Arrived around 7am to cloudy skies. As i geared up i debated whether or not to bring my rain jacket along. After downing my coffee i decided to bring it along just in case. Got down to the river to find three guys chucking out great big clumps of roe. They hadn't touched anything yet. I wished them luck and was on my way. I brought my pin and level wind. My game plan was to use the pin and after a couple hours switch to the level wind. I should have left the level wind at home! I was dying to try a couple new jigs i had tied the night before. I started off using a Magenta rabbit fur with a hot pink marabou tail tipped with prawn. Working the seam between the rapid and slower water I was ready for some fast and furious action. Forty-five minutes later as my optimism waned I decide to reload with the other jig i tied. This one was so pretty I almost didn't want to get it wet. This beauty was a Blood Red rabbit fur with a black marabou tail, also tipped. After a couple drifts through the seam i decided that any self respecting spring might just plow straight up through the rapid not needing the slower water that smaller lesser fish prefer. I cast into the heart of the rapid and as the float bobbed up and down I envisioned the jig beneath it dancing and pulsing, daring any passing spring to take a closer look. I had a few heart stopping moments when the float would dissappear behind a rapid only to reappear a second later. On my second cast, as the float passed directly in front of me it disappeared behind a rapid and i waited for it to reappear, when it didn't I struck hard. With the great resistance on the rod I initially thought I was snagged, when all of a sudden the snag started moving. FISH ON! The adrenaline rush hit me and started to work the fish to shore. I gained about ten feet and just as i was beginning to think that it wasn't much of a fight my opponent at the other end of my line decided to show himself. An absolute chromer and huge!!!. Its tail was at least 10 inches wide and as it rolled slightly to show its girth I was in awe. It was a 25 - 30lber! I had no idea that the reds that run up the Vedder got this big. As if to snap me out of it, this bad boy went on a jaw dropping, knuckle busting run that I will not soon forget. I hung on for dear life as this brute tore off yards and yards of my 15lb. test mainline at will. It didn't take long for the bright orange of my backing to start appearing under the last few yards of mono. It was time to make a stand or i wouldn't have any line left. I braked my reel and start working this beast back to me. The battle ebbed and flowed for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually i had him about eighty feet away from me and as i slowly pumped my rod I could hear it creaking. Thinking it might snap at any moment i eased off a bit. We were at a stand off. The fish just dug in and wouldn't budge. I took this time to reasses and take a breather. It was then that i realized that the light sprinkle that had been falling had turned into an absolute downpour. I'm amazed that i was so entranced by the fight that i didn't even notice it was pouring. I slowly started working the fish in when it went on another tear. (I guess it was taking a breather too!). Not wanting to give up all the ground i had made up I braked hard on my reel and ...... Snap!!!! My leader broke and it was over. The finality of it felt like Mike Tyson had just sucker punched me!!!! I felt my knees buckling beneath me and i sat down on the spot. As i sat there just staring at the river my float lying on its side swung over to the shore. I thought about that beautiful fish swimming out there somewhere and felt bad that my jig was still embedded in the corner of it's mouth. Too bad it didn't spit the hook. For totally unselfish reasons I hope this bad boy gets to spawn. He deserves it! The skies pummelled me with its onslaught and i, like an idiot just sat there smiling with an ear to ear cupcakes eating grin!!!!! I looked over at my rain jacket hanging on a tree stump and burst out laughing.
I honestly dont think i will ever use my level wind again unless its for chucking spoons. The experience I had with this fish and my pin made me regret all those lost years of not fishing, all the while making me pumped for my next outing.
TIGHT LINES ALL !!!!!!!
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Topic: Chilliwack River, July 17th 2013 (Read 4302 times)