[bs]

Was thinking about heading to the cap today, anyone had any luck there recently. I have been there twice in the last week and have come up empty-handed both times; I have tried a variety of wooly buggers and egg sucking leeches (black, olive and purple). Does anyone have any better suggestions on color or patterns, and please be kind im a new recent return to the sport, so be kind.

BS

 

[EZ Rolling]

I fished the lower last weekend with bait no luck for me but the water was nice.

I did manage to land a @9 lb buck 3 weeks ago on the upper portion of the river.

Good Luck

 

[Guest]

i hit up the cap yesterday morning what a day on my 5th cast i caught my fisrt steely :beerchug: :happy: what a fish wasnt to big around 8 or 9 pounds she was doing back flips givin me a run for my money nice fishbut to kick it off not even 5 mins after i caught my first my friend land his first and what a monster never new they got that big he was a around 15+ pound and showing off his colors man they were both wild we wernt even there for 30 mins been fishing for steel 3 years and finally i land one cant wait to get out and land another one im so stoked :thumbup:

 

[fishey]

if you dont mind me asking, what part of the river where you on? where you in the canyon or below?

-thx
-fishey

 

[hotrod]

Most of the fish should be in the upper areas of the river now!You may find the odd one down below but for the most part it's been quiet down low!



Hotrod

 

[EZ Rolling]

fished a couple runs on the lower cap today.

No luck again I have convinced myself they may be further up-river.

 

[Guest]

cable pool 1rst on roe and 2nd on frozen shrimp with a bit of red wool

 

[Rib]

I fished the cap with steelietrav this week for a few hours...I have fished the cap a lot over the years, I know it well, but often this time of year I would leave the steelies be...but we hit the river in the late afternoon for an evening bite anyways, just to see if there might be some fresh fish around...

What I noticed up there were several guys fishin the base of cable pool off the rocks....I was a bit dismayed with this, as it seems pretty hard on the fish to be played from there, not to mention dangerous for the angler. Some anglers were practicing flossing techniques, with long leaders etc, while others were fishing more traditionally. But that area has a bunch of redds through there and the fish will stack up and can be pestered by anglers who might not treat the fish with the care they deserve in their weakened state. One guy busted his rod on a steelie after he climbed down and chased it downstream...I think the fish was snagged as he had no control over it...

My concern is, most of those fish in there right now a very colored up. They are on their redds now, and as spawning habitat is fairly limited on that river, many anglers are targeting fish on their redds. Now, the last few years those fish have been doing very poorly, thus the release all steelhead regs. What do you guys think of this targeting of spawning fish? Do you think the river should be closed at some point? I was thinking it would be good for the fish if the river were closed for all of april and may...but I realize there might be some anglers who would disagree...

Let me know your thoughts on this please,

Thx,

rib

 

[Richard Nixon]

The whole river is a gong show and should be closed every time any species of fish is entering it to spawn. But this is just my :2cents: I will not fish this river after witnessing first hand years ago the disreguard for the fish and the fishermen own lives. The last thing I want to do is try to help or watch hopelessly as some idiot falls in and is washed down stream to their deaths and this happens every year. It's bad enough that these fish have to run a gauntlet of Alberta barb wire { First nations doing their version of Fraser river flossing but with trebles tied in tandem} at the mouth and the few miles up to the hatchery were lord knows how many hooks they have to dodge before they make it home.
Sorry for the rant but I blame Rib because he did say:

Let me know your thoughts on this please,

Thx,

rib

 

[theweev]

salmon season is a gong show, no 2 ways about it. that said the Veddar is worse. The steelhead fishery this year was very civilized and quite productive. There are @ least 30 pair in the Hatchery already which bodes well for seasons to come.Closures are the answer if you wish to protect the fish from the uninformed. Targeting fish on redds does nothing to preserve, protect or grow the run. Any run. It's always nice to hook into a fish but you have to ask, "@ what cost to the resource ?" As well is there any real reason to keep a stealhead? tasty, yes but @ what cost?
Education on when to and when NOT to target fish is the better answer. The one problem w/ closing the river is that the stealhead spawning season overlaps the early jack coho and spring fishery. If one was to entertain closing the river I would say close the upper 1/2 from around grannies cove and up and only for say April. I ussual stay off the river through april and then start up in May. Again, education not legislation is the answer. my :2cents:.

 

[Guest]

i agree with what you guys are saying .just so you know the fish we caught were not snagged ,targetted or flossed and we released them quickly so not to do any damage . one down side of that was i didnt get a picture of my first steely oh well next year right ha ha ha there was a harbor seal in the cable pool that day he was putting alot of stress on the fish never seen a steelhead do backflips crazy how it got up there ! and whats this i keep hearing about opening the cap for stealhead .BAD IDEA :2cents: anyways im out going fishing

 

[JetBoat Jim]

all rivers with early steelhead should be closed april 1 to protect spawners/kelts.but people need to use common sense if you see them on redd's leave em alone.

perhaps the areas that have most spawning (redds) should be closed most of the time.

 

[theweev]

hey Danilek, Congratulations on your 1st Steel. I got my 1st ever on the Seymour this year. I too landed a whale of a fish in Dogleg back in Late Feb. The buck was already starting to show some colour then. Don't worry I have no doubt that you were fishing in a responsible manner and doing your utmost not to target those fish on redds. April is a great time to exploit the agressive nature of steelhead. that being said it's better ( for the fish) to target them Dec-end of March. I learned that little tid-bit from those that have posted here and have made the personal choice to follow suit. If there is anything I can do to ensure that future steelhead opportunities continue on both the NS rivers I will surely do my part. I am also quite sure you will endevour to do the same seeing as you have now tasted the glory that comes with bringing a steelhead to hand and now will have to deal with the affliction that is the life of a steelheading junkie. welcome to the club and congratulations once again.

 

[Rib]

Interesting comments made by all, and I agree wholeheartedly with all that has been said.

I particularly like the statement that perhaps "education and not legislation" is the key...Although I believe legislation has its place and is necessary, the task of enforcing such legislation is daunting at the best of times.

If anglers were more knowledgeable about some of the subtler aspects of fishing, like when fish are on their redds, and when to fish them for one, then the need for new legislation would be less, and thus the job of enforcing legislation would be much easier and effective.

I will also add that the timing varies from one system to another. On some systems, "steelhead stocks spawn early", as someone pointed out...while on other systems strong late runs of steelhead return and people don't even have to be tempted by fish sitting on their redds.

There are plenty of other rivers right now that still have and will get fresh fish for the next month or so...

But the real point to all this is, wherever an angler decides to go, they should never target fish on their redds...

rib

 

[fishin30]

I fished the cap with steelietrav this week for a few hours...I have fished the cap a lot over the years, I know it well, but often this time of year I would leave the steelies be...but we hit the river in the late afternoon for an evening bite anyways, just to see if there might be some fresh fish around...

I,ve never fished th NS rivers before where would a guy start? Just trying to gather info for this coming winter. Do any of the NS rivers have summer runs? and which river is better ? thanks for any replies

 

[Rib]

Hmmmm...So you are looking for info on some north shore rivers and even summer runs eh? Well, I can post this link to a thread regarding summer runs...

http://www.bcfishingreports.com/forum/index.php?topic=2908.0

And I can elaborate on young gun's statement made there:

I dont suggest the capilano or seymour, both rivers with summer low flows and few fish doesn't create a great situation for you!

...and say that the summer run stocks in those north shore systems are very small and quite fragile. My understanding of it is that for both rivers, if it isn't lack of habitat, lack of spawning area, or too cold of water coming through the dams, then it's a lack of nutrient content in the water to support sufficient food sources to sustain strong populations of fish...but really all of the above apply...

I do not fish those rivers for summers, and haven't even fished them much for winters the last few years...this is my personal choice, I make no comment here, positive or negative, regarding other's choices...

rib

 

[Birdman]

From what I have heard from individuals that the runs on both the cap and the seymour are quite low. The chehalis is probably a better option plus you have the chance of smacking a tasty red.

 

[fishin30]

I remember about 7 years ago the numbers of reds in the chehalis were incredible. haven't fished there lately better luck in the fraser. :happy:

The chehalis is probably a better option plus you have the chance of smacking a tasty red.

 

[young gun]

The chehalis is extremely fun and is alot bigger than the cap or seymour, it has more fish. If u fish the capilano often enough u will catch the odd steely. Fished it last weekend for coho saw one down by the highway. I didn't go to catch fish i just went to get away from all the fast paced action of life. I fish the cap alot, my total recorded times is like 500+, fished it since i was just old enough to climb down the trails. (fer some reason i hooked more fish then than i do now :naughty: ) The cap is my home river and i fish it more than any other, but fish numbers have really dropped lately and the low flow cus of the damn doesn't help them out at all. I used to love goin after dinner to the highway bridge and in 1/2 an hour hooking 4 fish and leaving. Now i sometimes go like 3 hours without 4 fish, really disapointing to see such a cool little resource crumble.

 

[testo84]

The chehalis is extremely fun and is alot bigger than the cap or seymour, it has more fish. If u fish the capilano often enough u will catch the odd steely. Fished it last weekend for coho saw one down by the highway. I didn't go to catch fish i just went to get away from all the fast paced action of life. I fish the cap alot, my total recorded times is like 500+, fished it since i was just old enough to climb down the trails. (fer some reason i hooked more fish then than i do now :naughty: ) The cap is my home river and i fish it more than any other, but fish numbers have really dropped lately and the low flow cus of the damn doesn't help them out at all. I used to love goin after dinner to the highway bridge and in 1/2 an hour hooking 4 fish and leaving. Now i sometimes go like 3 hours without 4 fish, really disapointing to see such a cool little resource crumble.

thats pretty amazing 1/2 hour hooking 4 fish i need some lessons from u