The Stave River is Hot!

The morning fog on the Fraser made navigation very tricky and it lasted till after the noon hour.  With the tide at full low the currents in the Fraser picked up making sturgeon fishing in the lower end downstream of Langley tough to do.  So I pulled anchor and headed for the chum run on the stave.  There were lots of chum carcasses floating down the Fraser and many of them were coming out from the Stave River.  Upon arriving my I anchored in the lower end along the west shore between several other fly fisherman.  My second or third cast with a red krill pattern felt like I had hooked bottom until the bottom started to move.  A big chum buck bent the rod and put up the kind of scrap that chum are famous for.  After a good tilt, he finally came into the net.  A few casts later another chum took off with line and reel started to sing. (Click ere to see part of the video) 

Soon I tied into a female chum that put any Steelhead to shame.  She never stopped cartwheeling and the knuckle busting rip from the fly reel prevented any chance of videoing it with one hand.  Needless to say, it was fun.

With all the chum drifting from the Stave into the Fraser there were at least 15 sturgeon boats sitting with great expectations.  With only an hour left to fish, I tied into three sturgeon and landed one.  The boat opposite was luckier, they hooked a six to seven footer and were busy for the better part of 45 minutes.

The run back to the Port Mann launch was picturesque with the sun just about dropping onto the horizon.  All the way back, chum and coho were breaching so all the lower Fraser tributary rivers will have fish in them.  The trick will be to get there a day after the rain when they just start to drop and clear.      Tight Lines.