anchor fishing plugs in the vedder mouth

[okgnfishing]

wonder if anyone fishes the vedder using kwikfish plugs or FST spoons?

it is a popular way to fish the thompson river for the chinook run, and seems to work awesome up there.

this year got my limit anchor fishing FST.

i am moving back to the coast and will be fishing the vedder mouth hard and am just curious if anyone else fishes with plugs from boat ?

 

[Dogbreath]

Have fished it in the past but it's not my idea of a good time too many Seals, Sea Lions & poacher idiots.

 

[okgnfishing]

Have fished it in the past but it's not my idea of a good time too many Seals, Sea Lions & poacher idiots.

yeah that sucks, i am looking to run my boat in the fraser quite alot and the vedder and the harrison are the only options for boat fishing. i dont find the vedder to be all that bad. everywhere you go close to vancouver will be busy and have tons of poacher idiots haha.

 

[Alex_c]

Used to do exactly that in the early summer when the Vedder was open for salmon before the Fraser. It’s usually slow fishing, and you need the right water flow to get the proper action on the plugs. Have put a lot of time into this technique and it’s spotty because there are so few fish in the river at that time. Later in the season it gets too busy to be enjoyable. I’ve also dropped spin-n-glows, back-trolled plugs, trolled blades, cast spoons. My advice is to be rods down right at first light, and cover water.

 

[jim morrow]

You might want to go into Fred's Custom Tackle and ask to talk to Tony. He is interested in that also.

 

[Salmon Seeker]

The mouth of the vedder is tidal and on incoming tide the current actually flows upstream. anchoring and backtrolling will only work near low tide when the current is really pulling. even then there's sometimes not enough current to make it work. I used to troll there 20 years ago but now it seems most guys anchor and cast so trolling can lead to confrontations. Its also more snaggy than i remember so you end up with more snags trolling. best bet is to line up and cast like everyone else.

 

[okgnfishing]

The mouth of the vedder is tidal and on incoming tide the current actually flows upstream. anchoring and backtrolling will only work near low tide when the current is really pulling. even then there's sometimes not enough current to make it work. I used to troll there 20 years ago but now it seems most guys anchor and cast so trolling can lead to confrontations. Its also more snaggy than i remember so you end up with more snags trolling. best bet is to line up and cast like everyone else.

interesting. i was hoping it would have a decent ammount of current. i wonder if theres enough current to spin a mid sized spin and glo....

i fish the thompson in what i consider low current and i get some nice action on large fst spoons and kwikfish lures. i guess i just have to try it out.

the coho fishery seems pretty good on the vedder though, so atleast i could anchor up and cast spinners into the slower seams for them. cast and retrieve will forever be my favourite way to fish haha.

 

[okgnfishing]

The mouth of the vedder is tidal and on incoming tide the current actually flows upstream. anchoring and backtrolling will only work near low tide when the current is really pulling. even then there's sometimes not enough current to make it work. I used to troll there 20 years ago but now it seems most guys anchor and cast so trolling can lead to confrontations. Its also more snaggy than i remember so you end up with more snags trolling. best bet is to line up and cast like everyone else.

i have had luck in the thompson in low flow conditions attaching a spin and glo with a 3 foot set back, and dangling the down rigger 1 foot above bottom while anchored. maybe i will try that actually as i had some of my best days this year running spin and glos.

 

[Alex_c]

interesting. i was hoping it would have a decent ammount of current. i wonder if theres enough current to spin a mid sized spin and glo....

i fish the thompson in what i consider low current and i get some nice action on large fst spoons and kwikfish lures. i guess i just have to try it out.

the coho fishery seems pretty good on the vedder though, so atleast i could anchor up and cast spinners into the slower seams for them. cast and retrieve will forever be my favourite way to fish haha.

There can be enough current for a spin n glo, but it depends on 3 factors:
1. Tides
2. Outflow from the Barrowtown pump station
3. River flow

Bar fishing techniques can work, but
good to be prepared to employ different fishing methods to match conditions.

 

[Blue Hewes]

I sold a few older tomic plugs to a guy that said he used them on the Harrison anchored up. I don't recall the part of the river he was fishing but he claimed they worked awesome for larger Chinooks.

 

[Dogbreath]

A buddy of mine caught a decent Coho right in the Vedder one time and landed it just as the Rocky Mountaineer rounded the corner-being a fisherman of course he held it up for the tourists idiots to see and their mouths dropped open like it was 40#!

In fact it was closer to 12 than 10 a decent fish but not exceptional but to them it was Beautiful BC Writ Large and I'm sure they still talk about it.

 

[okgnfishing]

A buddy of mine caught a decent Coho right in the Vedder one time and landed it just as the Rocky Mountaineer rounded the corner-being a fisherman of course he held it up for the tourists idiots to see and their mouths dropped open like it was 40#!

In fact it was closer to 12 than 10 a decent fish but not exceptional but to them it was Beautiful BC Writ Large and I'm sure they still talk about it.

90% of the fish i catch these days are 2lb kokanee lol. if i could hook into a 10 lb coho being that close to vancouver on the river. i would be addicted and fish there every day lol.

 

[okgnfishing]

There can be enough current for a spin n glo, but it depends on 3 factors:
1. Tides
2. Outflow from the Barrowtown pump station
3. River flow

Bar fishing techniques can work, but
good to be prepared to employ different fishing methods to match conditions.

i always bring a rod for chucking spoons or atleast some weights to sit roe or cured shrimp a foot off the bottom.
not much into float fishing.

 

[okgnfishing]

There can be enough current for a spin n glo, but it depends on 3 factors:
1. Tides
2. Outflow from the Barrowtown pump station
3. River flow

Bar fishing techniques can work, but
good to be prepared to employ different fishing methods to match conditions.

also, what launch is best for fall fishing? i run a outboard prop. and my boat is 17 foot. modified V. i am wondering if the water levels at barrowtown are to shallow in fall?

my 2 options i guess would be barrowtown launch or dewdney. wondering what launch is best for low water conditions in the fall.

 

[Alex_c]

Barrowtown should be fine unless water levels are really low and you launch on a low tide. The shallowest spot was usually the confluence of the Sumas and the Vedder, just north of Hwy 1, but that may have changed in the last few years. I never had a problem running a prop boat (14’ with 30 hp) but there are tons of snags and trees to watch out for. I’d suggest slowly running through around low tide the first time and making a note of all the snags and save a track to your GPS. I’ve seen lots of people smack their props!

I haven’t launched from Dewdney to fish the Vedder, so I can’t say what it’s like.

If you’re fishing in the fall, I would suggest casting spoons, jigs, and chartreuse Blue Fox spinners. It will be too busy to troll, and I’ve never seen anyone float fish at the mouth from a boat.

 

[okgnfishing]

Barrowtown should be fine unless water levels are really low and you launch on a low tide. The shallowest spot was usually the confluence of the Sumas and the Vedder, just north of Hwy 1, but that may have changed in the last few years. I never had a problem running a prop boat (14’ with 30 hp) but there are tons of snags and trees to watch out for. I’d suggest slowly running through around low tide the first time and making a note of all the snags and save a track to your GPS. I’ve seen lots of people smack their props!

I haven’t launched from Dewdney to fish the Vedder, so I can’t say what it’s like.

If you’re fishing in the fall, I would suggest casting spoons, jigs, and chartreuse Blue Fox spinners. It will be too busy to troll, and I’ve never seen anyone float fish at the mouth from a boat.

any experience on the harrison river?

 

[Alex_c]

any experience on the harrison river?

Have fished it a few times, best bet is to launch from Kilby. That stretch is charted on Navionics, so it’s a bit easier (but longer) to navigate. I don’t recall the tides affecting the water levels as much as the Vedder, but I’m not 100% sure. If you’re coming from out of town, I think the Harrison is probably a better experience, but the Vedder canal/Barrowtown is more convenient if coming from the lower mainland on the south side of the Fraser. The fishing on the canal can be pretty nuts when fish move through, but I haven’t fished the Harrison enough to say if it’s better fishing.

 

[Coyote Spooner]

If I recall there’s a boundary, where the red line is. The yellow line is the deeper spots along the river, from Barrowtown down. These google images are from high tide. Barrowtown is a better low tide option. I can’t remember how many hours it takes for the tide to get to the mouth of the Vedder. I seem to remember 5 hours? Check the New Westminster tide chart and also the bc river level site for the Fraser at Mission. It will show the tidal cycles, at the time you want to go. Low to high is the best. I’ve been near the red boundary line, anchored, and noticed the tide changing, and could see the fresh fish shooting up on the incoming tide. I pretty much alway spin cast spinners.

 

[okgnfishing]

Have fished it a few times, best bet is to launch from Kilby. That stretch is charted on Navionics, so it’s a bit easier (but longer) to navigate. I don’t recall the tides affecting the water levels as much as the Vedder, but I’m not 100% sure. If you’re coming from out of town, I think the Harrison is probably a better experience, but the Vedder canal/Barrowtown is more convenient if coming from the lower mainland on the south side of the Fraser. The fishing on the canal can be pretty nuts when fish move through, but I haven’t fished the Harrison enough to say if it’s better fishing.

nice. ill be moving down there in a couple months here. pretty excited to have some oppurtunity close by for what i consider bigger fish.

when you guys say the vedder mouth gets busy though, are we talking chaos? or just 20 or so boats. is there even space or does it get busy to the point its unfishable often

 

[Alex_c]

nice. ill be moving down there in a couple months here. pretty excited to have some oppurtunity close by for what i consider bigger fish.

when you guys say the vedder mouth gets busy though, are we talking chaos? or just 20 or so boats. is there even space or does it get busy to the point its unfishable often

There’s enough space for everyone, but parking at Barrowtown can get difficult. Watch out for guys in jet boats running you down at 20 knots if you’re moving through the canal slowly, trying not to destroy your prop