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[Fish Assassin]

Tried a new location up from where I normally fish. Only one fish caught.

[yoh]

Envious of all the action near the mouth it seems. But not envious enough to bother driving to Richmond 
Hoping to see more action, and the fabled "20 fish a day" one of these days where the non-tidal begins. I should get a boat...

[Fish Assassin]

Yesterday was very productive in the lower Fraser. This morning not so much.

[RalphH]

Time to start thinking of other locations... particularly those with clearwater! As mentioned in the paper Clarki provided above, pinks into streams in the Fraser valley time later than those headed farther up the Fraser. While water is clear, the temperatures are high. The fish will be most interested in biting early in the morning. I got my limit yesterday. Small schools were moving. Caught my last fish at about noon when my thermometer registered water temp of 18C. Caught my fish on flies and switched to a faster sinking tip the last hour. The fish move deeper and hold at the brightest part of the day. Shared a good spot with one other angler who got his limit as well.





pretty shiny eh?



#4

If the return is good and one hits it right the Harrison can be outstanding around Thanksgiving. It usually lasts a day or 2 no more. I have fished schools passing through as late as early November though those fish were colored.

[Darko]

I wanted to share something very interesting i saw a few days ago in the tidal fraser near new west. I saw something very unusual. A killer whale. Yes I am 100% sure it was a killer whale. I had first seen it across the river. Something large and black surface for about 2 seconds the exact same way a killer whale does. This one was maybe 18-20 ft large. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I was just thinking, that's way too large to be a seal or salmon. Too dark to be a sturgeon and unlike how they usually jump or surface. Then about 2 minutes later I see it jump about 3 meters into the air with the sun reflecting on it's black skin. This thing was huge and the same shape as a killer whale. Some smaller tug boats actually were going by across the river while it was in the area which I know can confuse them or negatively affect them. I wonder what happened to it. After the second surfacing I started recording to try to get it on camera but of course it didn't want to come out after that. Just wasn't meant to be I guess. Anyways something I'm sure is pretty rare to see. The day before it I also witnessed the man floating by hope on the fraser that fell off his kayak. Man that stretch is fast and I was glad to find out he made it ok. But seriously an inflatable kayak on a windy day on that stretch of the fraser is a terrible idea and I hope he doesn't get back his kayak for his own sake. That man is very lucky to be alive. Somebody beside me alerted SAR just incase. He seemed calm and didn't utter a word as he floated down the middle of the swift river in his life jacket. Anyways quite interesting events to witness on the Fraser in back to back days! You never know what you will see out there...

[RalphH]

That's interesting. It's not the first such report and there is a thread from 2014 posted by someone who said they saw a killer whale in the river, as opposed to the mouth or the estuary. It's plausible as they do do such things. One report I saw says KWs have been confirmed in the Columbia up to 100km from the mouth.  They can't stay in freshwater long though. They will get sick and likely die.

[milo]

I wanted to share something very interesting i saw a few days ago in the tidal fraser near new west. I saw something very unusual. A killer whale. Yes I am 100% sure it was a killer whale. I had first seen it across the river. Something large and black surface for about 2 seconds the exact same way a killer whale does. This one was maybe 18-20 ft large. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I was just thinking, that's way too large to be a seal or salmon. Too dark to be a sturgeon and unlike how they usually jump or surface. Then about 2 minutes later I see it jump about 3 meters into the air with the sun reflecting on it's black skin. This thing was huge and the same shape as a killer whale.

Darko, what you saw is a Russian submarine shaped and painted to resemble a killer whale. The Russians have long been wondering about our awesome salmon returns, so Putin dispatched a specially disguised submarine to follow our salmon and collect scientific data. 

[yoh]

Time to start thinking of other locations... particularly those with clearwater! As mentioned in the paper Clarki provided above, pinks into streams in the Fraser valley time later than those headed farther up the Fraser. While water is clear, the temperatures are high. The fish will be most interested in biting early in the morning. I got my limit yesterday. Small schools were moving. Caught my last fish at about noon when my thermometer registered water temp of 18C. Caught my fish on flies and switched to a faster sinking tip the last hour. The fish move deeper and hold at the brightest part of the day. Shared a good spot with one other angler who got his limit as well.





pretty shiny eh?



#4

If the return is good and one hits it right the Harrison can be outstanding around Thanksgiving. It usually lasts a day or 2 no more. I have fished schools passing through as late as early November though those fish were colored.

18C is cooler than I expected, very nice catches!
I checked the dates of when I caught my pinks and the water temps were also around that, will have to get up early and try more before the sun is out... Hoping next weeks rain will help cool things down before the season ends in the Lower Fraser.

[Darko]

Darko, what you saw is a Russian submarine shaped and painted to resemble a killer whale. The Russians have long been wondering about our awesome salmon returns, so Putin dispatched a specially disguised submarine to follow our salmon and collect scientific data. 

Ah yes how silly of me to not think of that!

That's interesting. It's not the first such report and there is a thread from 2014 posted by someone who said they saw a killer whale in the river, as opposed to the mouth or the estuary. It's plausible as they do do such things. One report I saw says KWs have been confirmed in the Columbia up to 100km from the mouth.  They can't stay in freshwater long though. They will get sick and likely die.

interesting! I wonder if they are entering the river because I also heard that the salmon are not staging as much or as long as usual at the Fraser river mouth.

[sockeyed]

I wanted to share something very interesting i saw a few days ago in the tidal fraser near new west. I saw something very unusual. A killer whale. Yes I am 100% sure it was a killer whale. I had first seen it across the river. Something large and black surface for about 2 seconds the exact same way a killer whale does. This one was maybe 18-20 ft large. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I was just thinking, that's way too large to be a seal or salmon. Too dark to be a sturgeon and unlike how they usually jump or surface. Then about 2 minutes later I see it jump about 3 meters into the air with the sun reflecting on it's black skin. This thing was huge and the same shape as a killer whale. Some smaller tug boats actually were going by across the river while it was in the area which I know can confuse them or negatively affect them. I wonder what happened to it. After the second surfacing I started recording to try to get it on camera but of course it didn't want to come out after that. Just wasn't meant to be I guess. Anyways something I'm sure is pretty rare to see. The day before it I also witnessed the man floating by hope on the fraser that fell off his kayak. Man that stretch is fast and I was glad to find out he made it ok. But seriously an inflatable kayak on a windy day on that stretch of the fraser is a terrible idea and I hope he doesn't get back his kayak for his own sake. That man is very lucky to be alive. Somebody beside me alerted SAR just incase. He seemed calm and didn't utter a word as he floated down the middle of the swift river in his life jacket. Anyways quite interesting events to witness on the Fraser in back to back days! You never know what you will see out there...

There is no way a killer whale was in the fraser in new west. most local orca sightings are tracked/reported. There would be many reports and videos

[clarki]

Geez Darko, either you are losing it or you made the observation of a lifetime.

I'v been thinking along the same lines as @sockeyed. If there it was indeed an orca,  and this being salmon season with commercial boats on the water and anglers lining the banks, not to mention all the recreational boat traffic and tugs on the water, there should be other reports, cell phone footage...

You may want to reach out and share your sighting with one of the cetacean sighting websites: Ocean Wise is one, or DFO has a ph# to call into.

[Darko]

There is no way a killer whale was in the fraser in new west. most local orca sightings are tracked/reported. There would be many reports and videos

It wasn't exactly in new west, it is more downstream, but I don't want to blow up any spots..
I am 100% sure it was a killer whale as I said. I saw it surface and I saw it leap out of the water. There was other people fishing nearby that probably saw it too. Trust me I have a good eye and I'm sure of my sighting. Like I said I started recording after the second sighting but it didn't show again.

Geez Darko, either you are losing it or you made the observation of a lifetime.

I'v been thinking along the same lines as @sockeyed. If there it was indeed an orca,  and this being salmon season with commercial boats on the water and anglers lining the banks, not to mention all the recreational boat traffic and tugs on the water, there should be other reports, cell phone footage...

You may want to reach out and share your signing with one of the cetacean sighting websites: Ocean Wise is one, DFO has a ph# to call into to.

I will check the DFO contact and describe my sighting although that was on Tuesday.

[psd1179]

It wasn't exactly in new west, it is more downstream, but I don't want to blow up any spots..
I am 100% sure it was a killer whale as I said. I saw it surface and I saw it leap out of the water. There was other people fishing nearby that probably saw it too. Trust me I have a good eye and I'm sure of my sighting. Like I said I started recording after the second sighting but it didn't show again.

I will check the DFO contact and describe my sighting although that was on Tuesday.

there are many drift wood. They sometime look like whales. they are dark

[RalphH]

I saw a pair of gillnet boats today just downstream of the Patullo Bridge. One might have been the Brownsville test boat. Didn't see any whales but I wasn't looking. It is true about whale sightings being tracked and reported on line. You can look. KWs usually travel in groups of 3 or more. Very rare to see one alone though it is possible they were separated enough you could only see one. You have also not mentioned additional details that would convince me you actually saw a killer whale and not something else namely the color and the distinctive dorsal fin.

[roeman]

there are many drift wood. They sometime look like whales. they are dark

Sarcasm at its finest