As always, welcome to all members along with guests to the Fishing With Rod forum and my daily journal.
I was surprised that my banged up knee from yesterday's afternoon unplanned plunge into the Vedder River was not as bad as I thought it would be when I hit the deck at 6 this morning.
The first order of business was to find another rod to use as my sage's rod tip needed some repair work after it joined me rolling about among the rock in my splash down.
I dug up a Shimano 10 foot 6 inch drift rod that I won a few years back on a head recovery draw, a bit heavy but it would do for today anyway, until I get time to repair the sage. I decide to put on my old Avon that I bought in the 70's for $17 at the Army and Navy on West Hastings.
The Avon of course would be pleased once again to have the opportunity to show its stuff on a Vedder River steelhead as it had been anxiously waiting in a box for too long. One of its handles was gummed up with roe so had to fix that up. (thats bait fisherman for you
) Then dropped the handle screw on the floor while putting it back on, which meant a 10 minute search on the hands and sore knee before it was located.
Tie up some steelhead bait roe bags from Monday's fish and finally I am on the road by 7:15.
As I reach the fishing spot for the day the parking area is full of vehicles.Good I think as maybe one of anglers from them will get a wild for the tube, something I had not been able to do this week after getting a good start last week, the first week of the program.
As I quickly stride to the fishing area chosen for the day I am surprised my knee feels so good. I pick up the pace a bit as the darkness of the night starts to slip silently away. I do not so much want to get to the fishing spot ahead of anyone but to be in position for that wild that I feel will come today.
As I reach the run anglers are everywhere but the run I want to fish has 2 anglers I know and one I would get to know later. I slip into a open spot and start fence posting like they were.
I notice the river is up a tad and has some colour in it from last nights rain but is plenty fishable.
Ray who is fishing straight wool is the first with a chance but he misses it.
Just as I start fishing, cell phone rings, it is Rodney who is coming up with Shane. Rodney would like some video of some action for the page so he is armed with his video camera. I tell him to come to the "new hot spot". He agrees. A few minutes later another call, Rodney again, "to many cars in the lot he says, we are moving on to another spot". How could he not take up the offer as I was going to give him my spot on the picket line.
I resume fishing, visiting and of course waiting for the Maple Leaf Drennan to disappear once again. It is not long after Rod's call and the drennan is gone from view.
Reaction time is good and steelhead #14 is doing its thing after feeling the pinch of the hook in her jaw.
My first thought of course is that will it be a wild, sort of harping a lot on that theme I know. It is not long that me and the other 3 onlookers see that it is another hatchery. Actually Ray is the first to tells us. I bring it to shore for a quick picture and then it is on its way, back to continue its migration route upstream. But being a eager biter it most likely will not have learned its lesson well and will fall for another's anglers offering in the next few days.
I phone Rod to bug him he missed his video clip.
I fish the run for a while then move to a lower area but I am not long gone until the angler that below me is into a fish. It turns out the now happy angler is Coho Cody's dad.
I have reversed fields coming to check, I know, if it is a w..., but no a hatchery fish, glad for the CC dad as a nice bright doe. We may post the pix later.
I move back down stream for a while and see or hit nothing. I move back to the spot where I got the fish and on the first cast float down but the strike yields nothing. Lately I find if you miss a fish it can be hard to get them to come back. Could it mean the fish are moving fish?
I then see a fish on, downstream on the other side of the river. Another of the brood capture volunteers is on the same side as the angler with the fish on. I shout to him and he trots down to it but the angler loses it. I find out the angler is from Ontario and comes out here to fish every month or so. I am told he reads FWR as well.
Two anglers then come to where I am fishing and one is Chronic , the one who I took the pictures of the Webster Road development in answer to his post. I bug him that is was him that caused me to fall in yesterday.
It then turns out that the roe bags I had found and reported on the forum were his so we are now even.
I tell them they were good ones and had 3 fish on them.
I have a good visit with him and his partner which I apology to as I have forgotten his name. It is nearing 11 as they leave as I have to as well as Bederko has invited us to join him for lunch at Cookies.
As we leave the run I see a fish bouncing on a gravel bar above us and see the swinging action of an anglers arm meaning another hatchery has become deceased.
We have a whole crew of FWR members at Cookies, Rod, Shane, Mark, Aaron, Marco, Bederko, and the Master. Rod and crew will relate their day as well on this thread or another I am sure.
We split up to go to our individual "hot spots".
When I get to mine I decide to have a short nap in the Leaf Mobile, this fishing everyday can get to one. Just as I drop off to dream about that next steelhead, cell phone jars me awake, it is CEJ celebrating his first of the season, a wild of course, no tube in the vicinity.
I congratulate him on his success and drift back to sleep.
I wake up around 3 and as I am tying up some roe bags 2 anglers come out past me both packing fish.
Looks like I have slept through the bite.
I quickly finish the bags and are hot footing down the trail once again. As it is past pick up time no need to take the tube.
As I near the river I see a fish on, I quickly wade the side stream and arrive in time to see a nice 13 pound or so
WILD buck being beached. As the hatchery will not come that late all we could do is take a picture, of course no tube anyway. I fish the spot but no takers so I move downstream where I am joined by Trout Slayer.
I then cut up to the trail and run into 3 anglers that turn out to be Cohokid, Springking and Springking's dad, was very nice to meet them. So good to see young anglers like them so interested in fishing and for a dad and his son to be out fishing together. That is hard to beat in my books. I believe Cohokid has a story for us if he has not posted it while I do mine I sure he will later.
WE say our goodbyes and I move to check out a new area with Trout Slayer above me. My cell phone rings and I lose 20 minutes of fishing time talking to the Conservation Officer regarding some issues on the Vedder.
Trout Slayer has disappeared while I am on the phone. I head back to the "hot spot". The two anglers that got the 13 pound wild are just leaving and they tell me they have landed a 12 pound wild doe while I was away.
I have the last 30 minutes of the day and the week to myself on nthe run, a very enjoyable time to think about the week that was. 5 days on the flow where I went for a brief swim in front of dboy, missed several fish, hooked 3 that I landed, saw a good number of fish landed, lost my Maple Leaf Drennan for a few hours and best of all met some new FWR members out on the river. I make my last cast at 5:25 and I am the last angler on the river in my line of vision.
As I return to the Leaf Mobile in the now near total darkness I wonder what the week ahead will hold, I know that meetings will cut down on my fishing time.
Tomorrow is the weekend, it will be crowded out there that for sure. I was surprised I did not met some anglers coming in as I left, to stake out their spot for the morning as fishing time was only 14 hours away.
For me I may slip out and hunt for a new "hot spot" and clean up some garbage for a bit if the heavy rain and high winds that are forcast do not materialize.
For the weekend anglers, hope you enjoy your fishing trips and find a fish or two. Please respect your river by picking up some garbage you may find, respect your fellow angler and also respect your quarry, the mighty steelhead.
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Topic: The End Of Another Week, Vedder Jan.27 Journal, Steelhead #12 (Read 3146 times)