Oh sure! The father and son leave the long one for me to write up....
Anyways, I'll try to be
descriptive, but not as
long....
I pretty much took my time today on the way to the river. After CG's phone call at 8:30am, we decided to meet at Lickman exit at 11:00am. We first went to Gidney's Signs (a proud sponsor of CVRCC) to look at these signs that we want to make for the upcoming
Fraser Valley Boat and Sportsmen's Show (Don't forget, free ticket draws coming up!
). We then went to Chris' favorite Cookies for lunch as the stomachs can't be empty before fishing.
After lunch, we proceeded to the river (again, took our time, a very smooth scenic drive). Upon arriving at the river bank, we immediately saw one older fella with a bent rod. We were not sure whether he had a fish on or not because he looked way too relaxed. A few kicks confirmed it was indeed a fish. I then witnessed something rather unbelievable as this 60ish man did a 100m dash with a tube. In no time he was right beside the stunned angler like a magician.
All that hard work was not paid off though, as the fish turned out to be a hatchery, which was going home with the hooker, instead of the tuber.
The good sign reassured me that there were fish in the river, so I guess the daily reports have not been bogus.
At this point, 2:40 Gordie had arrived. The two of us quickly got ready as Chris took his time like he already had enough of this chrome business....
The three of us then started walking to the spot we intended to fish, where two anglers were already working their way down. A closer look indicated that one of them had a fish on, yet another 100m dash with the tube!
2:40 Gordie and I looked on without speech.... Must be the sandwiches at Cookies.
He soon turned around with disappointment once again, yet another hatchery fish.
Good signs indeed, we continued to walk past the couple. The girl was extremely happy of course with her chrome 12lb fish on the bank. Her companion proceeded to bonk the fish. Seconds after we walked by, we heard screams. The "dead" fish had leaped into the side channel and started swimming downstream! Now.... happiness turned into disbelief.... Disbelief turned into anger.... lol.... The male companion began to chase the escaped fish, as if his life depended on it (and I think it did!
). This brought back fond memory.... the time when Nina hooked her first Vedder red chinook salmon but apparently
I snapped the line as the fish decided to swim between my legs while tailing it. I can still hear that horrible scream....
Luckily, the young fella did catch up to the fish and managed to tail it before it reached the rapids. Good for him!
2:40 Gordie and I started fishing as the relieved gentleman began to make his way back to us. The three of us fished a large section that looked very promising. It was indeed promising, just not for me.
40 feet downstream from me, the relieved gentleman hooked into one fish that leaped straight out right away. It popped off seconds after. Soon after that, he was able to hook another one! This was gently released soon after tailing. 2:40 Gordie shook his head once, as he was literally beside the guy. It didn't take long before 2:40 Gordie got into his first fish though, but keeping it on the line was a big issue. His first two fish came off seconds after the hookup. While playing his third fish, I could see another 100 meter dash in the background as I followed 2:40 Gordie to shore.
"Hey look... Your dad's running again..."
Not so lucky for CG once again, as it was yet another hatchery fish!
2:40 felt today luck was on his side, so the fish was quickly released after a few photo snaps. He knew he was going to hook more, and he sure wasn't wrong.
It was only minutes later he hooked another fish that quickly got off. His fifth fish, was yet another hatchery fish. This time I did not follow him to shore for photos, as I was getting rather tired walking back and forth.
At this point, Doug showed up behind me. Even though the fish were not onto me today, it was still great to be surrounded by fine friends under the warm sun. This weather.... February? More like May... I can see why CG has the motivation to get out there everyday now.... This so-called job for the hatchery seems like a holiday to me....
Itosh then phoned me up at this point.
"Where are you? I can see your car!"
He then popped out from the other side of the river and watched us fish... He, also smelt like a skunk today. The only difference was he didn't even see a fish today.
After all the action, the section was getting rather crowded as other anglers could see what was going on. We then proceeded to move onto a new spot as it was pointless to fish one spot continuously, especially when it has been worked so many times. These fish seem to be on the move all the time. The locations where we fished today will most likely not produce tomorrow.
At the end of the day, I am now at 0 for 1....
But I managed to accomplish a few tasks, including getting some fine photos on my new digital camera.
Enjoy the gallery, CG will probably write up something after this....
2:40's first landed fish.
He just couldn't help staying away from the media, and had to pose with other people's fish.
Juvenile eagle #1.
Juvenile eagle #2.
Author
Topic: February 9th Vedder (Read 8444 times)