Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: jhall123 on January 14, 2010, 05:09:29 PM

Title: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: jhall123 on January 14, 2010, 05:09:29 PM
I was watching you tube today and the nicomekl river came to mind.When i was between 8 and 11 years old i lived in langley.My father had a business there and we{mike,fred,etc}used to fish the river.When we "discovered"the river,we thought it was paradise,so that's what we called it.We fished that river alot.we caught our share of trout and bullheads.The only big fish that i saw caught were 2 ten pound dolly varden caught by mike and bernie.The only other time i saw big fish was early one spring morning,a bunch of red,big fish surfaced.At the time i thought they were salmon.I fished that river so much,i failed the 6th grade!I am now 41 years old and miss that river alot.I sure hope someone out there is having as much fun fishing it as i did when i was young.You all have a great day!
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: chris gadsden on January 14, 2010, 05:57:56 PM
Thanks for this. We that fished at an early age will have similar stories about fishing our "home rivers". I made a trek a few years back to mine and it made me feel young again. ;D
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: WEEFISH on January 14, 2010, 07:16:15 PM
 ;D I remember fishing there as a kid too...I caught a pink salmon I think...maybe some coho too.  I believe it is still fishable , especially by the mouth. I just haven't tried since the 80's.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: purple monster on January 14, 2010, 07:55:52 PM
yeah, that's right. No more fishing there either. 
Saw one in the water, years back.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: colin6101 on January 14, 2010, 08:08:05 PM
The river is definately still fishable and does support a run of salmon now thanks to the hard work by the Nicomekl Hatchery. Here's a link to their website : http://www.nicomeklhatchery.com. Some pretty impressive fish make it up that river nowadays. I remember reading an article in the langley paper last year about a 50 pound spring being found in the river!
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: Marko on January 15, 2010, 05:31:29 PM
Oh ya ! Try one of those puppies on a small spin caster..... :o

 ;D  Marko
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: marbles on January 16, 2010, 05:55:00 AM
I use to fish there when I was kid aswell,also the serpentine...I caught lots of catfish out of there it was ton of fun,theres fresh water clams stuck in the banks,kind of neat but from edible
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: CALI 2 B.C. on January 16, 2010, 10:43:50 AM
Catfish in the nick? are you talking about bullhead? Ive been dreaming about going catfishin since i moved here 4 years ago.LOL i got the bug now time to google up some info ;D
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: Rodney on January 16, 2010, 10:58:33 AM
Brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), a small invasive species of catfish in BC.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: firstlight on January 16, 2010, 04:49:05 PM
I also loved fishing the rivers in Langley Surrey and Whitr Rock.
Was simple times back then .
As long as i had a good supply of dew worms i was good to go.
Had many fun and productive days wondering the banks of them ditches.
I think i am going to do what Chris did and go for a tour of them rivers one day next fall and fish them old school with a hook and dewie. ;D
Ahh the good ol days.......
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: marbles on January 17, 2010, 01:26:36 PM
Catfish in the nick? are you talking about bullhead? Ive been dreaming about going catfishin since i moved here 4 years ago.LOL i got the bug now time to google up some info ;D
actually the serpentine had catfish
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: marbles on January 17, 2010, 01:28:35 PM
I also loved fishing the rivers in Langley Surrey and Whitr Rock.
Was simple times back then .
As long as i had a good supply of dew worms i was good to go.
Had many fun and productive days wondering the banks of them ditches.
I think i am going to do what Chris did and go for a tour of them rivers one day next fall and fish them old school with a hook and dewie. ;D
Ahh the good ol days.......
I agree the god old days we use to ctach trout in bear creek all the time we would follow it up across 140 st up to the golf course it was great ::)
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: bbronswyk2000 on January 17, 2010, 01:53:50 PM
I agree the god old days we use to ctach trout in bear creek all the time we would follow it up across 140 st up to the golf course it was great ::)

I lived across the street from Bear Creek growing up, my dad still owns the house we grew up in. We fished it all the time. Their were actually some nice sized trout in there at that time. I mean 2-3lb fish were not uncommon. We would just use dew worms sitting on the bottom. I dont think we ever got skunked. Lots of crayfish as well.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: marbles on January 17, 2010, 06:37:37 PM
I lived across the street from Bear Creek growing up, my dad still owns the house we grew up in. We fished it all the time. Their were actually some nice sized trout in there at that time. I mean 2-3lb fish were not uncommon. We would just use dew worms sitting on the bottom. I dont think we ever got skunked. Lots of crayfish as well.
your right it was great back then they stil have a nice chum return in that creek same with hyland in newton I caught some kids smashing them with rocks a few years back
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: the carp on January 17, 2010, 07:42:17 PM
I remember fishing the creeks in coquitlam in the 60's schoolhouse rd. and the creek at the bottom of dawes hill, had tons of nice trout and coho in the fall. used to pack a lunch and hike and fish the creek all the way up to montgomery school then mom would pick me up at suppertime, life was so simple then.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: living_blind on January 17, 2010, 09:04:21 PM
I too fished the nick as a child. We'd catch the odd cuttie and occasionally would spot salmon cruising upstream in the fall. I went back a couple years ago and caught three of four small cutts.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: Fish Assassin on January 17, 2010, 09:29:10 PM
I remember fishing near the bridge off Hwy 99 as a kid with my dad. Don't recall catching anything other than bullheads but good times nevertheless.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: WEEFISH on January 19, 2010, 10:15:13 PM
 ;) Good ole Monty!!
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: samw on January 20, 2010, 02:30:02 AM
Brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), a small invasive species of catfish in BC.

At least it is a tasty fish.  I didn't believe it until I actually tried it after I caught one at Rollley Lake and read that they taste good and are farmed as a food fish.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: redtide on January 20, 2010, 07:21:55 PM
caught my first river salmon ....a  7lb coho out of the nick. just a float a single hook and a gob of dog roe.....some jacks and tons of bullhead. lots of fun about 10 years ago from the dyke all the way to the 184th street bridge.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: joska on January 21, 2010, 06:49:09 AM
so how good were the stocks of salmon in the nickomekl and its tributary's in the past? i have to say the nickomekl enhancement society has done great things for that small stream... taking the youngsters to see the spawning salmon in the fall is something  that most people cant do in less than a five minute walk...ive heard theres a small run of steel head that is this true?
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: CALI 2 B.C. on January 21, 2010, 07:27:10 AM
tight-lined sup bro havnt seen you for a while remember we fished together at a certain unnamed stream?Hows it been?
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: RalphH on January 21, 2010, 10:21:52 AM
My fishing on the Nic goes back to the early 60s. I think my Dad first took me there when I was 5 - so that would be about '61 but I started to do a lot of it there about '64. There were a lot more coho and cutts then and it was productive into the 70s though there certainly were lean years. When it was good the river was crowded! I stopped fishing it in the early 80's - it was pretty grim by that time and the water conditions were mostly bad. However I started going back 8 or 9 years ago and go back a day or two every fall. No where close to what it was but it can be worthwhile. At least the water is better (clearer most of the time, people keep cattle out of the tribs now) All the coho and jacks I have caught have adipose fins except one - so I am not sure how many fish return due to the hatchery. Cutts are all wild (though there was some stocking in the 70s and 80s). It proves we can have some decent wild stocks in suburban areas with just a little bit of work and care. Chum and springs are introduced (chum stocks were extrapated early in the 20th century). Given the wild stocks I hate to see still fishing with bait going on - but I don't make the regs and don't blame folks who fish that way. Spinning with light tackle is great and it can be fished with a fly if you can cope with the high grass, banks and black berries. I also fished the Serp back in the 60s and 70s but never since the hatchery has come in. The water is always a mess whenever I drive by. Used to live on a trib of Bear Creek and remember seeing steelhead in the spring. King Creek which skirts Bear Creek Park used to plug full of coho in November and almost every little rill in that neighborhood had salmon spawning in late fall. Crapppy residential and road construction has all but whipped that out. There are resident cutts in the Bear Creek system that can approach a lb or so. BTW it has been closed below 152nd street since at least the early 70s so other than a short sectio from there to the Serp there is no fishing.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: joska on January 22, 2010, 07:09:04 AM
tight-lined sup bro havnt seen you for a while remember we fished together at a certain unnamed stream?Hows it been?

yes i remember like it was last week or so...was a good time to bad we didnt land that fish eh  round two?
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: camtheman on January 22, 2010, 03:11:25 PM
no streams like that for me
my dad would take us to weaver lake chiliwack lake in the spring and fall and my grandparents house in eagle bay on shuswap lake
great places they are/were too
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: fishherron on January 24, 2010, 08:30:11 AM
The Nic  at 176 east toward langley was my play ground, way back when. Fished Coho and Cutts. Jump shot Mallards and Pheasents. Somedays would come home with a fish,a bird and a bucket of Blackberrys. Waters the eye to think about it.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: joska on January 25, 2010, 02:38:39 AM
 are the rumours true about the small runs of steelhead?
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: CALI 2 B.C. on January 25, 2010, 03:59:06 AM
anytime i been thinkin bout goin out bushwackin on a system or 2.Let me know if you want in.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: yamadirt 426 on January 25, 2010, 09:04:55 AM
anytime i been thinkin bout goin out bushwackin on a system or 2.Let me know if you want in.

I want to bushwack so streams too.  ;) Tight lines I beleive you are correct about the steelys. 1 guy told me its the only non hatch steel river left around here.
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: joska on January 26, 2010, 06:51:40 AM
as a child growning up in penticton, many fond memories of a small red and white float disappearing as soon as it hit the water.   i can only wonder if those brookies still like grasshoppers? lol...   
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: joska on January 26, 2010, 06:54:10 AM
Tight lines I beleive you are correct about the steelys. 1 guy told me its the only non hatch steel river left around here.
and we are gonna do anything we can to keep it like that... i want my kids to be able to enjoy what i was blessed with as a kid...
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: CALI 2 B.C. on January 28, 2010, 09:12:32 AM
Grasshoppers are Beast LOL I used to use em in cali bass fishing out of the kayak dragging on the bottom.DEADLEY.I have tried crickets here but i think its too cold cause they die way too fast... ;D
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: ssd0904 on February 07, 2010, 12:46:09 PM
Is it still fishable? Is there any rainbow trouts in it? ??? I live in Langley and i've never went there. What rig and bait should i use?
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: fishstick on February 07, 2010, 05:03:45 PM
the only reason there isn't hatchery steelhead in the nicomeckl is because the hatchery isn't allowed to raise steelhead or cutthroat, not because it is being preserved as some wild only river, there have been many types of fish brought from lots of other rivers and introduced in there, and the hatchery is probably the primary reason there is steelhead still in there if only because of the interest and hard work to protect it
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: costas on February 07, 2010, 08:31:43 PM
ware are some areas that u would be able to catch fish on this river ..ive tred a few times never got nothing
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: joska on February 07, 2010, 10:50:02 PM
not many will give up spots on the net... explore,if fish are around your bound to find em...
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: Matt99 on September 14, 2010, 09:38:30 PM
I fish the river and I have caught a couple of differrent coarse fish but I would like to try to catch a rainbow or cutthrout if anyone nows what to use (besides worms) that would be helpful.And also there is apparently small sturgen in there if any one nows if that's true or not please reply
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: carpenter on September 15, 2010, 09:33:30 AM
grew up on crescent rd.  The nick was across the street lot of  fishing there when i was little not many caught . My bro has been getting coho with small spinners in the fall , I know there are huge carp watched a old polish guy with a corn meal ball hammer some big ones and i believe at the fraser end of the river there might be some small sturg.  Have not fished it in a while but might check it out this fall see whats kickin around. ;)
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: Steelie1030 on September 15, 2010, 09:52:47 AM
I fished the Nic in the fall late 70's. I trolled out of my canoe with an orange with black spots flatfish. Caught lots of cutts, a few coho and one wild steelhead. I remember the 'V' shapes in the still water that the coho would make on the way upstream.The river was never busy and very peaceful especially in the morning on an incoming tide. Did all of my fishing below the gate, took my young nephew out with me on occasion.He is now a full fledged fly fisherman and is now teaching his son....life goes on
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: joska on September 15, 2010, 04:18:14 PM
last year i spent a few hours walking that precious stream. some great little pools and some deep undercut banks..  not worth fishing tho... stay on the major streams...
Title: Re: Old school nicomekl river fishing
Post by: CALI 2 B.C. on September 15, 2010, 11:18:20 PM
Lets go im socked out lol ;D