Only ever fished the Vedder once. Got talked into it last year by a buddy who knows the system rather well.
Had to go over to the mainland to pick up a
new-to-me 4x4, so took a day to have a look at this flow so many folks chat and post about on several of the Forums.
Given my background with fishing WCVI flows, often remote, I carried more than a few misgivings about fishing
anywhere on the mainland. I had of course heard the horror stories regarding conjested rivers, and the problems that go hand in hand with that. But as it was a
week day, I figured it wouldn't be all
that bad...
What I witnessed that day well confirmed my suspicions. We hunted four different locations that day, and dispite wandering in before first light, there were soon dozens of rods at the first stop. Combat style fishing has never really appealed to me, and this was what we enterred into. Shoulder to shoulder anglers, many obviously without any clue at to ettiquite (scrambling to beat each other to the next likely looking spot, refusing to move when others came along, casting over each other, etc) and just as many that didn't appear to know what they were doing (wearing cheap Canada tire rubber hip waders & overly bright jackets, carrying large tackle boxes full of who knows what, employing gear more suited to dredging up sturgeon, or on the other end of the scale, ultra-light trout rigs)
The next spot was the same, and the next. Finally late in the afternoon, we wandered into an area that held but a single angler, dressed in beat up neo's and a faded green helly hanson jacket, plying the flow with a pin. Both the lack of conjestion, and that fellow were a welcome relief from the previous experiences of the day. Although the fellow was somewhat distant, I felt an almost kindred attachment to him and the water he was working. A brief chat, then gave him a wide berth, leaving a large section of water for him to fish before even considering doing the same.
Overall, I wasn't dissapointed with the day. The system is quite pretty, and I recognized a good amount of what I considered
fishy water. It was nice to put a picture to the name to the many pools and runs I had heard of, even though the conjestion was actually somewhat more than I had anticipated. We saw upwards of 80 people working the flow that day, dispite it being mid-week.
As for fishing, under my buddy's guidance, I managed to hook nine and land seven chromers amongst the crowds that day. Not a bad day as far as success goes. But I was more than happy to scurry home, and spent the next several days on a few of the more removed Island systems, very much enjoying the tranquility that they, their inhabitants, and the complete lack of other anglers brings home to me.
Will I be back? Doubtfull. I've now seen what I wanted to. And although it is indeed a beautiful river, it has far to much traffic for me to really enjoy myself there. Perhaps, someday, if I find myself over on the mainland at the right time of year in an unrelated pursuit, I might take a few moments to have another look...
Perhaps.
Here's a pix of one of those gems the
Lady Vedder graciously allowed me to play with that day:
For now, I'll stick to the Island, where it seems I fit somewhat better. Although I must admit, even here, it's getting more and more conjested each and every year. The Stamp still is my back yard, but I don't bother with the weekends any more, for that very reason. Even week days, you're much more liable to run into crowds than it ever used to be.
Cheers,
Nog -
Yearning for the "good old days" when there were but a few die-hards that plied the local flows, when by and large, everyone knew each other, and were courteous to the extreme...
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Topic: Steelhead!!!!! (Read 68196 times)