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Well, it was Teacher Professional Development Day today, so me and another fellow-teacher had a guided-tour of the hatchery, by Lyn. Since I run a salmon program for my grade 7 Science students, raising 50 coho every winter, from the Nickomeckl Hatchery, I thought it wouldn't hurt to take in a guided tour by a staff member at the Chilliwack.
I couldn't believe how many salmon end up dying before they even get a chance to spawn. The staff had to do a clean-up of all the mortalities. There are lots of springs and chum in the channels, some very ripe, and some surprsingly fresh-looking, especially the coho,,,and yes, lots of coho up there already. They must have had lock-jaw running up the Vedder.
Lyn says they get about 40,000 coho a year for a return. That's hard to believe, so maybe they're still coming, eh?
Anyways, after "work," we hit the Vedder Campground, found it almost empty of people..was almost ghost-town-ish. My buddy, again, with his little red wool, got a chum, that bit, but it was ripe, and had some fight. I caught about 6 chum on my flyrod, in the deep slot: 3 hooked in mouth and 3 foul-hooked. I purposely tried to vary my retrieve and stripping in, to avoid the chum,,,but man oh man, I could feel my fly bumping over their backs,,so I would leave that slot, fearing that I would foul-hook again. When I saw that they were chum that were hooked, I pointed my flyrod tip down and at the fish, to do a long-distance release. All 6 came off near shore or a few feet away, intentionally. Man, each time I tried to snap off my tippet or slacken the line, the fly would shoot back at me, nearly taking out my eye. I was actually rushing so I can get my fly back into the water to get something more fresh and silver, hoping for a coho! And crap it, I used nothing but coho flies...except for a few casts, when I used a purple chum fly.
I think it's time to hit another system for coho, or maybe the lakes for some fall trout. Hmmm. :hmmm:
The photos are of the "lost" lures from fishermen.
I couldn't believe how many salmon end up dying before they even get a chance to spawn. The staff had to do a clean-up of all the mortalities. There are lots of springs and chum in the channels, some very ripe, and some surprsingly fresh-looking, especially the coho,,,and yes, lots of coho up there already. They must have had lock-jaw running up the Vedder.
Lyn says they get about 40,000 coho a year for a return. That's hard to believe, so maybe they're still coming, eh?
Anyways, after "work," we hit the Vedder Campground, found it almost empty of people..was almost ghost-town-ish. My buddy, again, with his little red wool, got a chum, that bit, but it was ripe, and had some fight. I caught about 6 chum on my flyrod, in the deep slot: 3 hooked in mouth and 3 foul-hooked. I purposely tried to vary my retrieve and stripping in, to avoid the chum,,,but man oh man, I could feel my fly bumping over their backs,,so I would leave that slot, fearing that I would foul-hook again. When I saw that they were chum that were hooked, I pointed my flyrod tip down and at the fish, to do a long-distance release. All 6 came off near shore or a few feet away, intentionally. Man, each time I tried to snap off my tippet or slacken the line, the fly would shoot back at me, nearly taking out my eye. I was actually rushing so I can get my fly back into the water to get something more fresh and silver, hoping for a coho! And crap it, I used nothing but coho flies...except for a few casts, when I used a purple chum fly.
I think it's time to hit another system for coho, or maybe the lakes for some fall trout. Hmmm. :hmmm:
The photos are of the "lost" lures from fishermen.
i still think that thing rocks augie
