At long last the days of continuous deluge have come to an end and the rivers are receding back to their winter conditions.  Yesterday the Vedder was still up but in a receding stage.  Lots of new logs had washed down river so the quantity of wood on some of the gravel bars has gone up.  Upstream of the Vedder Bridge to the Tamahi Bridge there was an even distribution of anglers testing for steelhead.  The colour in the water was higher than I like but clarity and water level were both going in the right direction.

Two good signs, the continued high water will bring new fish into the river and the dropping levels and increasing clarity will make it easier to find them especially by mid week, say Feb. 18th.  Other rivers like the Chehalis will be much more fishable and so the usual persistance in tracking down an IronHead will be be required.  But, that's why they call it a fish of a thousand casts!

Gabe is out working the estuaries and river mouths on the coast by Powell River and testing out two new articulating patterns with trailing hooks hoping for steelhead but finding out that the Sea Run Cutties are taking a shine to the new patterns he has tentatively named a "Hendrix Purple Haze " (after the Jimmy Hendrix song) and "Bleeding Peach" (or if you prefer his medical school lingo "Hemorrhagic Peach".   Yesterday and today with the rising barometer and the rising tides the Cutties were eagerly leaving the back eddies to hit his lures. 

In view of how fat some of them are it's clear that there is a supply of minnows and sculpins to supplement their appetite.

You will read blogs and magazine articles where authors will wax eloquently about how fishing (and hunting for that matter) is not all about catching and/or harvesting a fish or bird or animal but it is the outdoor experience.  All that is true, but, it is usually way more fun to go out on a day fishing and catch a fish than to get skunked.  However, yesterday was a great day to be outside with a pending rain forecast it seemed like a good day to check out the Cheakamus and  Squamish Rivers.  Traditionally these rivers really start to pick up in late February and March for Trout and then April is their peak for steelhead before freshet blows out the rivers till the fall.  I expected fishing would be slow and it more than met that expectation!

I decided to scope out the Cheakamus first and the main holes above the bridge were already staked out with several fisherman who had been there a while.  It didn't look too promising so I scouted down river.  The water was nearly gin clear which I actually like as you can spot fish better but then they can also spot you.  However, at least it let's you know there is something in the water.  Alas the only thing I caught was someone else's fishing rod.  An obvious casualty of the previous salmon fishing season.  I could just imagine some massive chum had yanked it out of the un-suspecting fisher's hands and then hauled it bouncing off massive boulders till the reel sheared from it's mount!  There was probably a cloud of blue smoke surrounding that person in the immediate aftermath as he or she give the fish gods a piece of their mind!

There were lots of good eddies behind rocks and a nice run about a km downstream of the bridge but nothing I tossed in there could elicit a response.  A well seasoned fisherman who had hiked down before me was returning from further down river and he dejectedly informed me that he hadn't tagged a thing.  So, I packed up and decided there were some new holes and runs in the Squamish I wanted to explore.

On the way around Km 6 to 9 the river looked pretty much as it did in the fall before the big rains of October and November.  The new  holes I checked proved fruitless now but come the fall when the pinks, coho and chum return, there should be some great fishable water.  I think the pinks will really bring in the bulls and the rainbows as well.  The eagles were experiencing slim pickings and I didn't see the usual elk, moose and deer tracks, only very large wolf, so that probably explains that.

Further up river around km 12 to 14 the river had cut a new channel and made getting to one of the most prolific stretches of pools and runs difficult as you have to hike up river during these low flows to find a wadeable section as most of that area is now only safely accessible to the the drift boaters.  

This stretch was really active with fisherman and when I arrived they turned and with hopefull looks on their faces, asked me if I had gotten anything today.  Sadly most of us had the same report of no fish or maybe a small bull trout.  Two of them reported that they had previously done well on the Vedder but came here to escape the crowds and that they said someone had reported tagging some early steelhead......a good rumour if nothing else.  

As the day wound down and the rain clouds approached I managed two more of the runs at km 12 but nothing stressed my line.  On the drive back, a cow elk appeared off the side of the road fairly close to the ranches.....I guess the wolf had something to do with them cozying up to people's residences.

So for my money, some trout fishing is to be had in the Stave, the best bet right now is the Vedder with solid reports of steelhead, and hopefully the numbers and size in that river will increase as we head into February and March, saving the Squamish and Cheakamus Bulls till March and the steelhead there for April.....Tight Lines.