Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: minsyoo on September 17, 2009, 07:16:11 PM
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Hi, guys,
I have never been to Vedder and planning on giving it a shot this weekend. I don't fly fish or anything, I just have two spin rods. People tell me I can do this up in Vedder, so I'm gonna try spoons, may be floats with roe or yarn. So I was wondering if there are any places that are better than others for my situation, or am I gonna be okay pretty much driving along the river and going "HERE!" :D
Also everyone tells me roe is effective, what kind of roe? ???
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Your spin rods will work just fine for tossing spoons. But they are not ideal for float fishing.
You can still float fish with a spinning rod but it is very difficult to get a nice natural drift.
I'd suggest you take a look at some maps and try to pre-plan a little. Going in blind, while exciting and rewarding, can be very frustrating especially on a weekend. The vedder is a fairly long river with access along its entirety. The further you have to walk, the more likely you are to find some solitude.
As for roe, procure in red, pink, orange is deadly. I've been having success with natural too. I bring two types and alternate casts until I find a clear favorite.
Have fun and tight lines!
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try parking at Vedder crossing and then walk the dyke down until you see some water that you like. If you only have a spinning rod I would focus on tossing spoons or spinners in slower water.
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thanks guys! all this information is helping very much as i'm nearly brand new to fishing. :)
If you don't mind a couple more questions, if my rod isn't a great choice for floats, then what is?
and I'll try exactly what you've told me, now, should I be prepared to get wet/dirty at all?
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Either a levelwind/baitcasting or centerpin setup is best for float fishing.
Rod should be 8-20#. Any reel that holds 150yards of 12# is fine.
There is no single rod/reel that is good for all salmon and steelhead.
You want the lightest weight/rated rod and reel possible for the type of salmon your are fishing.
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i have a 8 ft 12 - 15(? i think 15) tested. with 12lb line on it. sounds like it's a good one.
i also have a 6' 6" with 8lb test on it i wonder if this one will do?
By the way, if I wanted to say, use a 15# on my 8ft, how would i go about changing the line? ??? ???
thank you lots again, hopefully one day i can be the generous one answering questions to people like me.. :P
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minsyoo, regarding fishing the Vedder River, you can certainly use your spinning rod for casting spoons and spinners. While float fishing with roe is effective, it is not necessarily more effectively than spincasting. That being said, I love float fishing on the Vedder River. Watching the float dives just after dawn is an addiction that is hard to shake off.
The 8ft rod that is rated 12-15lb test is fine, especially if you connect with a few chinook or chum salmon. The 6'6" rod should be good for coho salmon, but it would be a big challenge if you connect with a chinook or chum salmon on that rod.
Personally, I just bring a rod for float fishing and do not focus too much on spincasting when fishing the Vedder River, but at times I do bring a spinning rod with me too.
My spinning rod for the Vedder is a 6'6" rod that is rated between 8 and 12lb test. I use 8lb test line to accompany that rod, because I primarily target coho salmon.
12lb test on your 8ft spinning rod is more than enough to handle most fish. 15lb test line would result in more difficulty in casting your lures and is not as enjoyable to fish with in my opinion.
Regarding float fishing with roe or other bait and presentations, as Mr P has pointed out, a rod that is 10'6" or longer is more appropriate. A long rod is needed to keep the line between your rod tip and the float away from the water surface so you can get a better hookset when a fish bites. You can use a spinning rod for float fishing, but feeding line to the float as it drifts downstream becomes a frustrating challenge with a spinning reel. A baitcasting or centerpin rod outfit is more appropriate for this type of fishing.
For more information on float fishing on the Vedder River, take a look at this article: http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2003/1003_01.html
Here's another one that you may find helpful: http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2004/1104_01.html
Good luck.
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i think it's fair to say this is the best bc fishing forum on the internet. haha! ;D THANK YOU VERY MUCH
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so i got it mapped out, i'm gonna try the end of lickman rd. some other places in consideration are under hwy 1, end of wilson rd, or under keith wilson bridge. if things dont go well, i may even check out pegleg.
at ANY of these places, should one be prepared to get wet/dirty? or will i be okay with regular pants and some sneakers?
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so i got it mapped out, i'm gonna try the end of lickman rd. some other places in consideration are under hwy 1, end of wilson rd, or under keith wilson bridge. if things dont go well, i may even check out pegleg.
at ANY of these places, should one be prepared to get wet/dirty? or will i be okay with regular pants and some sneakers?
Those are some good spots to start. But popular and busy.
You should always be prepared to get wet/dirty when fishing. How are you gonna land a wild coho should you happen to hook one? You have to get in the water to safely release it.
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warm weather i usually just wear shorts and sandals or water shoes.Peg is pretty good was there last week a lot of people there but tons of pinks being caught!
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at ANY of these places, should one be prepared to get wet/dirty? or will i be okay with regular pants and some sneakers?
Wear shorts and sandals. In the summer/fall, I routinely wade in past my knees when fishing, and I'm not the type of person who likes cold water.
Once you've been in the water for 5 minutes and you're fishing, you'll forget how cold it is.
In the late fall/winter, use waders.
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Once you fish the Chilliwack/Vedder and watch the guys with centerpins and floats, you will wonder how much more fun it is to fight a fish on a single action reel.
In the meantime, toss your spinners and spoons and have fun!
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Once you've been in the water for 5 minutes and you're fishing, you'll forget how cold it is.
Because the feet would be so numb that you wouldn't feel anything. ;D
Waders are definitely required once temperature drops in a couple of weeks from now. Without waders, you still have access to many spots but you'd be limited to where you can fish and how you can fish.
so i got it mapped out, i'm gonna try the end of lickman rd. some other places in consideration are under hwy 1, end of wilson rd, or under keith wilson bridge.
The spots that you have listed are all popular spots that almost always get crowded due to easy access. They tend to be overfished and any fish in these waters become hook shy rather quickly. That being said, these are good starting points where you can park your car and watch. My recommendation would be to walk either upstream or downstream from these points and find spots that are not heavily used. Since you are not wearing waders, take a look at the shaded waters by the rip raps along the Rotary Trail. These spots are often neglected and are in fact excellent holding spots for salmon.
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well i still dont have a wader, so, my feet shall go numb. haha! if some salmon can come up and wake my feet up, that'd be great. ;) i'll just bring a change of clothes.
i did hear that those are all popular spots but i wonder how it'll be because i'm going to be there before sunrise. but then again, it IS a sunday... hmm.
either way, this is super exciting. if my first salmon can happen on the same day as second, third, may be 4th, that's the dream. haha!
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If you don't have time to pick up some waders, bring along some rubber boots. Sure beats having cold and wet feet as Fall is quickly approaching.
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i'm actually trying to buy some but can't find any store that's open that carries them. :( stupid canadian tire closes too early.
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for boots try Army and Navy in langley , downtown or new westminster and also marks workwear house. get waders as they are way better.If you plan on fishing for salmon and steelhead in winter than its best to get the neoprenes waders if you can afford them. :D
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If you are bringing some extra clothes, make sure you don't leave them visible in your car, or in fact leave anything valuable visible. Unfortunately break-ins happen too often on our favorite fishing river in the Lower Mainland.
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a neoprene wader has been purchased. ;D
it feels pretty tight. didn't see any bigger size though. i guess it's time i lose a bit of my beer belly. :P
now, one last question before my super exciting and anticipated trip... when i use spinners, do i wanna cast it upstream and retrieve "with" the water? or do i want to cast it down stream and retrieve it up? not sure what's more effective... cuz i figured if i cast it upstream, it'd go down anyways..?
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There is no one correct way to cast spinners. Experiment. What works one day may not the next.
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Like FA has mentioned, it depends on the situation and a lot has to do with personal preference once again.
Personally, I prefer to use spinners for deep slow water where I can run my spinner through the water slowly. If I am fishing a run that has moderate flow, I enjoy casting a spoon across the run and retrieve as it flutters and drifts downstream. This swinging pathway may trigger a coho or chum that is sitting in the tailout to rise and attack the spoon.
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casting upstream will help to get your lure down deeper but it will also make you more susceptible to snags. It all depends on the run you are fishing, more specifically the speed of the current and amount of weight you are using (if any).
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as so many people have been nice enough to answer all my questions, especially under this topic, i feel like i owe this one here.
I have caught my first salmon. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Man, oh, man it was a wonderful experience.
I woke up at 4:20am this morning to head to Vedder, and be there before sunrise this morning. I got to the end of Lickman Rd. just as it was starting to get lighter (still no sun). i changed into my new neoprene wader, and off I went. I took my younger sister with me, too. I started trying to float fish, but as many people were saying, it was hard to get good control on it with my spin rod, and when I had pulled it in closer to me and looked it under water, it had me going, "If I were a salmon, I would not bite this" lol. So it was time for a new strategy. I felt hurried and rushed because I was literally seeing salmon swimming by my feet. (I wish I could just use a large net, it would get me my daily quota in 10 seconds, lol)
Anyways, I took a scan around to what other people were doing, I saw a lot of fly fishing going on. Then I spotted a guy with what appeared to be a spin rod and he was simply casting spoons. So that's what I did. I used a little gold with orange spoon, and started casting it. I tried casting it upstream, but the current was fast and the water was fairly shallow, so I was getting snagged quite a bit. So I decided I'm just going to cast it right in front of me, and retrieve it a bit faster... BAM. I thought I had gotten snagged on a rock, again, except this time, the bent rod was twitching, like it was getting pulled.
This 57cm Humpie gave such a good fight. May be I just didn't have the technique to bring it in faster, but it was a good fight for me, anyway. I stuck with him, and pulled him back into the net my sister was holding, and this was my first salmon ever caught.
I hooked a few more, but all were foul hooks :( I let one go, but most of them, got a way from me, while my spoon came out of the fish and FLEW backwards.
I saw many people catching their quota, and just releasing them, but for me, this was the best fishing experience by far. It'll only get better. ;D
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I was down fishing the canal today and did quite well too. Caught a bunch of pinks, a wild coho (which was released of course) and a jack spring. I use a spin rod right now for float fishing and don't find it all that hard to control. Just cast out fairly straight across from you and follow the drift with your rod tip. However, I find this does only work if you have a longer rod and cannot be easily accomplished at all with shorter rods (under 9 feet). But don't be discouraged just because a lot of people use baitcasters, us spinning guys can catch fish too. Congrats on the first salmon by the way!
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Good to hear. Now you're hooked and will fish whenever you can.
Salmon are good fishing. Pinks are okay, but you'll find that coho, springs and chum are more fun to fight.
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Good to hear. Now you're hooked and will fish whenever you can.
Salmon are good fishing. Pinks are okay, but you'll find that coho, springs and chum are more fun to fight.
If you use a 6wt fly rod or a light spinning rod, some of the crome pink fight better than coho, especial the Hatchery Vedder.
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I definitely WILL fish again and again. haha.
It's good to hear from a fellow spin rod user. :)
I wonder what category I fall in as I have a 8'6" rod.. hmm.
I will try float fishing again though. Hopefully less snags than spoons and spinners.
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You should be able to manage with that length of rod, just use shorter drifts. It's not necessary to have really long drifts, the idea is just to make it look natural to the fish when it passes over. Although today we seemed to have the best luck on the tail end of a drift when it started to arc towards shore. None of them caught like this were snagged either, which is what I would expect.
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thanks colin6101,
i will try float fishing next time i'm out there.
I've heard of people using yarn, roe or spinners, any thoughts on what's effective?
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thanks colin6101,
i will try float fishing next time i'm out there.
I've heard of people using yarn, roe or spinners, any thoughts on what's effective?
floating roe is most effective unless there is a bait ban in effect.
yarn flies are effective as well.
best thing to do is switch your baits/lures if you're not getting much success.