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[Zackattack]

Hi there,
This is my 2nd year salmon fishing, got into some sockeyes last year and had some great fun on the squamish for pinks this year.
I really want to try for a spring or coho and explore a new river so I was just curious.. until i have the money for a decent baitcaster what options do I have on the vedder with my cheap Canadian tire spincast combo?
Its about a 9ft medium-heavy rod with 12-15pnd or so test on it..
I've read so much on the forums here and I realise float fishing is the way to go on the Vedder, but is this still achievable with a spin cast rod? Like I said a spring or coho would be my intented target!
Any advice would be great as I dont want to do the wrong thing and floss these fish like Ive heard so many horror stories about on that river.
Thanks guys!

[BigFisher]

Well if your planning on short floating the proper way keeping off the bottom then I would highly recommend you invest in a reel with free spooling capabilities, like a baitcaster or CP. But if you really cannot get your hands on either of these setups look for a spin caster that can trail out line as you wind the reel in backwards, but even this is not a smooth method of freedrift.

But dont limit yourself to just float fishing with your spin caster, because those spincasters have there own time and place casting spinners and spoons,  you can find yourself out fishing the the Float.

[steelie-slayer]

down in the lower part of the vedder you can cast and retrieve spoons and do prety good.

[nickredway]

You can totally use a 9 foot spinning set up no problem. You can get a pretty long straight line drift by casting well up stream, keeping you rod tip high and just retrieving enough line to keep it off the water as the float tracks down stream, just make sure that the line is tight enough to set the hook if the float goes down but not so tight that you are dragging the float across stream. As is comes towards you follow the float with you rod tip and lower it if need be, and you can extend the drift a bit more until it starts to drag. At this point you can freespool of wind it backwards downsteam. You don't need to get a really long drift to catch fish, you just have to find a good bit of water and keep covering it.

[Zackattack]

Hey awesome! thats great to know! thanks for the info nickred
I'll try that exact method u explained! I guess Ill tie on some roe bags for bait and then and try to use a small leader to reduce snags

[Rodney]

Although a baitcasting or centerpin setup would be a lot more advantageous when it comes to float fishing, a spinning rod can do just as well on the Vedder River under certain situations. Float fishing is not the only way to go. While it is fun to watch the float go under, casting an assortment of spoons and spinners can be quite deadly. I love float fishing with roe because the visual aspect of the hook-up is very exciting. That being said, I have always done better for coho salmon with a spinning rod that is fitted with a lure at the end of the line. Usually, halfway through the season, I end up carrying a spinning rod with me while mainly fishing with the float setup. After fishing with a float for awhile, I like to take out the spinning rod and run the lure through where I have just fished. Many times, a coho or two would dart out from no where to attack the lure. Sometimes, when I am fed up with missing all the float bites, I end up only bringing the spinning rod. A couple of really good mornings, it resulted in one fish on every cast with the spoon.

The spinning setup that I prefer to use is a 6' rod for the ease of carrying. A 9' rod would be fine too. For the rod rating, I like it to be between 6 and 12lb test. The spinning reel is usually spooled with 10lb test Maxima Ultragreen.

[The_Other_Gman]

As others have said a baitcaster is the way to go but a spinning reel can do just fine.  I float fished with a spinning reel on the vedder for a season before I bought a baitcaster and hooked up with fish just fine.  It's just more work with a spinning reel.

[Zackattack]

Great photos there Rodney!
I also have smaller rod with 8lb line but I just assumed that it would be to small for any coho..
I really wanted a chance to land a spring too so maybe Ill just bring both rods. The smaller to cast spoons for coho/pinks and the bigger spincast to try to float for springs/coho.
Any other ideas for springs?

[Rodney]

Just to keep the excitement going, here's another photo with the same spinning outfit used in the above pics.



With a bit of luck, this fish came in without too much of a struggle in the slow current, but the rod was definitely not adequate enough for a spring that size in most situations.

[jacked55]

rod that thing looks massive. how big was it?

[Rodney]

No idea since it was released. Bigger than me, so maybe 32lb?

[mzmann]

Just to keep the excitement going, here's another photo with the same spinning outfit used in the above pics.



With a bit of luck, this fish came in without too much of a struggle in the slow current, but the rod was definitely not adequate enough for a spring that size in most situations.

Uhhhh.....WOW, nice one Rod!.....they still in the Vedder like that mid October?

[Tex]

No idea since it was released. Bigger than me, so maybe 32lb?

LOL!!!  I remember the day you posted that, Rod, I just about fell out of my chair! 

[dmoney]

No idea since it was released. Bigger than me, so maybe 32lb?

Yeah I'd put it in the 30-35lb range, nice big spring.

D$

[Rodney]

Uhhhh.....WOW, nice one Rod!.....they still in the Vedder like that mid October?

That was caught on October 15th, 2009. Already quite a bit coloured IMO. I wasn't about to throw that thing in my cooler, cost of gas is too high to haul it all the way home. Most chinook salmon caught by that point are already not silver, but there are exceptions of course.

Here's one from September 29th.



Here's another from November 2nd.

LOL!!!  I remember the day you posted that, Rod, I just about fell out of my chair!