So I walked into the Home Restaurant just after 9:00am with my shorts on. Nick and Chris immediately asked, "Dressed for Hawaii today are we?" when they saw me. Little did they know that I was well prepared for this pineapple express. With my beathable waders and wading jacket in the car, no downpour was going to stop me from fishing today.
During breakfast, Chris showed us a fishing book that was written in 1914. Nick and I found some of the information very fascinating, I think it maybe worth posting some quotes from the book later on when I get a chance.
We were out on the water by 10:00am. It sure was nice to be fishing again. The last time I fished was... with Nick and Chris, in late May.
I have never been able to fish much during the month of June because of all the family fishing events that are taking place. These are worthy projects as I believe education is the best approach to make this, or any, community better.
The sounder beeped vigorously as soon as we anchored. Nick and I were rather excited by that. Chris was his usual self, taking his time and couldn't care less if a fish jumps into the boat.
The bite was on almost immediately, but they were soft so none of us were hooking up. About 10 minutes after anchoring, I connected with the first fish after a gradual tug on my rod tip. The ultralight rod was bent to the cork, indicating that this was a kokanee. It only took seconds before the fish started its tail-dance on the surface. I grabbed the leader, gave the fish a lift and I was on the scoring board.
As my krill made its way down to the bottom again, I thought, "It looks like we'll limit out by noon!". Did I ever put a jinx on myself after that.
I was only a matter of time before Nick was on catching mode. One kokanee after another one were being hauled up at one end of the boat. Meanwhile, Chris was slowly getting into his nap mode, and it wasn't even noon yet.
At times Nick would be yelling, "Chris, your rod!" even though it was in his hands. I guess when you nap, your fishing instinct is turned off too.
Eventually, Chris was into his first one. "Net it Nick!", demanded the client, who proceeded to let the fish swim from my right to left while Nick awaited with his net. A scoop and a bonk now put Chris on the score board. "Quick, put a krill on while you're at it, the fish are biting.", Chris said as Nick slipped the fish into the cooler. Some clients are harder to please than others I guess.
Meanwhile, I seemed to have lost my touch. The rod tip was not quivering, so it was time to switch up. Our rid was simply a slip weight rig. A small sliding weight is allowed moving freely on the main line, which is tied onto a swilve. A short leader with a size 4 hook is tied onto that swivel. I decided to change that rig to a different system. By having a fixed weight tied onto the main line and a short leader branching a couple feet above that weight, I felt that the bites can be detected without the weight of the lead. This rig has worked well two years ago when everyone limited out and it has also been good to me in other fisheries in the Tidal Fraser River.
As soon as my new rig was sent to the bottom, the rod started dancing. A quick hook set barbed the fish briefly, one krill was donated to the school. I sent down another krill, only to have the rod dancing again. Another precise hookset brought up another empty hook.
This basically went on for the next two hours. Meanwhile, Nick had limited out while Chris brought two more fish to Nick's net. The scoreboard was not looking so hot at this point.
Suddenly, just light magic, the sounder stopped beeping, the school had moved on. "They will be back.", Nick said confidently. A quick shore pee break lead Chris to three beer cans.
We spent a bit of time observing the insect activity beside a floating dock, which can be a key to success when trying to figure out a lake fishery.
The school was back once we arrived at our spot again. This time, I was hooking up, but just bringing up the wrong items. One landlocked coho after another one made their appearance.
Deep down, in between these coho were some kokanee. We knew this because Nick was still hauling up and releasing kokanees.
4 hous and 250 rain storms later, I was finally into another kokanee. Chris took the video camera out and wanted me to play the fish longer. I wasn't going to jeopardize my score at this point and swang the fish into Nick's net before the camera was even on.
Finally I was able to let out a sigh of relief, there was still hope.
Another hour went by, another kokanee up to the boat. The score was now 4:3:3.
The day's weather was as indecisive as our weather forecasters have been. It rained heavily for ten minutes, followed by the appearance of the sun. This pattern of changes kept my two fishing companions busy putting on and stripping off their rain gear, while I sat comfortably in my breathable waders.
At 5:00pm, an incoming rainstorm that looked to be the nastiest one of the day had us calling quits. We made the right call because it was incredibly stormy just when we started leaving Hope.
The trip brought home five kokanees for me. Chris and I both received two sympathy fish as Nick didn't want his catches.
I tasted one last night and it was absolutely delicious. Once again, a trip with "The Master" brought no disappointment. The catching is only a small gain of these trips as I always like to find out and discuss the biology of the lake where we fish from him. The knowledge is priceless and hopefully can be past along as reference for better appreciation and management of these fisheries.
Photos are attached to this post, you have to log in to view.
Here is a video of Nick explaining the difference between a landlocked coho salmon and kokanee, with some humour in between.
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/video/0712.html
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Topic: Fishing For Those Silver Beauties, The Journal For June 29 (Read 2297 times)