Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: CanadianDavid on June 11, 2009, 02:42:06 PM
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I have never done this before
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I want to add one more vital question - which spot is easy access form vancouver/burnaby/surrey? ;D
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Two words, you don't. ;) Well, you can, but the number of challenges makes catching them almost impossible.
There are several different ways of targeting any salmon species in the Tidal Fraser River. The two most popular ways are lure fishing and bait fishing.
The first three challenges that you face when targeting chinook salmon in the summer is - The large amount of water due to freshet, poor water clarity and the relatively low abundance of fish.
Unlike pink salmon, which are usually so abundant that you can see hundreds of them travelling along the edge of the shoreline, chinook salmon return is a lot smaller. You don't see signs of fish when fishing for them in the Tidal Fraser River except the occasional leap. Combining the low number of fish and the high volume of water, your chance of intercepting a fish is pretty slim.
Poor water clarity reduces the chance of fish seeing your lure. The alternative is to cast out some roe and anchor it on the bottom, hoping for a chinook salmon to find it. The problem with this style of fishing in July and August is the large amount of small fish like pikeminnow and sculpin that would peck on the roe. You can tie your roe into a mesh bag, but it does not solve the problem, simply delays the problem. Constantly rebaiting can become very frustrating.
Anyway, give it a go, but expect the success rate to be much lower than fishing in the Non-tidal Fraser River.
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that's great new photo of you Rod!!
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There are Chinook hooked in the tidal Fraser but the ones i know of were by accident while fishing for Pinks.
Dr Hook and myself were out in the boat casting spoons for Pinks and he had two Chinook on but lost them both and i know of others as well.
The river was incredibly clear that year also and i tried some various methods but never had any action at all.
Is a long shot but not impossible and one day someone will unlock the secret.
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ya would have loved to land those, oh well
Ive seen one or two caught in pink season on the lower but not many
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How about trolling spoons in the Richmond area? I have never done this or spoken with anyone who has, but I have hear rumors (my brother's, girlfriend's, dad's uncle's, co-worker's, step-nephew...) that it can be productive.
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Everyone's advice here is pretty much bang on... I wouldn't waste too much time targeting them specifically in the tidal area. I have, however, hooked one before while fishing for pinks, so it is possible just not very likely.
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try bar fishing for them. Check with Berry's bait as they will know lots of places to access the river. There are lots of bars to plunk roe on that give a chance at chinook. Just not many 15lb plus fish caught. A guy could even use the skytrain to surrey and fish under the patullo bridgge at brownsville bar.
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We tried Brownsville yesterday. Anchored the boat in front of the bar and fished little spin'o'glows + roe. Got skunked but saw 2 Jumpers close to shore and 3 or 4 seals were cruising around. Water was high and murky. Don't fish this bar alone in the evening... ;)
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Backtrolling spoons is what i would do...
They do it on the Columbia River for Chinook and they are pretty successful and the columbia around portland is kinda similar to the tidal portion of the fraser...
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I've caught some Jack springs chucking spoons in the tidal area around Fort Langley / Abbotsford but have never caught one over 10 pounds this way. This was way later in the year with lower water levels, so I don't know what the chances of catching one right now would be. It still beats being at work, and you never know what you might catch in the good old Fraser.
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how do you backtroll, Ive heard of this before but dont know how to do it
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Bar fishing with roe is your best bet early on like this. Duncan bar in Langley would be my first choice water height premitting. I got 2 adults and 3 or 4 jacks there last year.
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Here's (http://www.coastangler.com/fishing/backbouncing_backtrolling_chinook.shtml) an article describing backtrolling.