Gong Show on the River

Chris and Kris have continued to fish for Sockeye over the past week and the stock pile in the freezer is starting to look great. The three of us headed out the other day and unfortunately the river level was ridiculously high. On a good day there is very little fishable shoreline, but on this day it was about 20 feet across. I opted to sit this one out and just sat back to watch the show. This picture will give you an idea of how insanely tight the fishing can be on a weekend evening

For me there is nothing relaxing about getting into this line of men getting frustrated and annoyed with each other. The Jester and Prince stood in the water on the edge of a sharp drop off (never never would you find me there!) and had a lot of success in this spot out of the chaos a few feet away. The boys both caught their limits on this evening and I got a show better than any action flick at the theatre.



As mentioned in my previous post, often when you get a fish on in this spot you have to take it over the falls, away from the crowd to be able to land it. I managed to catch my fishing buddies carrying out one of these fish rescues on video. I will have to warn you that this is rated PG-13 as it includes an unintentional wardrobe malfunction.



Although I only managed about a dozen casts on this particular evening, I did manage to accomplish y first injury of the season. As I completed that magnificent video, I slipped on the wet rocky shore and landed on my leg and backside on a jagged rock and into a pool of water. After a drying out period my IPhone is as good as new, my leg on the other hand is sporting some interesting cuts and a massive purple bruise (I have a matching one in a more delicate area). I will include this picture to illicit some sympathy, as I am not happy with the amount given by my fishing partners!

Holy Shark Batman!

I grew up in Port Alberni and my hometown friends were passing around this picture from the local paper yesterday of a massive shark that washed up on shore just outside of town. Click here to see the story from the local paper. I will be thinking of this little fella the next time we launch our boat in the Alberni Inlet!

Steelhead On the Stamp River

Today Chris and Kris went in search of Steelhead on the Stamp River near Port Alberni. This is the only fishing accessible to us during the winter. Last year Chris and I tried off shore a few times but were depressingly unsuccessful. This time the boys decided to hire a guide to show them some tricks and the best places to try their luck. Ken Myers (http://www.fishmyster.ca/) is an experience local guide that took them out on the river in his zodiac for the day. Chris used his Christmas present from me (a shiny blue Islander center pin reel) and the Jester used one of Ken's Shimano Calcuttas.

Today was a gorgeous sunny West Coast day, perfect for spending time on the water. They went right to the falls to begin the Steelhead hunt. There were a few anglers fishing off the shore and a number of other boats trying their luck. Unfortunately the fish were not really biting for anyone. They moved on to Eagle Rock, Slide Pool and the Bucket but only got a couple of bites. In the afternoon they headed back to the falls and that's where the magic happened!! The Jester hooked into a huge beautiful Steelhead that was about 20lbs. The average steelhead right now is 5-7lbs so this really was a fish that will be talked about for years to come.

Even though the fish were not biting the way they had hoped, the Prince and the Jester were thrilled to be out on the water and learned a lot from Ken. Hopefully the three of us will get back out there before the steelhead season ends and try to catch another big one!