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[RalphH]

Those are nice bright fish. I have caught the odd one where the bars aren't even visible

Fly fishing for Squamish river chum used to be the highlight of my salmon fishing season. As soon as I'd wrap up mu coho pursuits, hardly a weekend day in November would go by without me casting some purple and orange creations to willing chum.
Alas, with the numbers being so low, targetting chum this season, even if it is C&R only, is not allowed.
Hopefully, this magnificent West Coast fishery will rebound in coming years, and I'll again have the pleasure of targetting those toothy monsters, which, pound per pound, are the best fighters in the salmon world. And keeping a few for the smoker would be an excellent bonus.

It must be 10+ years since that ended. Actually landing 30+ fish in 7 or 8 hours was pretty easy, excepting the stress on the arms. I don't think I ever saw anything like the mass of chum that came into the Harrison around Nov 10th. On that broad clear river it looked like one could walk across if the fish just held still. I caught one chum I can never forget. I had on a large Mickey Finn and this fish nailed it. It took off across the river pulling out a lot of backing (I usually have 150+ yards of 30lb dacron). I pulled back to slow the run and the line rose to the surface draped with waterlogged sticks some as long as a yard. I landed that fish, a huge male that must have been 15lbs+ and colored like a "real fire chicken" as some called them. It was hooked well back in the mouth.  I had experiences like that on the Squamish as well but never with a fish that big.

Makes me think it's been so long that we may never see those kinds of returns again. Something seems to have changed with chum returns. It also makes me think of all the fishing spots that i have lost in the last 10 years due to development, no trespassing signs & fences, flood remediation and in river gravel mining . Some beautiful spots have been rip rapped with boulders the size of cars and the removal of gravel bars have turned gentle spots into rapid and deep flows. Kind of sad to see as I enter what is likely the last 10 years of my fishing life.

BTW - problem I had seeing images was with Imgur blocking the VPN server. Turning it off or switching to another VPN fixed it. off that a server in a European country is ok but not one in Canada!

[coastangler]

Do they typically bite on the swing or the strip?  I caught 10x more pinks stripping than swinging this summer.

I caught them on both methods, I guess it depends on the water type and where the fish sit for one method or another. When stripping it does become more important to not go too heavy as otherwise it's almost a guaranteed snag, so if you were catching stacked fish on the strip it means you were doing the right thing 

BTW - problem I had seeing images was with Imgur blocking the VPN server. Turning it off or switching to another VPN fixed it. off that a server in a European country is ok but not one in Canada!

Off topic, but if you are into a free, reliable VPN go with CloudFlare WARP. These guys have revolutionized internet security and it also works seamlessly for mobile. Always makes me nervous when using online banking, CRA website, etc and potentially being vulnerable to MITM attacks (man-in-the-middle). It won't allow you to switch location though


Agreed with the Squamish chum fishery being another level and hard to forget. I haven't targeted Chum in the Squamish for a few years now as it's been closed for a while now but I do miss those energetic runs. Here is the freshest one I've ever caught there

[psd1179]

Chum can be bright when they reach slough. they fight ok. but the fish are not very bity and they always stack at some spot. Really cannot tell if it is snagged or the fish bite

[roeman]

Are you bragging or complaining?

What a looser comment...
Its called a statement..

[Darko]

Agreed with the Squamish chum fishery being another level and hard to forget. I haven't targeted Chum in the Squamish for a few years now as it's been closed for a while now but I do miss those energetic runs. Here is the freshest one I've ever caught there

Impressive! That's a beautiful chum.

[Silex-user]

Honestly, I used to hated those saber-tooth tiger salmons. I got spoiled catching lots of cohos back in good old days. Now they are my second favorite fish to catch in river fishing after steelheads. Catching chrome fresh chum pound for pound they are the hardest fishing around.



Silex-user