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[Rodney]

This fall salmon fishery takes place between late August and early December on the Chilliwack Vedder River. Like the past few seasons, I usually like to get this information up and provide ongoing updates so those who are new to the fishery can have a chance to enjoy what this river has to offer by learning proper techniques, staying informed on regulations and etiquettes.


Fish species

There are three salmon species that anglers can target and retain in fall 2014.

• Chinook salmon (mid September - mid October)
• Coho salmon (early September - early November)
• Chum salmon (early October - late November)

Fishing regulations

The salmon regulations of Chilliwack River, including the daily quota of each species, can be found in Region 2 of the Freshwater salmon supplement.

You can only keep FOUR salmon in total per day, which means if you keep four hatchery coho salmon, you can't keep anymore chinook or chum salmon. This is the updated regulations as of September 1st 2014. Regulations may change during the season so please make sure you double check the regulations page before heading out.


Cultus Lake sockeye salmon alert

Cultus Lake sockeye salmon are endangered and usually enter the Chilliwack River in late summer so their run time overlaps with other fall salmon species. All sockeye salmon caught in the Chilliwack River are required to be released carefully. Please be aware of the difference between a sockeye salmon and the other salmon species. Some Cultus Lake sockeye salmon are also missing their adipose fin so please don't confuse them with hatchery-marked coho salmon. Read about it some more...


How to float fish more effectively for coho salmon?

To effectively catch salmon on the Vedder by float fishing, you want to keep your offerings in the strike zone. New anglers have a tendency to mistaken the strike zone as the depth where the fish are sitting. It is not. Salmonids look up and strike at the offerings above them. The fish position themselves near the bottom, so the strike zone is usually 1 or 2 feet above the river bed. This technique does not only apply to the Chilliwack River, but also other Lower Fraser River tributaries.

Gear setup

Rod:	9' to 10'6" baitcasting or centerpin rod, rated between 8 and 20lb
Reel:	Small baitcasting reels or centerpin reels
Main line:	12 to 15lb test
Leader:	6 to 10lb test
Hook:	Size 4 to 2/0

The diagrams below illustrate the correct and not-so-correct ways of float depth adjustment.

Excessive length of leader



For some reason, many people believe a longer leader would produce more fish, quite the opposite! Your hook will always travel faster than your weight in a river. By using a long leader, your hook and bait are lifted up higher from the river bed, away from the strike zone.

Excessive float depth



Some choose to adjust their float depth so the weight is "tapping" or sitting on the bottom. The weight will usually anchor itself to the river bed, while the float drifts slowly or becomes stationary. Two things will result from this setup:

• You'll snag onto the bottom, and lose your weight, hook and bait.
• Even worse, you'll end up snagging a pink or chinook in the belly or tail, which can be time consuming to bring in and release.

My way of float adjustment, but not necessarily the ONLY way



So far this has worked very well by producing about a dozen or more coho each season on the Vedder River without losing any hook, weight or line. I usually like to keep my leader length (the line between the hook and weight) around 1.5 feet in length. Judging the depth by looking at the gradient of the river bank and the water, I adjust my float depth (the length from the float to the hook) so that it is about 1 to 2 feet shorter than the actual depth. When this is drifted, the bait will lift a few inches higher, remaining in the strike zone. When the float dips under the water, there is no hesitation as I don't need to question whether it is a snag or a fish. The hook is usually set hard and most of the time the fight is on.



Some other small adjustments

I find these adjustments would connect me into more fish in the past.

• The float size varies, small (11 grams) in clearer, slower water, while big (25 grams) in faster, deeper water.
• Tie on enough weight so only about 0.5 inch of your float (or the coloured tip) emerges on the water surface. This allows you to detect the bites sooner.
• Keep your main line (the line between your rod tip and your float) tight enough without disrupting the drift. Always try to avoid having any line laying on the water surface.
• Keep the drifts short. A longer drift doesn't necessarily mean a bigger chance to catch a fish. Long drifts also cause inconvenience for nearby anglers
• Avoid standing in the water, especially when you arrive at a new location. Undisturbed fish have a tendency to stay close to the river bank.

[Rodney]

Salmon identification

Because there are both species that you can keep and cannot keep returning to the Chilliwack River, it is important to know how to identify all five species of salmon.

Chinook salmon
Chinook salmon have small spots across their back and small spots across their entire tail. Their gum is black and the edge of their jaw is white. Adult chinook salmon are defined as over 62cm and are required to be recorded on your licence when you choose to keep one.

Adult chinook (over 62cm)	Adult chinook (over 62cm)	Jack chinook (under 62cm)	Jack chinook (under 62cm)	Black gum with white jaw edge	Small spots across both upper and lower parts of tail

Coho salmon
Coho salmon have small spots across their back and spots on the top portion of their tail. Their gum is white. Two groups of coho salmon are found in the Chilliwack River - Wild and hatchery fish. Hatchery fish, which anglers are allowed to keep, do not have an adipose fin and a healed scar can be found at where the adipose fin is missing. This fin is clipped at the hatchery when they are at their juvenile stage prior to being released. If an adipose fin is present, then it is a wild fish, which is required to be released with care.

Wild adult coho (with adipose fin)	Hatchery adult coho (without adipose fin)	Hatchery jack coho (without adipose fin)	Absence of adipose fin with healed scar on hatchery coho	White gum	Small spots on top portion of tail

Pink salmon
Pink salmon have large thumb-print type spots across their body and large spots across their tail. Males have a distinct humped back and their body colouration are typically dark green in the Chilliwack River.

Male pink salmon with hump back	Large spots across tail

Chum salmon
Chum salmon have two distinct characteristics, which are colourful stripes across their body and large teeth found on males.

Female chum salmon	Male chum salmon with teeth	Striped back

Sockeye salmon
Althought sockeye salmon cannot be retained on the Chilliwack River, it is important to know what they look like so you do not kill one by accident. Sockeye salmon that are returning to Cultus Lake are endangered and their recovery depends on your assistance. Sockeye salmon are typically spotless and silver until they are near the spawning ground. At spawning stage, their body colouration is red.

adult sockeye in spawning colour	adult sockeye prior to spawning stage

Some thoughts on fishing locations

The Chilliwack Vedder River is long. Some say it gets crowded, but only at certain spots. To have a good experience, it's best to avoid the busy spots. The busy spots are usually the visible ones that have easy access. These include Keith Wilson Bridge, railway bridge, Lickman Road, Peach Road, Vedder Crossing, Tamahi, Alison Pool, Limit Hole. By going to a spot where less people are fishing, the likelihood of you hooking into some quality fish is bigger since the fish are not spooked. Surprisingly, you can usually find a nice quiet spot by taking a very short walk from one of these busy spots.


Additional readings

• Short Floating Tactic Explained
• Those Picky Silvers

Additional video clips

• Short floating for coho salmon, part 1
• Short floating for coho salmon, part 2
• Short floating for coho salmon, full version (subscribers only)

Water condition updates

Throughout the season, members will post up water condition updates so everyone can be alerted if condition is not ideal. Please feel free to post updates in this thread after your trips. We can all benefit from each other's updates and save gasoline and cost of our season. Please do not ask for updates. All requests will be deleted.

[kevzabob]

What's the best way to estimate depth of water
By using contours of the land?

[Rodney]

The steepness of the river bank is a good clue. If water clarity is good, you can roughly judge the depth by looking at it too. You should also constantly adjust your float depth to find the depth that's working well. If the float is bouncing up and down and being dragged as it drifts downstream, then it's wise to shorten up the depth.

[Craig]

Thanks for posting this, Rod.

I got a 404 error on the first two short float videos.

Craig

[fic]

Water in the lower river is Gin clear today and quite low.  Interesting to see some sandbars/islands forming in a way that's different from last year.

[kevzabob]

Caught a white Chinook, the chinook I caught was 55 cm approx and 10 lbs so
He would be considered a small adult. Fishing is spotty. The rains need to come.
Also spoke to a commercial gill netter on the Fraser , 400 sockeye caught only a couple
Of Chinook and no Coho yet. So they must still
Be on their way.

[Robert_G]

Also spoke to a commercial gill netter on the Fraser , 400 sockeye caught only a couple
Of Chinook and no Coho yet. So they must still
Be on their way.

The commercial gillnetters aren't going to tell you how many coho and steelhead they catch......
If they report their bycatch and it's too high, they will get tossed out of the river.

[leapin' tyee]

Also spoke to a commercial gill netter on the Fraser , 400 sockeye caught only a couple
Of Chinook and no Coho yet. So they must still
Be on their way.

You must be joking .  Good try

[mvelasco]

A little late to report but was on mid and upper river two days ago.saw two springs surface and confused tomato. Water is the lowest I've see  in a long time.

[Tenz85]

Was up there over the weekend. Saw a spring and wild coho caught at first light down low. Niot much action otherwise hopefully shapes up nice this weekend and next week.

[Drewhill]

I was out today and the rain barely made a dent in the levels. Didn't see much action.

[243Pete]

Went under the Keith Wilson Bridge today, rather slow but a couple guys caught got some springs and my buddy landed his first wild coho. What was really interesting was the guy who pulled in a large spring doe that had weird infected looking wounds all over the body... kinda like rot. 

[jeff]

Was mid river on Tuesday and landed really bright hatchery coho about 5lbs and 2 other float downs they are starting to show.

[Chehalis_Steel]

Rain isn't making much of a difference. Maybe a little bit more color in the water but that's it. Next week's rain should actually start the bigger push of fish because its still pretty poor right now.