It is Thurs. and my last day to fish for pinks on the Campbell. I will have my nose operated on tomorrow for the third time. Will be unable to fish for 4 days Sockeye open tomorrow and the wind will be brutal where I usually beach fish for them. That is a solace for me but having to turn down a trip on my friend's boat for springs is a little much.
Morning light had awaken me though it had been a restless night. Putting my gear into my truck I could hear the Campbell beckoning me to the incoming pinks jumping and porpoising on their journey home. I would not be fishing for them that day, Sunday, 6 days before my visit to the hospital.
The silhouette of the mountains to the east enhanced by the redness of the sky. The green can south of Quadra barely made out. Different tide ripples and eddies could be made out as the ebb was slowly building. The gulls on the water. Anticpation for what is to come.
The motor on the my fishing friends idled down to a slow speed as we seached for the schools of herring. "There they are" said John at 50 to 80 feet. All went quiet as the motor was shut down. No other boats to be seen.
We quickly counted out the pulls to put us below the herring. Three lifts of my rod and I could feel the spring trying to shake the metal herring. I quickly reeled down and sunk the hooks into the fish.
It was 8:30 am and you could feel the bite was over. The tide had started to run fast and herring had disappeared into the depth. I looked at my friend and his son and thanked them for a great day on the water. We had landed the fish I hooked there at first light and two more had come to the boat on my friends rod. I had lost another one and his son, being 11 yrs. old, had played and landed his first coho. That was the best part of the day.
The tide was coming in on the Campbell and with the sun to my back I could see pink school after schools going by that Thurs. afternoon. They were flashing right in front of me. Chomers right out of the ocean and not a bitter among them? This was my favorite place to catch big pinks without fail.
Switch to another favorite lure, I tried again. Down goes the float and a bright pink launches itself into the air. It had bitten on one of it's fins. Landed the fish and quickly released it. I don't like to snag fish. Changed back to my favoite lure. No fish but no snagging. Why no bites?
I saw a bright flash behind a boulder in the faster water. Cast. Down goes the float. The fish bolts down stream and erupts out of the water with my presentation firmly imbeded in his mouth. Chrome fish with sea lice.
Being that the river is usually low for this time of the year were the bigger ones in the faster water? After 10-15 cast ,I guess not. Off to my left in a slot further up the river I see a back of fish and then another one also. Never seen them in that part of the river before.
Three other large pinks just in from the ocean can't resist my lure. Prime eating fare. Tomorrow "sigh"
Author
Topic: Campbell River, August 1st 2014 (Read 1880 times)