Fishing Trip Summary
This was hands down the BEST Winter Steelhead day I’ve had in my 2 year career chasing Steel! Today I landed 3 Steelhead in the course of 3 hours on the Chilliwack River. The conditions were great! After the big rain we’ve had there was a lot of fish moving into the system. And after the weekend I watched the river levels drop and it was “go time”.
My first fish was a wild buck approx 9-10 lbs. He wasn’t the biggest fish of the day but certainly fought the hardest. He took me over 10 minutes to bring in. Although, I was fighting him in some faster water so that’s never easy. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my GoPro ready but did take a few quick iPhone shots before quickly releasing him. See them in the Gallery below (or in the Video).
The second fish was a wild doe approx 7-8 lbs. She was by far the cleanest Steelhead I’ve ever caught. As I was bringing her in a friendly guy named “Auto” came by and took a photo for me, and was quickly returned back to the river. She was so clean I’m guessing she’s been in the fresh for no more than 48 hours.
The third fish was a hatchery doe, which I was pumped about as I wanted to bring a Steelhead home for dinner. This doe hit hard and put up a good fight. She didn’t have the jumping acrobatics like the wild buck, but she had some good runs and a small jump in the middle of the fight. You can see the fight via my video below. I took the hatchery to Fred’s Tackle shop for a weight and length: just shy of 11 lbs and 78 cm (30.5 inch) in length.
Anyway, 3 fish over a few hours on the Chilliwack is amazing for me. Catching one fish over an entire day is a great day for me. So needless to say the remainder of the day I was pumped with adrenaline and can’t wait for my next Steelhead outing!
Tackle & Method
Rod / Reel: 10’6 Shimano Convergence
Rod w/ C3 6500 Abu Garcia level-wind reel
Mainline: 15 lb Maxima Chameleon line
Leader: 12 lb Seaguar Fluorocarbon
Floats: Red 30 gram Cleardrift fishing float
Weights: Pencil lead
Lures/Presentation: Size 1 Gamakatsu Octopus hook (black), with my home brew procured Chum Roe
Water Conditions & Weather
Water Conditions: Water clarity was medium to low visibility (probably around 18 inches). It wasn’t a perfect Steelhead green, so bigger presentations were in order.
Water Temperature: Not available
Weather / Lighting: Around 9-11 degrees Celsius and lightly overcast with no rain for the 3 hour period.
when are the best times to fish the river, son and I just moved to Abbotsford 1 month ago so trying to familiarize ourselves with the area… any help would be appreciated
Thanks for the note! The Vedder / Chilliwack River can be fished almost year round depending on how and what you’re fishing for. The most popular fisheries on this river are the Fall Salmon and Winter Steelhead. Salmon will start to show up in the system in early September until November. Winter Steelhead season runs between January and April (March & April are typically the best months). Feel free to email me ([email protected]) if you have any other specific questions. Cheers! Jesse
Hi Jesse. Where do I cast? Any Vedder River location recommendations for a new fisherman? I do not have waders……..yet.
If you don’t have waders I’d recommending fishing the easy access parts of the river which are in the lower sections. You can start at the Vedder River crossing bridge and walk down the rotary trail for miles and there are a number of spots to easily walkin and fish from shore.