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[grayman]

Has anyone fished this river recently?  There doesn't seem to be very many updated reports on this system.

[bigblockfox]

i'd be impressed if it was a river right now. this system is very dependant on rain.

[CohoJake]

i'd be impressed if it was a river right now. this system is very dependant on rain.

I would bet that we have had sufficient rain this summer for fish to jet up into the canyon.  As to how far or how stale they are, that is another matter altogether.  About 15 years ago in early July, I remember hiking up the initial hill into the canyon and crawling out to take a look at the pool from the cliff above, and I saw a school of at least a half dozen springs or steelhead (couldn't tell from this height).  Next week, no fish in the pool and I couldn't locate any fish in the canyon.  The canyon is (or was, it has been a while) a great place to find some solitude, and you can probably at least find some trout.

[Johnny Canuck]

Very few people report about this river as they prefer to fish in solitude, with that being said it doesn't take many people to make this flow crowded. It's a flow where you need to get out there and try. It is remote in regards to reception wise and has very rugged terrain, it's easy to get into a lot of trouble quickly out there. In fact just a short time ago (last 2 or 3 weeks) a camper went missing and his body was recovered a few days later from the river.

[halcyonguitars]

Is  the FSR accessible?

[robbo1970]

I fish the Chehalis quite a bit, I only live 10 minutes away. I don't fish the canyon as I have had an ankle fusion so climbing is a bit tricky.
One piece of advice I would offer is to be prepared for a wildlife encounter. There are quite a lot of bears in the area and whilst I have experienced it I have heard of people being stalked by cougars up in the canyon.

[Rieber]

I won't go up the canyon anymore. There is a family of Sasquatch that reside in that area and the young male will throw big rocks and logs down at you while you fish. Stay away. There are no Sasquatch on the Vedder but there are on the Chilliwack above Tamahi. Be warned.

[Noahs Arc]

I heard that samsquanch prefers to have his way with the fly guys more so then the floaters

[bigblockfox]

if you plan to venture out that way bring bug spray lol.

[grayman]

Thanks for the heads up with regards to the wildlife.  I usually bring bear spray when I venture out anyways....but maybe I will bring something more effective if I do head out that way.

[Rieber]

Take a buddy with you. Dangerous place to be if you get hurt or get trapped.

[grayman]

Take a buddy with you. Dangerous place to be if you get hurt or get trapped.

Copy that.  Thanks.

[robbo1970]

There weeks ago I fished through easter seals with no luck and decided to head downstream. So I have my dog with me, a golden retriever, and we're half way down the trail to the sand bar when all of sudden he's off into bush. Suddenly I heard him bark followed by a growl then see him running as fast as his legs would take him back to me, followed very closely by a bear! All of a sudden the dog is about 8 foot away from me and turns left, and the bear pulls up apart about 10 feet in front me. I had bear spray with me but would rather not use on the bear if I don't have to, so I gave it a couple of seconds to decide if he wants to charge me or walk off back to the Bush.  Luckily for me he mooched off back to the woods and luckily for bear he didn't get sprayed.
Moral of the story, if you see any signs of a bear make sure you get the dog back on a leash before he comes running back at you with a big friend for company.

Needless to say the trip was cut short as the poor old dog was shaking like a leaf, and yes I know he should of been on a leash at all times.

[hohartmann]

Was up the Chehalis on Friday, fished down from the bridge to below the log jam. Saw one steelhead along the way but he wasnt interested in anything I threw at him. Once I got below the log jam I walked as far as I could down river. No luck. And then the day took an absolute turn for the worse. About half a KM below the log jam, I found a rope across the river, it confused me to begin with until I turned around and saw a tarp a little up the beach. I walked up to inspect the tarp and it had a net inside it. Just behind that was a canoe that I can only assume was used to collect what was in the net. It was clear that the net had been used within the past week, and there were ATV tracks down the shore to where the net was located. I decided to end my day after this. On the way out I took a look at the hatchery just curious to see what was around. Lots of springs in the channel and even more in the hatchery tank. As I was walking back to my car an employee from the hatchery was standing in the parking lot. I approached him and made him aware of the net and he didnt seem to care what so ever. His response was that it wasnt effecting him because the hatchery channel no longer connects to the main river, but rather runs directly out to the harrison. This came as news to me as I believe the confluence was just below the log jam. As I thought about this more and more it made sense why numbers of fish seemed to be low this year. If what the employee said was correct, the majority of the fish entering the system this summer are going up the hatchery channel rather then the main river. On the other hand any of the fish that are heading up the main flow are being caught in the net. The Chehalis river has been one of my favorite for a long time, but finding out this information this week made me question when I will head out there again. I hope this helps anyone deciding to make the trip out or not.

[RainbowMan]

Did you report this??