Another early start for yours truly as after a few chores at home and then a tour of the Vedder Canal area it was time for meetings and then the reward, a fishing trip.
Talked to a few fishers at KWB while I cleaned up a half a bag of garbage on the Yarrow side of the Vedder. They had nothing but so many mosquito bites they had to put on their chest waders to cut down on the biting area for the pesty critters. (By the way talking of garbage well done Pepsitrev cleaning up the garbage. Too bad more of us fishers would not take your lead and do the same. The 6 loonies help with the gas also.
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KWB seems to have gouged out a bit or is it the water is still a bit high. Personally I hope it stays this way as it will cut down as a holding area for fish that turns into a real snagging grounds that we have related about on this forum the last couple of years.
Next on the agenda was a meeting with the School Board chair person that Dennis and I worked with to get elected a couple of years ago. After a hour of politic talk off to pick up Jennifer at the Chilliwack Progress as she wanted to do a story on the garbage problems etc. on the Chilliwack River. More than happy to get some more publicity for the Chilliwack/ Vedder River Cleanup Coalition, especially with our next cleanup coming on July the 10th, a Saturday this time.
We meet Lew and Don from CVRCC along with Dave from the Chilliwack River Action Commitee at the Pointa Vista for coffee and for Jennifer to get her story. Might as well do two stories at once on the Tolmie clayslide work that will be starting shortly and on CVRCC's plans to partner with the Fraser Valley Regional District on adopting the sections from the Vedder Crossing to the Limits Hole.
We then head to the Boulder Hole and we are all very disgusted with the mess there. It was like a war zone with garbage scattered everywhere and trees chopped down for no apparent reason. As Dave said to the reporter "it is totally out of control".
Jennifer gets her photo's to go with the story and the 4 of us leave in a state of shock that so many people do not seem to care about our beautiful river, so sad. On the bright side the story will bring more attention to what we are doing to cleanup this sorry state of affairs and hopefully bring out more volunteers.
We will prevail and win this battle and have the river looking like it should be something we can all be proud of and enjoy that much more.
Then dropped off Jennifer at the News room and got ready for my bar fishing trip.
Picked up Dave and Gary at Island 22 and heard reports of good number of fish coming in, most caught by the other way. Was told by the gate keeper one fellow took 3 guests with him and the results was 4 springs all caught T.O.W ( New term for The Other Way)
We would of course would be bar fishing not T.O.W. ing.
To Maple Leaf bar of course and found the water visibility passable with a light rain falling that was a relief from the heat of the past few days.
3 rods quickly in the water armed with #0 Doctors, 2 red tops and one green being used by Gary. The time was about 4:30 giving us about 5 hours to fish. Only one other boat in the area and he was anchored.
Not long into the trip while I am going for a walk Gary's rod goes off with his old cow bell chimming as if calling people to church on Sunday. As I am closest to the rod I knew I better go for it.
It is really dancing a tune of a sure spring clinging to the good Doctor as I stride in my chest waders closing the ground as quickly as I could over the rocky bar and through the water with arms out stretched ready to grab the rod and set the hook. Even though it is not my fish it is exciting seeing the rod bending as the bell continues to rock and
roll . As soon as I reach the rod after the 15 second dash I think he is gone but I set the hook before handing Gary the rod as he has now also reached the scene of the action. "Gone" is all Gary says as he winds in the now fishless and limp line.
This early hit gives us confidence but it is to to no avail and our 3 rods remain stoic the rest of the trip. However a guide boat hooks onto a good fish of around 20 pounds and they draw anchor to net it in front of us.
The only other notable observation was a bloated cow or a steer that comes floating by us. Where and how it met its watery grave would be a mystery but by its condition it mostly likely came from some where at the top end of the Fraser or some other tributary. Maybe fell in while having a drink or thrown in by someone looking for and easy disposal, your guess is as good as mine, who knows.
We head to the launch and have a bit of trouble pulling out with the loaded trailer but the old carpet in the back of the truck when placed under the spinning wheel quickly has the Leaf Mobile and Leaf Craft #1 safely on solid ground.
A tip for those that do not know, pack a couple of pieces of old carpet with you, real good if you get stuck like I did or out on a gravel bar somewhere.
As I now look at my watch only 6 hours before I take CEJ and Bowie a fellow from Austrialia back to the same spot to start another adventure. I think with all the Springs in the system we will be successful.
I will be back with a report in a little over 12 hours of how big the fish we are going to get.
Good luck to all of you that are able to get out tomorrow
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Topic: A Busy Day In The Valley And A Fishing Trip to Boot, July 2 (Read 4595 times)