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[Rodney]

I finally had one of those days on the Vedder.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=147

At least my guiding skill was better than my fishing landing skill.

[hue-nut]

Chris "the Tangler" haha, great read Rodney!

[Stu]

After hearing all the tales about the great fishing on wedder-Chilliwack I finally decided to see it for myself.
I was there by dawn, my plan was to spend the day and to start on Vedder canal and work my way up to chilliwack river.
It appears that I picked a very poor time to go, I have never seen spawning salmon before and was just overwhelmed by their numbers, the living, the dead, and the zombies.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a productive fishing method as I had no roe. The fact that I didn't catch anything does not bother me, just being able to see the masses of fish moving trough was worth going.
I read almost all the snagging and mistreating fish threads in this forum but obviously that couldn't prepare me for what saw. On the first spot there was this one particular guy who would snag the fish drag it out on to the sand and carefully unhook it with his pliers to make sure not to touch the fish he a wanted to snag so badly.
On the other spot a proud dad taught the fine art of long leader snagging to his son and even made pictures how he pulled out the fish by the back on to the rocks and throw them back.
Beside me was a very effective member of the snagging community but he toped everyone else, he would pull out the fish on to the rocks/sand step on it (sometimes it is necessary to step on the fish with both feet) unhook it and kick it back in the river. I just had to move to an other spot because I just couldn't stomach it.

I snagged some myself but due to inexperience, and not my intention, also I release them gently in the water. Once I snagged into a line that was snagged in the back of a large humpy, as I was pulling it closer I see my crock on the surface of the water and I was just couldn't figure out whats pulling on my line.

I was getting some pinks in liver Fraser when they were fresh and it was fun, but I just cant figure out why ppl snagging those half decayed zombies  it is like pulling out a brick, what is the fun in that?

When will the pinks clear the Vedder system?
Would anyone be interested to go to Vedder and perhaps show me the right way to fish it?

Thanks for reading, I just had to tell someone about it. 

[Fishin_Squirrel10-4]

heard someone had a 60lbs spring today 

[arimaBOATER]

Stu "Thanks" for sharing your outing. The story ya told about this guy dragging a fish unto the sand...then booting it back into the water.... kinda reminds me of those guys who were on the national tv news who were shooting at ducks with a 22 rifle & basically wounding & killing birds for their "fun" & target practise....they were arrested. Also recently a cat wondered to it's home with 10 pellets in it's head. (shot with a air-rifle at close range...CAT survived )......... It seems to me that those who out right are "mean" to animals birds fish or to fellow humans have alot of pain hurt anger & hate inside themselves. ...............We need a police officer every 100 yards in every direction so the idiots will behave themselves..... so all we have to do is hire 10 million police officers. 

[Rybar]

Thanks for the report Rodney

[rhino]

After hearing all the tales about the great fishing on wedder-Chilliwack I finally decided to see it for myself.
I was there by dawn, my plan was to spend the day and to start on Vedder canal and work my way up to chilliwack river.
It appears that I picked a very poor time to go, I have never seen spawning salmon before and was just overwhelmed by their numbers, the living, the dead, and the zombies.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a productive fishing method as I had no roe. The fact that I didn't catch anything does not bother me, just being able to see the masses of fish moving trough was worth going.
I read almost all the snagging and mistreating fish threads in this forum but obviously that couldn't prepare me for what saw. On the first spot there was this one particular guy who would snag the fish drag it out on to the sand and carefully unhook it with his pliers to make sure not to touch the fish he a wanted to snag so badly.
On the other spot a proud dad taught the fine art of long leader snagging to his son and even made pictures how he pulled out the fish by the back on to the rocks and throw them back.
Beside me was a very effective member of the snagging community but he toped everyone else, he would pull out the fish on to the rocks/sand step on it (sometimes it is necessary to step on the fish with both feet) unhook it and kick it back in the river. I just had to move to an other spot because I just couldn't stomach it.

I snagged some myself but due to inexperience, and not my intention, also I release them gently in the water. Once I snagged into a line that was snagged in the back of a large humpy, as I was pulling it closer I see my crock on the surface of the water and I was just couldn't figure out whats pulling on my line.

I was getting some pinks in liver Fraser when they were fresh and it was fun, but I just cant figure out why ppl snagging those half decayed zombies  it is like pulling out a brick, what is the fun in that?

When will the pinks clear the Vedder system?
Would anyone be interested to go to Vedder and perhaps show me the right way to fish it?

Thanks for reading, I just had to tell someone about it. 

hi stu. i would be happy to take you one day when the schedule fits. PM me or reply and we can make arrangements.

[fishfinder]

Great blog, Rodney. Sorry to hear about the stupidity of fishers on the Vedder.  It's all too prevalent these days. I am glad I was able to hook and land a dozen coho already this year because I am ready to pack it in. The way some people mistreat the fish disgust me so badly that I can't bear to be there. It simply takes all the pleasure out of fishing.

[Sandy]

thanks again Rod. where's breakfast nowadays?

[FlyFishin Magician]

Thanks for the report/blog Rod!  Great read.  Sounds very typical of low water coho fishing conditions.  Stratocaster and I hit it on Monday and we found way too many pinks.  I did hook and lose a beauty coho, and landed a decent jack that I released.  We both hooked quite a few springs too - but the coho were definitely not as abundant as last week (in our experience).  No complaints from me though, as I do have some nice coho in the freezer now... .  In fact, this has been the best coho season for me on the Vedder in a few years a least (so far).

I'm very disappointed to hear that a fellow flyfisher was being such an idiot.  Looks can be deceiving!  How was his "double haul"?  LOL.  No flyfisher with a good double haul would act like that!!

I wonder if a little rain to flush out the pinks and move some fresh fish into the river is order?  However, when I start wishing for rain, we get a downpour and the river blows!  This typically occurs in mid October.

Anyway, I too find it better to stay away from the crowds, or at least the "beak show".  The busy areas we like to fish have experienced rods out there so it's not too bad.

[Rodney]

Great blog, Rodney. Sorry to hear about the stupidity of fishers on the Vedder.  It's all too prevalent these days. I am glad I was able to hook and land a dozen coho already this year because I am ready to pack it in. The way some people mistreat the fish disgust me so badly that I can't bear to be there. It simply takes all the pleasure out of fishing.

Thanks for the report/blog Rod!  Great read.  Sounds very typical of low water coho fishing conditions.  Stratocaster and I hit it on Monday and we found way too many pinks.  I did hook and lose a beauty coho, and landed a decent jack that I released.  We both hooked quite a few springs too - but the coho were definitely not as abundant as last week (in our experience).  No complaints from me though, as I do have some nice coho in the freezer now... .  In fact, this has been the best coho season for me on the Vedder in a few years a least (so far).

I'm very disappointed to hear that a fellow flyfisher was being such an idiot.  Looks can be deceiving!  How was his "double haul"?  LOL.  No flyfisher with a good double haul would act like that!!

I wonder if a little rain to flush out the pinks and move some fresh fish into the river is order?  However, when I start wishing for rain, we get a downpour and the river blows!  This typically occurs in mid October.

Anyway, I too find it better to stay away from the crowds, or at least the "beak show".  The busy areas we like to fish have experienced rods out there so it's not too bad.

Thanks. It was still a good day regardless of what happened. I posted this on flybc to further comment on the blog entry:

Tex & Dmoney, I agree, what we experienced yesterday was indeed a cake walk compared to stories that we come across regularly, but I would have put a stop before things turned ugly (Well, we kind of did, a good chuckle and avoidance of any confrontation is an easy, swift solution). I think that many bad situations on the Vedder can be avoided if people don't put themselves in that situation. Don't fish in the crowd if solitude is your objective (nothing wrong with fishing in a crowd if the atmopshere is friendly). Move when it becomes obvious when the people nearby and you are simply not compatible. We spend half a tank of gasoline to this fishery everytime, so it is in my best interest to make the best out of it.

I think one of the points that I am attempting to make in this story is that poor fishing practices take place in all ages, ethnic groups, angling methods if the individual chooses to be ignorant. I was a bit surprised, or actually shocked, to see such poor attitude from a well dressed flyfisherman. The growth of this problem is partly due to the fact that we prefer to categorize the recreational fishery and each group works on its own interest. As long as the Vedder remains an easily accessed and cheap fishery that does not require entry-level anglers to be informed before participation, we just have to put up with it. In the meantime, the DFO's South Fraser community advisor has discussed this issue with few reps in the recreational fishing community so perhaps we can at least do something different for next year's fishery.

thanks again Rod. where's breakfast nowadays?

Still at Cookies Grill, but yesterday I was hungry for fish, not hungry for breakfast so decided to cancel Chris' invite after finding some bites in mid river. That was a poor move, because the bite was off right after I told him that we were not coming.

[searun17]

Great blog Rodney,in my trips out to the river this year i am noticing much of the same but it seems to be more prevalent this year  than in others,i have never seen as many people lined up on the lower river as i have this year, its crazy ,i think increasing the limit of pinks is most likely the reason for the increase in fishing pressure and i think it was a mistake to do so,after all there is plenty of opportunity to fill peoples freezer on the Fraser where crowding is not as big of a problem,instead upping the limits has only served to bring out more people to the vedder and increase the negative behavior on a more sensitive system,in my opinion the limit increase was a a bad decision and not well thought out .

[fishseeker]

Thanks Rodney, appreciated the report.

I have actually quit fly fishing for Salmon (esp when the runs are heavy) because I just cannot avoid snagging that way.  Even short floating, I find it hard to avoid completely.

Sad to hear and see how little respect so many people have for the fishery but I can understand how people start out thinking it is OK to dredge the bottom with long leaders when there are few good examples from those around them.  One of the main reasons I can appreciate the ethics around this is because of this site - please keep up the excellent work you do educating people about the issue.

[chris gadsden]

Thanks for the report/blog Rod!  Great read.  Sounds very typical of low water coho fishing conditions.  Stratocaster and I hit it on Monday and we found way too many pinks.  I did hook and lose a beauty coho, and landed a decent jack that I released.  We both hooked quite a few springs too - but the coho were definitely not as abundant as last week (in our experience).  No complaints from me though, as I do have some nice coho in the freezer now... .  In fact, this has been the best coho season for me on the Vedder in a few years a least (so far).

I'm very disappointed to hear that a fellow flyfisher was being such an idiot.  Looks can be deceiving!  How was his "double haul"?  LOL.  No flyfisher with a good double haul would act like that!!

I wonder if a little rain to flush out the pinks and move some fresh fish into the river is order?  However, when I start wishing for rain, we get a downpour and the river blows!  This typically occurs in mid October.

Anyway, I too find it better to stay away from the crowds, or at least the "beak show".  The busy areas we like to fish have experienced rods out there so it's not too bad.

I have nothing against fly fishers but I saw a chap pulling pink after pink in backwards today with the fly rod but at least he kept them in the water most of the time. Another drifter fellow beside him was doing the same with his float on its side and doing the sweep. He pulled them up on the sand everytime. It amazes me that they keep casting into where all the pinks are schooled up.

I was not perfect either as I got one male in the back,   flossed one under the chin and had one fresh doe bite   but this was in nearly 4 hours of fishing time. The other boys must have got dozens and dozens of pinks and were still at it when I left. They would even get very excited when they lost them. I missed what I believe were a few coho that were porpoising around me but the drift is so slow one does not strike in time and they have spit out the bait before you set the hook. Time to find another spot.

[typhoon]

Flyline is a great flossing tool. As with some other methods the fisher's intent determines if they are fishing ethically.
When I first started fly fishing for salmon I found that I was quite unhappily snagging chum while stripping in after the swing.
I now fish much higher in the water column using a slower sink tip and wait until the line is hanging vertically before retrieve.