British Columbia Fishing Blog

So what does one fish for when the Vedder is dirty? No, not pikeminnows… Fraser Valley rainbow trout! After getting all the tasks done this afternoon, we took advantage of the sunshine by doing a short trip to Green Timbers Lake. Green Timbers Lake is one of three lakes that are used for the “Fishing in the City” program by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC. Part of the program involves regular trout stockings by the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery during spring and fall months. Because the lake is filled with hungry, uneducated trout, it makes a perfect setting for entry anglers who wish to improve their fishing skills. Although it is primarily designed for beginners, it doesn’t mean seasoned anglers cannot have fun with it from time to time.

Green Timbers Lake was stocked on September 29th with 340 fish that have an average weight of 192 grams (see stocking update). The lake was sampled with a gill net by the Ministry of Environment on October 1st. 50 trout were sampled. It was a mixture of both newly stocked fish and bigger fish from the spring stockings. Brown bullhead and carp were also among the catches.

We arrived at the north end of the lake and found our target spot occupied by local ducks. After figuring out that we were not there to feed them, they were on their way to somewhere better.

Terminal tackle for this urban lake trout fishery is not complicated. A box filled with floats, small weights, swivels, size 4 hooks and a few small spoons can be carried in a small pack.

Deli shrimp is one of the most effective bait for these stocked rainbow trout. Threading the hook through its entire body from head to tail prevents it from falling off while casting.

A small spinning reel spooled with 4lb test line and an ultralight spinning rod provide the most enjoyment out of this type of fishing. A rod holder is sometimes needed if the lake shore is a beach.

It only took a few minutes for the floats to dip. Nina was able to land a couple right away while I was still rigging up.

The first fish was small, which was most likely from the stocking last week.

Her second fish was a much bigger fish from the spring stocking. The fight ended up tangling up my line in the process. While untangling, we discovered that there was another line in its mouth. The thickness of that line felt like 30lb test! A large swivel was at the end of the line. While I couldn’t get the other hook out, I managed to snip the line off so it won’t swim around with the big swivel anymore.

Seeing that Nina was getting constant bites with the float rig, I was confident that I would also connect with a fish or two. That confidence soon disappeared as the bites died off. I finally lost my patience and tied on the little back-up spoon that never fails. The first cast brought a tiny trout in, which just happened to be my last and only fish of the day.

Fall trout stockings in Lower Mainland lakes started last week and will continue for awhile. Although the fish aren’t big, it is a convenient alternative if one wishes to fish when nearby rivers are unfishable. Good luck.

Although management measures for protection of Interior coho salmon in the tidal portion of the Fraser River ended on Friday October 3rd, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has not issued a new fishery notice for the salmon fishery starting on October 4th. While bait ban for salmon fishing is no longer in effect, officially retention of hatchery coho salmon is not permitted. I have been trying to track people down to get the appropriate notice issued so we could actually start targeting coho salmon in the Tidal Fraser River this weekend, but that has failed miserably. To add fuel on fire, we had some drama this morning while attempting to purchase a tidal sportfishing license on DFO’s website, which resulted in a few unnecessary transactions on my credit card (more on this in another blog entry soon). After some scrambling, we ended up purchasing the license at Berry’s Bait and Tackle, then spent a few hours in the afternoon fishing in Richmond.

The objective today was to simply catch and release whatever we may encounter. This time of the year in the Tidal Fraser River can be quite pleasant. While most anglers prefer to focus on Fraser Valley tributaries due to higher catch rates, angling pressure in the Tidal Fraser River is significantly less and success can be had with good timing and persistence. At any given flood tide, species that one might encounter include chinook salmon, coho salmon, chum salmon, bull trout and cutthroat trout. It is a hit and miss fishery. Some days multiple hook-ups are common, while other days are dull due to a lack of fish bypassing. The key is to fish it during the window of opportunities, which is generally between two hours before and after flood tide. This is also a social game. Since no moving is required, friends can fish together as a group and socialize at the same time.

The gear used is fairly simplistic. Although the usage of roe is allowed, we prefer to cast and retrieve spoons and spinners. There are two reasons behind this preference – 1) Prevention, fish caught on roe have a tendency to swallow bait, which counters the goal of catch and release. 2) Convenience, spincasting requires minimal amount of preparation. A spinning rod, reel and a box of your favorite hardware are adequate enough for our outings. The absence of roe also means a pair of clean hands at the end of each outing.

Judging by the jump of chum salmon catches at the Albion test fishery, I was expecting to see schools of chum salmon rolling by today. Unfortunately because we had a late start, we missed the incoming tide, which was when these dogs tend to pass by. Usually when the tide peaks and water stops moving, fishing has a tendency to slow down. This was quite evident today, as we had no hits for over an hour.

Once the water started moving out, we had some brief success. Mark ended the skunky streak with a small bull trout, which was being greedy by grabbing a rather large Gibbs Croc spoon. The fight was not spectacular on the fast action spinning rod, but any rod dance on a slow day should not be complained.

A few minutes after that excitement, I felt a light tug when I was halfway through the retrieve of my spoon. A quick hookset sent a very bright fish out of the water instantly. It made a second leap soon after and I assumed that it was a jack coho salmon. When it approached me, I was delighted to discover that I had just connected with my biggest coastal cutthroat trout in the Tidal Fraser. This bright yet spotty fish was estimated to be around 16 inches long. It was probably chasing a school of juvenile fish that we saw earlier, but spotted something much bigger and couldn’t resist the temptation.

Seeing that two fish were caught within such a short span of time, everyone was pretty motivated. Even Nina, who was already bored from earlier, got out of the car and began casting her spoon again. This must have been Mark’s day, because he soon found another fish at the end of his line. Unlike the first one, this fish actually put quite a bend on his rod. It took several fast runs. We guessed that it could either be a coho or a bull trout. Whatever it was, it seemed to hold a fair amount of weight. The fish rolled several times on the surface and showed itself. It was a bull trout and a rather heavy one.

We ended this typical fall Tidal Fraser River outing at 3:30pm, two hours after flood tide. There were no expectations on what we would catch today, so we were satisfied with three non-salmon specimen. Current water clarity is fantastic. If this continues, we shall see some very good spincasting days in the Tidal Fraser River in one or two weeks from now. Good luck.

Quite often white chinook salmon are given a bad reputation when it comes to eating quality. Yes, their skin gives off a rather foul odour, which can take forever to get rid of if you are slimed. When freshly caught, they are in fact quite delicious, the preparation is just slightly lengthier and some patience is needed.

After bringing our first white chinook salmon home on September 24th. I filleted and proceeded to prepare it like I would with most white-flesh fish. 

The fillets are deboned and sliced into strips.

Strips are marinated with salt, pepper and various spices.

A batter is made from flour and water. Seasoned strips are dipped in the batter before placed in hot oil.

Each side receives a couple of minutes on the frying pan, until they are golden brown.

Dinner is served!

After seeing a couple of solid reports on coho catches from the Chilliwack River, it was time for us to venture out this morning. The alarm went off at 4:00am and it only took one buzz before I hopped out of bed despite of only three hours of sleep. The first outing is always quite exciting as there are so many unknowns. We met up with Chris and Gwyn at 6:15am, just as it was becoming light. We worked out way through the bush to the Rotary Trail and startled a group of female runners as we popped out. They probably thought that they were about to encounter a family of bears.

Water condition was fantastic as previous days. The first spot looked promising but after drifting through it for 30 minutes at first light, we came up empty handed except the tree that Nina hooked, which resulted in a lost Drennan. We decided to make our way to another spot. Gwyn’s dog Jackson’s reaction did not seem like a good prediction for the rest of the trip.

The second spot also looked promising. The narrow run was deep and flowing slowly, with a few branches acting as fish’s cover. Upon our arrival, a rather bright chinook leaped at the tailout, which was a good sign. Chris reminded us that the bites actually did not happen until 8:00am or 9:00am during his previous outings this week, so we were hopeful.

The conversation among the group kept everyone entertained when the bites were absent. As we joked around, I spotted a couple of light dips on my Drennan. Thinking that it was a trout, I ignored them. Chris thought otherwise, he said those chinook salmon he caught previously had bitten quite lightly. A few drifts later, I missed another stronger dip, which was definitely a salmon. I rebaited with fresh roe and concentrated on the drifts. A few more casts later, the float dipped once again and the hook-set was right on the mark this time. The large bend in the 2106 suggested that it was a good sized chinook salmon. It surfaced briefly just downstream from Gwyn and he confirmed that it was an adult chinook. I managed to keep it in the run instead of letting it tow me downstream like many adult chinook would do. A few minutes later, I had a female chinook salmon, estimated to be between 10 and 15lb on the beach.

It was not the brightest chinook that I have caught on the Vedder, but it was not awfully dark either so we decided to keep it.

The bites appeared to be coming on. Chris soon missed several as we chatted. He was disgusted everytime when the DNE float flew back to the beach.

Seeing that the bite was on, Nina took over the rod from me, I baited her hook with another chunk of beautifully cured coho roe from last year. We watched the float closely as it drifted into the strike zone each time. Finally it sank solidly beside one branch. I yelled, “Set the hook” and even did the hook-set motion with my hands, but the rod was not moving. By the time she yanked the rod, it was two seconds too late.

I rebaited her hook. A few drifts later, it went down again at the same spot. This time the hook-set was also slightly delayed, but the fish did not get away. The leap just seconds after the hook-set confirmed that it was a rather fresh chum salmon. Nina put the pressure on the rod, pointing the rod sideway as I told her to so the fish would swim back up as demanded. After tugging back and forth for several minutes, it finally gave up in the shallows. Nina had landed her first ever chum salmon.

A trip to the Vedder is never complete without a clown show. Seeing that the bites were coming from beyond the branches on the other side of the run, Chris decided to make a longer cast. Of course, the main line was caught up with the branch. He could still feed line to the float, so the main line seemed to be lightly tangled to the branch. Chris decided to yank the rod up and down, to see if he could free it. He did it so hard that the top section of his Sage popped off and slid down the main line toward the branch. Suddenly he realized that he just might lose more than his float! Gwyn came to the rescue, by casting out to hook up his top section. After several attempts, he finally got it back. Now Gwyn decided to rescue the float too, so he casted out to catch it while Chris freely fed line so it could be retrieved. After five minutes of commotion, all terminal tackle was saved.

We ended the outing at 9:30am. Today only the clients were successful. The two guides had to go home empty-handed. After all, isn’t their job to put fish on the clients’ lines before theirs?

A fall salmon trip to the Vedder always ends with a brunch at Cookies.

What should people fish for when the Vedder is dirty? You guessed it, northern pikeminnows!

After enjoying some cod and chips at Pajo’s yesterday, we made a few casts at Garry Point Park and briefly connected with a few fish but none made to the water surface. Today we decided to venture back slightly earlier to catch the flood tide. The 1/8oz green blade spinner did its wonder once again. Nina brought a fish in on her second cast at the first location. At the second location we brought two fish in within a short span of time. The third fish even leaped soon after hook-up, which is rather unusual for a pikeminnow. We finished the brief outing at the entrance of the park, where I managed to connect with a chrome bull trout, but it fell off the hook near shore just before the camera was ready. Water clarity is very good for spinning. It is an exciting time to be spinning in the tidal portion of the Fraser River, as there is the possibility to find a pikeminnow, cutthroat trout, bull trout and jack salmon at the end of your line.