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[chris gadsden]

It was sure good to get away last Thursday and Friday to my annual Thompson River jack fishing trip.I personally needed a rest from the all that is going on with our fishery as it seems like a full time job with no rewards except to try and preserve our precious fishing opportunities for the future generation. As well to try to make sure the fish are there forever as well.

It gets a bit dishearting as well at times as when you get involved with such issues when trying to do your best you start to be critized from within your own recreational community. Well I guess it goes with the territory and of course it is part of life and I hope those, that I believe that are in the minority are doing some thing proactive to make things better in one way or another. It is easy to sit behind a computer and be critical that I can accept as none of us are perfect and do make mistakes. But I hope the hell the ones doing the critizing are doing the things that they are saying should be done to correct things as I think most of you will agree the FOC management policy's are in shambles, this is what a number of us are trying to correct including the moderator of this forum.

I have been involved in the community for over 30 years in fishing issues and many other things and I have never met someone like Rodney that puts so much into fishing and looking after the environment that he treasures so dearly. I know most of you realize this but I just wanted to add it in before I get to the fishing report.

I will most likely be critized for stating this opinion here in a fishing report, I better make it a good one.

Thursday.

I talk to Gary my good fishing partner at badminton on Wednsday but he could not come until Friday so he would meet me then.

I get a late start and just take my time as I join the summer tourist traffic on Highway 1 heading to the Thompson about 2 hours or so away from the fishing spot.

I stop for gas at Boston Bar and escape paying a dollar a litre by a cent and a half, I still have not had to pay that dollar yet.
I also gather some apples from an old orchard one I discovered when I worked in the area years ago, as well I stop at the Alpine Rest. for a leisurly coffee and to read the paper. It is very hot in the early afternoon sun close to 30, glad I brought lots of ice for the fish I hope to catch.

The Forks as it was once known (Lytton) quickly appears after leaving the pit stop of the Alpine behind and I see the clear waters of the Thompson as it joins the murky Fraser.

My pulse quickens when I see the mighty Thompson as I know fish will be there as they have every year since I started fishing it many years ago. It was Gary who first brought me to this land in the 1970's, the land of tumble weed and the wind swept rocks. The aroma  of the tumble weed  mixed with the unpolluted air, the sound of the Thompson cascading through the gorge between Lytton and Spences Bridge as it races towards the ocean a couple of hundred miles away is paradise to me. No wonder I want to preseve our fishing opportunities and the fish that go with it, maybe not so much for myself but for the many others including my son and his dear sons, my grand children that may want to experience it as well.

I find my spot unoccupied and I quickly prepare things as I am now very anxious to make that first cast. I lower my things over "the Wall" with a rope as the trip down to the pool is a little tricky and with advancing years it becomes more so. Maybe will have to plan for a wheel chair lift one day for those dear grand kids to lower me down.

I pack only the rod down and I quickly move into position,after geting things from the rope. The pool is at perfect height. I notice I still have my "Randog" float on, one that I have grown very attached too. I decide to leave it on but there is the chance of hooking a big spring that will break you off in the strong current. I gamble and on my first cast "Randog" float down.

It would be the last time I would see it go down as I am fishing too deep, caught in the rocky strewn bottom, I apply a little tension and the line breaks above the "Randog" float.

I never see it again as it gets caught in a swirl I guess and is gone, heading for Georgia Strait.

I look for it when Rodney and I are out filming the FN fishery on Saturday but of course we did not see it.

What a way to start the trip.

I tie on a Thompson Float, we call all balsa,wood and cork floats this as we always use them here as they ride at the right height in the swirlling waters of the Thompson.

My luck continued bad the rest of the afternoon, around 6 hors of fishing time as I miss a few and only land a small spring that is just above the 50cm that allows you to retain them. It is badly raked by a seal, I wonder how it recovered from this to make it so far up the river systems. Maybe they are tougher than we tnink and C and R does not harm the much unless the have to contend with warm water. I notice just by feel it is coolewr tan last year. I imagine infection will soon set in on this fish and it most likely will not live to spawn but not sure on this statement.

I reach for my camera for a shot of the scarred fish but I discover I have left the card for my new camera in the computer at home. A bad start with a loss of a treasured float, how will Randy take it, and no camera to share photo's of the trip with you all. I have only the video camera,wonder if I charged the battery.

I fish to dark and have nothing to pack up to the Leaf Mobile. As I get ready to head to the camping spot a local Canuck fan who has been trying to rename Maple Leaf Bar drops by. Maybe he is now looking for a "Canuck Pool" instead after failing to claim MLB. Good to hear he had some good trout fishing on the fly that day.

He tells me Peter Mc is also up for a overnight trip at the same camping spot I am going to.

As I arrive it was nice to see he was there and we have a good visit over a brew that I do not drink very often but it felt good after a day in the hot humid air. I guess I drank it too quickly on a empty stomack and it makes me a little difficult to cook my supper of a fish steak. On only one some would say but when you only have one every few months I guess it can do this too you. Peter enjoys seeing me in such a state I guess.

The good part I quess is I slept so well I did not hear the trains go by, about 50 feet away. The next morning Pete said there was 7 total. Thanks to the single Bud for the good night of rest, I will be in top form for some fish in day 2 which I will have to continue later as I have to put together a tape for Bill of the filming we did Saturday and the recent news items on the recent illegal fishing that was on Global TV.

See a volunteer's day is never done.

[Fish Assassin]

You got drunk on one beer Chris ? Better not plan on sipping some champagne from Lord Stanley's mug. Oh I forgot, they haven't won one for over forty years !

[chris gadsden]

You got drunk on one beer Chris ? Better not plan on sipping some champagne from Lord Stanley's mug. Oh I forgot, they haven't won one for over forty years !

Good one. You got me rolling, rolling,rolling, right along all over the floor. I got to stop writing personal thigs about myself.You know whent I start talking to someone about something, they say "I know about that, read it on FWR". I say right I forgot you read FWR or something to that effect. What the heck life is too short to worry and one of my faithful readers from England of my fishing adventures has offered to buy us supper in London which is verey kind of him.

[fishersak]

Chris, is pains me to think that you may even sometimes feel unappreciated.  Please know that we all very much appreciate your efforts on our behalf.  I am not sure everyone knows just how busy you are and how much time you put into sports fishing and environmental issues.  Sometimes I guess some us forget that our sport used to bring us such relaxation and pleasure.  Also, I enjoy hearing about yours and others fishing exploits.   

Thanks again

[crack a dawn]

I second that.

[chris gadsden]

Day 2

I awake to another clear day and it is 4:30. I feel refreshed after a good sleep especially with the aid of the Bud. Pete is still sleeping and I try to not to make too much noise as I prepare my breakfast. I take some deep breaths of the mountain air and smell some smoke mixed in from a fire to the North of us. I did not smell it yesterday, maybe a wind shift. I forgot to mention it yesterday but a number of choppers were dropping large buckets of water on it. One was picking up water in a back eddy just below me and then would swing overhead, on the way to the drop zone.

I warm up some prepared oatmeal, add some brown sugar and blackberries on top. I settle into my lawn chair and as I enjoy my breakfast I study the stars and wonder what is really up there. How far does it go to the end if there is one. Does it end with a wall but then how long is the wall? I notice a satellite racing through the early morning sky as well.

Pete finally stirs and I warm up some coffee out of my thermos, not as good as a Tim H's but enough to shake the cobwebs from our heads.

Pete heads for the culvert run and I back to the wall.

As day light approaches I lower my stuff down and repeat the climb from yesterday.

Once again just like the previous day I am greeted by large numbers of sockeye flipping in the back eddy I am fishing. Why they jump so much in a back eddy pool while they rest there I donot know for sure, maybe they are chosing a mate and chasing each other around as they near their natal stream. Or is it they are happy just to be in a pool to rest a bit before they continue their journey. I notice some are starting to show a crimson shade of red as well as they briefly show themselves to us. This is the second week in a row that they have been moving through in good numbers as Gary reported the same thing to me on a trip he made here last week.

They will not show themselves that much in the flat part of the river but I am pleased to see them in increased numbers from last year as on two trips there was very few that I saw then, in the year a number of sockeye went missing.

I am into a jack in the first hour, a nice one, silver as a newly minted quarter, I retain it. The next fish is a spring about 12 pounds that I can easily release as it is hooked very lightly. It, like yesterday has a very bad seal rake, very deep in its side. I then hook and land another jack, a adipose clip that joins the other in the cooler. Will be interesting to see what hatchery it is from most likely Spius. A big spring is the next fish but it breaks off as it heads for the middle of the Thompson Rive, I just straight line it and the 8 pound leader snaps easily. This is why I use 8 pound.

I notice lots of rafters shooting the rapids of the canyon as there seems to be a number of rafting companies working the Thompson River thses days. I even saw 2 chaps going by just with a life jacket and a helmut on their head, thrill seekers to say the least.

I take a bit of a break and go for a walk and pick up about $5 worth of tins and bottles, helps with the high price of fuel.

Gary and Donna arrive around noon and we take turns fishing the run. I also have my mid day nap and when I awake Gary has 2 jacks in his ice cooled cooler. I get at it again and land number 3, they are good fighters for their size and the trip they have just made through some heavy water. Wonderful creatures these fish are. As it gets close to the time to leave I hook #4 and as I do the Thompson flip with the jack my lines breaks right above the swievel. The pounding of the pencil lead there weakens the line, should have a stopper or small bead there to prevent it from happening.

After tying up a new leader, fish #4 comes quickly and the Thompson flip is successful.

I cleanup the garbage around the pool left by others that have fished here before us, includind a bag full of old roe, about 4 or 5 pounds of debris. I tie most of my things together onto the rope but it seems a bit heavy so I take my cameras, phone etc up to the truck by hand. Gary says before I leave a bit heavy isn't it, I say no problem. 

As I start pulling up the stuff it is a bit heavy as Gary had said. I get it to the top of the wall, grab the bundle but two things break away and plunge down to the solid rocks below. One of the items a cooler full of stuff explodes like a bomb with items going in every direction. What a mess. Gary cleans it up and ties in on to the rope once again and I now retrieve the damaged goods. Was it that 5 pounds of garbage I cleaned up that made the difference who knows. I was glad my camera and alike were not on that free fall.

I bid Gary and Donna goodbye and tuck everything into the Leaf Mobile.

My trip started badly losing " The Randog Float" and ended equally as bad with the destruction of a cooler.

But it was great to be on the Thompson River once again, for it has much to offer many of its users and I will be back there next year, around the same time in August for some more Thompson River jack springs.

[fisher88]

i think you might see me there!!!!

[sliverbullet]

great reports man sorry to hear about the float 

[Steelhawk]

Great read Chris. These are wonderful fishing journals indeed.  Most people are appreciative of what you & Rod did to uncover the bad management on FN fisheries by DFO.  Just ignore those biased few who did nothing and just complained.  They care more about their personal rants and their personal agenda with FWR.  They talk big about fish conservation, but lend support to FN fisheries the way it is handled, knowing fully that FN did most of the damage last year with endless poachings. They have zero credibility in their criticism.  Keep up the good work.

[chris gadsden]

Thanks to all for your kind remarks. Gary was up a few days ago and the fishing was excellent. Good to see good numbers of spring jacks in the Thompson once again this year.