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[bigblue]

Today is the last day of the license year and I have yet to land a single hatchery steelhead this season.
For whatever reason, I seemed to land every wild fish and loose every hatchery fish I hooked so far this season.

I wasn't really motivated and arrived at the river after 1:30 pm.
Got to one of the runs where I hooked a few fish this season and it was pretty much deserted with one guy way down in the middle of the pool.
Not a good sign, but I worked down the run and as expected not a single bite.
Ran into the single guy and he told me only one fish hooked since this morning.

Peered down at the next run and saw six guys still fishing there.
Somebody must have landed a lot of fish there and when I checked around sure enough that run was hot this morning.
I wasn't really in for combat fishing this early so drove up stream to another run where I had hooked a few fish before.
This run also had one guy at mid pool so started at the head of the run and worked down.
It was raining hard and not a single bite.

Now its 3:30 pm and I decided to go to the hot run of the day.
Got there and there still were five guys on the run, so I guessed fishing must have been really good today.
I started at the top and tried to work down, but four guys at the middle of the pool were not moving anywhere.
So spent an hour fishing the head of the pool waiting for one of the guys to leave.
After more than an hour of casting practice, two guys below me finally left.

I have never hooked a fish in this hole, but I visually inspected this run carefully from top to bottom while chatting with other anglers.
Water looked perfect with just the right visibility and speed in the target area I wanted to fish.
As everyone else was pounding this run with roe bags, I decided to go light and small.
I put on a #2 gammie with a small tuff of peach wool on 12lb fluorocarbon leader as I didn't have any pre-tied on 8lb mono.
Set float depth to around 2 feet and drifted into the slow water not far from shore.

Within half a dozen drifts, bang and it was fish on.
This one didn't jump but was a scrappy fish making many runs all over the place.
After a few minutes of respectable show a 10lb hatchery doe finally slided on to the the bank.

I bonked the fish and marked it on my license on the last day.
I am not much of a harvestor but it was a good feeling to retain one for the year.

[BigFisher]

If a spots hot...dont leave, just wait for the next bite time.

[deepcovehooker]

Wow that's leaving it to the last moment.  Good on you, I too have only landed wild fish this season, have already purchased my new license and will gear fish for a week or two and then try new new spey equipment which I am picking up tomorrow.  Hope I don't hurt myself as this will be my first time with the spey.

[BCfisherman97]

   Well, After getting back from a great trip to Hawaii, I was greeted with the cloudy, cold weather of Vancouver. Still having to yet catch a steelhead, I decided to head out with my dad the day after coming back. My dad agreed and off to the river we go. We get to the first run in the upper and have 3 guys already working it. As usual, I let my day go first and I followed, trailing the 3 anglers downriver. My float takes a dive after several casts, and a little colored buck comes out of the water, spitting my blade back at me. I was eager to get back to it, worked the run but nothing showed.

   We headed back to the car and drove another 5 km down river. A nice run with some pocket water up top and a little stream running into it the straight water at the end. We worked down river, again with my dad in front. In the first few pockets he hooks a fish! A chrome steelie leaping out of the water and heading downstream. After a spirited battle, he has the fish right by the boulder he was standing on. He told me that he felt it was ready. I went to tail the 9 pound wild doe, but my zipper from my vest caught the leader when I kneeled down. The fish felt it and trashed a few times, snapping the leader. I felt horrible, my dads worked hard for that fish, and I just took it away. 

   We worked to the bottom of the run, right till the stream coming in. I looked over my shoulder for a second to make sure I wasn't going to snag a bush on my cast. When I did this, I notice a rather silver boulder moving side to side right where the stream enters the river. No boulder, its a steelie! Water is calm in the stream, not too deep, and very clear. I was afraid that If I casted my float would spook the fish. I was thinking for a while and decided that it would only be right to let my dad have a chance at this fish, as I was the reason he lost the last one.

   I informed my dad of the fish sitting at the end of the stream, and I told him that that its his fish to catch but looks easily spooked. I suggested I go back to the car and get the 7 wt I bought from a forum member. My dad has learned to cast a fly rod and is up to it.

   Returning 15 minutes after, I rig him up with a little egg pattern. I handed him the rod a gave him a few tips. He sent out a roll cast because of the bushes behind him, placing the fly in a perfect spot. He threw in a mend and let it dead drift to the end of the stream, right where it comes into the river. The fish moves and bites at the fly! The fight is on. Peeling line, going downstream, but it's staying down deep, not jumping. After a solid 7 minutes, the flashes start to appear 10 feet from shore. I went in to tail the wild steelie.... Or not.

   To my shock and surprise, it wasn't a steelie. Ive head about this happening, but didn't really believe it. It was an Atlantic Salmon! Not knowing what to do, I called the DFO and they said to kill it and sent it in to them. After a few pictures, we dispatched it and headed home. It was a surprising day, but at least my dad landed a fish, a rare one at that. Hopefully these fish stop escaping and coming into our rivers.

Dad with the fish


Fish bonked


Over all a wired day, hopefully we both can get a steel next week,
Cheers

[Fish Assassin]

 

[shi man oh man]

If this is for real, that is super cool......however it is april fools...i dont know what to believe anymore, steelhead at lafarge, Atlantics in the vedder....jeez

[Trout Slayer]

Look at the colour of the leaves in the photo.....

[TayC]

Look at the colour of the leaves in the photo.....

and the two different colours in fly lines in each photo...

[BCfisherman97]

and the two different colours in fly lines in each photo...

Sink tip 

[bigblue]

Wow that's leaving it to the last moment.  Good on you, I too have only landed wild fish this season, have already purchased my new license and will gear fish for a week or two and then try new new spey equipment which I am picking up tomorrow.  Hope I don't hurt myself as this will be my first time with the spey.

April should be a good month for fly guys.

In the past week or so, rising water temperature, higher water visibility, pressure from bait fisherman, have all made fish more receptive to more subdued presentations like dark jigs, flies or other small presentations. Last week I saw fly fishermen land steelhead using dark presentations from runs that were pounded all day by bait fisherman using roes and prawns. The fish I landed yesterday was also itching to hit something it hadn't seen before as the guy ahead of me was throwing roe sacks at it for more than an hour without hooking up.  I have little doubt the same fish would have hit a dark pattern fly or jig instead of the tiny wool I used to catch it after a few drifts.

Good luck with your new spey rod DCH.

[bigblue]

I have heard stories of Atlantics on the Vedder, but to actually see a photo is amazing.
People pay thousands of dollars to land one like that on the east coast.

[Nitroholic]

check the exif data there bigblue

[bigblue]

That's a good one. I was fooled! LOL!!!

[flyrod]

April Fools

[BigFisher]

Haha. I knew this was fake first glance. The Trees in the backgorund were off and the 2 pics were different sizes. haha