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[chris gadsden]

Mooching seems to be a forgotten art these days. Took a mooching course from the master Ted Peck a few years ago. Learned the art of cutting herring strips.

A wonderful way to fish and I was lucky to do a lot of it at one time. Would have been nice to have video back in those days. Of course I could still do it and I know the Leaf Craft #1 is eager to hit the salt one day again, before its too late.  Today it seems to be all about down riggers and winching in halibut.

The bite and take of a chinook when mooching is just like the float going down except when do you strike. Cowichan Bay was where I did a lot of it in the late fifties and sixties and as I have written before I was fortunate to take a 50 pounder in Alberni inlet working out of China Creek, 2 days before the annual Alberni Derby this fish would have won it that year. Even had 2 sockeye take the herring one year.

We are getting away from the journal but that's fine as it generates some good discussion. Will write day 3 tomorrow.

[firstlight]

Thanks for the tip, did not think of the swivel on the flat, what color do you find effective. Sorry about the Gang but this trip was experiencing what works for those that may not want or cannot fly fish. More ways will follow in the trips ahead. Remember this forum is to try and help the beginner fisher as well even though I donot do half the job Rod does.
Day 2 of the Journal coming up.

My favorite was allways the Perch Scale P/S or Frog in a size 4 or 5.
Rod length of leader to the swivel and let out a bunch of line.min 100 ft.
Much funner to catch them without the metal and probably as effective.
However I have gone to the fly pretty much all the time when at the lakes and I can tell you my success rate is much better than when trolling aimlessly with my Flatfish or Hotshots.
Enjoying the read and I see you have another chapter ready so will go read it now.
Thanks for the report Chris.They are(reports from fishers,not you) getting fewer and far between on the forums these days.

After reading part 2 I have to add that you may want to purchase Chans book Stillwater Strategies.
It really helped me with the basics such as the different hatches at certain times of year and what flys to use and tie.

[chris gadsden]

My favorite was allways the Perch Scale P/S or Frog in a size 4 or 5.
Rod length of leader to the swivel and let out a bunch of line.min 100 ft.
Much funner to catch them without the metal and probably as effective.
However I have gone to the fly pretty much all the time when at the lakes and I can tell you my success rate is much better than when trolling aimlessly with my Flatfish or Hotshots.
Enjoying the read and I see you have another chapter ready so will go read it now.
Thanks for the report Chris.They are(reports from fishers,not you) getting fewer and far between on the forums these days.

After reading part 2 I have to add that you may want to purchase Chans book Stillwater Strategies.
It really helped me with the basics such as the different hatches at certain times of year and what flys to use and tie.

Thanks for this, I have fished several times with Nick and learned a lot and have had some success but I seem to enjoy moving around the lake these days observing things and taking pictures as well as videos, catching seems secondary now. Also maybe lazy pulling anchors up and down but I guess the exercise is good doing that but so is the rowing.

I am guilty of not writing lately including The Journal like I did at one time even though I enjoy it. I guess there is a few reason people donot write as it opens one to criticism which does not bother me (collecting cans and sleeping in a truck but it does keeps one safe from bears and bugs) , giving away secret spots which one does not have to do especially in small streams and lakes and of course it takes time to write a story.

When Rodney first started this forum, 2002 I wrote more often to support the work he was doing for the fishing community and still does, along with his caring for our fishes and the environment and all the education he does for many readers.

This forum has given a great deal of enjoyment to thousands and we all should try to contribute more to continue this success.

Day 3 of the trip sometime today I hope, always good to have your insight on things by the way.

[chris gadsden]

Day 3 of the Journal, June 3, 2014.

 Here is the link to sounds of the Pacific Tree frogs I talked about, its around 10 PM, music to ones ears.
http://youtu.be/Go4lLMTpB8Q

I get another early start to the day, with the first order of the day is to get the fire going; it’s a clear cool morning with mist rising over the flat calm lake. The fire springs to life and takes the chill off one’s body.

The bird life is also beginning their day, Red - winged Blackbirds and Common Wilson snipe can be heard along the bull rushes and reeds that ring the lake. The male loon makes his present known and I see in the distance his mate sitting on her nest that contains 2 eggs, soon to hatch I am sure.

I get the java brewing, boy the aroma smells great in the crisp air, and steam now whiffs from the pouring spout. Bob is still asleep in his truck so I try not to make too much noise, but maybe he smells the coffee and is soon on the scene as he joins me around the fire. 2 cups are poured and with some Irish Cream added and some honey in mine, tastes better than any you can buy.

Bob has a quick breakfast, “travelling light on this trip” he says as he snacks on a cold breakfast. As today is his last day to fish before returning to Vancouver to begin his firefighting shift he wants to make the best of it.
He boards his craft and heads out while I enjoy the warmth of the fire and have a hot breakfast of porridge, Fraser Valley strawberries and more honey.

 I take my time getting out on the lake, not sure when the first oar dipped but it was late morning, this was after I dug a dozen or so worms.
As I near where Bob is fishing he says, if I remember right he had a fish and missed a couple. As I pass by him with the Gang on one rod and the flat on the other the rod with the flat breaks its pulsating motion with a nice bend and a fish, maybe 13 inches clears the water surface. A short battle sees the fish beside the Leaf Craft.
As I intend to keep it I decide just to lift it aboard instead of using the net, bad idea as it breaks free of the hook and disappears back from where it came, anyway with only a few minutes of fishing time I felt I would have my limit in no time.

That too was a bad idea to think as for the rest of the day I only have one more take, on the Gang although I did not fish all that long as the wind picks up and I donot like lake fishing in the wind although with an electric motor its not to bad to troll with.

 I head back to camp for lunch and then go for a fairly long walk and snap some pictures of wild flowers and pick up a couple of dollars of tins that some careless people have thrown around the camping area and along the access road. The flowers are beautiful at this time of year.

With the walk complete its back to camp, stoke up the fire and help Bob load up and he heads back to Vancouver, I know he would like to stay longer but its work time for him. I feel lucky to have had 16 years of not thinking about work and try to make the most of the last few years I have to do what I am doing, being out in the wild be it fishing, hunting or just enjoying nature. This is why I work on environmental issues, more in the past than now. We have to do our best to control what some people think, making money and do not worry what the results of this are.

Sometimes one thinks government would like to see the end our wild salmon so they would not have to deal with us, those that love them so much. Ocean net penned fish farms could be part of that equation but many will defend them to the end, I and many disagree, which is our choice.

I try fishing again, near dark but a violent storm front moves in, wind, rain, thunder and lightning drives me back to camp and I crawl into the Leaf Mobile for the night, hoping for better on day 4.

I am alone tonight which never bothers me, it’s quiet except for the Pacific Tree frogs singing their cheery songs interrupted now and then by the flash of lightning and the clap of thunder, all this music to one’s ear, what could be better.

[capman]

Chris, I always learn from and enjoy reading your journals and so many other members in the forum. Please keep up the great work. Tkx

[beyond]

It's very nice to read your journals.
Thanks a lot for sharing your stories.

[chris gadsden]

Thanks for the kind remarks, and I am trying to get The Journal completed but busy helping with the pikeminnow derby as well as putting the Fraser Valley Salmon Society and Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Society displays for the event done.

[chris gadsden]

Came down with a nasty cold so delayed finishing this off. Not a enough sleep last few days, working on the Pikeminnow derby.

[TNAngler]

Thanks for the write up Chris.  It takes me back to my younger years when I was in the area and could take trips like this and not a couple thousand miles away.

Just getting over a nasty cold myself too so hang in there.  If yours is anything like mine it will take a while to get over it.

[chris gadsden]

What an early hour to be writing another segment of the journal  but had to put out 2 stories for the local papers on the pikeminnow derby from Saturday before I get an early start to a badminton tournament in White Rock.,well it does not start that early but want to catch the morning tide for some ghost shrimp before I swing that racquet.

Day 4, June 4
Daybreak sees another clear morning but still a bit chilly for June but of course I am at a high elevation. The fire and coffee warms one body and spirit too.

I am so glad to be away from the bustle of the Valley and all the traffic problems that I am hearing being reported on CKWX 1130 as I catch up on the news and sports.

 Chilliwack too at one time was a peaceful little town but now growth has spoiled that as land speculators and developers build on every part of land they can. Even some prime farm land has somehow founds its way out of the ALR as some make millions by this move. Some small streams sufferer too like the once prime fish habitat of most salmon species, trout and other aquatic life.

The wind on the lake shortens the morning fishing trip and I come up empty again. I wonder if this will be a fishless trip but that comes second fiddle to the other enjoyable things to do, like a walk, along an old abandon road, through some logging slash as well as keep an eye out for a bear, black or grizzly.

Pictures are taken of the wild flowers that brighten the forest floor. The smell of the surroundings is all the rewards I need. Sometimes we just take this for granted but I try to soak it in as much as I can and should. I love this area and spend time here in the fall too, looking for some blue and willow grouse and if lucky, a deer as we try to live of the land for our protein.

Back to camp and the wind is still blowing like it does most days in Gold Country. I decide to count out the bottles I have cleaned from the area and on the drive up on Sunday. Not a pleasant task but the results are favourable with a total of $43.50, add in $5.35 of the found bill and change. This is enough for the gas burned so far and of course all these will be recycled new life from the old which is a good thing.

A nice nap then takes place, and then supper follows. With the wind now dying down as dusk starts to close in some wildlife settles in for the night while I know some nocturnal ones are beginning to stir. The fish do too as they come into shallower water seeking their supper.  Some are breaking water, time to launch the little blue boat. She sure rows nicely but decide to use the luxury of the electric motor. The surface action shows fish are actively feeding and they too feed on my offering as 2 thirteen inch rainbows fall one for the flat and the other the gang. A nice 17 inch fish takes a liking to the flat too, tipped with a shore dug worm.

With 3 fish for the larder I retire, feeling good about another day of being in a place I call, my earthly heaven.

[FlyFishin Magician]

Well there you go Chris!  You got some fish, and a nice 17 incher to boot. Good on ya.  I know it's just "icing on the cake", but it is nice icing is it not?  LOL.  Thanks for the read... 

[chris gadsden]

It has been a busy last few days, pikeminnow derby, writeup  for The weekly and Chilliwack Progress, badminton tournament in White Rock, filming the stop Enbridge rally in Vancouver, all day meeting with the Cheam band re their new boat launching campsite development for recreational anglers in Agassiz (also many other topics and yesterday getting the Leaf Craft ready for the upcoming bar fishing opportunities on the Fraser River. So I am trying to get the last 2 days done before another trip comes along.

Day 5 June 5
Another cool morning greets me on day 5 of the trip but a fire crackling besides me, coffee in hand is all one needs to brighten one spirits and the thought of maybe adding to yesterday's total of another fish is a positive feeling. The trout from this particular lake are delicious and I never get sick of eating fish.

Of course our family ate fish regularly, fresh, frozen and canned. I can still see in the home cellar shelves of canned chinook salmon carefully prepared by my mother, put away for when the chinooks were not running in our local waters. Most came from Cowichan Bay or the Chemainus area taken by my dad from the same boat I am fishing from on this trip. As I sit on the same seat my dad sat for countless years, enjoyable hours, the boat is at least 60 years old, maybe older who can have that honour of still fishing from a boat that old.

 It does bring tears to ones eyes just thinking about it. How I would like to once again have my dad sitting in the same boat on this lake, on this date beside me. When one is younger I think we take our life and our love ones for granted and it is not until they are gone you may have wished you had done things differently.

My grandparents on my mother's side were not really sports fishers but just went to get their yearly supply of fish to can. I was told they would go in the fall, to Cowichan Bay and I imagine they were coho that teamed the waters in those days, most likely in the thirties or maybe sooner, those coho are almost gone now.

I was told they made their lures from the lids of tins cans; there must have been a lot of fish in those days. Too bad they are not like that these days maybe that is why I work at environmental issues to try and preserve what we have left.

Of course there is many reason why salmon populations have fallen so badly and it always is a wonder to me there is many people that still defend what is causing this decline. I will not get in to that as many of us know what they are and it is not just fish farms.

I have decided for an early morning fishing outing and a short one too as plan on a day trip to Merritt before heading home Friday morning. Also I want to film the loon on her nest before the chicks hatch.

As I load up the little antique blue boat with the gear the sun is just rising over the hills, sending the mist on the lake away, pleasant it is and I have the whole area and lake to myself, except for the wildlife, unbeatable.

As I row past the loon and her nest she just sits and glares at me, most likely now familiar of me going by her the last few days although she did dive from her nest once when I came too close for a picture. I will come back for the video later.

As I row by in front of the camp area about 10 minutes into the outing the rod with the gang on bends nicely and taking line too, looks like a nice one, I check the time, it is 7:10 The battle is not too long, too bad I have not taken it on a fly but will be fly fishing on the next trip as I am going to continue trying different methods of lake fishing this year.

As the fish surrenders I dip it into the waiting net, looks close to 4 pounds and when I measure it the imperial tape measure says 21 inches, I am satisfied needless to say. A little longer of fishing time and I slip over to the loons nest to shoot this video and as you see she sits tight for the 50 seconds the camera whirls. You can see it here if you wish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jQlqxO2vT8&list=UU_4LtEFjHj-ulBHuoq6COmQ&feature=share

With the video done it is time to leave the loon to her incubating and I am sure when I return in a few weeks the 2 eggs will have hatched, I look forward to seeing them, while they donot steal my fish.

It takes me a while to break camp and another angler I know is launching, I help him. Two others arrive and they are with a pontoon boat. They say they found it on the Squamish River I believe they said. They turned it into he RCMP but no one claimed sit so they were given it, even had an electric motor.

Finally I am on my way down the gravel road to Highway #5 and on to Merritt and the first stop is at the Merritt bottle depot where I get $43 as my reward for picking a few hundred bottles and tins. Why do people throw them away like they do littering the road and elsewhere, my gain though and the exercise is good for one too.

I spend the rest of the day touring Merritt, some shopping andcoffee at McDonald's too, tastes better than mine.

I retire early as I am always tired after breaking camp and it will be an early start for home tomorrow.

[chris gadsden]

Final Day of The Journal, June 6

An early start of coffee at the usual haunt before heading towards Hope, I still notice some snow around the summit and also a fair amount in the surrounding mountains. It’s a pleasant drive at an early hour as very little traffic to contend with.

Another stop at Hope for another coffee and I then decide to take a quick trip to Yale to take in the flea market there, sure has grown the last while, worth a drive if you like such things.

I love Yale as I think of the history of Yale; this is where British Columbia really stated with the discovery of gold at Hill’s Bar in 1858. At one time it was the largest city north of San Francisco and west of Chicago. It now is a sleepy town of around 250 but the flea market seems to have that many people looking for that hidden treasure today. I just buy a piece of bannock from one of the First Nations ladies I know. Nothing else temps me; one vendor has plenty of fishing tackle but nothing I need.

I stop by Dennis’s place who I worked with last year in seeking the NDP nomination in his area but he was out.
I always like checking out Lady Alexandra Rock during the freshet, the power amazes me. You can see the video of Lady Franklin Rock here if you wish. http://youtu.be/fptjp1RLSSI. I see a sturgeon break water as I filmed but the camera did not capture that moment

 I also always think of Simon Fraser passing this part of the Fraser River, on June 28, 1808, around 208 years ago, I love the history of BC. I still have some old antique bottles I dug around Yale; they are well over a hundred years old. I wonder who those gold seekers were that drunk from these bottles, most likely drowning their sorrows in this harsh environment of those days now long passed.  Many did indeed drown in these unfriendly waters, some never to be found, as they tried to reach gold further upstream as the pay dirt ran out on the gravel bars of Yale.
They still is some gold to be found and every year I see people seeking that yellow dust as man always seems to have gold fever.

Old bottles do still turn up but digging is not allowed at this historical site now. The Americans were the first to dig bottles here in the fifties; I dug them in the seventies. Sometimes the receding water will give up these bits of Yale’s history, I always watch for them
From there I head towards home and the first bit of business is a bath that has been lacking the last few days.

Now you wonder why the title of the Journal included “a bit of a tick off” Well after the bath I feel a pain in my stomach area and I am amazed, now wait for it, a tick has buried his way in, the little devil. Not sure when I had picked him up, maybe around Yale while beating the bushes for a tin, no blood in his bottom so maybe he had just started his feast.

My wife then just arrives home from a band gig and she checks him out too. I think of lighting a match that we used to do when dogs at home got ticks and the heat of the match made them back out.

The thought of maybe contacting Lyme disease made us think better of it and we head to the hospital where a 3 hour wait awaits us. They put on some kind of fluid in an attempt to make this insect reverse field which it did some but was still clinging on; the pain was still there too.

Finally with 4 doctors and nurses working on the guy, it took a straw and some thread to lasso him somehow, could not actually see the action but he was finally removed, popped in a bottle for maybe a test for Lyme disease as it can take months or years to effect your body. The pain thankfully is now gone and we head out for a very late supper, not feeling ticked off now.

 This ends another journal and as I prepare for another lake trip shortly I will be watching for these guys now as I have never picked up a tick before, after 60 plus years of being where they hang out, another one of life's experiences ends on a happy note.

[RyanB]

Thanks for the report Chris.  I appreciate your love of nature and BC. 

[Terry Bodman]

When you wake up at the Walmart Hilton, why no go inside and buy a inexpensive fly fishing outfit and a couple of chronomids.  That way you will have a real fishing experience.