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Author Topic: Allouette River November/December  (Read 5264 times)

fishseeker

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Allouette River November/December
« on: November 26, 2008, 12:33:27 PM »

I was thinking of trying out my luck on the Allouette over the next few weeks or so.  Not knowing the river well I have some questions:

a) Is the river productive at this time of year?
b) What techniqes work best?  (Flyfishing or gear techniques, I don't really care - just whatever works best).
c) Is any part of the river better than any other (Not trying to find out about specific spots - just a general idea on whether it might be better on the lower or upper sections).

Any feedback would be much appreciated.
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Geff_t

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2008, 12:38:44 PM »

Unfortunatly you are a little late for this system unless you want sucker fish. The fish have all gone and spawned by now. Trust me I live on the river and it stinks right now. This is also a tough river to fish if you do not know where you are going as you will never know if you are on private property or not until the owner comes out. Some of these owners will get pretty rude about it as well.
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fishseeker

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2008, 02:18:11 PM »

OK thanks for the info fly_guy.  I won't waste my time - always been a bit confused about private property and who has rights to the river bank but I wouldn't argue if I got challenged on it (just out to enjoy the fishing after all).

What about the Stave? Is that worth the effort?   I know the cutthroats go up there to feed on the Salmon Roe but I am not sure how long that lasts.

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bbronswyk2000

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2008, 02:21:53 PM »

Another reason to not fish the river right now is anywhere above 216th the chum and coho well spawn. The redds are all over the river. You dont want to be wading in the river during this time and upsetting the redds.

The Stave is a better choice and the Harrison is an even better choice ( cutthroat and possible late coho )
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bbronswyk2000

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2008, 05:26:23 PM »

The eggs that are in the redds are so deep, walking over them doesnt do a thing.

Says who? They are layered. Where did you get that info from?
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Rodney

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2008, 05:30:25 PM »

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/ethics/#Spawning

Quote
Also, avoid areas of shallow water where you observe concentrations of spawning salmon and their redds (gravel “nests”). Salmon redds are generally between 1-2 square meters in size and may be recognised by the appearance of clean looking gravel which is loose and soft underfoot, as opposed to firmer and darker gravel nearby. When newly formed, redds will appear to be a depression with a mound of gravel on the downstream side. Eggs will be buried in the mound of gravel and for several metres downstream. Walking on the redds may kill buried eggs, so please avoid them entirely.

fishseeker

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2008, 06:22:09 PM »

Another reason to not fish the river right now is anywhere above 216th the chum and coho well spawn. The redds are all over the river. You dont want to be wading in the river during this time and upsetting the redds.

The Stave is a better choice and the Harrison is an even better choice ( cutthroat and possible late coho )

Unfortunately the Harrison is a long haul from where I live.  Much as I would love to head up there the Stave is going to be more feasible for me right now - thanks for the info bbronswyk.

Thanks for the link Rodney,  I would like to avoid disturbing any Salmon redds - is this a problem on the Stave too?



« Last Edit: November 26, 2008, 06:25:26 PM by fishseeker »
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bbronswyk2000

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2008, 06:30:08 PM »

Another reason to not fish the river right now is anywhere above 216th the chum and coho well spawn. The redds are all over the river. You dont want to be wading in the river during this time and upsetting the redds.

The Stave is a better choice and the Harrison is an even better choice ( cutthroat and possible late coho )

Unfortunately the Harrison is a long haul from where I live.  Much as I would love to head up there the Stave is going to be more feasible for me right now - thanks for the info bbronswyk.

Thanks for the link Rodney,  I would like to avoid disturbing any Salmon redds - is this a problem on the Stave too?





A bit but unlike the Alouette there is more casting room from shore. Especially on the east side of the river. The Stave also has a spawning channel where most of the fish end up but not all.
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fishseeker

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #8 on: November 27, 2008, 09:18:56 AM »

Yes and I know where that spawning channel is. I see a lot of people s* oops fishing there.
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typhoon

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #9 on: November 27, 2008, 06:07:37 PM »

I was up at the Stave today from incoming to outgoing tide. 

I'm afraid the season is done.

We saw one tomato Coho from the trailer park to the toilet bowl. Literally thousands of dead chum though and lots of eagles.
We were in my Zodiac so we covered all the water from East to West including the channels.
Just up from the toilet bowl there was 10 very far gone chum pairing up. Near the dam there was 15 pair of very red/black coho.
There were no fish jumping anywhere.

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fishseeker

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #10 on: November 28, 2008, 12:58:37 PM »

I know it's done for Salmon but in my original question I was asking about cutthroats and bull trout.  Is it worth targeting those in the Stave during December/Jan? 

I was thinking it might be worth going after them with egg patterns at this time of year but I am not sure if it's already to late for that.
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typhoon

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #11 on: November 29, 2008, 06:52:09 PM »

I wasn't fishing for salmon. I was using egg cluster patterns hoping to hook into a stray cutt looking for an easy meal.
There may be trout/char in the area, but with so few live salmon you might have a tough time finding them.
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Rodney

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #12 on: November 29, 2008, 11:02:02 PM »

It is not too late to be targeting trout and char with egg patterns. In fact, you can do so quite effectively until late February. The eggs will be in the redds until that time and some would drift away when disturbed by various factors. Obviously the fish would be more concentrated at certain locations when eggs are being deposited so fishing under those condition is much more productive, but we've had just as much success later between December and February by covering more waters.

A few years ago, I chose to drift the egg presentations throughout the entire season and did very well until the first week or March. From that point, they basically stopped working while the other friends did well by flyfishing with minnow patterns.

If you are not targeting them by flyfishing, small gooey bobs that measure 5 or 6mm in diameter work quite well when threaded onto a size 2 or 4 hook. Instead of using the conventional baitcasting or centerpin setup that is much too heavy for these species, I prefer to use a long spinning rod and a small spinning reel that is spooled with 6lb test main line.

Don't discount the chance of hooking into some mountain whitefish also. These are also in the salmonid family and they in fact fight just as well as cutthroat trout, if not better sometimes.

Don't neglect some of the smaller creeks that drain into the Lower Pitt River and the Fraser River between Maple Ridge and Harrison. With this type of fishing, one location doesn't out perform another. The fishing result changes from day to day, or even hour to hour as they are opportunitistic and highly migratory when seeking for food sources.

fishseeker

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Re: Allouette River November/December
« Reply #13 on: November 30, 2008, 10:13:09 AM »

Thanks for your answers Rodney and Typhoon.

I expect the fishing to be slower during the winter months but, even if the odds are lower, it still beats sitting around at home heads down - I just didn't want to to waste my time if the odds are zero.   With luck I will be at a location at the same time as the fish. At least I have more time over the Christmas period to get out there. Since I flyfish and spincast I will be using both techniques, whatever works best for the conditions - I will try the gooey bobs and the egg patters plus minnow patters later in the season perhaps.

I am hoping this month will present some opportunities for me to do some more exploring if nothing else.
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