Today may have been my last outting on the Vedde this season.I Fished my usual spot and out came the crowd. Like a zombie movie they came out of the woodwork one by one. A total of close to eight rods in about a 30 meter run. everything from 3 o'clock casters to 5ft leaders were in full force. Floats would dash across river as the fish got the bejebus scared out of it.Tails, fins and bellies up for the first bit. Snag and drag was the common practice upon these men. I began to question any fish that was tethered."Was it legit? That's too chrome to be a hatch".That fish ran for its dear life and the "angler" followed suit only to show up gills in hand. I tried to not let it bother me too much as I knew what I was getting into. A couple of hours passed and I only managed a decent sized Dolly.The weather was wonderful and it aided in drowning out the chaos around me. By noon I decided to put the rod down and have some lunch. A vet rod showed up and we had ourselves a good conversation as he geared up. we wished each other luck as we headed back to run to put our "luck" to use. At this point I decided to switch up to roe and see what I can get. with the setup I was using I wished I had hooks bigger than size four as I just threw lunch to the passing fish. back to blending wool I went and at this point I was hurling out any combination I could. I decided to try a combination of shrimp colored wool and white. Two casts in I feel the slightest tug and wham, hook set...FISH ON! this fish was doing all it could to get free.Head shakes, rolls and runs. at first it felt as if it was snagged but it quickly made its way to me(something I learned to quickly differentiate from a snag and a bite).I made my way to the fish to check and feel for the adipose.No dominant fin but the slightest little sliver.decided to tail it to get a closer look as I have seen some funny business in regards to "clipping".To my pleasure it was a misclip with a full heal.It was a good size female and I clamped my hand tighter then made my way to a safe zone and began the process we are all used to. I normally tether my fish after bleeding but decided to leave it on wet grass. I made my way back to my rod to reset my presentation and get back at it. more time passed and not a great deal of action going on. The snaggers couldnt snag anything and the anglers couldnt entice a nibble. I decided to call it quits around 4:30pm and proceeded to clean my fish, dry the roe and change into more "civil" clothing.Gave another fellow who was having car troubles a lift back to town and grabbed some food from one of the many fast food joints. Upon arriving at home I entered my room to look around and see my garments on the floor as if I was a snake shedding skin and the quick serve coffee cups sitting in various locations. then it hits me...salmon season totally engulfed my life for that span where I can only think about the next bite. Countless hours spent on the river, reading reports on outtings and river levels, scoping out the next rain fall and planning your run routes.I look over my room once more and I think to myself "Do I have one more trip left?". I begin to grin and say to myself "Why the hell not."
I normally post short reports but I felt the need to share some of what goes through my head as I have only fished rivers for 2 years. I moved out from Edmonton 5 years ago and started fishing religiously recently. This is my escape from the rushed lifestyle I have become used to. Some take the beauty at their doorstep for granted....and it is truly a shame.
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Topic: Chilliwack River, November 14th 2013 (Read 6516 times)