Once again a very warm welcome to members and guests to the journal on FWR, for the first day of February.
My morning starts at 5:45 a. m., not much sleep last night due to the howling wind that seemed to threatened to blow the house off its foundation. First thing is to check the river reading to see if the wind was warm enough to melt some lower level snow but I see the gauge stopped recording around midnight.
I no sooner have checked the gauge reading when the house phone starts ringing, I nearly trip on my pajamas bottoms as I scramble for it before the ringing wakes the whole house.
It is "The Master" asking about the gauge and what I think the river could be like. I tell him I will check it at first light and report back to him.
After sending out a number of e-mails I head to check the river at the freeway bridge and I am very surprised to see it is still fishable but the wind is just terrible. It nearly blows me over as I check the log jam for drennans as after a phone call to Nick we decide to wait until this gale subsides some before looking for an iron.
I find 3 drennans
in one log jam and some other types along with a bunch of tins and bottles. FA will be pleased to hear I found 2 full ones as well, ice cold of course.
Pictures of assortment of floats below. They will look good with the Leaf logo on them if the need arises.
I tie up some fresh steelhead bait roe bags, as I continue to wait for things to settle down, some anglers are hard at it but to me as I can fish every day if I wish, no hurry to try fishing in this gale.
Finally around 9:45 I head down Keith Wilson Road towards the run I am going to fish. As I just pass Chasey Road I see a Ford in the center of the south ditch. No one around. As I make a call to the RCMP I think how lucky the driver was that it landed in the upright position.
The RCMP dispatch tells me it has been already reported, I snap a picture and just as I get ready to leave here comes the tow truck. As I freelance for the Chilliwack Progress I decide to stick around for a better picture as the editor always says you need a person in the picture. The tow truck driver has chest waders on and he needs them to do the hook up.
I snap a number of pictures and direct traffic as one lane is blocked by the tow truck. A little later the mother of the driver comes along and I get the story, good as it will give me some info for the cutline. Apparently her son was coming home shortly after midnight in the wind and rain storm. She said a large cottonwood tree that I could still see had blown down. The driver ran right into it, lost control and ended up in the ditch, one lucky guy. He was able to get the power windows down and climb out to safety.
It is nearing 11 with my assignment done, time to head for the river. As I finally reach the river the wind is still blowing and darn the river has just started to colour up.
As I arrive Toothpick has just tubed a steelhead, landed a hatchery that he has retained and his fishing partner has landed a hatchery that was released. I just missed the bite.
I mope around and fish a few runs before chatting with Tom who kindly gives me some of his hot roe bags.
Then two fly guys appear and start fishing above me so I decide to surrender the run to them. Anyway time for a Tim's coffee and read the papers.
With this done I return to find the river has cleared some so I make my move at 2:30 to the KE and "The Root" but as they have the last couple of weeks they have not been kind to me.
I leave theses runs with around a hour and half to fish and now move to some new territory. As I reach the area I am going to end my day ,Ross has just connected with a nice wild, but too late for the tube and anyway he is on the other side of the river. Milt helps with the release as I move up towards the run I wish to fish, no one in sight.
I fish two runs as I work my way to the main run I wish to fish and all I find is a coffee cup some angler has left on the bar. I wonder how a fisherman can do this, would he throw his empty cup on the floor at home? We must remember we are vistors and guests to the river, the home of the fish and other creatures and should treat it with respect. Just look at the garbage around parking area as well, there seems to be way too many anglers that do not seem to respect nature.
As my watch ticks close to 4:30 I start to trudge back to the Leaf Mobile thinking I have been jarred back to reality, not even a bite today. I had received reports throughout the day there had been a few fish taken including one angler who connected 4 times.
On the way out I decide to fish one of the runs I had tried on the way up. This time I decided to fish it from above, standing in the riffle. A nice slot, not wide and not long. I remember taking a steelhead a few years ago there, although it turned out to be a kelt slowly working its way downstream and back out to the ocean.
Just as I make my second cast I see a float, a green topped one floating by me, I watch it more than my float to see if it may catch up in the rip rap on the shore and I can add it to today's collection.
It continues it journey to the jaws of a waiting log jam as I turn my attention back to the Maple Leaf Drennan. The time is 4:40.
Where is it as I briefly seek its whereabouts, no sign of its red top, I quickly yard back and am rewarded with the tell tale sign of a steelhead, a head shake followed by the fish swimming rapidly towards me. I quickly reel in the slack line in order to catch up to the fish. I am glad the fish has decided not to head downstream, towards some heavy water. If it did it would mean I would have to do some risky wading and then I would have to follow the fish down a stretch of the rip rap.
I slacken my line completely off on the fish as it keeps swimming upstream. I walk with it just like walking a pooch, sometimes it is as close to 5 feet away from me, I can see the drennan float's red top but I can not see the ghostly creature ahead of it that is towing it upstream at a walking pace.
It must go up 150 yards or so from where I hooked it before I gain my footing on a gravel bar where a brief tussle takes place before it surrenders for a picture. One of the nicest fish of the season a hatchery doe in the 11 pound range.
With the picture taken, hook removed, I follow her a bit as she at first slowly but surely swims away, in the foot or so of water. I am amazed how she now blends in with the gravel as in no time this silver beauty has disappeared from my view. She is now safely hidden in some resting spot to regain her strength sapped from the fight. I then leave her to her world, wondering if she will give some other angler the thrill of hooking her or has she learnt a lesson tonight. Inside of me, maybe because of her sheer beauty I hope she gets the opportunity to met as handsome a mate as she is gorgeous and complete her spawning ritual.
More than satisfied with the day after I had nearly given up hope of a fish as my float had not move downward all day I now head for the Leaf Mobile as the watch shows 5 o'clock. Only 14 hours to go until another journal begins, another adventure just around the corner, once again in search of the mighty and mystical steelhead that is waiting somewhere for you and me. Good hunting.
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Topic: A Traffic Accident, Found Some Drennans, And A--, The Vedder Journal, Feb. 1 (Read 9682 times)