A pleasant welcome to members and guests once again to The Journal on Fishing With Rod.
For some reason I got a late start this morning, I should have been keen to be on the Vedder River at first light as I had not done much fishing the last few days due to the windy conditions.
As I pulled into the parking area I see lots of vehicles ahead of me but there is no anglers fishing where I wish to start my day.
Before I leave the Leaf Mobile I tie up a few roe bags and enjoy a few more sips of coffee. As usual the radio traffic reports from Vancouver are talking about the usual line ups and traffic accidents that happen every morning. Glad I am no where near this congestion.
As I sling the brood capture tubes over my shoulders I realize I have no hat. Darn left the Leaf hat at home and also I notice I have not replaced the foam float I have been using the last while after losing my precious Maple Leaf Drennan #1 last week.
As I head across the gravel bar I am pleased to see no wind blowing at all but there is a nip of Old Man Frost still in the air. Before I make my first cast I see a fish on in the run below me but it is lost.
My guides are freezing up some, I do the lazy way of clearing them by dipping them in the water. I have not made many casts before down goes the float. I am a little slow on the take as my cold hands slip off the handles of the centre pin as I clamp down. However I have connected and the fish is quite feisty as the ice on some of my guides sprays off as the line peels it away.
The fish heads downstream a bit but respects the pool so I do not have to follow it through some rapids which in this area would be a bit tricky. As I get it to the shore I see and release the small wild buck, no picture needed of this small but still a nice steelhead in its own right. Number 20 to the beach this season a bit of a milestone, like scoring 20 goals I guess you could say.
A couple of anglers check in below me but only make a few casts as they head above me. A fly chucker takes their place though and starts beating the water. His backcast was bouncing off the rocks behind him so I donot think he would have much of a point left on his fly.
I then see a angler coming down with a fish above me and the two anglers that went by me make there way to where I believe he landed the fish. Another angler arrives on the scene and goes above me. I slip a prawn tail on for a change of pace and a few casts later I am buried but donot make contact.
A while later with no second chance on the prawn tail I am back using a roe sac and I miss another fish twice in a different spot than the prawn tail bite.
A few casts later I am into a fish but it is acting very slugest with the thought it may be a dolly or trout. However as it comes to hand I see it is indeed a steelhead, the same one I had landed a few minutes before. No wonder it did not fight as it was tired from the previous tangle with me. Before I release it I snap a picture as this is the first time in many years of steelhead fishing I known that I have caught the same fish more than once. I believe "The Master" caught one around 5 times. Gullible fish to say the least.
With the fish now released I wonder if he is good for a third go around.
Do I count this fish as #21 or do I stay at #20?
All of a sudden the angler above me is into a fish and I scramble up towards him with a tube and we see it is a wild that the angler agrees to donate it for the brood capture program. In my haste to tube it I am not sure if it is a buck or a doe but I lend to a doe.
I phone the hatchery to see if they want more does as with 32 to date they may wish to wait a few days to get the final 3 or 4. Ron says he will take it even if it is a doe so I donot worry about checking it further for its gender.
While I wait for Ron a guest of this forum comes by and says one of the two anglers above has taken a nice hatchery fish. As we visit his partner is into one as well and his day ends as well. As I continue to wait, I fish but have no further chances. I guess the twice caught hatchery buck has learned its lesson.
Ron arrives right at 9:45 the time I have to go and look after 2 of the grandchildren. As Ron places the chrome steelhead in the tank Ron says it is a buck so that is good, giving the hatchery I believe 23, 12 or so from the hatcheries goal of 35
It is now time to turn from fishing to playing with the two grandsons and they keep me busy with all sorts of activities and roughing me up. I hope one day they will be able to enjoy fishing as much as me. Of course I and the rest of you must work hard to protect the fish and the habitat for mine and your families. I am sorry I keep harping on that theme but it is so important to me.
The two hours slip by quickly and I go to have my lunch and pick up some more prawn tails before back today's starting run.
I tie up some more roe bags and Steelhead King drops by for a visit, he is fly fishing today and tells me he is heading to the Cowichan, lucky guy. As I prepare to head back out to the run 2:40 phones and he has a couple of hours to fish. As he is heading my way I await his arrival. I show him where I caught my fish and where the other run the 3 where taken in. Before he leaves I give him some of the roe bags I had tied up and some prawn tails.
I tell him to go ahead as I will tie up some more fresh roe bags and procure the prawn tails.
2:40 has moved up to the "3 Fish Run" and I have just settled into 'The Starting Run" and using one of the freshly cured prawn tail I am into nice fish that clears the water a couple of times at the start of the battle. I can see it is not "twice caught steelhead'. I ring 2:40 on the cell and ask he could give me a hand with the tubing and as he trots down I have a bit of a problem keeping the fish from going down the rapids. However by giving the fish slack as this fish did they often will swim back upstream.
I snap a picture of 2:40 putting the hatchery doe in the tube followed by phone call to the hatchery once again. Jim will be doing the pick up this afternoon.
2:40 and I fish beside each other then I head and try at the top of the run. as it is nearly time for the hatchery truck to arrive I go back down towards 2:40 and actually slip around him and start casting.
A couple of casts and I am fortunate to be into another steelhead, how can this be with no Leaf hat and Maple Leaf Drennan Float.
Anyway this is another hatchery buck a little bigger than "twice caught steelhead". As I am planning it Jim arrives and we had hoped for another wild but it was not to be. 2:40 takes picture of me with my 3 rd or 4th
fish of the day.
Jim comes and he packs the tubed fish to the truck, I follow to get the tube back. With the fish safely in the tank and as we visit a bit we see 2:40 is into a fish.We grab the tube and head towards him hoping for another wild but we are only a few seconds from the truck and we see 2:40's line go slack. I hear later the 10 pound or so fish had flipped over on 2:40's line.
Jim then heads on his way and I enjoy a coffee and cleanup some garbage in the parking lot before 2:40 comes back as time for him to go. He was happy to have hooked a fish even though losing it. He just does not have the time to fish with a growing family.
I decide to end my day doing some exploring with a little over 2 hours to fish. As I head up river I am surprise to see no anglers at all in the area I am now fishing. It makes me wonder why some anglers complain there is too many anglers on the river. Here it is 2 hours of prime fishing time left and I have a good stretch of river to myself.
I fish a few good looking spots before heading down stream on another channel with an hour left in the day. I reach a spot with some logs in the middle of the river bed. With a roe bag on I cast below the logs, the float goes a few feet and drops from view. Before I strike I think I may have hooked part of another snag or log. As I strike I expect to feel something solid but instead I am pleasantly surprised to see the water erupt in silver.
This is my biggest fish of the day and I enjoy every moment of the tussle. As I tire her I let her drop over a riffle into a slack back channel where it is easy to release the 12 to 13 pound wild doe, a bundle of chrome, one of my nicest of the season. I snap a quick photo and she is on her way. I get to admire her further as she swims upstream to the dead end 3 foot deep channel before correcting her direction and quickly is gone from view, back into the main flow.
I fish the run a little longer and then move on, 45 minutes left. I am now on a cut bank and I spot a slick on the other side, 2 to 3 feet deep, a likely looking spot in the approaching darkness. First cast float down, prawn tail gone, new prawn tail attached. On the next cast I am into my 5th, 6th
fish of the day. The fish is on for a very short time and after a jump or two hook flies out. A few more casts before I head to "The 3 Fish Run", and "The Starting Run" but I have no further chances but after all the action I had today who needed more.
As the watch clicks to 5:50 I make my last cast and head to the Leaf Mobile the end of another great day on the Vedder.
As I skip back across the gravel bar I am very pleased with my results for the day but greater still it was to have a little fishing time with my son. It seems a long time ago now, when I was with him when he held his first fishing rod and caught his first salmon when he was only 3 years old. Here he is now, a man, one that I am very proud of for his accomplishments in life. Just being able to fish with him for as short of time as it was, was far more enjoyable than the fish I was lucky enought to catch today. It is now his turn to teach his children the great art of angling, have fun 2:40.
Pictures later.
Author
Topic: Catching The Same Steelhead Twice And Some Others, The Journal, Feb. 20 (Read 2391 times)