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[kingpin]

Here is one from today,hatcheri doe,relesed,other river...                                                                                                                                                                                                                http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/11367994671-1197512212-35305/

Chehalis hatchery channel?

looks that way..

[stlhd4ever]

There was a discussion earlier about vedder not getting summer's. Were they far up river? I can't remember what was said whether there was a small run or not. Anybody clarify?

[allwaysfishin]

I've caught 2 steelhead on the chilliwack river "outside " of regular steelhead season..... one was in 1988, fishing pocket water that was located in the stretch of water that is now the slab run. The fish weighed approx 10 lbs, was in full spawn colours, was a male with a pronounced kype, rosy cheeks and sides, and the body was a goldy, yellowy brown. It was unmistakeably a summer run steelhead and was caught sept 29, 1988.

the second was october 24,1993, just above the clay slide below allison pool, fishing for springs with gobs of roe. She was a estimated 12 plus pound doe, in full spawn colours as well.

both fish were wild...... both were caught on bait

[stlhd4ever]

I would guess that those are winter kelts. Not summer runs. If they were summer's they would be bullets. I believe kelts will hang around the river for a bit to feed to regain enough energy to make the trip back to the ocean. I've caught the odd kelt while spring fishing the vedder also.

[Xgolfman]

No kelts would be alive in the vedder nearly a year later...Spring time yeah, even into may when it's fly only you see the odd one rolling....but not that late in the year.....summer runs!!!

[allwaysfishin]

A decent report from a friend who lives in chilliwack..... they saw a chrome fish bonked.... but did not get a good look (other side of river) , lower river. that was an hour into fishing from first light. They got nothing but moldy coho in a few spots and at 2:30 ish, James bonked a nice 7/8 lbs hatchery doe steelhead, mid river, on guts. no pics... He's been pounding the river pretty much daily since the salmon crowds have thinned. He's got 2 on the tag....... and i haven't even been out once yet 

[armytruck]

7/8lbs , would ave tossed it back for at least a 1lbs. lol . Just kiddin .

[stlhd4ever]

I've seen kelts caught in july, august. The river is closed in june for a reason, to let steelhead spawn. I could see the odd one staying in there till sept. There are no summer runs in the vedder. If they were summers they definatly wouldn't be in full spawn colors by sept oct. Seeing as summers' and winters' spawn at approximatly the same time. In the spring early summer.

[mastercaster]

Some rivers in B.C. have spring run steelies that don't leave the ocean until late April to mid-June. Even those fish spawn at about the same time as winters and summers...they just come into the rivers fully mature unlike summers that finish maturing in fresh eater.

I have a picture of a buddy holding a steelie not 3 hours out of the ocean, chrome as could be, caught the last day of April....still had lots of sea lice on it.  As soon as he lifted the fish out of the water it was spitting singles like you wouldn't believe!  Would be spawning within days of fresh water entry.

Summers in Sept. and Oct. are still really clean....they still have 6 + months before they're going to spawn.  Anything in spawning colours caught that time of the year are kelts that are taking an inordinate amount of time to mend.

[allwaysfishin]

biologists were thinking the natural red springs of the vedder's old days were all but completely gone..... untill just recently they found numbers that would suggest they aren't gone. I am sure the chilliwack system must have had summer steelhead at some point?
I can't claim that the two i got outside of our normal season were summer run fish for sure...... but it ws strange and kinda cool to catch them

[Nicole]

Apparently Summer runs can naturally exist on systems that have some sort of a barrier that summer/fall entry fish can pass but winter fish can't... I read that in one of the River Journals...

Not to say that they couldn't be planted by the hatchery... Wouldn't that be fun!

Cheers,
Nicole

[bentrod]

As a wildlife biologist, I am 98% certain these fish were summer-run.  98% because I can't verify when the fish actually left the saltwater.  My hunch was backed up by the other biologist in our group who works for US Fish and Wildlife at a hatchery.  He is also a part time guide like myself.  Nothing precludes these fish from taking a small side-trip up another trib while on their way to their spawning stream.  This is what was probably the case in October on the lower Vedder (below the campground). 

[DAY AT THE RIVER]

I lost one today lover river,saw two bonked...

[river walker]

Scummers? ummmmm no!   Vedder  may get a few strays from silver or coquihal..
never to my knowledge did it ever have a run of !  or my grandfather who is 98 years of age .  however ..  he does tell me of days when they would hook dozens of chrome june reds

[mastercaster]

As a wildlife biologist, I am 98% certain these fish were summer-run.  98% because I can't verify when the fish actually left the saltwater.  My hunch was backed up by the other biologist in our group who works for US Fish and Wildlife at a hatchery.  He is also a part time guide like myself.  Nothing precludes these fish from taking a small side-trip up another trib while on their way to their spawning stream.  This is what was probably the case in October on the lower Vedder (below the campground). 

If they were summer run fish why would they have their spawning colours already....summer run fish finish maturing in fresh water, a process that takes several months and until they do the colouring process is quite slow.  These fish won't spawn until the spring. 

Some winter and spring run fish don't spawn until late June (the month that the Vedder is closed to all angling).  If these 2 fish had a particular tough time on the redds spawning to the point of almost dying it's feasible  it could take them a month ot two longer to mend.   It's too bad there were no pics of the fish because it's pretty easy to determine a kelt from fish that haven't spawned yet.