Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: vlad777 on October 26, 2008, 08:55:44 PM
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Hello everyone I am new to this forum, I have been fishing for salmon for over 8-9 years now during which I mostly enjoyed success. Unfortunately this year is my worst year to date. I have fished the chilliwack starting in about late september and every weekend on untill about october 20th or so. I was mostly around the railroad bridge area, All that time I saw no Spring, I caught only 2 cohos and endless chum. I was just wondering did I miss the main runs of spring / cohos or what? because every time during the last seasons I land about 2-5 chinooks and the odd coho every time, but this season nothing :( .
Well anyways enough of the wining :) , My situation is this. I heard that the chehalis canyon was a good spot to fish so I headed up there with my dad today. under the bridge and upwards about 500 meters was all full of chum, so I decided to hike up stream. I hiked for about 20 minutes and walked down the first path that led down to the river. As i got down there were about 7-8 fishermen in the area with 2 having 1 coho each and another guy with a fairly fresh chinook. This was my very first time out at the canyon and I really enjoyed the scenery and clear water, unfortunately I had to time to fish because I had to get going , so I didn't even cast my rod in once.
My question is are there any more places to fish in the canyon if I keep hiking further upstream, and is there a difference in the quality of fishing comparing if you go higher upstream? I am really eager to hook into my first chinook this season and also get a few coho so is now a good time to fish the canyon at all?
I am planning on headind fishing with my dad in 2 days and as well this friday or saturday if you have any information on good rivers/spots to fish for chinnoks/cohos would be VERY much appreciated as I am a depressed fisherman right now :( as I have not caught much of anything this season. sigh :) .
ps I am comfortable with fishing with jigs, wool, not so much roe.
Thank you in advance.
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Stay away from the
canyon thats my spot! LOL!
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HEHE now that I went there once I will probably never stop fishing there.
Just such a beautiful place, I hope the fishing is great to ;D
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Vlad,
don't sweat it, I've been coming up there the past 9 or so years and have never seen fishing this poor. Just hoping to write it off as a bad year and knock them dead next year.
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well it did seem like a bad year in general i guess, but still not seeing a single spring caught and only getting 2 cohos all season is quite bad luck on my part :-\ . Well I still don't want to write the season off, still hoping some other river heats up. Only thing is I am quite a noobie when it comes to other rivers. I have only fished the chilliwack river in my life. So aside from todays trip to chehalis canyon I havent fished anything other then chilliwack :( .
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hey vlad the chinooks at chehailis were pretty ugly for the most part but below the canyon and even below the bridge you crossed some very nice fish are in. i got 3 hatch coho today as crome as i have ever seen them in two diffeent spots. i use jenson eggs and little peach wool.
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WOW RHINO THATS NICE TO HEAR :) because the walk to the canyon pools is quite tiring so if I would go to your spot that would be nice ). how far down from the bridge were you standing if its not a secret? And also are their any boundaries for fishing that river?
Thanks for the good news ( always nice to hear about coho being caught).
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My friend and I hooked into a pile of springs in the Vedder this year from early september. I think you missed the bulk of the run when you started late September. The springs were in very early this year compared to past years. I saw several chrome spring landed last week in the lower river so there is still the odd one around. We've also done well on coho, but I agree with most that this has not been a good year for coho.
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Been to the canyon but will not return. To risky when you have loved ones at home that count on you to return from fishing. I have found much easier areas to fish with just as much luck hooking fish. Although it is a very nice area to fish the risk hiking in has lost it's appeal.
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well after cut and pasting on all the websites the exact same plea , i hope you gotten the idea that its a tad bit dangerous and really not for inexperienced fisherman , Ive got many stories of people i know or know of that wont fish in there anymore due to injuries, near falls, near drownings etc etc, you said you were willing to bring rope in one of your replies tells me that you better stay away, honestly a coho is not worth it in my opinion to go to such great lengths.
I couldn't have said it better cammer . You are right , it is a dangerous path for the inexperience hiker in that canyon at this time of year . Those wet soggy maple leafs ( no pun intended Chris ;D ) the size of a sz 12 boot can take you for a ride of your life if you don't watch your step . 18 years ago one took me for a ride on the slope in the canyon , sprained ankle , sprained wrist and a goose egg :P , no coho for me that day or for that season . Be very careful up there !!! EVERY ONE
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I fished the canyon a lot in the seventies and the eighties. most of the time we drove up the prison road (across from hatchery) had three different spots we fished, always had great fishing. my old partners are not on shape for canyon climbing and I guess I'm a little lazy myself. We also would drive up the road to chehalis lake and take some of the old logging roads down towards the river. at 7 mile we cut a trail from the end of the old logging road to the river with power saws, we thaught we were sneaky by starting the trail about twenty feet of the side of the road. I fished the falls pool a few times but it was a nasty climb down. my cousin slipped and fell on the last chute above the falls pool. knocked himself out fortunatly did'nt end up in the river. went in for steelhead once, every thing was frozen with snow on the ground. the group before us had strung out ropes which we used. upon arriving at the falls pool, they informed us that we leave or they would taking their ropes with them. did'nt need the hassle so we left. can recall times that I had my rod in my mouth so I could use both hands. It's a young mans game. NEVER fish the canyon alone!
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At least you got 2 cohos!!! I fishedthe Vedder for 17 years and this is the only year I have yet to touch a coho.
I tried fishing the canyon a couple times but I gave up because I do not think its worth it.
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I won't fish the canyon. Not for a mere fish. Seen too many search & rescue teams there in the last 20 years of my fishing life. Not worth all that for a fish which you can catch any other spot.
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It's even dangerous to spread your ashes there, after you died falling off the trail, or wadding off the the gravell into the swift current.
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shouldl the chehalis be fishable after this weeknend since alot of rain is expected to fall?
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shouldl the chehalis be fishable after this weeknend since alot of rain is expected to fall?
Yes fingers definitely crossed :-\.
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Regarding the Canyon.
Is there another way up there besides walking up the hill and hike to the second pool. Last time I fished there was 7 years ago. During the last year at the Canyon I fell into the river at the cliff area near the bottom where you have to climb near the straight edge of the cliff. Lucky I didn't go down the river as I fell into the u section of the cliff edge. I was kind of twirling around until my hands caught the cliff.
There is another way to get up there by driving and all you do is a little hike down to the pool. Getting older now I don't think I want to try the cliff again. Don't want to look for my flashlight as its probably still there at the bottom of the pool where I fell in.
Can some one pm me and give me a detail description of how to drive to the area and do a small hike. Rather than parking below at the camp ground area and the 30 min hike up and down the mountain to the second pool and the risk of falling in again.....getting old now. I appreciate the help. Thanks, cohoking
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;D With all of the rain forecasted over the next few days the water must be really running fast in the canyon... I would not want to hike the steep trail up there. There must be an alternate route with the 4x4 getting in... :-\
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There is no easly way into the canyon ...... thats why it's call the canyon lol ;D and not park and fish ...... all the hike in areas i have been to and found in my fishing time are hard to get at.
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Don't go alone. One slip and you could really injure yourself badly, and if you don't have someone to help you out you will have a hard time climbing out. Also good felt or aquastealth soles on a pair of boots with excellent ankle support are mandatory in the canyon. I have seen too many fishermen with lousy boots slip on the way down or slide off slippery rock and injure themselves.
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Years ago about this time I was fishing the Chehallis between the Easter seal and the Hatchery. A guy and his buddy went into the canyon and one of them slipped off his perch and was swept away. I remember that day the river was dropping fast from the last days rain. I remember the search and rescue helicopter buzzing up an down the river at what seemed like 30 - 40 feet above me. The noise was short of deafening.I could see the prop wash churn up the water when the pilot flew low over the places where there was no one fishing. 3 divers swam down past me looking for the guy in the log jams and boulders and the overhanging brush. They found his body caught up in log boom cables near New Westminister in March. He was only 32 years old.
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I was up at chehalis this afternoon, just up from the morris valley bridge, and fishing was no good. I was there for about three hours, and only got a couple of nibbles and one fish that spit my hook in like ten seconds. The river seemed hgher that I am used to seeing it, but that is normally when I am there to rockclimb in summer
Dave
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Oh ya and I forgot to mention that the river looked like neo citran with not enough water. Cloudy
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Has anyone drifted the canyon from Statlu down? At normal water levels, is it do-able? I know it gets kayaked from higher than that.
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I have a 10' raft, not just a pontoon. Water levels this weekend are ruling it out for me, but it's something I would like to try this year. I've hiked a good chunk of that canyon over the years, but there are definitely areas I haven't been.
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I replied on another site with this
*cut and paste*
99% of the river upstream from the Morris Valley Rd Bridge is canyon water with deep pools and runs. If the fish are in, each pool will have Coho in it from about now till March.
Most of the canyon is inaccessable unless you bushwack and then descend with ropes.
I've tubed the entire river from the bridge below the lake all the way to the bridge at Morris Valley Road.
It was a 10 hour tubing trip.
Both times were in early August. I looked into the water in many pools and runs and counted numerous Summer Run Steelies. As we got towards the end, there were several pools filled with Summer Red Chinook. One pool over 30 feet deep we counted over 70 Chinook alone.
I've thought about tubing the river and bringing fishing gear, but its pretty unrealistic. A few kms above the Statlu Creek confluence is an impassible waterfall that must be hiked around. This hike took about 40 minutes with our tubes.
The second time we tubed, we walked down Statlu Creek and tubed about 10 kms to Morris Valley Rd. There are actually more fish in this bottom half of the river then the upper 10kms...or at least going by my counts. This trip only took 5 hours to tube.
Just a word of caution. There are some beautiful pools directly above and below the Statlu Creek confluence, but once you go down the creek you CANNOT get back up. Towards the bottom of Statlu Creek, you must float from wall to wall in a canyon that has a 30 foot + deep pool. Its easy to get down, but you'll never get back up...if there is any current at all. I suppose super low water it might be possible.
Anyways....the rest of the pools below Statlu Creek would require bushwacking and/or ropes to get into.
There are a couple of secret spots that guys go into, where there is 'reasonable' access, but good luck finding someone to tell you where they are. You can go up the west side too, and there is a logging road that will bring you close to a few spots as well.