Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing Reports => Members' Fishing Reports => Topic started by: Steely on September 02, 2009, 02:57:35 PM
-
Not in the numbers of fish but still one to remember. Got down to the lower Fraser at ten or so and I had just bought some pink flies to try on the island this weekend and decided to try them on the fraser. Brought out the 6 wt. and on the 5th cast I hooked into something. I originaly thought it was a squafish but then it took off. I was into my backing and the fish was 100m down river. I just realized I had a trout leader on which was 3lb test. By now I had the fish down river and I caught up to it. Now I had to land it. After some slipping on the rocks we landed it. I am now 1 for 6 in pinks and my first ever salmon on the fly. Needless to say all my pinks will now be on the fly ;) we had the one school go through but other then that it went dead. Good luck to all and another few days it will be good :)
-
Nice work steely. It's a whole different ballgame with the flyrod isn't it :)
-
went out for a couple hours in the south arm, saw one little school go through and saw someone hook into one. Might try again tonight before the rains come
-
I am heading out in about 30 minutes. Its almost addictive right now. I am 0-1 and you just never know when they will come in big numbers so you keep going, and going and going LOL
-
It is addictive. I have been down 12 days in the last two weeks. I almost can say I deserved that fish ;) heading out tomorrow too. I am going with the fly from now on ;D
-
I am heading out in about 30 minutes. Its almost addictive right now. I am 0-1 and you just never know when they will come in big numbers so you keep going, and going and going LOL
i thought u moved to the island already last year? good to have another hotrod back.
-
Today was the day to remember for sure... Full story to come. ;)
-
i thought u moved to the island already last year? good to have another hotrod back.
18 months over there. Moved back because I know everyone missed me ;)
OK here is my story tonight.
Screw the logical tide scenarios where they should be there during the incoming to peak high tide. Two nights in a row I have tortured myself with this. So here is what happened. I show up 2 hours before the peak tide. I am walking towards the water and I see fish finning and jumping. Quickly I get my rod together and make some casts. I get one on and lose it a few seconds into the fight. 5 minutes later it just dies. I fish for another 2.5 hours and past the peak high tide. Not one more fish surfaced ( well other than a few sturgeon )
Tomorrow I am going against everything logical and fishing inbetween both the low and high tides in the afternoon. We'll see what happens.
-
18 months over there. Moved back because I know everyone missed me ;)
OK here is my story tonight.
Screw the logical tide scenarios where they should be there during the incoming to peak high tide. Two nights in a row I have tortured myself with this. So here is what happened. I show up 2 hours before the peak tide. I am walking towards the water and I see fish finning and jumping. Quickly I get my rod together and make some casts. I get one on and lose it a few seconds into the fight. 5 minutes later it just dies. I fish for another 2.5 hours and past the peak high tide. Not one more fish surfaced ( well other than a few sturgeon )
Tomorrow I am going against everything logical and fishing inbetween both the low and high tides in the afternoon. We'll see what happens.
I have had most of my luck mid morning and I never watch tides as I have had the same amount of luck at all tides. However on the incoming tide I have found the fish become more willing to bite but not as many around.
-
Hooked into one fish but lost it after 30 -40 sec. ...but the pinks were all over again ...surfacing...20 ft ...50 ft etc... in the Sandheads area. The fish were also moving in in big swarms 1-2 miles up river from the lighthouse jumping...finning... BUT they were also in big numbers right from the port of Steveston.... imagine many east of there as well........... should be great fishing in the Richmond area for the next week or more....& up river. (if the rains hit the pinks will really be moving or should anyways.) Next time I'm bring a casting rod & am going to put a buzz bomb into the pack of surfacing fish) But regardless of getting no landed fish... it was a special day as it was so beautiful !!! Sun... no wind...nature...& seeing so many boats out on the river & Sandheads........must of been 50 or so ...(spread out today)...& seeing so many on the shore of Gerry Pk... it's a great relaxation & good for the mind ... in this "crazy world" (ha)...GOING TO OUT SMART THESE FISH YET....my lureS went past literally 100's -1000's of pink & they just ignored it.
-
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=140
-
Nice story Rod - 'The pink fever begins!'
Wonder if the boss would let take the day off tomorrow ??? - I feel a chill coming on with aches and pains.. ah choo.. ;D
-
I feel a chill coming on with aches and pains.. ah choo.. ;D
WOW Your condition sounds bad, you better take a few days off.
-
Wonder if the boss would let take the day off tomorrow ??? - I feel a chill coming on with aches and pains.. ah choo.. ;D
Tell your boss that you have contracted the Swine flu. Guarantee he will give you a few days off, perhaps a week or so :)
-
Rod - you should actually check the PSC test fishing stats to see the Pinks are more or less on track with the historical records of the past several years. Only 2003 saw a significant number enter the river in last 10 or 15 days of August and the first big wave normally comes in early in the month of Sept with a further surges into Sept. One key has been the change in the weather. Cooler temperatures, overcast and a bit of rain will trigger a surge of fish of all species.
However telling peopel they should be there by the last ten days is sure a good way to sell a lot of extra tackle and create some buzz on the web site. Happy pink fishing everyone!
-
Great story Rod, the pictures as well.
I spent an hour on Deas Island casting and talking with a couple guys with no hits between us, another guy showed up and caught one on his second cast....it was small too just like the ones in Rodney's blog.
-
Hi Ralph, not sure where I've given the impression that the big mass of the run would be here earlier as I agree with you that they are right on track, like I stated in this post:
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=21409.msg203709#msg203709
While my business involves generating angling interest, my intent is not to deceive people so I could generate business for my advertisers. I hope that was not the suggestion here.
-
I just looked over the PSC website regarding the pink runs. I went back as far as 2003. Not one year is consistant with the other. In 2003 they had a great run with big numbers coming in all the way into the third week of September. 2005, and 2007 both never had pinks in the third week of September.
The best thing is to head out and keep at it. When they come they come. The best plan of attack is to get out a few hours before the peak high tide
-
The best plan of attack is to get out a few hours before the peak high tide
So the "screw the conventional logic" plan didn't pan out or you havent tried it yet? :D I was into half a dozen or so yesterday and the new fisherman I brought with me caught his first salmon ever.....what a great way to introduce somebody to fishing. About an 8lb buck too....marinating as I'm posting this !
lets see what this afternoon brings :D Hoping for a gong show !!
-
So the "screw the conventional logic" plan didn't pan out or you havent tried it yet? :D I was into half a dozen or so yesterday and the new fisherman I brought with me caught his first salmon ever.....what a great way to introduce somebody to fishing. About an 8lb buck too....marinating as I'm posting this !
lets see what this afternoon brings :D Hoping for a gong show !!
Well this morning I showed up about an hour before the peak tide. Fish were jumping and I missed one. About 15 minutes later they were gone and 2 more hours of fishing and maybe a total of 3 fish jumped. I have a feeling I missed it by about an hour ( which would mean I would have had to start fishing in the dark at 5am, no thanks ) So new plan of attack today is showing up about 3 hours before the peak high tide. 3rd time is the charm right ;)
-
Hey Rod - think I was referring your "Each day when no fish are caught, I become more excited and worried at the same time. As other years, we started searching for pink salmon in the Tidal Fraser River around August 20th because small schools often sneak into the river during incoming tides. In previous years, I was always able to connect with a few fish and successfully land them before the massive run arrived."
Not much to worry about (but much to get excited about!) as there have been large numbers of Pinks in the Southern approach for a month or more and for at least 2 weeks PSC has stated their regulatory announcements the run would exceed 12 million and now estimates at 17.5.
I have graphed the test catches at Whonnock for every cycle from 2001 to 2007 to the middle of September and other than 2003 they are all very close together from middle Aug to middle Sept.
-
Ah, I should clarify that part a bit more because I wrote that under the assumption that those who follow the blog have read the previous entries because the fishing trip ones are kind of like episodes so one follow the previous one.
I wasn't worried that the fish were late or were not coming, but I was worried that I was not landing them earlier than I should while my fishing companions who we have a friendly competition with each season (who catches the first one) were already into fish.
The peak is always in mid September but personally I find the late August/early September fishery much more exciting because the element of chase is more involved (as opposed to going down to the river during each incoming tide and getting a fish on every blind cast).
-
Well this morning I showed up about an hour before the peak tide. Fish were jumping and I missed one. About 15 minutes later they were gone and 2 more hours of fishing and maybe a total of 3 fish jumped. I have a feeling I missed it by about an hour ( which would mean I would have had to start fishing in the dark at 5am, no thanks ) So new plan of attack today is showing up about 3 hours before the peak high tide. 3rd time is the charm right ;)
Just headed out the door myself :D good luck out there.
-
Well, well...reading all of this gets my blood up. It looks like I have the day off tomorrow so I am going to be out on the South Arm chasing them with the incoming tide and hoping for the best.
I tried for them in New West last night because it was an easy drive for me but there was nothing there yet. There were a few fishermen about and they were not getting into anything either. It seems it was a bit early there but, from all this talk, that could be different today.
Tommorrow will be my first time seriously chasing these on the Fraser and I am not going to annoy anybody by asking about specific spots. Just a general question:
Is the South Arm better than the North Arm at this time?
Is it worth trying for them on the outgoing tide? (...it seems not from the posts I have read but I am just curious if anybody has tried).
It looks like it is going to rain tomorrow. What techniques work best on overcast days? (I was thinking larger, less shiny spoons or larger flies if flyfishing).
-
South Arm should produce better than North Arm, as it always has early in the season.
Focus on the incoming tide, the head and tail ends of it. There are fish coming in during the outgoing too, but nothing like what you would see during the incoming right now.
Weather/lighting does not have much effect on fishing for them down here except perhaps improving their sight in the murky water on a sunny day. These fish are not shy and will bite if they see your lure or fly.
Also, the fishing around New West should be just as good as Richmond now, since fish passing by Richmond will have to pass through New West as they head upstream.
-
Thanks Rodney, thats good to know. I certainly found out how agressive they can be when I was up at Campbell River last week. Very active on pink wool with a fly rod and very hard to keep them on.
Interesting about New West because I was there right on the tail end of a good incoming flood tide and it was very quiet. I will have to try there again over the weekend.
-
I don't fish the lower end of the Fraser much but when I've been out the folks I've chatted with around New West have told me the south (Surrey) side is far better and not many fish seem to swim the North Bank above Annacis Island. Perhaps that because most enter the South Arm or the strong influence of the Pitt makes it easier for them to scent their natal streams on the south bank. That is consistent with my experience fishing around home though I mostly prefer it up the valley.This seems to equalize by the time fish get around Derby Reach and Haney, so if you can fish the Surrey bank of the river.