Odd winter findings at the Fraser mouth
Published on February 18th, 2009 by Rodney
Well, the bull trout fishing has been slow in Steveston, as expected. One cannot ask for better water clarity, but there simply aren’t many fish chasing metals and flies. Because so much walking is involved when searching for these fish, I tend to bump into interesting items, both fishing and non-fishing related. I thought that I could not encounter anything odd or new after combing through the beaches so many times, but some of the latest findings were pretty strange.
This was the first shrimp that I’ve seen washed up on the beach at the Fraser mouth. I guess salinity of the estuary water is high enough in the winter for them to creep in. That would explain why some anglers caught herring last week by the buckets around Steveston during high tide.
A dead sockeye salmon on the rocks this time of the year? Perhaps it was last year’s fish that has been thrown away recently, but from where?
So why are there so many dead birds around this winter? Since late January, I’ve found 7 dead seagulls. Were they shot? Lack of food? Bird flu? It is rather bizarre.
January 27th, this one almost looks animated.
February 11th, bird identification please. Send your answer to info@fishingwithrod.com.
February 17th, this one had some big gashes just under the neck.
One last note. I just published a new article on Tidal Fraser River light spincasting last week, which focuses on three species – Bull trout, cutthroat trout and northern pikeminnow. Check it out if you are interested in checking out this under-utilized fishery.