Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing Reports => Members' Fishing Reports => Topic started by: Gooey on October 22, 2005, 03:30:03 PM
-
Well, it was a disappointing day on the chehalis and harrison area. My dad and I covered a lot of water and did not bump a single coho. Lots of chums and springs in the chehalis, chums and pinks in the Harrison (by the #7 bridge), but no coho.
We did see a few silvers kicking around some really skinny water but they were so spooks they moved away from our lures even when they were 6 feet away!
We hucked roe, spoons, blades, jigs...all to no avail.
Hope you guys did better.
If you ask me there arent many coho in the chehalis right now and even the boats working the #7 bridge area had nothing to report.
Stick to the ved if you head out tomorrow.
-
I have to agree, I was there as well, were you down river fishing with a rapidex?, if so I bumped into you. Very quiet not good.
-
yup hitting the vedder tommrow 8) wont be hitting the chehalis till about mid- ;)november
-
Sgt, I was carrying a 7wt fly rod with a silver seldex 2 on it, I also had a green rod bag slung over my shoulder...where you the guy with the black pin fishin in the roots tight to the river bank?
-
You betcha, go by minnie-me on a few other forums.
So not much in your travels, give it a couple of weeks and it'll heat up.
-
thanks for the report guys. was planning on heading out tommorrow. will try the local flow instead.
-
too bad
-
while on the harrison, I saw several coho jump inside of my casting range so thay were there...just not interest. Hucked blue foxes, crocs, coho spoons, and iron heads. I figured that those all would cover varying depths of the water colum but just no luck.
-
Too bad the Harrison is too high to wade at this point. We drove over the Harrison on Friday and it was high! I've tied up a bunch of coho flies that I've been "itching" to use!
-
The Harrison Is Guide galore right now, a guide every where. We were sturegeon fishing out there and I counted about 15 guide boats that past us in 2.5 hours and counted several more fishing on bars and anchored in the river.
-
Got back from the Chehailis today . Was camped out for the weekend . Saturday mornin was good at the ES run ,sounds like some of you didn't do well :P . It is still early for this river as it will come into full swing in a couple + weeks weather permiting . its funny when I talk to some other fellow anglers , not all but a couple here and there , they keep saying " yah, the coho seem to be coming in late this year" ???. NOT . I have been fishing this river for 15+ years and once and a while we get the odd year that a big push of Coho in the system early October. :) Checked out the Harrison just to have a look , and yes ther were lots of boats out there ,one boat was just under the #7 bridge and off to the side releasing about an 8' sturgeon and another boat was drifting down in front of Kilby stong arming another. Sunday was a bit of a gong show , I had 2 on for a few seconds a few good head shakes and fish off. I seen one fish landed in the morning . Most people left by around 10am. because no fish showed up. The water is low and there are limited places to fish now that the river has taken a detour below the ES run . :( Any way I came home with a nice Coho buck about 7lbs.I landed 1 for 7 fish this weekend .Cheers guys and gals ;D
-
I disagree Ive taken the same past week of for holidays to fish the chehalis for the last 10 years and this is the latest and slowest Ive ever seen them come in. According to my diary we did well almost every outing going back 10 years for the same week. This year only 8 coho between 2 of us on 4 outings. On another note my diary shows a decline of fish in that system over the last few years - may have something to do with the river diverting thru FN land. :(
-
The main reason for the lower amount of coho in the vedder and chehalis is the spring stocks are getting larger and are killing the coho stocks. What is happening I believe is when the fish are fry and smolts in the river the chinook smolts are more aggresive and are eatting lots of the food in the river and is killing the coho. :(
-
Not quite true mark. Although the chinook are by far the more aggressive fish when it comes to the adults I believe that the juvenilles have very little interaction. The harrison whites are a unique strain of chinook as once their eggs hatch the fry make their way out to the ocean nearly immediatly (same as chums and pinks). If anything, these brutes should be helping out the coho by bringing in lots of nutrients. One possible concern could be that springs are chasing the coho off the prime spawning habitat, but again I do not believe this to be an issue as chinooks typically spawn earlier in the season than coho.
-
Biffy I must let you know that the vedder and chehalis spring stock do not leave immediately I am a Fisheries Technician and my study on these fish is pretty good but I appreciate the interest. Believe you me a prime example is the springs are not even native to the vedder river therefor it is upsetting the balance and ecosystem of that river. ;)
-
Good point mark 8)
-
All very true points but what also must be considered is how many of the whites returning to each river actually lived all their freshwater feeding lives in concrete or earthen ponds and were fed by taxpayers dollars? They get the royal pellet treatment until released downstream and wouldn't really have as much impact on the natural feed as the rearing wild coho fry and smolts. The same goes for the hatchery coho smolts. Indeed there are going to be wild chinook in the system but i have no idea what percentages the hatchery expects to return as I'm not sure if they are clipped like the coho.
Where do you work as a tech Mark and are they hiring ;D? I haven't worked in the field for two years now but what I do now covers the basic bills but isn't as fun for sure.
-
When I started fishing the Vedder in about 1989 we used to limit out every time on coho and a 20+ coho day would not be uncommon, but the numbers of springs at the time were very low. Now the spring numbers are through the roof and the coho numbers are getting worse every year (never seen so many wild fish as this year or is that my bad luck??)
GHC, wait a couple weeks untill the springs finish spawning, you will see spawned out dead springs everywhere, probably a hundredfold what the hatchery produces, survival rate may not be as good but their smolt numbers will no doubt have an effect on any wild coho numbers.
-
(http://Camping 006.jpg)
-
Good to know Islanderguy...I am relatively new to the Vedder system and certainly have had my fair share of springs though and as you said, I only managed one wild coho last year there and so far none there this year. My initial thoughts were that most springs on the system were hatchery reared. If there are so many springs successfully spawning, does the hatchery even need to take brood stock then for future years at both hatcheries and why not just concentrate on the habitat enhancement and creation for wild coho production? I certainly like the springs but the coho are by far my favourite fish. Everything about them is amazing.
-
a prime example is the springs are not even native to the vedder river therefor it is upsetting the balance and ecosystem of that river. ;)
makes sense to me
why not just concentrate on the habitat enhancement and creation for wild coho production?
I agree they should focus more on habitat enhancement for wild salmon. I also think the should stop production of hatchery whites and try to get some wild vedder river red chinooks for brood stock.
-
When I started fishing the Vedder in about 1989 we used to limit out every time on coho and a 20+ coho day would not be uncommon, but the numbers of springs at the time were very low. Now the spring numbers are through the roof and the coho numbers are getting worse every year (never seen so many wild fish as this year or is that my bad luck??)
Yes I remember those days! Nary a spring in sight and coho so aggressive even a newbie like me (at the time ;D ;D) could limit out.
The good coho fishing was mostly due to the increase in production in the early 80's, the so called "Expo Coho"
-
In '86 I used to fish the big boulder at Tamihi. My dad and myself would be the ONLY ones there! Lots of coho chewing roe. No need to fish the fast water, and no springs!
-
i like the springs.. here and there for a bttle once and a while, but some times they just become anoying and take all your gear. i think they shouldnt let spring into the hatchery and just let them spawn were ever. and try to get the coho returns up. :-\ just a thought
-
If you want to see the coho come back, remove the single retention of the springs and let people take 4 ( would also make people get their 10 a year limit quicker and relieve some of the fishing pressure if they stayed home once their lisence is filled up...)
-
I must agree with you Islanderguy. Up the limit and put a bounty on the springs heads. ;)
-
best idea yet!!
-
And cut the retention of coho in half.
-
I agree funfisher , go back to two fish limit on coho :)
-
Why reduce the coho limits. Every year they have surplus at the hatchery and its not like they want hatchery fish spawning out in the wild.
-
It may reduce the amount of anglers on the ever so shrinking Chehailis, Biff , thus giving other anglers the opportunity to have a chance to fish a spot as there isn't alot of spaces to fish. This river used to be a 2 fish limit and once guys and gals had there limit they would step aside and let someone else fish . It would be nice just to get 1 fish now a days eh ;D . Anyhow that's just my opinion 8). I will be there this weekend I think . I usually hit the river November long weekend but the fishing has been so dismal for me over the last couple years I need to keep pounding away every opportunity I can get :P
-
Its a little bit late but I had to put this pic in here anyway. Thanks to Robl and Rod . It's not the greatest pic , I need to get used to the digital camera ;D This is the one fish of seven that day (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/albums/armytruck/Camping_006.jpg)
-
nothing wrong with that pic. nice haul armytruck.
-
:D a decent pic and a nice fish way to go :D
-
I thought last year was great for coho at the chehalis....have not been out yet because i usually fish it later.
-
lots of people fish the chehalis for coho. not everyone is going to blab about how good the fishing is on the internet. and that in some ways is a good thing. keeps the crowds manageable.