Milo's pointing out that, if you choose to stand next to garbage, don't complain about the stench.
Thank you, Rodney. Couldn't have said it better.
For the record, I fish the Vedder more than most posters on this board. In years of fishing it, I have learned a few things that help me make the best out of my day (and no, Dion, bonking four hatchery cohos is not what makes a great day of fishing - you of all people should know better). But every day of exploring teaches me new things, more than I can learn fishing shoulder to shoulder in a busy honey hole.
First, and foremost, there is no need to set one's mind on one particular spot and deprive yourself of sleep only to be there before anybody else. My experience has taught me that most of the time someone else will beat you to the spot. That can be a real turnoff. And even if you are the first to get there, half an hour later it will get crowded. When that happens, it's time to move on.
I never know where I will start my fishing day. If it is an extremely busy day - a great combination of good weather, plenty of fish and so on, I will just drive along the river until I see an area (AREA - not one spot) with few or no cars parked along the road. Then I will flip a coin to decide whether I will explore upstream or downstream. As I work the area, I might reach a spot where a bunch of people are stationed - hogging a spot. As I work my way down or up, I may or may not decide to make a few casts. I'll do it when someone leaves their 'rock' to go chase a fish down the river or is taking a break or just tying up a new setup. Most of the time, I make my intentions clear and tell the person I will move on as soon as they want to fish 'their' spot again. Three to five casts is all you need to determine whether there are willing biters holding in there. After that it is just a waste of time.
It pays off to move - especially in the canal area. You wouldn't believe how many FANTASTIC spots are created daily between two crowded spots - depending on the tides or the rain. Don't assume that where you see a bunch of guys there must be fish.
A case in point was on Sunday. Right at the confluence, there was the mother of all gong shows going on. I watched for a while, fished for a while and when I couldn't take the 'stench' anymore, I moved upstream. Not 100 yards upstream, there was a fantastic seam created by the upcoming tide. No one, and I mean, no one was fishing there, even though there were at least fifty people only a hundred yards downstream from me. In about half and hour, I hooked into more fish (zero pinks) than in three previous outings combined. Sure enough, after a while some people joined me, but the particular seam had already deteriorated (disappeared) with the rising water and the fish had spread all over the place.
I moved on, and was again rewarded with a find that I just can't believe had been there all these years. I hooked into 6 coho in half an hour, landing only one. All that within shouting distance of the crowds, yet only one person was fishing there at the time. He also hit numerous fish and landed most of them because he's simply a much better rod than I am. As we were leaving, he commented on how silly people are complaining about the crowds when all it takes is to move around a bit and read the water.
You know who you are as you read this forum regularly.
Good sharing the spot with you last Sunday.
Ah, the Vedder...As someone said, probably the best salmon fishing stream south of the Skeena, if you know where to look.
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Topic: Why do so many of you get so riled about the Vedder? (Read 14576 times)