Ok here we go.
After hooking some solid fish yesterday in the shallows, I was eager to get back this afternoon for another go, except with waders on this time. Carlo came along too just to see what all the hype is all about. Now he knows.
I arrived 30 minutes ahead of Carlo because he had to make a lunch run to Mac D, so I decided to fish in front of the parking lot until his tummy was satisfied. In those 30 minutes, I managed to lose a bull trout, land a small cutthroat trout and a good sized bull trout.
Once he was all set up in the parking lot, we headed to another bay where I caught three fish yesterday. He decided to start the day with chucking feathers.
It took about 30 minutes before I hooked into the first fish, which I thought may have been a salmon. This fish headed straight for the mainstem Fraser right away and nothing could be done with the ultralight rod except going along with the ride. In the meantime, I called Carlo to head over. I managed to gain some line before it went for another good run. At times it almost felt like a snag when it decided to sit at one spot in the deep. Just to make things more interested, a big tug boat had just gone by and waves were heading toward us. This first gave me the advantage as the waves pushed the fish right in, but now I was facing waves up to my waist.
Finally the pounding stopped and the nicest looking bull trout of the season was firmly in my hands.
We even had a big audience behind us while Carlo took some photos for me.
Once I released the fish, Carlo had seen enough and went back to his truck to get an ultralight spinning rod.
He returned in five minutes, casted to the exact same area where he had been flyfishing and hooked a fish right away! It was a beautiful cutthroat trout. This was the sixth cutthroat trout I've seen this fall in the Tidal Fraser, a very good indication of the health of the population.
We continued working along the beach as the tide started falling. Carlo hooked the last fish of the day an hour before dark, another good sized bull trout.
When I came back empty handed twice last week, I thought most of the fish have moved on and the season was done. You just never know when targeting mobile hunters like these.