Another adventure from pro staff Gil d’Oliveira

I enjoyed another outing on my favourite river using the Amundson Kudos Strategy X carbon fibre casting rod. This rod is 11.5 feet long and features a fast action.

High tide occurred at 3 am, prompting salmon to enter the river throughout the night and into the early morning. The weather was cool and overcast.

For my drift, I used a sliding float to adapt to changes in river depth. By placing stop knots above and below the BnR float, I could let it slide to cover different depths or secure the knots to fix the float in place.

In previous years, 16 mm, 18 mm, and 20 mm BnR beads were effective. This year, however, success came with 12-mm and 14-mm beads. The fish ignored larger beads, but the smaller BnR burr beads also performed well.

A helpful tip is to carry a variety of lead weights. Today, the sliding float with pencil lead tapping against the bottom was ineffective. Switching to a lighter weight and fixing the float to drift at mid-column depth, known as short floating, led to many spring salmon being caught.

The most effective colours for round soft beads were Mottle Pink, Mottled Cerise, Pink Sheen, NW Steelheader, and Pink Panther. For the small 12.5 mm Burr beads, Mottled Pink and NW Steelheader were successful.

I am often asked about the green tape on my rod. The tape is placed at 77 cm to quickly determine if a salmon is over or under the size limit. On this river, anglers may retain two under or one under and one over. This marking helps me make safe and efficient catch-and-release decisions.