A few months ago we decided to do a bit of filming in Danish since Nina speaks the language and many Danes come fishing in BC. The above video is the finished copy. You can click on the “CC” button in the video window to get subtitle. We hope to produce at least one episode of this series each month and for you Danish readers, you may want to check out Nina’s new blog.
Thank you all for watching our video in 2010. We have lots of new ideas for 2011, but we also want to hear from you! Finally, here are some bloopers that we have left out in 2010!
Yesterday, we followed Kurt and Barry from the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC to Green Timbers Lake, where they released 150 brood rainbow trout. These trout, which have been used for producing catchable Fraser Valley rainbow trout that anglers enjoy catching at urban lakes, weigh up to 8lb. They are released at the end of each year as their production lifespan comes to an end. Rather than just disposing them, they are usually released into a few selected Lower Mainland urban lakes, where new and young anglers have an opportunity to catch a big trout.
This was also our first shooting with a new video camera that will follow us around in future fishing outings. The finished product was satisfactory. My apology in advance of the shakes, which will be worked on in future video. Other than that, I am quite pleased with it. I hope that you find the video informative. Kurt and Barry will be releasing another batch of these fish into Mill Lake today. Good luck if you decide to head down to Green Timbers Lake or the other urban lakes in the next several weeks.
It is freezing outside, almost too cold to fish. I’ve put up this video to kill the fishing bugs for those who find it difficult to get out today. This was filmed a few weeks ago while I was out fishing for coho salmon in the Tidal Fraser River with my dad. I had the camera set up beside my dad and let it run while he attempted to hook one. You can read more about this trip in this previous blog entry.
With coho salmon season slowly coming to an end, it is time to switch gear and target species. Fishing in Vancouver does not end when the weather gets cold, it happens throughout the year.
Most salmon either have spawned or ready to spawn in their natal streams. This brings out another group of fish – Trout and char. They congregate behind spawners and wait for opportunities to feed on their eggs when deposited. The death of spawners also bring out scavenging animals and birds.
Yesterday, Nina and I decided to spend the day chasing these egg feeders. Most of these fish are between 1 and 4lb, so a baitcasting setup would seem like an overkill. The alternative is to fly fish for them, but we decided to try something different. We used a long light spinning rod to float fish for them. Normally spinning outfits can be a pain to use for float fishing in rivers because you constantly need to feed line to the current. Our fishing location was tiny side channels with minimal flow, so this was not an issue for us.
The terminal setup is fairly simple. A small float is fixed to the main line and around 5 to 7 grams of weight is added to balance it. The leader is of course not too long, to avoid accidentally foul hooking any spawning salmon that we may come across. Just above the hook, a trout bead is threaded on. This simple presentation aims to imitate single eggs that drift down from redds.
It did not take very long for us to connect with fish once they were located in a channel. The float dipped repeatedly with many misses, but we managed to bring in a few bull trout.
If you have packed up your salmon gear and are wondering what you can fish for now, definitely give this style of fishing a try. Even though this is primarily a catch and release fishery, it gives you a chance to appreciate the late fall beauty of our coastal salmon streams.