a good fight.
Didn't see any other fish landed. The peak run maybe over, there are still fish around. Good luck.
Author
Topic: Fraser's Rarest catch of all September 17th, 2007 (Read 3734 times)