As always a warm welcome to all members and lurkers to another fishing journal on FWR.
After checking the lower river visibility last night I saw it was greatly improved over what is was earlier in the day when a report came in on FWR and said the visibility was only 6 inches.
This morning I had the feeling as we had no rain overnight the river conditions would be in perfect shape and I was not disappointed when I reached the river shortly after 7:30.
My morning fishing trip would have to be a short one as I had to be in the dentist chair at 9:10. Here it is a perfect day to be steelhead fishing and I schedule a dentist appointment.
With a number of down days with unfishable condition this year one wants to make the most of good water condition days. As well there is the brood capture program to consider as well.
As I made my first cast in the "Root Run" I thought the visibility was around 3 feet and the water level looked to be up around 6 inches after the heavy rain of Sunday night.
I had all the runs to fish to myself as there was no one else in the area. After finding no takers in the" Root Run" it was up to the KE but it too proved devoid of any fish. Back to the "Root Run" for a few casts, back to the KE in the hope a moving steelhead had taken up residents but no one home.
With about five minutes left before I should leave for the torture chambers I thought I would make a few more casts in the "Root Run" on the way out. As I approached it and before I made a cast I see out of the corner of my eye a couple of hundred yards away is Joe, perched on a rock. I see the strike and a fish break water almost simultaneously.
Even though I do not know of course if its a wild or a hatchery I make tracks towards Joe. When I reach him all out of breath he tells me it is a wild fish, close to 13 and a buck as well which apparently they are short of for brood. I am happy to hear it is a wild as I have not been able to catch or get a wild fish from another angler for exactly 2 weeks, it was making me feel I was letting my part of the program down.
The Chilliwack Hatchery and staff which by the way do great work in providing hatchery fish for you and me it means we volunteers must do all we can to help the staff get to their quota of around 70 wild steelhead for the program.
Joe has hooked the steelhead in a tough place to try to tube the steelhead so he decides to work the fish down to a more suitable landing place. I snap a few shots as Joe battles the silver bullet through some fast water. Joe of course is a very experienced angler and he skillfully balances himself amongst the rocks until he reaches a gravel bar. The fish is still full of fight but Joe works it into a perfect spot for me to slip it into the holding tube. The fish as I said was a good size and as we slip him into his new darkened home there is just a few inches to spare.
As I check my watch I am 10 minutes away from the confinds of my own, the dentist chair.
Every time I tube a fish I worry like a granny about its well being and this is to be the first time I have had to leave a fish unattended over many years of catching brood stock and for the telemetry study.
Joe and I tie the tube up well then with Joe saying 'I will keep a eye on him for you" made me feel a little better as I knew he would now be in good hands. Helmut and Mavis arrive on the scene as I made one last check on that precious cargo that is now resting and gaining back his strength that was sapped through the encounter with Joe. Things looked good as I zipped the tube closed for the last time.
I thought this might happen, that I would be in a rush to meet my 9:10 appointment so I had brought a marker to tie on the tree for Ron to get the spot of the fish when he arrived. When I contacted the hatchery Ron was just picking up another fish from "The Master", # 27 fish to date, making the one Joe had donated #28 as we near the halfway mark in just over 2 weeks. As I have to head for my appointment Helmut is good enough to tie the marker for me as I gumboot it to the Leaf Mobile, it is now under 5 minutes to drilling time and I am 15 minutes away from the dentist office.
As I head toward town I phone the office and tell them I will be a tad late because............ Karen says it is OK as we are late too.
Ever heard of a Dentist or a Doctor being on time unless you are the first patient of the day unless they are fisherman too.
As I arrive it is nearly 9:30 and I think to myself, should I be the first patient to sit in a dentist chair in chest waders.
It is bad enough to smell of roe but hey maybe not a bad idea as it may make the procedure go quicker and I can get back out there again.
I think better of it as I strip down to my dress clothes under the bundle of outerware.
In no time I am in the chair and I explain to Doctor Mario and his assistant what made me late and show them the pictures on the camera for proof.
It is now my turn to feel the pinch of the hook (needle) and as the freezing takes hold my hour long appointment begins.
The time seems to pass quickly as I take my mind off the drilling by thinking of all the steelhead those anglers out fishing must be getting.
Now free from the chair I head back to the river but first pick up the now empty tube at Fred's where I had asked Ron to drop it. On the way to another fishing area I meet Ron coming back with brood fish # 29, one that I learn later sthdslayer had caught.
I phone Ron to ask if everything went well with Joe's fish and thankfully it did.
I reach my next targeted spot and find the run loaded with anglers so I fish some secondary runs. After about 25 minutes all the anglers have gone to greener pastures, I pop up to the head of the run slipping on a newly tied roe bag.
After about 10 minutes of fishing time on once again a way too long of a drift the Maple Leaf Drennan is gone scuba diving.
I strike, a nice brief head shake and the tussle is on. This fish seems strong and I think by the way it is acting it is a good sized fish as it is fighting harder than some 12 pound fish I have landed.
The battle is longer too. I think after landing 12 fish so far with a 2 wild , 10 hatchery ratio this by the odds should be a wild for the tube.
As I get it to shore I am wrong on two counts, another hatchery and I estimate the silver sided doe is about 10 pounds. As I need a fish for a upcoming dinner it becomes a # 4 casualty on this years tag.
With about 45 minutes left in brood capture time I wait around snacking on some smoked fish, waiting if some now new arrival anglers can produce a wild but nothing is hooked. I now head to Fred's to weigh the fish in and it is not quite 9 pounds.
It is then off to Tim's for an afternoon coffee with Terry where we run into a couple of old time local anglers, D and E who seem to be more interested in drinking coffee, talking about the good old days than out there catching them.
Buckeye and partner John both on a work coffee break join Terry and I and we talk about Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Coalition issues.
Time to head for home for the Leaf game but as I get close to home I get a call from the local Conservation Officier who wants to meet about the recent 4 by 4 issue at the Vedder Canal.
As I am near home he agrees to stop in at the house and for an hour we talk about this and other issues.
It turns out what they were doing in this case at the Vedder Canal was presently not against the law and no charges can be laid as it looks like it would not stand up in court. :(Maybe in the future some changes in legislation could take place.
As a stop gap measure some deterrents could still take place in the area and another designated place in the area could be developed for there activities. Hopefully the participates in this activity would co operate that to me would benefit everyone. If they do not the area could still be gated off as the up and down driving on the side dykes can cause dyke problems and for these reasons if the area is closed to all users we will know who caused this to happen.
With the meeting with the CO I missed half the Leaf game that they lost in overtime.
All in all a 50/50 day. On the plus side, a wild fish for the tube and a hatchery fish for the table.
The down side, a visit to the dentist, a Leaf loss, and a loss of some riparian zone.
O, that is not 50/50 but wait, the Master also got a hatchery, close to 12 pounds just before dark so it was a even day after all, maybe.
Tomorrow is another day, another journal, and maybe a trip with "The Master".
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Topic: A Wild One, The Dentist, Then A Hatchery, Vedder River, Last Day Of January (Read 2898 times)