Chris and our neighbour Gerry took a fly lesson from Courtney (Nile Creek Fly Shop) last week and today they were itching to get out and try out their new skills. They headed to a secret fishing hole we found last year. They had to hike up river for about 20 minutes before finding a school of Chinooks.
They played half dozen fish each and Chris landed the biggest Spring of his illustrious fishing career. They estimate that it was between 30-35 lbs.
They came home glowing with pride and excited to get back out with their fly rods as soon as possible.
We went on a fishing exploration adventure last weekend in search of a river Chris had heard rumblings about. The Conuma is a little known river and seems to be a closely guarded secret by the people who fish it regularly. In respect for them I will not give exact directions on how to access the river but with a little searching and some hiking it can be found.
Once we reached the river were were greeted with a wide rocky shore and deep pools of crystal clear water. Every few hundred feet there were schools of big Chinook Salmon resting under the rocky river edge or chilling in the shade of an over hanging tree.
I quickly discovered that even the tiniest piece of weight on the line would scatter the fish as the river was absolutely still and calm. Chris switched to a fly reel and we began to hook into the salmon.
We fished a similar situation last October at the Little Qualicum River but here the water was easier to manage and I was finally able to land a Chinook on the fly by myself!!
I was also able to test out my underwater camera and got some great shots and videos.
We are headed back there this afternoon to see if some Coho have made their way into the river yet.
