Thought some may enjoy reading this description about the Vedder River from 1919.
THE VEDDER RIVER
The Vedder runs from Chilliwack Lake for about thirty miles to Sumas Lake. About thirty years ago what is now called Vedder was not in existance. The old river was called the Chilliwack River which divided into two branches at Vedder Crossing, the second branch being known as the Luk-a-huk (wrong spelling I believe). Both these branches ran direct into the Fraser River through the richest part of the valley and frequently caused bad floods and much damage to farm land. The settlers then built a dam at Vedder Crossing and turned the river into one stream down its present bed, where it had probably previously run in bygone days. (I have been told that a log jam formed there and was blown open by the farmers??) The building of this dam caused a great feud amongst the settlers which even at the present time is still the cause of nuch trouble.
At the present time only the lower reaches are called the Vedder, the upper part still being the Chilliwack River, though for the purposes of this book it will all be referred to as the Vedder.
To get to the Vedder, which is some sixty miles or so from Vancouver,the pleasantest way is to drive in a car as you not only have a delightful drive over a good road, but the car is handy to reach the different parts of the river.
You can also get there by B. C. Electric, which has three trains running each day,and get off at Sardis or if you wish you can get off by the Canadian Northern or Great Northern and get off at Chilliwack.
Sardis is two and a half miles from Vedder Crossing Inn and about three hours or so from Vancouve rby electric railway. Chilliwack is also about three hours from the Vedder by railway, but is a little over six miles from the river. Cars can be hired at both points.
The Vedder Crossing Inn, which only has accommodation for a limited number, is very well run and a delightful place to stay at. The inn is situated right on the bank of the river within a few minutes' walk of some of the best water. There is also a comfortable hotel at Chilliwack in case the Vedder Inn is crowded and as the road is good, a few minutes' drive will take you to the river.
The Vedder, which is quite a big stream, has had more fish than taken out of it than any other stream on the Mainland and is still one of the best for all - round fishing within fairly easy reach of Vancouver. In this stream there are, at certain times, runs of spring and cohoe salmon, steelheads, dolly vardens, rainbow and cut-throats.
For steelheads it is hard to beat. They run pretty well all Winter, but the best time to fish for them is in February and March, during which months the fish are in excellent condition. They continue to run all April and part of May, but you get more and more fish out of condition.
The freshets begin in May and the water is usually out of condition until well in June. As soon as it is fishable, there is excellent sport to be had spinning for spring salmon. Some of these fish, especially those of early run, go up to as high as thirty pounds. The salmon run all July and part of august until the water gets well down and clear, when the trout come in. The run of trout continues to improve as the season advances and lasts until the regular season closes.
Cohoe salmon begin to run towards the end of September and are good all through October.
Dolly varden with which the river used to be alive, are now more or less scarce, but an odd one will still be taken when spinning for steelhead or salmon.
While the Vedder is chiefly renowned as a spinning river for steelhead and salmon, good fly fishing can be had when the trout are running, particulary so some few miles above the Crossing. The cohoe can also be caught on the fly if properly fished for.
The best flies for trout are the Teals, Royal Coachman, March Brown, Black Gnat and Hardy's Favorite.
Hoped you enjoyed the read.
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Topic: A Story From the Past About The Vedder (Read 2648 times)