Yesterday we had some success around the late morning incoming tide so today I took my dad out once again. As this incoming tide change gets bigger this week, fishing should improve, at least that's the/my theory.
I was delighted to find that the spot where we wanted to fish was void of people. I was even more delighted to see some fish surfacing as soon as we had the rods ready. One roll was followed by two more, two than turned into several. There was obviously a school of fish passing by, so I was expecting a hook-up in no time.
Before this small school of fish went by, my dad had a bite as expected. He gently raised the rod and began reeling, but the fish obviously did not stay on long due to the poor hook set.
The second fish that my dad connected with flew out of the water immediately. The silvery body leaped several times before the spoon bounced away into the water. It was possibly a coho salmon, which become more common in mid to late September. Coho salmon cannot be kept right now, so it is always wise to take a second look on the landed fish and identify it properly before dispatching it.
After this brief excitement, the fishing died down and no more rollers could be seen. Fishersak then joined us after his haircut. Dad hooked his third fish at 1:00pm, not long before the tide peaked. This fish was well hooked, well played and guided into the net very swiftly. It was a bulky female pink salmon, the fourth fish that he has landed this season. Dad celebrated because he has broken his own record. Last season he was only able to land three fish.
Fishersak was soon into a fish as well. It bit the lure just several feet from the rod tip, like all the other fish today. It was also a nice female, which did not take long to land since it was already near shore when hooked.
After a couple more misses and another brief hookup, my dad set the hook and the absence of movement at the other end indicated a snag on the bottom. He swung the rod up and down, attempting to loosen the hook from the snag. Suddenly the line was peeling off the reel furiously. Dad held onto the rod and screamed with both surprise and excitement before the line went slack again. Gone! Still trying to figure out what was happening. He retrieved the slack line, which tightened a few seconds later and sent the rod kicking again! The fish must had swum toward him after going for a mad dash. This feisty male took two more runs before Mark netted it cleanly. It had to be the most unlucky fish after being given two chances to escape.
The amount of fish seemed to increase a bit as the tide turned as more risers could be seen, but not many were able to find a fish on their line. Fishersak managed to land one more fish before we decided to end the outing at 2:30pm. As for me, I must have kissed a skunk in my sleep before the season started, because all I could produce was a light tug just before our departure.
Water clarity definitely has degraded since a week ago, but still reasonable especially if it is sunny. Location is not a factor as many have proved fish are hooked everywhere, just not as consistently as a week ago. Good luck for the rest of this weekend!
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Topic: Tidal Fraser River, September 12th 2009 (Read 1935 times)