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Author Topic: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008  (Read 9699 times)

milo

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Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« on: October 31, 2008, 09:51:59 PM »

Hit my chosen spot at 7:00 AM this morning. There were already two guys there getting ready to flyfish.
The gentlemen were very open to the idea of sharing the spot with me, so as soon as we got a glimpse of light, we started working our flies.

It was a beautiful morning, with a light drizzle and mist, but as time went by, the rain picked up and didn't let up till the end of the day.

I had two coho on very early into fishing, but managed none to the beach. Oh, well...that's fishing.

Around noon the bite was completely off, and except for a booty spring that somehow managed to get my fly in its mouth, that was it for that part of the river.

After lunch at Pointa Vista, I went to the bottom end of the river, near the canal, and fished one of the gravel holes where the river becomes the canal. There were occasional chum and coho surfacing, but none wanted my fly.

The rain kept pounding and pounding, and the cold associated with dampness started making its way to my bones, so I decided to call it quits around 4:30. I made one last long cast and started quickly retrieving the line onto the reel.

Much to my surprise, a beautiful resident cutthroat hit my fly and the fight was on. The poor thing didn't stand a chance against an 8-weight rod and a 10-pound leader.

Soon it came to hand:



After admiring it for a moment and taking a picture, I gently released it. There are not too many of these in the Vedder, so they should be treated with utmost respect.
It sure made my day, as I had never caught a cutty in the Vedder. Rainbows and bulls, yes, but never a cutthroat.

The river was essentially a ghost town. There were very, very few people out there. The river held up despite the heavy rain, but I did notice it came up a couple inches. With some more of the wet stuff, a fresh push of fish might just make it into the system.

It could be a good day tomorrow for those who want to brave the elements.

Good luck out there, and Happy Halloween.

Cheers,

Milo

« Last Edit: October 31, 2008, 09:55:02 PM by milo »
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Steely

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2008, 10:28:06 PM »

Hit my chosen spot at 7:00 AM this morning. There were already two guys there getting ready to flyfish.
The gentlemen were very open to the idea of sharing the spot with me, so as soon as we got a glimpse of light, we started working our flies.

It was a beautiful morning, with a light drizzle and mist, but as time went by, the rain picked up and didn't let up till the end of the day.

I had two coho on very early into fishing, but managed none to the beach. Oh, well...that's fishing.

Around noon the bite was completely off, and except for a booty spring that somehow managed to get my fly in its mouth, that was it for that part of the river.

After lunch at Pointa Vista, I went to the bottom end of the river, near the canal, and fished one of the gravel holes where the river becomes the canal. There were occasional chum and coho surfacing, but none wanted my fly.

The rain kept pounding and pounding, and the cold associated with dampness started making its way to my bones, so I decided to call it quits around 4:30. I made one last long cast and started quickly retrieving the line onto the reel.

Much to my surprise, a beautiful resident cutthroat hit my fly and the fight was on. The poor thing didn't stand a chance against an 8-weight rod and a 10-pound leader.

Soon it came to hand:



After admiring it for a moment and taking a picture, I gently released it. There are not too many of these in the Vedder, so they should be treated with utmost respect.
It sure made my day, as I had never caught a cutty in the Vedder. Rainbows and bulls, yes, but never a cutthroat.

The river was essentially a ghost town. There were very, very few people out there. The river held up despite the heavy rain, but I did notice it came up a couple inches. With some more of the wet stuff, a fresh push of fish might just make it into the system.

It could be a good day tomorrow for those who want to brave the elements.

Good luck out there, and Happy Halloween.

Cheers,

Milo


Looks more like a resident rainbow to me but I could be wrong nice fish must have been a big surprise :)
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Every Day

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2008, 11:55:59 PM »

Yes... I was gonna say it almost looks like a Steelhead... Was there a red slash under the chin  ???  If not it was probably a resident rainbow, I have hooked 3 larger ones out of the Vedder in August. One was 18 inches that I landed, one was 16 inches (really fat) and one was around 5 pnds which snapped me off. I also know that the resident bows have been sitting in the ponds for a while now. All in all a beautiful fish, good job on the rare find  :D
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Coho Cody

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2008, 12:33:24 AM »

cant argue bout this one. definate cutty

btw, beauty cutt 8)
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Fishin_Squirrel10-4

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #4 on: November 01, 2008, 02:02:49 AM »

quite the rare catch, if i caught one of those from vedder, it would make my year. beautiful catch, nice
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bbronswyk2000

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2008, 08:17:07 AM »

cant argue bout this one. definate cutty

btw, beauty cutt 8)

How so? Look at the lack of spots below the lateral line and how the tips of the fins are white. Its a rainbow.

Its a beauty
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RalphH

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2008, 09:13:29 AM »

no question that is a cutthroat - look at the length of the maxillary & the rose gill plates. You need to do a little studying bb.

Milo did the water stay clear? thursday was good but I went to the Harrison Friday. Quiet as a halloween grave up there. Dead at Dewedney slough as well.
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Coho Cody

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2008, 12:07:00 PM »

typical sea-run cutt colours and spots. you can also see the faint orangey/red belly. a common characteristic of a cutty
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Froodogga

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #8 on: November 01, 2008, 02:07:04 PM »

Looks like a cut-bow to me.
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bbronswyk2000

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #9 on: November 01, 2008, 02:13:35 PM »

typical sea-run cutt colours and spots. you can also see the faint orangey/red belly. a common characteristic of a cutty

Thats not what seperates a cutty from a rainbow but Ralph is right about the length of the maxillary. It extends way past the eyes. I never looked at that at first now that Ralph brings that up its a cutty,
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Every Day

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #10 on: November 01, 2008, 06:37:06 PM »

You think this is a rare catch... today someone I was fishing with got a sea run bull trout around 8 pounds  :o  We also saw a Steelhead surface right in front of us  :o.. weird how these fish are starting to come in sooo early  ::)
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glx

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #11 on: November 01, 2008, 07:08:49 PM »

you probably saw a coho or a chum roll.  Oh yeah, I have caught many large sea run bulls in the vedder and know of others who have done the same. 
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SeaRun

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2008, 08:33:18 PM »

How about this for a rare catch.... A friend fished the upper river many years ago and caught a pink during an even (non-pink) year.   ???     It was really a pink since I saw the fish before he released it.     I also saw a mature male sockeye in the Capilano hatchery...green head, hooked jaws & red body... probably a stray from the Fraser.
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Every Day

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #13 on: November 01, 2008, 09:05:38 PM »

Searun I haved caught FOUR pinks on off years now in the Vedder (and yes they were pink, 3 were humpies and 1 female that I thought was a jack spring and killed it  :'( ).... not sure but I think the run is starting to rebuild a little which is nice, however I did not see any this year yet.

The fish we saw roll was probably around 12 pounds and was 6 feet away and jumped FULLY out of the water, it wasnt a coho or a chum. A few mins later is when the guy I was with caught the bull (yes there are bulls in the Vedder yearly, but normal run time is mid Dec-Jan). Kinda seems odd that 2 winter fish were seen/caught today in just 4 hours of fishing, along with 9 chum landed and many more hooked, most of which were clean.
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SeaRun

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Re: Chilliwack River, Halloween Day 2008
« Reply #14 on: November 02, 2008, 01:02:38 AM »

Interesting that you caught 4 pinks during the off years EveryDay.   Have not heard anything about rebuilding an even year pink run on Lower Mainland rivers although they have been doing this recently on some of the east coast Isalnd streams.

I have caught & released a dolly/bull about 3 lbs. in Oct., not sure if it is searun or a fish that moved down from the lake (dollies/bulls are also found in Chilliwack Lk.).   Glad to hear you were out fishing.
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