Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: gipetron on January 18, 2012, 02:47:11 PM
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I am wondering what the odds are of getting into some steel in the Chehalis? This is my first season of steelhead fishing and have been out to the vedder so far, but am wondering if the Chehalis is worth a shot? Anyone know if there is a decent amount of fish that return to the chehalis?
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Only if you can find a decent run...not many left with the Chehalis.
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Don't waste your time.
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Chehalis aint what it used to be, most of the runs are hard to access let alone try and fish, and the numbers of fish just arent there. The only fishery worthwhile on this system in my opinion is the fall Coho fishery, even thats become dicey.
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The odds of getting into steel there aren't great from what I know but it is still a beautiful area to explore if you are of that mindset. Just make sure that you are bear aware, and if you decide to hike into the canyon use extra caution. I would stick to the vedder if you are just trying to land fish, but if you are up for exploring it can be beautiful.
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(http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/steelieman/File0004.jpg)
The good ole days when the flow was just beautiful......( 1995 )
The run above was known as the Conference Run and the one below..The Long Run.
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(http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/steelieman/File0004.jpg)
The good ole days when the flow was just beautiful......( 1995 )
The run above was known as the Conference Run and the one below..The Long Run.
At the hatchery channel mouth?
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Yeah I wouldn't waste your time going there its been pretty dead in recent years even the salmon runs slowly dying
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trying a new river is always worth a try IMO, asking questions about steelhead rivers, other than the vedder on the internet, will never get you the answer you seek. There are steelhead all over the place, go find one. good luck
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There are about three times fewer steelhead in the Chehalis than in the Vedder.
But there are at least 10 times fewer anglers targetting them.
You do the math. ;)
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At the hatchery channel mouth?
for sure!
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Yes....those were the days they allowed people to fish the mouth of the channel. I would normally walk down the run below and it was easy to get anything from 3-5 steelhead a day.....
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There are about three times fewer steelhead in the Chehalis than in the Vedder.
But there are at least 10 times fewer anglers targetting them.
You do the math. ;)
And one 1/20th of the fishable water.
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Yes....those were the days they allowed people to fish the mouth of the channel. I would normally walk down the run below and it was easy to get anything from 3-5 steelhead a day.....
Thanks for the memories CohoMan. Hooked a few steelhead behind the log on the long run. Used to get a few nice cutthroat there as well. ;) Lots of memories below the confluence of Pretty creek as well. From the dyke down through a run that we called the Willow run, and further of course!
How many of you anglers remember the Volkswagon run. Remember the old beetle buried in the gravel. I think Jetboat Jimmy would remember!
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I remembered the run just before the VW run. One day I walked into that run all alone with sandshrimp and I could not keep them off my hook. The problem- I was not able to land a single fish!!!!!!
I also remember Mr Purdy screaming at us for trespassing his land!!!!!!
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Yes....those were the days they allowed people to fish the mouth of the channel. I would normally walk down the run below and it was easy to get anything from 3-5 steelhead a day.....
We used to fish the old "gun barrel run" which was a few hundred or so yards below the hatchery channel. Just in the distance in your photo. Here's a photo of my first steelhead on the fly in that run - back in December 2000...
(http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/akong1/Steelhead/AK-steelhead.jpg)
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I remembered the run just before the VW run. One day I walked into that run all alone with sandshrimp and I could not keep them off my hook. The problem- I was not able to land a single fish!!!!!!
I also remember Mr Purdy screaming at us for trespassing his land!!!!!!
Hahahaha so true! Thank god he didn't have a salt gun! But then again I had a pair of River Rat neoprene waders on. Bullet proof!
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We used to fish the old "gun barrel run" which was a few hundred or so yards below the hatchery channel. Just in the distance in your photo. Here's a photo of my first steelhead on the fly in that run - back in December 2000...
(http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/akong1/Steelhead/AK-steelhead.jpg)
The die hards know that the real gun barrel run is in the canyon! Nice pic Magician.
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Thanks! I actually released that fish as I didn't want to kill the first steelhead I landed. I got the name "gunbarrel" from the guy who first took me in there. That run used to be prime for summer chinook as well! Man - I miss that run...
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Thanks! I actually released that fish as I didn't want to kill the first steelhead I landed. I got the name "gunbarrel" from the guy who first took me in there. That run used to be prime for summer chinook as well! Man - I miss that run...
Great run indeed. its funny you mention about the summer Chinook. Stack hole for sure, you would have about a 10 day window when the first push of fish would come in before they would start to turn red. It was awesome. Clunk a chrome red chinook then fish the tail out for a chrome summer steelhead. How can you beat that! 8)
Hint for summer steelhead anglers. Find the Red springs and you will find summer-runs! 8)
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thanks for the pictures, great memories! I'll bet that I'm somewhere downstream in that photo.
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That fisherwoman in the photo posted,I'm pretty sure her and husband Gerald were pretty avid back then. [if it's the couple I recognise]They were dialed in on wool combos that consistently worked on steel and coho,they outfished my bait offerings more than a few times back then.
The VW run was killer when the summers were moving in,I haven't fished the river in about 4 years now and don't recommend it to the new fish hunters,it's just not the river it used to be
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It seems that all the rivers aren't what they used to be :( I'm starting to develop a love hate relationship for the vedder...except a little more on the hate side these days :D I'm gonna bite the bullet and spend some cash this summer and head north where there is actually fish.
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DRH- that was indeed Gerald's wife but unfortunately, they went their separate ways. She was an awesome fisherwoman.
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Anyone have some old time pics of the canyon? I wonder how it has changed over the years as some spots fill in while others become deeper.
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Anyone have some old time pics of the canyon? I wonder how it has changed over the years as some spots fill in while others become deeper.
Give me a couple days floatfisher. I am positive that I have some kicking around in my photo albums. 8)
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I have not been back to the canyon in 15 years until the last few months, other then some logging the canyon spots seem to be somewhat intact so to speak.... But below the hatchery I was totaly lost its a shame how much it has changed, but it does not mean there is no fish ;)
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Give me a couple days floatfisher. I am positive that I have some kicking around in my photo albums. 8)
When you mentioned a spot in the canyon called the gun barrel I had a spot pop into my head right away lol and it made me wonder how the pools have changed over the years. I look forward to seeing some old pics lol
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In the canyon i remember fishing the sandhole the shale run and carters, many years ago mostly wild fish, but stacked up at times, also remember seeing cougars on two occasions. couldn't do the hike nowadays lol.
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I remembered the run just before the VW run. One day I walked into that run all alone with sandshrimp and I could not keep them off my hook. The problem- I was not able to land a single fish!!!!!!
I also remember Mr Purdy screaming at us for trespassing his land!!!!!!
My Great Grandmother was a cook for the Prettys and lived on the property for several years with my Grandpa when he was a boy, a LONG time ago. Grandpa used to tell me stories about all the fish of all kinds that he had seen go up that river. He loved living there as a boy. Years later my dad caught his first steelhead there, years after that I caught my first steelhead there. Me and my dad sprinkled some of grandpas ashes off the single lane bridge after he passed. Great memories of that river for three generations of us ! Like many of you guys, don't go there much anymore. Maybe this year.
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In the canyon i remember fishing the sandhole the shale run and carters, many years ago mostly wild fish, but stacked up at times, also remember seeing cougars on two occasions. couldn't do the hike nowadays lol.
Never made that trip and never will now. ??? Caught a total of 4 steelhead on this river, one on New Year's Eve. Caught 2 on ghost shrimp, 1 on a spin and glow ;D and the other on bait, lovely fish.
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Thanks for all the feedback! I think that I'll give the river a shot one of these days as I've been going camping there for years anyhow. Just haven't fished it as I'm just starting fishing for steelhead. Probably stick to the vedder for most of my fish only days.
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Man I miss that river we used to park right at Purdys and walk down to the mouth, fishing beautiful water all the way. Lots of good times in the Canyon too.
Interesting to see so many people putting names to pools, especially in the canyon I never felt the need but I guess I don't talk to people about where I fish enough to warrant the energy expenditure of a naming system.
I still remember catching my first steel in the big run down stream from the hatchery pool, seems like yesterday even though it was 21 years ago, damn that makes me feel old.
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I got my first Summer Steelie while fishing for Coho in the fall a few years ago....What a sight to see when I reeled that in ;D
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Man I miss that river we used to park right at Purdys and walk down to the mouth, fishing beautiful water all the way. Lots of good times in the Canyon too.
Interesting to see so many people putting names to pools, especially in the canyon I never felt the need but I guess I don't talk to people about where I fish enough to warrant the energy expenditure of a naming system.
I still remember catching my first steel in the big run down stream from the hatchery pool, seems like yesterday even though it was 21 years ago, damn that makes me feel old.
I'm with you Pat! I never heard of names for the canyon pools. I just heard of them referred to by number - 1, 2, and 3 (as you go further up the canyon). I suppose I'm not old enough to know them by name! LOL. So 21 years ago? That is a long time ago dude. ;)
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Personally, I love that river. Not because it offers the consistency of fishing a river with holes that never change, but instead the fact that it does change significantly, and thus offers a new challenge every time one is out. I have had multiple fish days (steelhead) on that system when you would think that none were around and skunked when the water was perfect. It is a bit of an enigma. I guess I just like the solitude and challenges the river has to offer. No, it is not the Vedder in terms of fish numbers and thus anglers, but I don't think I would ever want it to be. I enjoy the fact that each river is different and offers subtle clues into unlocking the mysteries that differentiate success from failure for anglers. I get a lot of satisfaction in just staring at my float and watching it go down and if there is a fish at the end of the line, a true bonus, tight lines WS.
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a lot of the old canyon names come from long ago before there was a hattchery on the river, access was not from the north side, and required some scary hiking and even roping in to some runs.
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Roping into canyon runs? Sounds very intense :o
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I remember the three ropes that you had to rappel down to get to the canyon. Did this in the late 70's. The water would be black with coho but they were tough to catch. I also remember the chums swimming across the road in really hi water. Used to catch coho behind the trees in the forest when the water was so high that you couldn't get too close to the river. Saw a cougar early one morning in the middle of the one-lane bridge as we were walking across in the dark. My favorite run was the church camp run. We used to get there at 4 am to get a good spot and take firelogs to burn as we waited for the first crack of light to appear. I think we were one of the first to use glow sticks in the top of our floats so that we could fish in the dark. Talk about obsessive compulsive. I still think that standing in that water all day screwed up my feet. Almost lost a fishing buddy when we tried to cross the river in the dark one time and didn't quite make the other side. Ah the memories!!
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So 21 years ago? That is a long time ago dude. ;)
I was 14 and had been trying to catch my first for 2 years, of course I was not able to fish as much as I would have liked since I had to beg/borrow/steel rides to get to the river.
I remember my dad had walked back to the hatchery to warm up his hands and I stayed down at the river, and wandered down to the big run downstream from the hatchery pool. I found a couple of pieces of roe sitting on a rock and figured I would give it a try. I did not know how to tie a bait loop yet so just stuck it on the hook and cast it out into the seam. Got a nice little hatchery buck on my second or 3rd cast with the roe. It was coloured up and only about 7 pounds but it was my first.
I put the second chunk on cast to the same spot and hooked a much bigger one, that I lost. I was now out of roe and couldn't find anymore for the life of me on the rocks. So I went back to meet up with my dad and tell him the exciting story!!
When I got home I was so excited all I did was run around the house yelling "Steelhead!" over and over again. My mom got fed up after about half an hour and sent me outside so I just ran around the block for another hour yelling instead.
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I got my first Summer Steelie while fishing for Coho in the fall
x2, in 2011
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Roping into canyon runs? Sounds very intense :o
It is...I went to the canyon only once and it was in late October 2000. I went with a couple other guys with whom I don't fish anymore. We were guided into the canyon by a FN fellow and he took us well off the beaten path.
We departed Vancouver an hour or so after midnight, got to the meeting spot near three o'clock in the morning, and then descended to the canyon through some really nasty stretches. All we had to hold on to were roots of trees and some ropes placed strategically in some places. Because we often needed both hands to hold on to the roots or ropes, we had to strap our rods to our shoulder with belts or cords and carry them like a gun.
Once down by the water, fishing was easy-peasy even for an inexperienced salmon fisherman that I was at the time, almost like shooting ducks in a barrel. Not much excitement after hooking into 20 fish (coho and chum) in practically as many casts. We had our limit of hatchery coho before daylight properly set in. We did use glow sticks attached to our floats.
I also remember that it was horribly cold that morning, and all too soon we ran out of firewood.
I think that route still exists, but for the life of me, I wouldn't be able to find it. Even if I could, or if someone offered to take me there again, I wouldn't go. It was way too much trouble climbing back up with four hatchery coho each to add to the load. And that was when I was 39 y/o. Now at age 50 and 30 pounds heavier, I don't think I'd make it back up without help from a helicopter, a rope and a harness. :D
But it is definitely something that has to be experienced at least once while you are in your prime.
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Love hearing this old time stories! So this may be a dumb question, but for those who have been fishing this river for a long time, what would you attribute to the diminishing salmon and steelhead runs on this river? I mean compared to another hatchery enhanced river such as the Vedder which, although is a shadow of what it used to be, seems still to be faring quite well... Did the shifting of the river away from the hatchery have that big of an impact?
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great story Milo, sounds like the old spar tree run, i saw some strange things while fishing the canyon back in the day, one time a large buck deer swimming downriver, only thing was he was bleeding badly with half of his rack torn off, we figured maybe a cougar attacked him and he escaped by jumping in the river, often wonder if he survived. I remember crowding on the easter seal run, picket fencing for coho, but every one getting along fires on the beach, everyone short floating, like 3ft. with peach wool, and everyone limiting out and having a great time, sure miss that run.
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Where is a good spot to get access to these canyon pools? I know there is a trail at the end of the campsites on the east side of the single lane bridge, does that go anywhere you could get back down to the water?
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best to ask sterling chan as he drifts the canyon almost every weekend.....pretty much from 8k down to blood rock., joshowatt may also be another person to ask.
better to get the info from someone who spends allot of time there in the canyon as it is quite dangerous.
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Good point, if you plan on drifting pre scouting and talking to experienced folks is a excellent idea.
If you want to hike in you can access the canyon from either side of the bridge by hiking up the trails. Be very careful though the trails are steep and many a life has been lost up there. That being said with caution those trails can be safely navigated for the most part.
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I have had bear encounters up there, that still freak me out. Not to mention being stalked by a cougar on the canyon trail. I sure made good time back to the truck though!!!! Or maybe it was a Samsquam. :o
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Fisherama -I'm no authority on the declineing stocks,but I do recall speaking to hatchery workers who said Liberal government cut funds significantly to their hatchery when they came into power in 2001 [less money fewer fry and smolt rearing].The river naturally diverted away from the inlet channel was another huge factor to returning stock decline i presume didn't help either.Plus the ocean, the drift nets the fish farms etc etc etc 1
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If you fish any river enough you can catch some thing.
My advice about the chehalis is don't bite off more then you can chew.
If you fish the lower move around alot and fish every pocket you see even if it's only 10 feet long. I do 2 cast with every bait I use. Some times you will need to hike around alot have good boots. There is wildlife around due to lots of forest so don't be stupid out there.
As for the canyon my personal playground year round. It's alot of hiking up and down cliffs. But it's pretty and few people. Example of my day in the canyon is 700 to 1130 I hit 7 spots and fish it the same as the lower 2 cast with every bait I use. It's about 2 hr of hiking time to those spots for me and to be honest only one of my fishing buddy does it for steelhead with me every now and then the rest of them would rather fish the vedder. To each there own.
Move around there is no magic hole on this river that has fish just stacked up.
PACK OUT YOUR GARBADGE SERIOUSLY last coho season made me do alot of clean up. WTF is with ditching your empty roe containers.
And if you bring a rope to get down into spots don't leave it cause someone will come along and take it down.
Josh