The First Steelhead Of 2009..

Well it was about time that I hooked up on a steelhead. I have been looking for one for the past couple of months. It was a great day, on the Squamish, but to my surprise there were lots of other fisherman on the river. I fished with Derick, again today and we, got a late start out there today. As we drove along the gravel road by the river, we saw some vehicles at 24 mile, and at chuck, chuck creek. We continued on up to 27 mile, and there were vehicles from there all the way up to 28 mile. We decided to walk up at 28 mile and fish a nice piece of water, where Derick caught a nice dolly. We ended up walking up river to see what we could find. We fished at 29 mile, and that's where I got lucky. I tied up a nice sculpin pattern, and swung it through the run. It was a deep run, about five to six feet deep. I made a long cast into the slacker water on the other side, and as it swung into the mid part of the run the line tightened and the fight was on. I had decided to go with a type 8, sink tip. I wanted to get the fly down there and right in front of that fish. I think he hit it in the mid part of the swing. It felt good to catch that steelhead, and feel that pull on the line. I did an expert job of landing it and getting it to hand. The pictures were taken, the fish released, and all was good....

In The Wild Squamish Valley...

Today was a great day, I met up with Derick, and we were surprised to find that the upper Squamish Valley road, had no snow all the way up to 28 mile,.. We fished 27 mile, and found a few dollies. We fished all the way down around the corner. After that we decided to go and fish the old guides run, Derick hooked up on a dolly, in a nice run that should have held more fish. We had an 11, fish day today, Derick had some good luck, today. It was great that he did well because he had never been up in that part of the river. I was happy to be up there because it had been so long since I had fished that part of the river. It was so so peaceful, and such a scenic spot. We saw a few mountain goats, on the other side of the river. There weren't any other fisherman out there. We had the river all to ourselves. I tied up a few sculpin patterns and chucked those around for awhile. I managed to get one, so I know that it works. The one that worked for me, had a blackish green body, with a light coloured schlappen tail, red schlappen for the gills, and some crystal flash. I am giong to do some more experimenting, to come up with some more patterns, that will entice the big one....

Having A good Week Off...

Well I had the week off, And it was good. I was on the river, alot of the time and it was wet and rainy. I was fishing with Derek, for the last few days. And that was great, to have someone, to fish with. We were fishing around the 20, mile area on the Squamish as usual. I also fished the Cheakamus River, as well. I have not been on that river for years. Derek showed me a couple of nice spots. I put in a couple days, on my own. Andy came up on Friday, and he fished up around 22 mile, we parked up at High Falls, and I walked up to 24 mile. I fished through my favourite spot where I hooked up on lots of steelhead, and dollies. I worked my way down river, and went around a log jam, and met Andy. We fished down through the Goat Run. And as I fished through a nice piece of water I had a nice bully, on and then it popped off and that was the only one I had on. I was wet, and water logged, and I had enough of the pouring rain. Andy stayed out there, up at the Ashlu Bridge area... anyway I hope that saturday is not so wet, and rainy. It was a fun week...

The Past Few Weekends On The River...

The last few weekends fishing with Derrick, have been productive. It's not often that I go with someone, and we catch a few nice fish, and take some pictures. Most of the time I go by myself and catch a few that are picture worthy, and I can't get the pictures with me, in them. I guess that's how it works out. I'ts great when you, hook up on lots of fish. But it's even better when you, catch a few big ones, that's what makes the days outing great. I like the pull, of a big bull trout, it straightens the line, pulls it tight and then the fight begins. The big intruder flies are the favourites, swinging deep through the tailouts of pools and runs. The colours are blue, olive, olive and black, marabou mixed. Also the weighted flies, with the cone head, have been working well on a type three, sink tip. I don't usually use weighted flies because they are hard to cast, or so I thought. I found that casting these even with a 7, 8, weight 13ft, was not a problem at all. I'll tie more, and fish them alot, and catch more fish...It's all good.!!!!!!!

Fun Fishing, One River Crossing, And A Few Fish On.

Today was another action packed day on the river. Derrick and I found a few feisty bull trout, and some dollies. The water level had come up since last weekend, and that made for some better fly water. I was using a weighted fly that I tied up with a cone head. That one worked the best for me. As we worked our way down the run, we thought about crossing the river and fishing, from the other side. It looked great. It was funny because we just looked at one another, and said there has to be fish there. We figured the best way to wade the tailout, and went for it. About half way across, it began to get deeper, and the current was pushing hard. At that point we were waist deep in water, commited to making it to the other side. As we neared the far bank, the current slackend off and we were safely on the other side. We fished the whole run all the way to the end as far as we could go. No hits, no pulls, no takers what so ever. We walked back up and crossed over to where we were before. I guess it just goes to show you, that looking at a certain piece of water from one side, doesn't mean that it will give you, a better fly drift from the other side. There is the possibility, and sometimes you get lucky. We worked our way through some other good water, and called it a day. What a day, a fun day.!!!!!

Finding New Water, and Lots of BIG BULL TROUT.!!!!

I decided to go looking for new places to fish, on the Squamish River. I walked down below the Ashlu bridge, looking for the elusive or so it seems at times, the BIG BULL TROUT, of the upper Squamish. The past few weekends I have not seen that much action. Finally I fished some great spots that held lots of dollies, and big bull trout. I had to walk a fair ways to find where the fish were. I guess that's the whole idea. But in the end it was worth all the effort. All the water that I fished would be great water for steelhead. Today was great I hooked fish in every spot that I fished, and it didn't seem to matter what colour combination I used they were very aggressive, and hit every fly I put through the run. It was great because I finally found those bull trout that I have been looking for. I managed to hook up on alot of big ones around the 4, to 7lb class and the usual dollies, of about 2, to 4lb, class. I lost track of how many I actually had on but I am estimating the count to be somewhere in the area of at least 25 on and a bit more than half of them I landed. It was great to feel that familiar tug on the line. It was an awesome day. And I hope that there are many more to come.....