I am disgusted! Well, not by the "Vedder gong show" (since I rarely see people at places where I fish
), but by my own performance this morning.
Today was special. Each year I bring along my friend Iwan from UK for a couple of trips to wherever the fish are. The two of us, along with Luke, ventured out from first light to last light (just so Iwan could get his money worth on the non-resident freshwater fishing license + salmon stamp = $50
). We arrived at our chosen spot well before sunrise. It gave me enough time to set up his rod in the dark (Threading the main line through a bead is much harder than through the guides
). Once it was light enough, we loaded our hook up with freshly cured chum roe from yesterday, and waited for the early float dives.
The bites came pretty fast actually. Within the first 30 minutes, the two of us had missed up to eight hits. Still asleep as usual, but it was good to see the fish being active right away. Meanwhile, Luke's float was enjoying its buoyancy.
Finally I had enough of the float dives and switched up to my favorite spoon.
A few casts in the tailout resulted in one distinct hit in the middle of the run. The poor hookset brought a rather large, silver coho to the surface. It wiggled three or four times while I frantically kept the line tight before the spoon flew over my head. I estimated the fish to be between 8 and 10lb.
Not long after that, Lew showed up on the other side of the run. I gestured that the coho were here and I had just lost one. He gave me the thumb up. I decided to switch back to float and roe once again, and worked the slow tailout to see if another one would take it. Sure enough, the first cast with a huge clump of juicy roe brought action immediately. The float did not dive suddenly, instead it bobbed a bit before slowly sank down. I set the hook hard, immediately I could see the silver flashes underneath it. Luke quickly ran for the catch and release net, which we brought along hoping to land fish more easily. This fish, roughly around 5lb, came in pretty quickly, took a few short runs. Just as I was about to lead the coho, which was identified as a hatchery fish, into the net, the 1/0 hook popped out again!
Disappointed, I jokingly ask Luke why he did not dive forward into the water and net the fish for me.
I looked across the river, Lew had that grin on his face once again. It's like a repeat episode of what happened two weeks ago.
Seeing that the fish were biting, I urged Iwan to get his bait out there fast. A few casts later, he was into a fish briefly, most likely a coho salmon too. By now, Chris and Gwynn had joined the party. While watching Chris fishing away, my float went for another deep dive. When I looked back, the float was completely submerged and reflex made me set that hook right away. A strong deep dive suggested a spring jack on the end of that line. Indeed it was, I brought the semi-chrome fish to the net so Iwan could take a look before releasing since he has never seen one before.
More people showed up at 10:00am. I decided to switch back to the spoon again. Once again, a few casts into the tailout brought a distinct tug on the rod tip. The first tug was light, so I slowed down the retrieve. The second strong tug came soon after as expected since coho salmon are known for following lures. This time I set the hook as hard as I could. The headshake and silver flashes in the water indicated the third coho salmon of the day. Luke once again went for the net. I carefully played the fish to shore. Again, just as he was ready to net the fish, the hook popped out!
This pathetic yet comical performance was witnessed by numerous individuals, who were unable to connect with a fish this morning.
After Lew landed a spring jack, the action died down at 11:00am. Water seemed to be dropping steadily, and clearing too.
We took a lunch break and went back out at 1:00pm to a mid river spot. The chosen run seemed productive. Lew, Luke, Iwan and I hammered it with roe for two hours. At first we were missing numerous quick hits, then Lew was into another jack spring.
The fish was slightly coloured, indicating this year's jack spring run is coming to an end. It has been a fantastic year for them.
Iwan was the next lucky angler. His first fish after his arrival in Canada last week turned out to be a female chum salmon. He was so excited while bringing it in at one point and fell on his butt.
Luke and Lew assisted him with the landing and unhooking before I snapped a photo of the fish and its happy catcher. It maybe a chum salmon, but this was very exciting for him as he only gets to fish for pacific salmon once per year.
After being skunked all morning, Luke finally got himself a chum salmon too, which went back to spawn after a few photos.
We gave our last two hours of the trip to the run where I found some coho salmon this morning. The hope was to see these fish becoming active again at last light, which never really happened. The most exciting part of this evening was a few brief coho tugs on my spoon and seeing one solid coho following my spoon to the river bank before turning away.
The day ended with a big headache.
23 coho hooked this season, 10 landed, time to go sharpen my hooks.
River was in very good shape tonight when we left and should be just as fishable tomorrow morning. Lots of chinook and chum salmon around, with coho salmon mixed in some spots, happy hunting before the river rises and colours.
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Topic: Vedder River Oct 17 (Read 5936 times)