Monday, January 27, 2014

Feeling crabby...

For a change of pace I decided to leave the rods at home today and go crabbing with my daughter instead. We dropped her sister off at school and went off to Belcarra to crab off the dock.
We arrrived at the dock to find a half dozen people already there and a nice thick fog blanketing the water. Down go the traps and we sat and watch the birds. The day did not produce any legal sized crab, but we did get a lot of smaller ones on the chicken and fish heads we were using as bait.
It is never a wasted day out though, and I took the opportunity to educate my daughter on the difference between male and female crab. The seal was also hanging around which did provide some entertainment for my daughter.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Casting Practice



Another beautiful day in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia! It is still January and I should be bundled up when I go fishing at this time of year, possibly battling ice or snow. However, it was so warm today I was nearly down to fishing with a T-shirt.

This trip was another attempt with my spey rod to hook into some steelhead on the Vedder River. The river was low and clear as we have had little rain in the last week or two and the river
was looking good. Unfortunately, no fish were caught. I did get in some good casting practice though, and as the saying goes... practice makes perfect. I am far from perfect though, but my casting is improving. Hopefully my next outing will produce a fish and boost my confidence in spey fishing.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Back at it

After taking a little time off away from the water, I went for my first trip out this year. The trip was to the Vedder and was supposed to be yesterday but the day before that saw torrential rain so I figured the river would blow out. It was blown yesterday but the water level today was on the drop. A dropping river after a bump in water level is exactly what I wanted, hoping that a push of fresh fish came in with the rain.
It was a beautiful sunny day with a bit of a chill in the morning. In fact, the guides on my spey rod and the line started to ice up a bit early on. As soon as the sun came up over the mountains the frost began to disappear and the frozen guides were no more. I flogged the water I  various locations in the mid to lower river to no avail. First thing in the morning I saw a guy land a nice chrome hatchery steelhead just down from where I was and I did see one wild steelhead caught and released across the river from me a little later on. I also stumbled on a few coho huddled up in  their reds looking a little rough and worn.
It is still early in the season and I am hoping to get out for steelhead a decent ammount this year. If the weather stays as it was today I will be happy.