Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing Reports => Members' Fishing Reports => Topic started by: milo on April 19, 2008, 10:15:18 PM
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The weather this morning was wicked.
The wind was blowing with full force, and the snowline descended to the river banks.
That, however, didn't deter my buddy Tad and I from hitting the flow.
Apparently, few people were thinking the same, as there were very few anglers out there.
As a curiosity, when we drove over the KW bridge around 8 AM, there were no fishermen to be seen at all. NOBODY at KW - unfrigginbelievable.
Of course, fishing the KW area didn't even cross our minds - we wouldn't be caught dead there. We will gladly leave it to those that enjoy that kind of setting. ::)
We knew the weather was going to be c-c-c-cold, so we dressed accordingly.
It was just like in those days in January...thank Goodness for fleece gloves, as the wind was howling all day relentlessly.
Anyway, we hit one of the old standards in the mid river, and I had a huge dark fish on after a few casts. The fish was in the high teens and made short work of my 8-pound test leader. :-\ After losing that fish, I switched to plastic worms tied on 10-pound test - better safe than sorry.
We changed location several times until we finally arrived to my favourite spot. I'd rather not name it, as it gets enough pressure already.
As Tadeo and Zulu the Dog wandered off downstream, I remembered an old piece of advice from a veteran steelheader friend: "When the robins are out, forget the pink, go natural." So I tied on a brown plastic worm - the closest I had to the real thing.
Second cast into a tailout and the float went down with a vengeance! Fish ON!
It was a nice 10 pounder which I managed to tame in a few short minutes. Of course, not having anoyone around to help with the camera makes taking pictures quite the chore. Fortunately, the fish was hooked solid and proved to be quite cooperative, so I managed a few shots.
Here is one of the fish lying docile in the shallows:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/milivoj/SteelheadingApril008.jpg)
A closeup of the head to show the type of worm it fell for:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/milivoj/SteelheadingApril007.jpg)
And 'the shot' of the day. Heck, if you have an underwater camera, you ought to use it, right? ;D
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/milivoj/SteelheadingApril019.jpg)
This picture shows a wound in the mouth that had been inflicted by who knows whom, what or when... :-[
Not five minutes after releasing the fish, Tadeo showed up and when I told him I had just landed a fish, he promptly tied a similar worm on and got a fish on his first cast!!! LOL! Me thinks my buddy is now converted to non-pink plastic! :D I took a picture of his fish, but the camera was in movie mode, so all I have is a short movie, which I don't have the know-how to edit. It was a nice wild fish, similar in size and shape to the one I had landed. Unfortunately, once it came to hand, the fish didn't stay on Tad's hook long enough to allow for a photo-op.
After another fifteen minutes in that spot, we moved on to other venues, finishing the day below Tesky's rock. There were mayflies everywhere, and the swallows were feasting on them. Here's a macro shot of one of the flies that used my backpack as a resting platform:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/milivoj/SteelheadingApril010.jpg)
Except for one more very suspicious dipping of the float which produced nothing, that was it for the day.
One fish each to the beach, another lost in battle...all in all, a great day on the flow on a very cold and windy Saturday in late April. It sure felt like January. :o
The fish are still there for those who try hard. I will probably hit the flow one more time next weekend, and then I will start to gear up for some trout fishing in the interior. I am very much looking forward to it. :)
Tight lines to all,
Milo
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Great report and enjoyable pictures to view, glad you had some success braving the Winter weather here in Chilliwack.
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That's a great underwater shot.
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Didn't find a spot on that river where the wind wasn't howling ALL day...might not have been the best day to try out long bellied lines but what the heck...we left you two alone up there and Merc and I fought the good fight...Merc managed to catch a few...(himself and my line that is) ... Ended the day downriver with the swallows following us, sure wish it hadn't been as windy as it was as I had brought some drys to skate..but no way that was happening today...Glad you guys did Ok...Now i'm gonna have to tie natural colored rabbit strip flies?
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Good report, excellent pictures. ;)
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nice pictures and thanks for the report going out on monday to try my luck with the trusty spey and blue intruders cheers
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Beautiful pictures! I thought that was a real worm at first.
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Now i'm gonna have to tie natural colored rabbit strip flies?
Sure. As long as the robins are out. ;)
I thought that was a real worm at first.
Thankfully, the steelhead thought he same! ;D
Tad and Zulu left this morning for another crack at the elusive steelhead. I chose to stay home as I have a world of things to do related to my music making. (Plus, it seems that the weather hasn't changed much from yesterday, and I have had enough wind and cold for the weekend.)
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Your under water photo is much better than the ones I've attempted. I find it's a bit of a crap shoot because you don't know exactly what you're pointing the camera at unless you look through the view finder. And you know, call me a wimp, but at this point in the year I'm not up to ducking my head under the water to get a better view of the shot!
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very nice, ya in the warmer water downsizing to a natural coloured worm in the 4inch size does well.
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very nice, ya in the warmer water downsizing to a natural coloured worm in the 4inch size does well.
I would not say the water is "warmer water" as the last few days have been dreadfully cold.
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it is alot warmer than it was when we got those couple feet of snow i can tell u that
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The area we fished is not around Wilson Road, but you are bang on as to the general area. ;)
And you can bet it is much better than KW. It's in the middle of the bushes, between mountains, away from any vehicle traffic...without massive concrete pillars casting a shadow over me when I'm fishing. Some people may enjoy the setiing of KW, but I sure as hell don't.
There's no beauty in fishing in a man-made ditch. It may be productive, but it's ugly.
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Nice pictures milo. :)
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birdman is defending his most favourite spot :D
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so, the guy slays down there, just cus its the lower doesn't mean its any better or worse than the upper.
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yup im too lazy to drive and fish the upper as the lower is practically a stones throw and i know the lower well and how to fish it.
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yup im too lazy to drive and fish the upper as the lower is practically a stones throw and i know the lower well and how to fish it.
Exactly like me.... except I'm too lazy to WALK to the upper (but can anyone blame me ???) I love fishing the lower and mid because I know the spots like the back of my hand.... I can now walk in behind someone and pick one off right in front of them, I love that feeling, never use to be able to do that. Hopefully this "good luck" for Steelhead only continues into next year for me... and doesnt die off for me like someone else I know ;) (you know who you are ;D ;D ;D)