After two solid weeks of pink salmon action, I thought it was time to try something different. September can be excellent for coho fishing on the Chilliwack River. After last night's drizzle, and today's cloudy weather, I thought it was worth to give it a go.
Trout Slayer was supposed to join me but he could not resist the Randog Craft for some sturgeon action.
I wonder how many they landed today.
I tried to convince my usual coho partner LukeYVR to tag along, but he chose sleep over fishing like he has done many times in the past...
Sure, let me do the leg work and scout out the runs for you...
As I approached Chilliwack, the smell of the manure and smog excited me.
That fresh silver was that much closer to my hook, I was almost there...
I arrived at the spot where I wanted to start, and saw not a single soul around.
The runs haven't changed that much since July as expected, just slightly shallower. Time to test out this fresh batch of pink salmon roe. I lopped a big chunk onto the #2 hook and flicked it out. After several drifts, the float was completely buried. Surprised, I picked up the rod slightly instead of jerking it, the fish was on.
It wasn't too big, at first I thought it was a jack. As it approached me, I could see the creamy body, it was a whitefish, but a pretty good size one!
A quick photo and it was released into the run again.
After spending another 30 minutes on this particular run, i moved onto another one. At this deeper run, I could see a few pinks sitting near the bottom. My Drennan float tapped a few times during my first drift. On the second drift, it was nudged a few times again. This time I gently picked up the line, and a small trout was dangling at the end. I quickly unhooked it and moved a bit further down.
A few casts later, the float was buried once again. This time I yanked hard. The Stryker 2106 completely bent down, now I was shaking.
I scrambled to look for a good landing spot, as I was fishing from a steep drop-off. I slowly moved myself down to the water, without looking at the fish as I reeled. When I looked up again, the fish was already in front of me. This huge head poked out from the water, it was a gigantic pikeminnow greeting me.
That fish had me all excited, I thought it was a chinook jack at least...
I grabbed onto its lip, took the hook out and back into the water it went again.
Hey, three species in one outing, not bad at all.
The water was quite clear, so during some of the drifts I was able to see my roe in the water. While observing the roe during one drift, a coho followed it but never touched the eggs...
A few more quick hits and misses later on that day, but it was generally quiet but pleasant on the flow.
Today's goal was to scout out some of the runs where I plan to target my coho salmon this season, catching one would have just been a bonus.
I now have my runs, just waiting for them to arrive now. Any day now...
Few things to remember
- You need a freshwater fishing licence when fishing the Chilliwack River.
- You need to purchase a salmon conservation stamp if you intend to keep your salmon.
- Daily quota for pink salmon is four fish below the Vedder Crossing in Chilliwack River.
- Daily quota for hatchery coho salmon is four fish in Chilliwack River. Hatchery coho salmon have no adipose fin.
- Daily quota for chum salmon is one fish in Chilliwack River.
- Daily quota for chinook salmon is four fish in Chilliwack River, but only one maybe over 62cm.
- You may only keep four salmon (mixed species) in total per day.
- Only a single barbless hook is allowed.
- You must release any sockeye and wild coho carefully.
- Pink salmon have large oval spots on their back and tail. Sockeye salmon do not have spots. Chinook salmon have tiny black spots on its back and tail. Coho salmon have tiny black spots on its back and upper tail, and white gum.
- Please note that some sockeye salmon in the Chilliwack River also do not have an adipose fin.
- Complete Chilliwack River salmon regulations can be found on this page.
- Please phone DFO Chilliwack 604-702-2278 if you observe a violation.
- Make sure you have a good fillet knife to clean your catch and a cooler with ice to keep your it fresh.
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Topic: Chilliwack River September 16th (Read 3278 times)