Beach Fishing

September and early October found me beach fishing on the north shore about 10 times. I started at the more well-known spots by Ambleside and Cates Park. This was a “pink” year which is the return of Pink salmon for spawning every 2nd year. My set up was simple, I was using a 9’ 8wt fly rod with Scientific Angler Stillwater clear intermediate sinking line. For flies I was trying an assortment of simple, sparse pink flies, along with a few chartreuse colored flies. My first few times out the fishing was slow. I would see a few fish rolling on the surface but no bites. In fact, I didn’t see anyone get any bites my first few times out.

Eventually I came across a pretty good area for beach casting. I also lucked out with some timing. There was a low-tide at around 5am, which also corresponded with first light. This meant that I could go fishing early in the morning before the kids got up (weekends) or before work (weekdays). In one week I managed to get out 5 times I think. Although I didn’t catch anything I did get a few bites at least. Judging from what I could see in the other people fishing, I would guess that 1/3 of the guys fishing managed to land a salmon.

I also tried my luck one day on the Fraser River but didn’t see any fish or get any action. It was a nice day to be outside though.

By the end of the couple of weeks of fishing I was managing to cast maybe 70’ with the line. If I would have been able to get another 10 or 20’ it would have been great, just to be able to cover that much more water. While I’m sure I can get longer casts with this rod with more practise, I also think that it’s not the greatest rod. It’s very soft and flexy, and requires a very slow cast. The tip tends to flop quite a bit. So I’m in the market for a replacement. More on that later…