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[Rodney]

What should people fish for when the Vedder is dirty? You guessed it, northern pikeminnows!

After enjoying some cod and chips at Pajo's yesterday, we made a few casts at Garry Point Park and briefly connected with a few fish but none made to the water surface. Today we decided to venture back slightly earlier to catch the flood tide. The 1/8oz green blade spinner did its wonder once again. Nina brought a fish in on her second cast at the first location. At the second location we brought two fish in within a short span of time. The third fish even leaped soon after hook-up, which is rather unusual for a pikeminnow. We finished the brief outing at the entrance of the park, where I managed to connect with a chrome bull trout, but it fell off the hook near shore just before the camera was ready. Water clarity is very good for spinning. It is an exciting time to be spinning in the tidal portion of the Fraser River, as there is the possibility to find a pikeminnow, cutthroat trout, bull trout and jack salmon at the end of your line.

[Athezone]

Thanks Rod. I needed that. Smiling faces, enjoying our sport and happy to just be out and if lucky enuff feeling something on the end of their lines. Even if it is pike-minnows or bull trout it's a great way to spend the day. Thanks. 

[eltonzhou]

nice report, like to try over there sometime this year! 

[fishseeker]

Bloody marvelous!  I have just started trying for larger pikeminnows in the Fraser North Arm but the visibility there isn't good enough for spin casting most of the time - definitely inspired to give it a go this weekend at Gary Point Park if I can manage it.  Will let you know how it goes if I do.

Thanks for the info Rodney.

[Rodney]

The water clarity in the Tidal Fraser since last week has actually been fantastic in my opinion. Yesterday I was in fact flyfishing, hooked up but broke off because I was too lazy to change a wind knot that I discovered just minutes before that. Before the past couple of days' trips, I did great back on August 24th before rain arrived, but water clarity was really poor during the last week of August and first week of September. I managed to hook up three fish with spinners during that period when visibility was close to zero. When water is dirty, hook-up is rare but not impossible due to the vibration of the spinner. I've had good success when spincasting for bull trout in June, which was the peak of freshet, in past years.

We went out for an hour this evening to catch the incoming tide. The lighter breeze made fishing much easier. First cast into my favorite bay landed one of the bigger fish this season. I managed to find five fish before the sun set. Here is a video clip that we shot tonight (click on "watch in high quality" for better viewing).

[fishseeker]

That looked like a lot of fun.  Too bad about the rain today - I really want to try spiinning for these guys.  So far I have just been catching the small ones with dough because that technique has been very consistent for me in the Fraser North Arm close to where I live.   I did get a small one on a flatfish lure at low tide when the clarity was unusually good so I am definitely encouraged to try this again.

Great video by the way

[Rodney]

If we were not doing something else this afternoon, we would be out there starting around noon today.

The tide is good (fish during outgoing after flood). Today's tide is pretty much identical to the tide on August 23rd when I found quite a few fish.

[Rodney]

I hit the jackpot tonight.

[Fish Assassin]

Bullhead on the Fly. A new trend ?

[adriaticum]

So who got the biggest fish??
 

[fishseeker]

Well, I finally got round to giving this a try today. 

I made sure I was there at 11:30am just before the tide peaked and was very pleasantly surprised by the weather because I was expecting it to piss down on me all morning.

Anyway, I chucked out everything I had.   It looked very bright so I tried a silver colorado first, then some flatfish because I have caught pikeminnows on those.  After all of that failed I tried flyfishing with sculpin patterns and a popsicle type fly's similar to the one in Rodney's last photo - not a touch on anything.

Still it was great to be out and I was able to enjoy the great food and scenery at Steveston.  Will definitely give it a try again - these photos prove there must be something worth trying for a good deal of the time. 

PS: didn't see anyone else catching anything today either and they were all fishing with bait and bobber setup.  Not sure it was just me doing the wrong things.

[Rodney]

We were out briefly this evening and I brought my spinning rod again since the fly rod didn't really entertain yesterday. We went straight to the last bay where fishing has been good, but none went for the spinner. We then came back to the first bay in front of the parking lot and I hooked one on the first cast, which quickly fell off. A few casts later I hooked three in a row, but all were small, as in between 8 and 12 inches long.

When I first started targeting them with lures many years ago, I used to spincast with 1/4oz Gibbs Fire Orange/Clear Crystal Croc. Perhaps it was the size of the lure, just about all of the fish I caught with this were big. In recent years I have been fishing with homemade in-line spinners, 1/8oz with size 3 or 4 green/pink French blade. I've found that it produces more hits, but the size range of the fish being encountered is much wider.

Keep trying. This fishery will come to an end in another week or two, but it will be replaced by another spin fishery during incoming tides - Coho and chum salmon.

[~IvAn~]

When does the coho fishery down there  usually start rod?

[Rodney]

The coho fishery in the tidal portion of the Fraser River starts on October 4th, after DFO's management measure of Interior coho and sockeye salmon protection ends. Coho salmon can be encountered starting from late Setepmber, but fishing is best in second and third weeks of October.

Here are some personal notes from the last five years' fishing in the tidal portion of the Fraser River.

In 2003, my dad landed a smallish hatchery coho salmon around 4lb on October 15th. We landed several chum salmon and lost a couple of coho salmon on that same day. I lost a feisty good sized fish on the 16th. On the 18th, water had coloured and risen due to heavy rain and I lost two coho salmon while fishing with roe.

In 2004, my friend Tak lost one on October 15th to a snag. I landed one hatchery fish and lost another on October 16th. On October 17th, I landed a hatchery jack coho salmon.

In 2005, I landed a coho salmon on October 16th and it was wild.

2006 was a bust, we found nothing except chum salmon during each incoming tide.

In 2007, I watched a huge wild coho being landed with a buzz bomb on Sunday October 7th. The following ten days were very productive, but that shouldn't have been a surprise since all valley tributaries experienced good returns.

See a trend?

[fishseeker]

Thanks for the great info Rodney.  I will have to try out the spinners you suggested - I just wish the darned things weren't so expensive (The size I was using was a little smaller).   I actually find going after pikeminnows is a lot of fun - especially when I can take my nephew out with me.  He just had a blast the last time I took him out.  Too bad it is coming to an end so soon - I wanted to get him out some more and I would like to have bagged some bigger ones like those in your photographs.  Next year for sure.

When you talk about Salmon fishing on the tidal portion of the Fraser river does that include the North Arm and the area around Steveston?   I have been keen to try this out on the Vedder this year but I can see the long commute and the crowding will make it difficult for a newbie like me - alternatives closer to home are very appealing.