Took the day off work today to run a few errands for the wife. Mainly was to drive my girls around as their mommy needed to work. So no biggie for me as this will give me a chance to fish the Vedder as well. Last week was a bit slow and i didn’t have a clue where the fish could be. One can only hope for another day of redemption.
Dropped the girls off at school and i headed into work for a bit to complete a few items on my to-do list. Picked up Dice after a bit of work and headed back to my place to get my gear. Time to go and get the girls to drive into Langley for gym. After dropping them off, headed to the river and arrived shortly after 2pm. Not much time to fish as this was a new spot that i have not been to but have always wanted to try.
As we settled in, we notices a few fish jumping here and there and it got my heart beat faster. Thinking inside that i have to connect with at least one of these guys. Doesn’t matter if it’s a chum or coho, i just wanted to see the float take a dive. Baited up and worked the flow for about 5mins. For some reason, i didn’t think the bait was going to work so i switched it up. Slapped on a nice silver blade and started to casts to the other side of the bank. First cast, nothing. Second cast, nothing as well. Third cast, float goes down!!! Late to respond and i didn’t even set the hook, and the silver flashes are so mesmerizing. I just cranked, nothing i could do at this point. Was thinking about giving it a yank or two to see if that would set it in, but decided to just play it calmly. I know it was a coho, the distinct flashing sets it apart from all the other species that i have encountered. I get to battle it for about 5 minutes and thought that it was hooked good but the next second, the blade comes shooting back at me. I noticed my balsa float went crashing into the rock, i quickly picked it up to take a look. Upset!!! First i lose the fish and add insult to injury, my is damaged on one side. I love this float and the last thing i want is to lose another one but this is just mean.
I take a few minutes to calm myself down but now i know where the fish are hiding. Now it’s time to switch back to bait. Before i didn’t know where they were, i don’t want to waste bait by testing it out. You can end up losing everything before finding them and what will you fish with afterwards? Anyways, baited up, followed the seam and quickly my float takes a dive. A few minutes later, Dice helps me land this beauty of a fish. 8lbs wild/hatchery coho? I told Dice, “Please be a hatchery” and he says, “mis-clip” with a big smirk. Then i look at him again, and he laughs and says it’s a wild. Damn you for getting my hopes up. Anyways, released without a shot as i knew the fish was active and no time to waste, i baited up again.
We fished for approximately 3hrs but really it was a little over 2hrs. Dice managed to hook a big chum and i ended the day with over 8 hits. All showing silver before releasing my hook. The landing ratio really sucked today but still, i managed 1 wild coho(released), 1 hatchery jack(released) and 2 hatchery coho(in the bag). So all in all, a great day, still lots of coho around, just have to search for them now.
We have a rain warning happening here this weekend so make sure safety first. The water can come up pretty quickly so keep an eye on a static object and use that as an indicator. We will be out again to the same spot tomorrow but a bit later, we need to sleep a bit more as the last 2 months has taken a big toll on both Dice and I. But i can’t understand why he is tired, he hasn’t gotten much this season, must be all the driving, hahahaha. Anyways, good luck all and finish the season on a high note.
Here is one of the fish, ready to be eaten!!