Well, being back teaching is really putting a dent in my fishing time!
Although recieving my pay stub today and ouch....10 days off hurts.
Anyways..made a break for the river yesterday after school....left Burnaby at 3:02, and made my first cast on the Squamish/Mamquam confluence at 4:15. Short floating peach wool and well timed for the arrival of fresh fish on the incoming tide.
There was an entertaining old Russian or Eastern European fella on a little point of gravel down below me who was banging fish. I was getting nothing. 10 casts in, and I bird nested the Abu AGAIN. If that Fenwick rod wasn't worth as much as it is, that whole rig would be floating down some river by now. busted out my work horse spinner, and kept going. Russian dude went for a walk with his fish, and as he went, I joked with him that now he was gone, the fish could get by him to me! Sure enough... two casts later and I was into a fun little chum that went for a real run. It wasn't too big (weighted it on my new scale I got for Bday) at 13 lbs....but it was ocean fresh (8 sea lice on the high rear of the fish), and was scrappy as hell. In she came, roe in a bag (and now on a cracker beside me - I made this new recipe from a salmon cookbook my girlfriend gave me for my Bday)....and fish on ice. The most silver chum I have seen (when it first jumped, my heart raced as I thought it was a coho......thats how silver).
Anyways..back in I went...into 2 more fish that were older and greener...so off they went. I have noticed that almost every chum, including some real nice ones, that I have kept from the Squamish system have very small worms that live along the rib bones of the fish. I was very happy that this nicee fresh one had none. Cooked it up wiht Rod's own battered chum recipe with a beer twist...and man it was tasty. (try it with Gyoza suace on the side).
Russian guy managed to land a really nice and REALLY big wild coho which was properly released. Sunny afternoon, and a sunset that shone over the ridge onto a snow covered black tusk made my day complete.....I love this place.
cheers all
Vince