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[jaez270]

Just looking to see if anyone has had any experience fishing the Clearwater for Chinooks.
There is a season in Aug.
Just curious about numbers,.

Any help would be great.




Thanks and Tight lines!!

[rymack]

Clearwater? is that a river ? maybe a little more info..

[Tadpole]

Yes. I fished it for red springs a bit below Wells Gray Provincial Park. I tried it only once about 6 years ago. This fish, after traveling over 1000km is worn and tired. Not much fight in them left. Their meat if firm but they look like old boots from the Vedder, even worse than Shuswap river springs from Enderby area.

[Dave]

Hey fellow anglers
Have some respect for these unique fish. Give them a break - don't fish them.  When they hit the Clearwater they have travelled a long, long way, often times through warmer water than optimal; they are basically living in their final days.  They are there to spawn.  Let them.

[fishnjim]

i used to fish them.  but do not anymore, i fear that there numbers have drastically declined in the years since it was opened to retention of these springs.  they are a very large fish, generally average 25 lbs and as someone said earlier, are a bit red, and probably lost a few pounds with the long travel.  i have seen numerous over 40lbs.  all fish except 1 , that i or my group have caught have all been white springs.  there used to be hatchery production on the river years ago, but it has long been stopped.  i have emailed a fellow from dfo a few years ago requesting the fishery be cancelled, when my personal observations noted  the numbers crash..but he says there was enough for the opening?  maybe he fears taking the fishery away, would not be good...as it would take many referals to various groups to ever get it back?  it does not seem quite right to have a kill fishery this far up in the interior without any hatchery?  last year i believe there was a maximum size on the fish that could be kept  (around 15lbs?)?  cannot remember now, but maybe that was dfos way of limiting the kill of the fish...as our groups have caught and landed 100 fish..and only 1 was 15 lbs..rest were 20s or more.  the fish that was 15 lbs was a red spring.  anyway..my 2 cents.

[spey]

they are a red fleshed strain of chinook. The reason you encountered white flesh is because the fish are well past their prime. (as a mature salmon spends more time in fresh water their meet starts to deteriorate and fade in colour)

[jaez270]

What sort of technique would a guy use to catch them?

Do standard tactics apply ie: plunking, drift fishing?
My uncle said he used to catch them on anchovies, plunking.
Or is there a bait ban in effect?

[HOOK]

I would personally ignore these spawning fish and target the rather large trout feeding on their eggs directly behind them. Saw this on a fishing show (sport fishing on the fly) a couple years back and they were getting some big trout  seems like more fun to me then harrassing a spawning salmon.

[dereke]

What sort of technique would a guy use to catch them?

Do standard tactics apply ie: plunking, drift fishing?
My uncle said he used to catch them on anchovies, plunking.
Or is there a bait ban in effect?

 Sorry bud but I don't think you will get much help here. Harassing spawning fish with most people on this site is a big nono and so it should be. Let them be and find another option, it is not ethical to harass fish when they are spawning or setting up to spawn. Whats the point? the meat will be no good and C&R on fish that high up and that far past it's prime will probably result in higher than normal mortality rates. Like HOOK said go for the trout feasting on eggs.

[jaez270]

Wow, seems like we've touched on a nerve.
All I asked for was information don't really care about whether or not you think people should fish for spawning salmon.
DFO seems to think there is a reason to have a season.
So mellow out everybody and lets share some info.

[Every Day]

Wow, seems like we've touched on a nerve.
All I asked for was information don't really care about whether or not you think people should fish for spawning salmon.
DFO seems to think there is a reason to have a season.
So mellow out everybody and lets share some info.

Well we are all entitled to our own opinions.
I highly doubt someone will tell you how to fish for spawning salmon.
DFO have their heads up their *** sorry to tell you. Sockeye salmon numbers are plummeting 20 000 000, 10 000 000, 2 000 000 (opening).
What the hell is wrong with them. Just because it is legal does not mean it is right.

Think about why you would want to fish for them.
If it's for meat, well I highly doubt they are even ok for the smoker.
If it's for sport the trout will probably put up more of a fight than a spawning fish.

[Rodney]

Here are the escapement numbers between 1994 and 2008 of Clearwater chinook salmon, which may give you an idea on the population size and the trend of the returns.

Year	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Escapement	5450	5100	7780	7830	7007	3837	4563	5051	5689	6234	4622	3519	3768	1895	3307

My uncle said he used to catch them on anchovies, plunking.

The use of finfish, live or dead, is prohibited.

Or is there a bait ban in effect?

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/regulations/docs/0911/fish-synopsis_2009-11_region3.pdf

Check under "Clearwater River".

I wouldn't go as far as telling others not to target them when an opening is available, it's not in my place to do so. The quality of the fishery, as some have already pointed out, cannot be compared to the coastal fisheries due to the state of these fish after having travelled such long distance and almost or already reaching their spawning ground. The opening is mainly to accommodate Interior BC residents who have limited opportunities to target coastal salmon. Travelling up from the coast to target these chinook would be like travelling from Interior BC to Vancouver to target catchable rainbow trout. On the other hand, excellent trout and char catch and release fisheries are available at Clearwater and nearby watersheds so one should take advantage of that when visiting the area.

Even though an opening for chinook salmon is listed, it is very like that it will change as the season approaches. The forecast for 2009's summer chinook runs in Upper & Mid Fraser, North Thompson is in category one, which means the stock is (or is forecast to be) less than 25% of target or is declining rapidly.

[HOOK]

those are some bleak numbers you posted up there Rod 

I know myself have been trying to get myself up to this river while the salmon are spawning. the reason for this is to target the big trout and i mean big, on the show i saw they cause one that was around 8lbs !! but on average they were 3-5lbs  still a riot compared to fighting a half dead salmon. trout will pound for pound out fight a salmon alot of the time  especially in rivers.

[speycaster]

jaez270 is probably a BASS fisherman, those people will fish for anything. Even chum with the bones showing.

[dereke]

  Sorry Rod I do agree it is not really my place to tell someone whether or not to fish an opening when it is perfectly legal under our laws. Sharing info on the other I won't do and I see he posted on another site and kind of got the same response. Judging by his response he's going to go out and do it anyway .