Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: chris gadsden on January 08, 2007, 04:08:20 PM
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First it was the Riverside Restaurant that was demolished a few days ago now the tenants of the cabins are cleaning out their stuff today as the dozen cabins are going to be flattened tomorrow.
Originally they were to be for fisherman to stay in but they turned into something else. I wonder what will replace all this now. It is such a beautiful setting for a modern day restaurant and hotel but getting loans, permits etc. would be difficult being so close to the river that in a highwater event the area is always threatened.
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Lots of garbage down there. Going into the river.
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Photos posted for Chris. Log in to view.
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Shame to see the cabins and restaurant go, wonder why they were so poorly missmanaged. I don't think there is a better location on the river for fishermans accommodations and a restaurant, I remember eating breakfast there a few times thinking that it could be a goldmine. Just hope a developer hasn't bought the land up to throw in some condos ::).
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i think it would be cool to see the spot turned into a park setting, picnic tables and maybe lease out spots for a portable vendor... like a burger stand on wheels or something. I'm sure any condo type development would be in the same boat as far as insurance due to high water events... at least let's hope so
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No, these are the ones by the Vedder Crossing Bridge.
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Lots of history there at the old kypers cafe... Was the property sold?
I remember weighing in many a steelhead there, with photos with them out front... Ah, memories!
The most notable story was one morning, while fishing with a friend of my dad's who will remain nameless...
We were fishing steelhead along the back of tamihi, right behind the old ways field, and we came upon this hole... In not more than 15 minutes, the three of us hooked 5 steelhead, and dad and I had brought in ours to be weighed.
We had decided to keep it quiet, and named the spot the helicopter hole for future reference.
Well we walked up the stairs, and he flings open the door only to exclaim "I JUST HAD THE BEST 15 MINUTES OF STEELHEADING IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!"
Well all of the guys sitting quietly eating breakfast dropped their forks, put down their coffee and spun around. You could have heard a pin drop in that place!
Needless to say, the next morning, vehicles were crawling in slow motion up and down the backroad, of course the recognized our trucks. And our hole that was built for 4 turned into a hole built for 8...
By the morning after that, there were 17 guys in that hole, and none of them were us.
This story is one of the many reasons I don't fish with many people, it's just too dangerous :)
Long live Kypers... Good times!
Nicole
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Lots of history there at the old kypers cafe... Was the property sold?
I remember weighing in many a steelhead there, with photos with them out front... Ah, memories!
The most notable story was one morning, while fishing with a friend of my dad's who will remain nameless...
We were fishing steelhead along the back of tamihi, right behind the old ways field, and we came upon this hole... In not more than 15 minutes, the three of us hooked 5 steelhead, and dad and I had brought in ours to be weighed.
We had decided to keep it quiet, and named the spot the helicopter hole for future reference.
Well we walked up the stairs, and he flings open the door only to exclaim "I JUST HAD THE BEST 15 MINUTES OF STEELHEADING IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!"
Well all of the guys sitting quietly eating breakfast dropped their forks, put down their coffee and spun around. You could have heard a pin drop in that place!
Needless to say, the next morning, vehicles were crawling in slow motion up and down the backroad, of course the recognized our trucks. And our hole that was built for 4 turned into a hole built for 8...
By the morning after that, there were 17 guys in that hole, and none of them were us.
This story is one of the many reasons I don't fish with many people, it's just too dangerous :)
Long live Kypers... Good times!
Nicole
Is it that the reason they block the back road ? :D :D :D :D :D
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Lots of junk around those cabins, a bunch of it ends up back in the River. >:(
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I saw these 'cabins' for the first time on Saturday morning. It was like the fu*&in' dawn of the dead or something. Creepy weirdos poking their heads out of one room shacks that are in a state of absolute disrepair. I have seen some run down trailer parks in my lifetime but I couldn't even frickin' believe it. As we arrived there and got out of the car, a guy ripped into the middle of the 'cabins' courtyard with his Honda Civic, proceeded to do 5 or 6 donuts in the mud slough right there in the courtyard, picked up some scabby broad and floored it out of there shooting mud and trash all over the place. The look the woman gave me as they burned by us made my spine shiver. Then, some coolio pulls up with a crap eating grin on his face and offers us some 'bait' he is selling. Considering the place and time and that fact there was no fishing gear in his vehicle, we declined as I didnt recall crack rocks working on any type of fish other than greasy ones. We had been there no more than 20 minutes at this point. I felt embarrassed that I was fishing in such a location and vowed to never hit that place again. Now that the cabins will be destroyed and the heaps of dirty grocery bags and smashed up televisions will be removed I think that place will be much better off and will consider going back to that spot.
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The only problem is that they will probably move elsewhere on the river. :(
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correct me if im wrong I seem to recall Helmers running that restaurant years back that place had some history all right I can remember going in there for breakfast in the seventies there were some good stealheaders around back then yep some good memories all right
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I believe you are right.
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I'm posting these photos for Lew, who will be sharing his story later on. These photos were taken in 1961.
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/albums/lewchater/riverside1.thumb.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/lewchater/riverside1) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/albums/lewchater/riverside2.thumb.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/lewchater/riverside2) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/albums/lewchater/riverside3.thumb.jpg) (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/lewchater/riverside3)
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cool... 8)
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yeah those are some cool pics was looking for my Grandpa amongst the crowd but cant make faces out now I think the limit back then was 6 a day :'( ponder that for a while
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Thanks for posting my pictures Rodney.
That area certainly has good memories for me. In the second picture, I lived in the house at the top right hand corner of the picture in l946 and when the present bridge was being built in 1948.
The first derby I saw at the Riverside Resort was in l945. It was owned at that time by Bill Simpson, and had some quite nice cabins out behind the store. There were also several other cabins along the roadside heading up the hill. Good friends of mine owned the Resort in l961, family name Taylor.
Helmers were several owners later and I believe were the owners when it burned down.
The original Resort had a nice little hall, that you can see the doors opening into in the first picture. Many social events and dances held in there.
In the second picture you can see the tops of the gas pumps that you had to hand pump to fill the glass containers with the gallons marked on the side of the glass. I recall that gas was about 35 cents / gal.
The first derbies you could not use your cars, and each fisherman had to have a "judge-witness", accompany him to make sure all the fishing rules and etiquette were followed. At the time of the pictures you were allowed two fish and of course they were all wild fish.
I know that earlier than that you were allowed 3 fish, but I don't recall a limit of 6 as in Darmin's reply, but that could have been the case much earlier than the forties.
The fellow with the trophy in the third picture is a friend of mine, but the trophy is not for the Kingfish, maybe second or best club member. That is me in the light coat looking on with envy, as I didn't have any in that derby. I did win the Junior section in 1953.
The cabins that are being torn down now were moved ealier, can't remember the year, from Cultus Lake.
As Nicole said, Kypers ran a good cafe when it was rebuilt, but it never had the same atmosphere as the old Riverside Resort.
It is a shame to see this area so run down and shabby, as the location is a jewel of a spot with lots of history. It would be nice to see some kind of restaurant, fishing associated business go in there to maintain the long standing history of this great spot.
Hope you enjoy the pictures and some of the history of this area. Lew
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you would know much better than I Lew as you experienced it first hand Im just going on what I can remember my grandad telling us anyway you must have some great memories take care :)
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Very nice stories, just great Lew, thanks for sharing. I hope we can hear more stories from you and pictures too about "the good old days".
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More guys in those photos than in a Surrey Mosque. Speaking of Surrey, if that happened here the place would be replaced by a Jiffy Lube, Chevron and a meat/video/cardigan store. I did catch a Steelhead right there once.
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Man, if those walls can talk. :)
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I'm an old guy. It would not be good idea for those walls in the original Riverside Resort to talk. ;D
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I have good memories of it too Nicole.
I remember fishing across the way from the restraunt and taking a bad step off 'my rock' and going in up almost to my waist. No one ever said anything, but I wonder if anyone was watching and having a good laugh. It probably was a flash of movement as I was in and out and back on 'my rock' in a flash like nothing happened until the cold drove me to my car. :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
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Any idea what is happening? Why are the cabins and the old cafe being demolished?
It was a half decent cafe only a few years ago (3 or 4 yrs). It was a great place to pop into for a quick brecky. The guy who ran it was an avid fisher and offered a free breakfast for the first steelhead of the day to be weighed in. The cabins were mainly rented to welfare tenants but were pretty clean. The owner used to claim that John Wayne used stay in one of the cabins in the 1950's. I don't know if that was true or not and but I liked believing that he did.
What a location! I sure something river/fishing friendly will go on this site.
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I get an incredible feeling when I look at pics like that, make you really wonder what it was like then , makes me wish I could travel back and experience it for myself !!!Thanx for sharing those great moments with us Lew
TR :)
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Not to let the cat out of the bag as I do not have all the details of what is going in there but the story will be in the Chilliwack Progress today. ;D ;D ;D
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I have good memories of it too Nicole.
I remember fishing across the way from the restaurant and taking a bad step off 'my rock' and going in up almost to my waist. No one ever said anything, but I wonder if anyone was watching and having a good laugh. It probably was a flash of movement as I was in and out and back on 'my rock' in a flash like nothing happened until the cold drove me to my car. :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
Yes this was a focal point for what was happening on the Chilliwack Vedder River. I often wondered how many eyes were watching when we were fishing in the vicinity. Many steelhead were caught in view of the peering eyes sitting around the long table. ;D ;D ;D Hopefully the new building that will soon arise from the ashes to start another part of this rivers fabled history. I wonder if we will be able to enter it wearing dirty waders? ???
Who will be the first to have their picture taken with a steelhead in front of the new establishment?
Pictures like Lew has provided are just great, maybe others will have some to post as well. I know I have some but they are quite recent, will dig them up one day.
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Eddy...those cabins were not there in the 50's. They were brought down from Cultus Lake after the Riverside Resort burned down. There used to be cabins behind the Resort but these were also demolished earlier. My dad stored his Model T Ford in one of the sheds behind the resort. I knew most of the people who lived in those original cabins during the 50's and I can pretty well guarantee that John Wayne wasn't one of them. ;D although it is interesting how stories and legends build up about special areas.
The breakfasts for the first steelhead of the day at the newer building were always good and the menu had names like Steelhead Special etc.
It would be great to be able to stop in there again for a breakfast and coffee!
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Not to let the cat out of the bag as I do not have all the details of what is going in there but the story will be in the Chilliwack Progress today. ;D ;D ;D
Article now up on the Chilliwack Progress Web page.
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Have enjoyed many meals at the Riverside Cafe with my brother and nephew over the years. Nice to be able to eat breakfast without having to take off your waders.
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Any idea what is happening? Why are the cabins and the old cafe being demolished?
The property is being redeveloped. Apparently a housing development on the hillside behind where the cabins were, and condos where the restaurant/cabins were. It sounds as if that area will look very different in the future.
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Yes, I remember the sign, $299,900 for 10 acres...
I wanted to buy it, but I didn't have that kind of money to buy bare land... 35% downpayment is just too much...
Needless to say it sold pretty fast.
Too bad, I would have torn down riverside and made a riverside pub... Complete with everything angling...
cheers,
Nicole