Alm21's Salmon fishing journal

[alm21]

Thanks for checking out my journal. Being new to salmon fishing, I have learned some great tips from the people on this site. I decided to start a journal for my salmon fishing experiences. So far, this has been an exciting start to something I see myself doing for some time now.

Recently, I caught my very first salmon at Cedar Creek on the Sandy River. I have been concentrating my efforts on the Sandy as it's close to me and I want to take the time to get to know the water. Below is a picture of a nice hatchery coho hen that was my first ever salmon.









A few days later which was last Sunday, 10-11-09 I caught this buck further downstream from Cedar Creek. The bites were relatively slow and I really had to hike in and find this fish. This fish will be my first attempt at smoking salmon.









So, that brings me to today. I caught my 3rd salmon ever and it happened to be a native hen. Great looking fish and my first native. It was a good exercise in landing the fish and release it unharmed. I got this fish around the garbage hole area. Not much action for other folks there.







I look forward to the day I hit my limit. I know I will with the great advice and knowledge I pick up from the OFF members here. Thanks everyone!

 

[Troutier Bassier]

Good Job. Youve caught as much as I have!

That fox has been working for you! Great

Tight lines.

 

[tnffishman]

NICE FISH! Nice fish man and way to get into the chrome. I landed two on EC today and both of em were fire engines

 

[bigdog]

Looking great man keep at it.

 

[alm21]

Good Job. Youve caught as much as I have!

That fox has been working for you! Great

Tight lines.

That lure has been pretty good to me. However, I left yesterday with it in the bottom of the river wedged in some rock. I keep having to replace it! $$$$ I have the same one in a size 3 and the same one in a size 4 but with orange on the tip of the blade. I may try those today. I really love getting into a fish on a lure. There is no mistaking the bite!

NICE FISH! Nice fish man and way to get into the chrome. I landed two on EC today and both of em were fire engines

Thanks, goes to show that there ARE chromers in the Sandy! Maybe not as many as we would like. Nice on your catch! I'm trying to figure out what EC is but I give up.

Looking great man keep at it.

Thanks BD! Going to hit it again today for a couple hours - have get some work done too . It seems that a lot of people I see on the water don't want to work too hard for the fish. I hear a lot of comments that they aren't biting. I am keeping on the move working different holes up and down the river to find the ones that want to rumble. The great part is that I am often alone, no one else there! I can understand that some people can't traverse the river due to physical limitations - it does take a toll on the body. However, I think some people believe they need to camp out on one hole and get frustrated with there is no action. Oh well!

 

[JeeperGal]

Nice pictures and Nice fish! I hope to try the Sandy soon, see you out there!

 

[Airs98]

Awesome

Awesome

Great pics! Keep it coming!!!

One of those looks like a chinook. Is it or is it not?

 

[Irishrover]

Looks like you have a pretty good dose of that coho fever. That Sandy River can eat a lot of gear, but loosings some gear once in a while means you are getting down to where the fish are...............

"That lure has been pretty good to me. However, I left yesterday with it in the bottom of the river wedged in some rock. I keep having to replace it! $$$$ "

If you want to save some money on those lures, you should make them yourself. It's fun and a lot cheeper in the long run, pluss there is nothing like hooking a fish on a lure or fly you have made yourself. All you really need is a pair of leadmaster pliers and a trip to BC Angling Post for the parts. There are threads on this site about making lures in the home made tackle section. Good luck.

 

[mgdguy]

Love the pics, that is some great fishing

 

[alm21]

Garbage Hole

Garbage Hole

So I went out to the garbage hole today. Got there around 8:30a. It was pretty busy so I went downstream and was by myself for the most part. I threw some spinners and no luck. Then I tried something new. I drifted some chartreuse synthetic eggs. Well, wouldn't you know it, I hooked into a fish. But it didn't last long because I realized that I had my drag set too tight from when I had snagged up previously. So, as I was quickly trying to loosen my drag, SNAP! AAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!! After that, I worked those waters up and down, probably too long, should have moved on.

So, I decided to walk back out and as I got to the garbage hole proper, there were a few less people and the fish were rolling. I spoke with a couple old timers who were killing it with eggs and bobbers. One had his limit and the other left shortly after with two. I admit that bobber fishing isn't my prefered method because it's a bitch to set that hook. However, I had my eggs that I cured so I rigged up and bobber fished until I ran out of eggs. I had some bites but could never get the hook set. Oh well, that's fishing!

I'm not sure when I can get back out. I may be able to get out for a Sunday afternoon/evening session but we have soccer games and pumpkin patch this weekend so it's going to be tough.

 

[alm21]

Great pics! Keep it coming!!!

One of those looks like a chinook. Is it or is it not?

Thanks, I may be wrong as I am new to this but I figured it as a Coho since it had the black mouth but white gums around the teeth.

 

[Troutier Bassier]

They were all Coho.
Sorry to hear about your Skunk. The Drag on my reel sometimes tweakes out and starts lettin out line even if my drag is set tightest.
So whenever I set the hook the fish barely feels a tug.

 

[alm21]

They were all Coho.
Sorry to hear about your Skunk. The Drag on my reel sometimes tweakes out and starts lettin out line even if my drag is set tightest.
So whenever I set the hook the fish barely feels a tug.

Hey, I chalked it up as a learning experience. Better to have it on the loose side, right? I'm getting myself into the habit of double checking my drag periodically so I don't do what I did today.

 

[Troutier Bassier]

Same here.

 

[alm21]

Alright, I got a hall pass to hit the river this afternoon. It will be a late start, probably won't hit the water until 3p. I think I'll hit up the Dodge Park area.

 

[Mike123]

So I went out to the garbage hole today. Got there around 8:30a. It was pretty busy so I went downstream and was by myself for the most part. I threw some spinners and no luck. Then I tried something new. I drifted some chartreuse synthetic eggs. Well, wouldn't you know it, I hooked into a fish. But it didn't last long because I realized that I had my drag set too tight from when I had snagged up previously. So, as I was quickly trying to loosen my drag, SNAP! AAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!! After that, I worked those waters up and down, probably too long, should have moved on.

So, I decided to walk back out and as I got to the garbage hole proper, there were a few less people and the fish were rolling. I spoke with a couple old timers who were killing it with eggs and bobbers. One had his limit and the other left shortly after with two. I admit that bobber fishing isn't my prefered method because it's a bitch to set that hook. However, I had my eggs that I cured so I rigged up and bobber fished until I ran out of eggs. I had some bites but could never get the hook set. Oh well, that's fishing!

I'm not sure when I can get back out. I may be able to get out for a Sunday afternoon/evening session but we have soccer games and pumpkin patch this weekend so it's going to be tough.

Get your self a 9'6 or 10'6 heavier action rod than what you have for bobber fishing and it will take the work out of fishing.

 

[alm21]

Saturday 10/17

Saturday 10/17

So I got out to the water yesterday afternoon around 2pm. I was in the Dodge Park area and to my surprise, there weren't very many people. The heavy rains on Saturday mucked up the water pretty good. You could definitely see a rise in the water level. Although is was murky with a lot of debris.

I started casting some new lures and was thinking about calling it quits being the water conditions looked bad. But before doing so, I decided to start working upstream. I came to the top of some mild rapids where the water was relatively shallow. As I casting, fish rolled right in front of me about 6ft off the bank. There was a good number of fish holding up in this water so I decided to stay and give it a go.

I threw around some new lures but no luck. I drifted so artificial eggs but the current wasn't quite strong enough. It was time to tie on my trusty blue fox but this time, with the orange tip blade thinking it would show better in the murky water. Well, below is the results. A darkie but he gave me a good fight. This fishing didn't seem hot that day so I was stoked to get into this one. It was around 4pm when I caught him.

 

[alm21]

Get your self a 9'6 or 10'6 heavier action rod than what you have for bobber fishing and it will take the work out of fishing.

That sounds like a great suggestion. I'll have to look into that as my next rod purchase. Right now, I run around with just the one rod & reel. I wouldn't mind having two, with one already geared up for bobber fishing and then use the other for drifting and spinners. Thanks

 

[mgdguy]

But before doing so, I decided to start working upstream. I came to the top of some mild rapids where the water was relatively shallow.

That's a good hole

That is on spawned out ho! :lol:

 

[tnffishman]

That's a good hole

That is on spawned out ho! :lol:

Yeah right, I would have given my left corn nut to catch one like that on Eagle Creek this weekend. They all looked like fire trucks they were so red