What a beaut........

This is my good friend Lew's son ...Ken Chater....a really nice Steelhead (rainbow) trout yesterday...oh my I do miss doing that....

To catch 2 or 3 Vedder fish in a winter represents probably many many days fishing......... by far the majority of fishers do not catch any at all....it is a whackin thrill to pull up on one of these beauties.....and to actually land it without it breaking off or it coming unbuttoned is a great thrill......that tiny line is attached to a silver jerking thing that is really quite pissed off....the life of the fish tranfers to the tip of the rod and you can feel it doing its all to get rid of the pull that seems so threatening . Sometimes a jumper ...sometimes a lugger or a fish that buzzes all about the run....They seem to have personalities (fishalities?)

A fisher probably averages losing half of them.....the weather is no problem to a steelheader.....but the guides freezing up and the tackle icing can be a problem......the river is very cold right now ...about 41 degrees....that usually makes for a lethargic fish and a non biter.....but....there have been a few caught in the Vedder everyday now....that could mean there are a fair number of fish in and when the river comes up a few degrees the bite will be on...then the river will have many hundreds of fishers chasing them.....Chilliwack
's Vedder River is a very busy place as it is only a few miles from Vancouver.....We are very fortunate to still have good access to the river...that is such a problem on many of the rivers......

yup....... Gus