Every second year the lower mainland gets a return of millions of Pink Salmon. It seems as if just as many fishermen head out to the rivers to intercept them on their way to the spawning grounds. What’s the big deal with Pinks, you ask. I’ve often wondered that myself. They don’t fight well for their size. They are notoriously easy to hook. Nothing fancy to look at. I don’t care how good you are with a smoker, the aren’t the best table fare. I guess it’s good, fast fishing for kids newbies and regulars who value numbers at the end of a day.
One thing can never be taken away from the Pinks though: they contribute a $hitload of biomass to the local ecology every two years. Their flesh and eggs provide good eats for more prized species of fish such as cutties and char. The nutrients they leave behind fertilizes not only the river itself but also the streamside vegetation. Even trees further back from the river bank benefit from carcasses dragged into the bush by bears, birds, cayotes, and fishermen. Plus they make great Sturgeon bat. So I guess in the end…………LONG LIVE THE PINKS
INNIS & GUNN
Canadian Cask Scottish oak aged beer
Who knew that combining two of Canadians favourite things, beer and whisky, would taste so good. Innis & Gunn I guess. Taking their beer and aging it in used whisky barrels created a very tasty beer indeed. They were originally intended as a Canada day special but are still for sale in the import beer section of many liqour stores. Try it, you can thank me later. It’s available in regular and blonde.
Sarah gets her IGFA membership. Still waiting for official word on the record though. The waiting game. I guess it’s better than the crying game. Just ask Forest Whitaker.
The summer of ‘09 will be one that I will always remember. Alot happened this year and at first I didn’t think I would do much fishing at all. We helped my parents move, planned and executed a destination wedding, went on a honeymoon and then had a second reception. It was a whirlwind, believe me, but we managed to get some quality time on the rivers as well as 3 days on the water in Mexico. Here are a few pics from the last few months.
It’s kind of ironic that the first post on my flyfishing blog has little flyfishing content. But sometimes flyfishing itself is ironic.
Bob Meiser came to visit for the weekend last month. He wanted to do some Pink Salmon fishing on the Fraser. I managed to talk him into going Sturgeon fishing instead. And, not knowing what he was in for, he agreed. My buddy Sascha had a day free from the fall guiding mania and we snapped it up right away. By September the Sturgeon have had a steady diet of rotting and fresh salmon carcasses, many of them the result of the Sockeye kill fishery. Anglers kill their catch and toss the guts and heads into the river. It’s a literal smorgasboard for bottom feeders. With 17 million Pinks returning to the river this year the fish could gorge themselves silly.
The first step was to get some bait. This involved catching some Pinks. Sascha anchored us up and we began to cast to the slack waters where the fish were rolling. When you see one Pink roll there’s probably another 20 right below it. Pinks are notoriously easy to catch. A pink or chartreuse streamer will get you a strike every cast. They don’t put up much of a fight but are fun on a 4/5 switch rod. A couple of fish in the boat and we were ready to go for the big boys. Sascha rigged us up.
Bait
Now, when you hook a Sturgeon you need to be prepared for a fight. These fish are huge, powerful and not interested in being landed. the fight often involves following the fish down river until it tires out and then lasooing the tail at the beach so it doesn’t kill you while you take a picture. I don’t have that much experience with them myself but have had enough action to know that Bob would be in for an experience to remember.
It wasn’t long before we were into fish. Long dog fights and the occasional jump, tagging and releasing, a chug of Makers Mark as a reward. I believe we landed 11 fish, 7 of them between 6 and 8 feet in length. The “small ones” were around 40 pounds. At one point it seemed like each fish was bigger than the last. Maybe my back was just getting weaker as the day progressed.
7 foot 11
Kiss the Fish
6 foot somethin'
Rod in the head
Bob has been deflowered. I’m pretty sure he will be back next September with a friend or two once they see his pictures.
If you want to get your Sturginity taken shoot me an email and I can hook you up with Sascha. waskocreek@shaw.ca
