Stratocaster and I checked out the river this morning with another buddy. The first light bite was fast! Maybe 30 - 45 minutes tops. I was fortunate enough to land a nice hatchery coho of about 6 lbs. Otherwise, we all lost the other coho we hooked (just a handful each). Stratocaster and I even had a double header (coho each) at one point, but both of us lost our fish right at the same time! My other buddy lost 3 coho when his casting thumb bar on his luna failed to disengage when he tried to set the hook. Ouch!
As for other fish, I released a nice chrome jack spring, and Stratocaster released a 25 - 30 lb spring buck. I lost a spring doe as well. All in all, a nice day fishing - but a very challenging day for coho to say the least.
The water conditions were low and clear. We seriously need some rain now. On another note, I saw one guy land a hatchery sockeye doe. He was about to give her the rock shampoo when I approached him and advised that it was a sockeye and must be released. He proceeded to tell me that it was OK because it was a hatchery fish as he started to put his fingers into the gills. At this point, I did something I thought I'd never do. I swatted the fish out of his hands, and the fish fell into the water and swam off! He didn't argue with me, and went back to rigging up his snagging outfit. He looked like a pretty skilled angler, so I think he knew what he was doing.
I saw just one other coho landed and that was it! Pretty brutal right now. Lots of springs and chum now. Good fish pull, but not what I'm targeting. Good luck and have fun out there!
Author
Topic: Chilliwack River, October 6th 2014 (Read 8519 times)