Fishfulthinking...
Seeing as how you live right near a major salmon and steelhead river, my recommendation is you get a drift rod setup. Something around 10-11 feet in length, medium action. A levelwind/baitcasting reel would do nicely, although typically many, if not all, beginners find them difficult and frustrating to deal with at first. Ideally, to start, the reel would be easy to use, but most find it isn't...it doesn't take long however before casting becomes easier and easier....
This type of reel has excellent "free spool" capabilities, allowing for good line control, which leads to good drifts and inevitably a steeper learning curve on the techniques to catch salmon and steelhead in rivers...it may be tempting to buy the old "coffer grinder" type of reel, but in my opinion, and probably most other anglers opinions, this would be a mistake and a waste of time...
If you do choose to go with a setup such as the levelwind, it's a great idea to put a float and weight on the rod and practice casting in your backyard or field somewhere near home...this way once you are on the river, you won't have to suffer through untangling your reel while fish cruise all around you...
There are many rods and reels on the market, you should be able to get a suitable rod for somewhere in the $120-ish range, and a reel for less than 100 bucks, (maybe even find an Abu reel or something similar for cheap in the classifieds). Then you will have to buy mainline for the reel and a few simple items for your tackle...Float, leader line, pencil lead, hooks, swivels, maybe some roe, spinners, jigs....
You should be able to get what you need for around the top end of your price range and it should do you fine for several, if not many, years of fun. Then if you find the passion has struck you, and it will..., spending some cash on some setup you've investigated with experience behind you is an easy thing to do...
What might bring you a bit above your budget is this...
You'll need your freshwater licence, and, depending on your intent, various tags to fish for different species...
salmon tag, steelhead tag...they are cheap, but will add to your cost. Right now, you'll only really need your salmon tag, then once salmon season peeters out, you may choose to buy a steelhead tag separately then.
Your Licence is good for one year.
Expires March 31st each year, regardless of when you buy it...
Other options like one day licence, are available...but the tags are full year, no option. It'll cost you something roughly between $25-65 bucks, depending on your choices...
Please be sure to
Check your Freshwater Fishing Regulations for the body of water you are going to fish...it's a great habit to get into to do so before each trip you make...:thumbup:
There are frequently different regs for different species and times of year, not to mention different rivers or lakes, so please be sure to check. Ignorance is no excuse, nor will it save you from a hefty fine, amongst other penalties...it's our responsibility to know the regs if we want to fish...
Your local tackle shop will provide you with a copy of the regs when you buy your licence...One of the local shops advertises on this site...if you don't see their full color banners towards the top of the webpage, turn off your pop up filter and refresh the page, it should show up then...
As for the river up towards chilliwack lake, that is still basically the vedder, although it's name changes at vedder crossing...There is absolutely NO FISHING from the creek just before the Fish Hatchery on Chilliwack lake road, all the way up to the lake...below there is fair game.
The Vedder has something for every level of angler, it is a river that some love, and some not so much.
;D
It's still a great river for all intents and purposes, let us know if you have any more questions...
:cheers:
