Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Author Topic: Capilano River, September 29th 2011  (Read 4730 times)

Rodney

  • Administrator
  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 14812
  • Where's my strike indicator?
    • Fishing with Rod
Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« on: September 29, 2011, 02:08:36 PM »

If you were woken up by this loud profanity in Downtown Vancouver this morning, my apology. It was just me losing a nice coho salmon in the Capilano Canyon. ::)

I originally wanted to go yesterday morning after the water level rose on Monday. As expected, there were plenty of fish rolling and jumping around when I arrived at first light today. After fishing this system since the mid 90's, I wasn't about to get too excited as I know how tight lipped these fish can be. I flicked the spoon out and hoped for at least a couple of hits in today's outing. That's as much as I would hope for because I rarely get more than that during each outing throughout these years.

As expected, the lure was untouched for a good period of time. I switched to a spinner at one point and found it very popular among those juvenile steelhead, so it was quickly replaced with the spoon after a few pecks. There was a mix bag of fish in front of me. Some very fresh coho salmon could be seen leaping around. They were easily in the 5 to 10lb range. A couple of fish looked much bigger than the rest. At first I mistaken them as large chinooks but was pretty surprised after seeing a few more jumps. There were also a few dark coho salmon, which have probably been in the system for awhile. Several pink salmon could be seen digging around gravels in the shallow water. The odd big adult chinook salmon made their appearance in the deep section. There were also some chinook jacks swimming about. With not a single person around at 7:00am, it was hard to complain. I just needed a fish at the end of the line.

After perhaps one hour, there finally was a sign of hope. During one retrieve, the line went slightly slack as if a fish was pushing the lure forward. This was followed by a solid tug. I set the hook swiftly, but could tell that it wasn't set hard enough and most likely it was barely hooked. I nervously kept the tension as the fish surfaced. It was a really bright coho salmon in the 5 or 6lb range. Fantastic! Just one of these would make my day. After its surfacing, it began to run and roll a couple of times. That made me even more nervous. Due to the rolls, the line became wrapped around the fish as it does quite often when fighting a coho salmon. Seeing what was happening, I was a bit more confident. That didn't last long of course, because the fish unrolled itself. A few seconds later, the dreadful pop and slack occurred. I was disgusted, the fish was so close to being landed! Like a big baby whose candy has been taken away, I of course began cursing away and splashing around with my rod. A heron stood 15 feet away from me, probably wondering what this mad man was up to at dawn.

It took a few minutes to calm down and regroup myself so I could get back to the action. The worst thing to do would have been losing my patience and the retrieve speed that was used to lure that coho. Luck was not on my side for the rest of that morning. Beside one other fish that followed my spoon to the shallow, it was uneventful until the sun hit the water.

Fish were splashing around the whole time. Some really nice fish could also be seen porpoising at the tailout. Frustrated, I took out a bag of boraxed roe and rigged up the DNE balsa float. Wait, scratch that last part, that only went on in my head. ;D It certainly was frustrating during the bait ban when these fish could easily be caught with some freshly cured roe under the float. Oh well, rules are rules after all.

My Capilano River outings can be grouped into two categories, the good days and the bad days. Most of my trips have resulted in at least a couple of hook-ups. The good days are when the fish made it to shore. The bad days are when the river is full of fish and nothing sticks onto the hook. This is definitely one of those days, which keep luring me back every year. Why anyone would want to get up before dawn to endure this type of torture, only fishermen can understand.

Headshake

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 86
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2011, 02:16:46 PM »

I have to say, the thought of sneaking some roe onto the hook has crossed many a fisherman's mind at the Cap. Good to know I'm not the only one that struggles with the frustration of the bait ban.

I received a good headshake on some peach wool, but did not get a great hook set in, and with the tiny hook I was using knew I had to be lucky to land it. Alas, only the lonely walk out with no added weight to my vest was my reward.

I feel your pain. :'(
Logged
I'ts either a fish or the bottom!

silver ghost

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 919
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #2 on: September 29, 2011, 02:29:17 PM »

OMG Rodney, I'm calling DFO lol!!!
Logged

cutthroat22

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1010
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #3 on: September 29, 2011, 03:04:26 PM »

Introduce yourself to Mr. Twister  ;)
Logged

Floater

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1130
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #4 on: September 29, 2011, 03:04:35 PM »

This is the first real year im fishing the capilano on the regular and i feel you pain Rodney! i have never come across such tight lipped salmon in my life. You would think that the chrome springs would be more aggressive in the deeper pools, yet they arent :( Sad part is that even with the bait ban in place i have observed many fishermen still using roe and they are the only ones hooking a fish or two.
Logged
[

silver ghost

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 919
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #5 on: September 29, 2011, 03:32:26 PM »

Not always the case. I have fshed at spots where others were using roe and they didn't catch any fish. I outfished them with wool one time, and no they weren't flossed. It's all about timing and knowing where the FRESH fish are ;) stale fish rarely bite not even roe in the summer
Logged

Floater

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1130
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #6 on: September 29, 2011, 04:00:56 PM »

Right now the river has many fresh fish from the rain storm we just had, i saw 2 bright chrome springs landed on tuesday.
Logged
[

silver ghost

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 919
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2011, 12:02:39 AM »

Right now the river has many fresh fish from the rain storm we just had, i saw 2 bright chrome springs landed on tuesday.

what did they get them on? 8' leader and a tiny tuft of wool? lol

There was some drunken idiot at cable pool last night snagging fish with scented wool. He wasn't catching anything except for this charcoal black coho he had smashed the crap out of on the rocks. I didnt bother calling anyone as he was literally getting a snag every single cast and only managed to hook a humpy in the belly while I was watching. I was surprised he didn't fall off the cliff
Logged

BentRodsGuiding

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 190
    • Bent Rods Guiding & Fishing
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2011, 05:29:27 AM »

Introduce yourself to Mr. Twister  ;)


"Bingo", Mr Twister or Captain "feathered twitching Jig" perfect in that situation.
Logged
Fraser River Sturgeon, Salmon and Steelhead www.bentrods.ca

Rodney

  • Administrator
  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 14812
  • Where's my strike indicator?
    • Fishing with Rod
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2011, 11:24:40 AM »

Tried to get jiggy as well, but maybe I'm just not good at it. Gave it another go this morning and spent more time with the jig without any result. :'(

Last time when there were lots of fish, we tried the jig and ended up with a steelhead. ;D

I still remember cutthroat22's photos from last fall on the Cap... Those fish were swallowing the jig. :o

bigblue

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 659
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2011, 12:57:57 PM »

I sure know the feeling Rodney.
Unless I know there are fresh fish moving up, I don't bother to fish the Cap during the bait ban period.
Some guys do floss them quite well, but that is not my style of fishing.
I remember seeing a guy with a fly rod/c-pin combo expertly floss a 8~9lb chrome coho sitting just 20 feet away in just a few casts.
After he lands it he turns to me and admonish me for using an expensive and ineffective spoon to try to catch a coho when simple wool will do.
He was the worst kind of delusional looser I have seen on the river this year.
Logged

cutthroat22

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1010
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #11 on: September 30, 2011, 01:28:10 PM »

I really have no clue what I'm doing with the jigs either but that wiggly tail sure attracts fish.  ;D

I know this.  When I'm fishing the jig and my cellphone rings it's likely to lead to a bite. Something about the action of stopping reeling, getting the phone, holding it awkwardly between my neck and shoulder and when I start reeling again it's "fish on."  Trying to swat away a bee has a similar "fish on" effect.  :-\






Logged

Floater

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1130
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #12 on: September 30, 2011, 05:30:13 PM »

Was out last night 1 hour before dark landed 1 chrome jack spring and lost a nice coho :( very thin leader small hook and even smaller peach wool was the ticket. Lots of people still using bait witch made me wonder why the bait ban is even in effect. The main reason as far as i know is to protect the small number of summer run steelhead. This makes me wonder, steelhead are some of the most notoriously aggressive salmonids,  if the pool your fishing is holding one it wont matter what your using. Second the DFO should be more worried about the FN tactics harvesting the steelhead and not the one rod angler. Sure the rules are rules and most of us are responsible anglers here but it just makes you wonder.
Logged
[

capman

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 82
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #13 on: September 30, 2011, 07:52:00 PM »

Floater, you are absolutly right. Certain rules don't make any sense. You still need to follow them but makes you shake your head at the same time. ???
Logged

bigblue

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 659
Re: Capilano River, September 29th 2011
« Reply #14 on: September 30, 2011, 08:37:50 PM »

I think DFO is concerned about summer steelhead swallowing bait and getting deep hooked.
They certainly are more aggressive than cohos or springs in the river.
Logged