After having some quick success with my new Clarus and Chronarch setup, I was eager to bring it out again to try it some more. I really enjoy float fishing with roe, but I decided to keep that spinner from the last trip on the line when I ventured out this morning. Although I left to the river quite early, to my surprise the parking lot where I arrived at was already quite full in the dark. Thankfully most of these occupants were not fishing at where I wanted to fish as usual. Most tend to pick the deepest, narrowest, swiftest part of the river, thinking that's where most fish like to congregate. I love the shallow, flat water where coho salmon tend to sneak into and lay unnoticed. At first light, a lure or bait pass through unsuspecting coho salmon will almost generate some bites. Today was no exception.
I slowly retrieved the float with the spinner vibrating beneath it when darkness disappeared by the river bank. It didn't take long for the first hit to come but I barely barbed it so the fish came off immediately. Another one soon followed and it was not as lucky. This fish was well hooked as they mostly are when caught on a spinner. It did the usual leaps and rolls before being beached once I noticed the absence of its adipose fin. One hatchery-marked male coho salmon, roughly around 6lb, was on the beach before 7:00am. It was going to be a good day, so I thought.
There were not many fish rolling at first, but as the morning session progressed, more coho salmon could be spotted as they entered the run from the riffles below. Large and small, they were all extremely silver. These sightings kept the blood pumping and we did not waste anytime by keeping our bait and lure in the water as much as possible. Despite of the large amount of fish, the bites were few. I managed to briefly connect with another one on the spinner, before switching to roe. The water is low and clear, so these fish were obviously cautious. The bites on my roe were light, the float barely moved, sometimes it actually bobbed upward. I managed to briefly connected with two more fish, but they were poorly hooked. Most fish were pretty far out from shore, so it was hard to set the hook solidly when the length of line from the rod to the float was quite long.
It was hard to tell if more fish were coming into the run or they were simply doing circles, because we could see more rollers and leapers as the day went by. The bites never "picked up", but it was not impossible to catch them. Once awhile a fish would commit and those who were focused managed to bring in the odd fish.
Overall, it was a pretty good day with at least a dozen changes, four hook-ups and one fresh fish brought home in the cooler.
The experience was even better when those who fished around me were friendly, knew exactly what they were doing and very considerate when landing their fish.
Have a great weekend, even though it will surely be busy as it always is in the last weekend of September. Some spots that I came across in the Lower River, as seen in the above photo, were quite busy. Apparently Friday is the new Sunday.
Don't be fooled and discouraged of course, because you can easily find productive spots along the Chilliwack River without having to worry about losing an eye to hooks. Don't follow the crowd as it will not lead you to fish. Pay attention to what's in the water. Good luck!
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Topic: Chilliwack River, September 28th 2012 (Read 3694 times)