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[Wiseguy]

Expect the gong show to continue on the Chilliwack river. DFO did a fish count on the Stave and only recorded a single chum. Chehalis has extremely low water conditions and looks like a creek instead of a river. Dewdney slough has no water either only on a high tide a little water flows into the slough then flows back out on the receding tide.  Normally the other systems will spread out the anglers not so this year. Get used to the shoulder to shoulder fishing untill the end of the season cause the Vedder is the only game in town.

[SuperBobby]

Expect the gong show to continue on the Chilliwack river. DFO did a fish count on the Stave and only recorded a single chum. Chehalis has extremely low water conditions and looks like a creek instead of a river. Dewdney slough has no water either only on a high tide a little water flows into the slough then flows back out on the receding tide.  Normally the other systems will spread out the anglers not so this year. Get used to the shoulder to shoulder fishing untill the end of the season cause the Vedder is the only game in town.

The Chilliwack has been a gong show but I've had peace and quiet for the whole season so far. I've been at my spot at first light each morning...get a couple of Coho and go home. I got a mid size northern hatchery this morning at 9AM.
Everyone complains, but they keep fishing the same big deep runs full of white springs (most of which are getting past their best). All it takes is the first guy at 7AM to snag a spring and spook the entire spot. Why anyone is fishing those runs is beyond me.
The water has been low all season so I haven't had my float higher then 12 inches above my weight with a 14-16 inch leader fishing behind rocks that might hold a fish or 2. No one fishes these spots and the springs have chased all the Coho into these tiny runs and eddies. I've only hooked into a couple of springs all season but I've had more than my share of Coho already.
The big deep obvious runs are a waste of time if you are targeting Coho.

[psd1179]

Expect the gong show to continue on the Chilliwack river. DFO did a fish count on the Stave and only recorded a single chum. Chehalis has extremely low water conditions and looks like a creek instead of a river. Dewdney slough has no water either only on a high tide a little water flows into the slough then flows back out on the receding tide.  Normally the other systems will spread out the anglers not so this year. Get used to the shoulder to shoulder fishing untill the end of the season cause the Vedder is the only game in town.

One chum in Stave, you must be kidding. Unless DFO are blind

[Darko]

challenge for you guys

count the amount of setups that are fishing absurd depths in shallow runs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSJn9Cg0olA


This seems like a great way to transport your catch. Pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Kinda expensive though, probably reasonable considering it's locally made.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyR5XqWJP5H/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[wildmanyeah]

doesn't sound any different then the last 30 years

[bigblockfox]

the last few years have been different. their is more people and way less water. the more people part i dont care about but the current drought is worrisome. hope this is not a trend that continues. fish population will suffer if the current trend continues. the island is also experiencing similar events. a few weeks back they had to shuttle expiring pinks at the indian river because it was no longer flowing.

would like to hear from old timers if this is something they have experienced in the past. certainly has not been like this in the last 15 years i have been fishing. Never fished the canal before where i could see the bottom of very run with ease. i walked the hole dyke and could not find a patch of water deep enough where i couldn't see the bottom. speaking of the canal bottom, whats it going to take to get all the tires out of there.

was refreshing fishing up north where the rivers had actual water.

[SuperBobby]

the last few years have been different. their is more people and way less water. the more people part i dont care about but the current drought is worrisome. hope this is not a trend that continues. fish population will suffer if the current trend continues. the island is also experiencing similar events. a few weeks back they had to shuttle expiring pinks at the indian river because it was no longer flowing.

would like to hear from old timers if this is something they have experienced in the past. certainly has not been like this in the last 15 years i have been fishing. Never fished the canal before where i could see the bottom of very run with ease. i walked the hole dyke and could not find a patch of water deep enough where i couldn't see the bottom. speaking of the canal bottom, whats it going to take to get all the tires out of there.

was refreshing fishing up north where the rivers had actual water.

Yes, the beak holes just keep getting busier and busier.
But there are miles and miles of pocket rifle water that nobody is fishing. I was out again this morning at first light. I left at 930. Not a single person was even near me except one person across the river which was inaccessible to where I was.
6lb wild released on about the 10th cast after 1st light, and bonked a 5lb hatchery for dinner just after 8AM....lost 3 others that were unquestionably Coho.
I'm short floating riffle/pocket water.....that's it. I haven't gone anywhere near the beak holes.

As for your inquiry to comparing the past.....the only difference is that the beak holes used to be less cluttered. That's it. The pocket/riffle water is the same as it was 30 years ago. No one seems to want to fish it....and like I said....there are no Springs in the small water.....just Coho.

[psd1179]

Yes, the beak holes just keep getting busier and busier.
But there are miles and miles of pocket rifle water that nobody is fishing. I was out again this morning at first light. I left at 930. Not a single person was even near me except one person across the river which was inaccessible to where I was.
6lb wild released on about the 10th cast after 1st light, and bonked a 5lb hatchery for dinner just after 8AM....lost 3 others that were unquestionably Coho.
I'm short floating riffle/pocket water.....that's it. I haven't gone anywhere near the beak holes.

As for your inquiry to comparing the past.....the only difference is that the beak holes used to be less cluttered. That's it. The pocket/riffle water is the same as it was 30 years ago. No one seems to want to fish it....and like I said....there are no Springs in the small water.....just Coho.

Do you want the crowd to join you? let them be. It is good for both the fish and angles like you.

[SuperBobby]

Do you want the crowd to join you? let them be. It is good for both the fish and angles like you.

I've seen guys trying to convince others to try the small water ever since the internet existed. Fishing a 10 x 10 foot small water patch that is 18 inches deep is way too intimidating for the average person who packed lunch, bought tackle, and drove a few friends all the way from Vancouver to the Chilliwack. They didn't do it then (1990s), and they won't do it now.

Beak Monkey see, Beak Monkey do. Drives along road. Sees fishermen in big beak hole. Beak Monkey walks down to fishing hole. Watches other beaks snag big spring. Beak Monkey fishes the bottom of run and waits until others leave and gradually makes his way up to the better parts of the beak run. A few hours later....if Beak Monkey got lucky, he is sitting there eating his lunch with a dark spring on the shore that he flossed earlier. "It's still good for the smoker"

[SuperBobby]

 Something else to add to those who are complaining about the difficulty in catching Coho.

In well over 3 decades of fishing the Chilliwack/Vedder, this has been one of the easiest years to catch Coho that I can remember....and that includes the time when you could legally bonk wild fish.
Everything goes in cycles....and I can remember:
1. Years where the pink, chum, and even the white spring runs were enormous.....and they literally choked out the Coho. >Even the pocket water was challenging (but still reasonable)Right now, it is mostly Coho in the river.
2. Some years, there are early floods that activate the clay banks. This year the water is low and clear, but first light still produces fish.
3. My first almost 20 years on the river did NOT have an internet online real-time Hydrometric data for water level and flow. On the nights before I went fishing the next day, I used to have to put out a rain measurement gauge so I would know whether the river had blown out. Now all you have to do is wake up turn on the internet and find out in 30 seconds whether the water will be fishable or not.

Again....take advantage of this year. Although, I catch a good number of Coho every year.....this year is one of the easiest years for Coho success that I can remember.

[bigblockfox]

Yes, the beak holes just keep getting busier and busier.
But there are miles and miles of pocket rifle water that nobody is fishing. I was out again this morning at first light. I left at 930. Not a single person was even near me except one person across the river which was inaccessible to where I was.
6lb wild released on about the 10th cast after 1st light, and bonked a 5lb hatchery for dinner just after 8AM....lost 3 others that were unquestionably Coho.
I'm short floating riffle/pocket water.....that's it. I haven't gone anywhere near the beak holes.

As for your inquiry to comparing the past.....the only difference is that the beak holes used to be less cluttered. That's it. The pocket/riffle water is the same as it was 30 years ago. No one seems to want to fish it....and like I said....there are no Springs in the small water.....just Coho.

so in your experience, you have seen watersheds this low. the chehalis is a creek, weaver spawning channel currently has no water in it, indian river briefly stop flowing, nicomen slough has no water on low tides, harrison bay gone, etc, etc, etc. this has nothing to with fishing. im strictly talking about habitat loss because of the lack of actual water.

i know in my 15 years i have not.

this time of year i'd be fishing harrison bay for coho and camping at kibly and fishing the canal that was usually un crossable.

i still have cherry tomatoes in my back yard that are still producing. its half way through october. 

hopefully i am wrong and the rains come before the freezing level drops but i doubt it. i think it could rain all of november and still not make a dent in raising harrison lake. 

 

[bigblockfox]

yes i agree, the amount of habitat restoration has really enhanced the quality of the vedder. this model should be used on other flows to hopefully improve other water sheds in the lower mainland if we want healthy runs of salmon for the future. i can remember the flood video that rodney posted a few years back high lighting the importance of stable off channel habitat. but again that takes a healthy flow of water which as been lacking.

[SuperBobby]

so in your experience, you have seen watersheds this low. the chehalis is a creek, weaver spawning channel currently has no water in it, indian river briefly stop flowing, nicomen slough has no water on low tides, harrison bay gone, etc, etc, etc. this has nothing to with fishing. im strictly talking about habitat loss because of the lack of actual water.
i know in my 15 years i have not.

this time of year i'd be fishing harrison bay for coho and camping at kibly and fishing the canal that was usually un crossable.

We are definitely short on ground water...no argument there.
As for the Chehalis....even back in it's prime, I didn't fish it until after Oct 15th...and back then it always rained by that date. Low water was rarely an issue.
The even bigger problem now is that the main river doesn't flow past the hatchery....which wouldn't have been a problem even then, because I used to bonk wild fish in the canyon (legally of course)....sometimes we could catch 20 or more a day. My younger years of hiking into the canyon are behind me and I can't find much for reliable info whether or not the hatchery fish go up there much. Maybe you know better.

In regards to the Vedder river levels.....it's not at a critical stage yet. The fish can easily move and get to where they need to be.

i still have cherry tomatoes in my back yard that are still producing. its half way through october. 

I still have beefsteaks, cucumbers, peppers, and a few strawberries. Love it.

hopefully i am wrong and the rains come before the freezing level drops but i doubt it. i think it could rain all of november and still not make a dent in raising harrison lake.

It's El Nino. The chances of an early freeze are about next to 0%. Although.....it could be a dry winter which isn't good either.

[bigblockfox]

We are definitely short on ground water...no argument there.
As for the Chehalis....even back in it's prime, I didn't fish it until after Oct 15th...and back then it always rained by that date. Low water was rarely an issue.
The even bigger problem now is that the main river doesn't flow past the hatchery....which wouldn't have been a problem even then, because I used to bonk wild fish in the canyon (legally of course)....sometimes we could catch 20 or more a day. My younger years of hiking into the canyon are behind me and I can't find much for reliable info whether or not the hatchery fish go up there much. Maybe you know better.

In regards to the Vedder river levels.....it's not at a critical stage yet. The fish can easily move and get to where they need to be.

I still have beefsteaks, cucumbers, peppers, and a few strawberries. Love it.

It's El Nino. The chances of an early freeze are about next to 0%. Although.....it could be a dry winter which isn't good either.

yes hatchery fish go into the canyon. alot less these days.

i have the beefsteaks and cucumbers too but they have stopped producing new fruit, but the sungold cherries tomatoes and strawberries just keep going.

i will be trying some other flows this weekend. less meat fisheries and hopefully less people and more water.

[SuperBobby]

the sungold cherries tomatoes

I just picked a bowl this afternoon. Whoever invented Sungold Cherry Tomatoes deserves a prize. There is nothing in the world like them.