In Search of Coho

You could smell the sea air through the marine mist as we headed out the other morning on the boat to watch the spawning coho at the mouth of the Capilano River, and perhaps do some fishing.  The sun was just up and it was so very quiet.

The lighthouse at Point Atkinson remains just as I remember it from my youth, and as we rounded the rocks I recalled the many times I would hike down the trail to sit on those same rocks and watch the boats go by.

 When we got to the River area, both coho and chinook were dancing on the surface of the water, mostly females jumping out of the water to loosen their eggs before their journey upstream.  At times I thought we could just reach out our net and scoop them into the boat The river itself is very low, and there is not enough water for them to safely enter the mouth and head upstream.  So they wait.  They are waiting for the rains that we all wait for these days, and in the meantime, they really aren't hungry, nor interested in taking the bait from the fishermen.  The fog then started to roll in and we turned the boat around to head home.

 A great way to spend a morning as we begin the fall season.  No fresh fish for the freezer, but a taste of nature in this little corner of our world.