[Enniberg]

I am new to river fishing in BC, started out quite late in the season last year and caught quite a few Chum salmon and some pink's also. I had my reel spooled with a very strong 80 lb test braided line, using 30 lb mono leader and it seemed to work well for me. The thing that concerns me a bit about this set up is that the braided line is bright yellow and I am wondering if this might make some fish shy or not?
I never caught a spring or a coho and have just been thinking it is due to lack of skill on my side but could the line I am using be contributing to make it harder?

 

[HOOK]

im not sure if it makes a difference as i have seen many people using the exact same line and catching fish. however what you can try (lots of guys do this) is to add a peice of mono(a few feet long) at the end of the braided line and then add your float and stuff onto this. that way you dont have the bright yellow line in the water. (down where the fish can see it)


just a pre-emtive thing as i know its going to happen. just ignore any flack people give you for using braided in smaller rivers.

 

[professori]

Did I miss something? When did he mention smaller rivers?

 

[STLHDR]

Where do you do most of your fishing Enniberg? What techinque do you use? (and yes it does matter, as for float fishing that is WAY overkill. BBing though.....

 

[Enniberg]

Thanks all for feedback, it is greatly appreciated!
I am definitely a learner in this so I am probably asking some less than intelligent questions! :-\
Hook, I use mono for leader, so I guess I am on the right track. I am not sure exactly why someone would make an issue of braided line on smaller rivers - what might be the reasoning for this?
Shane, as I said, I am new to this so I have not fished many places, a few times on the Vedder for pink's but mostly on the Stave for Chum - it was late in the season last year before I got going. This year I have not even started yet, all our fishing has been from the boat so far and I think it will be like that for a while still.
Bottom bouncing was all I did last year. I never saw anyone doing anything else at the spots that I found (except those who flyfished). I am planning to try something different for this year but there is always a learning curve. :-[

 

[Every Day]

Well... I would say that people are willing to help on the Vedder 9and other river alike), but I remeber just starting out 4 years ago (all I knew how to do was bb) and guys were constantly swearing at me and beaking me (remember I am 12-13 at this point) for BB. No one, once, decided to say, "This is what you are doing wrong" but instead would tell me to get off the f'ing river and go to the fraser. It wasn't until Steelheading a few years later that someone actually showed me "how to fish."

Remeber, if you are one of these avid fisherman that get upset about this type of thing, maybe ask first. You can normally tell when people have no idea what the are doing. Lots of people will take your advice, others will blow you off. When I see someone doing this, I just keep my mouth shut and watch, if they are just learning I will show them a few things, if they realize what they are doing I walk away.

I have to say however, I have learnt a TON off stuff from the guys standing beside me on the river. I have also made a lot of friends or acquatences out there that I continue to learn stuff from.

One little tip... 30 pound mono for lead is wayyyy overkill. You need 15 AT ABSOLUTE MOST on a river like the Vedder. Right now I am running 12 pound main with a leader between 6-10 pnds depedning on water clarity. Dont be too worried about using braided line, you lose less floats that way (which is great when you start using drennans)

 

[Enniberg]

EveryDay, thank you for very good advice - I often stood next to people who would catch one fish after the other and despite me trying to imitate their technique as much as I could, using similar gear, etc., I would catch nothing.
I had a feeling that my confession about bottom bouncing could possibly bring me in to some hot water with some people, but I am being absolutely honest when I say that at least on those days I fished, I did not see anyone other that those very few people with a flyrod who used any other fishing method, and I think with the number of people who were there, it might be problematic doing anything else. Guess I have to hit the reset button, figuring out where and how to fish.
The choice of line and leader was also inspired by what I saw people around me using - I started out using much lighter gear but big chum salmon fight hard and I lost a lot of gear so I changed. Would you really be able to reel in a big spring on a 6-10 lb leader?
I am also trying hard to learn from those next to me - believing that they know the truth, but I guess if you stand next to the wrong people, what you learn will also be wrong :-[

 

[Every Day]

Yes... you could learn some wrong stuff or some right stuff. Just look for the guy that looks at you kinda funny and acts grumpy and learn from him :happy: And yes, bibbest fish I have landed on 10 pnd test was a 48 pound white spring that was still an ocean bullet. Took around 20/30 mins to land it but since I was planning on keeping it that doesnt matter, just makes for more fun :thumbup:

 

[fishortho]

:-X................Ortho 8)

 

[STLHDR]

Enniberg everyone starts somewhere, usually BBing :-[ If you want to BB that setup (line rating wise) will be fine. But if you want to float fish, Id say get some 15lb mainline mono and 6-10lb leaders. Float fishing is more rewarding as you know you enticed the fish to bite, and its a lot easier on the gear because you can control the fish usually unless if they're really hot. You'll also end up losing less gear due to snags, and fowl hooked fish.