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[Ambassador]

I have never fished for Sockeye but would love to this year (assuming there is an opening with so many supposedly on their way), but have no intention of doing it with a 15 foot leader and a cannonball just because everyone else is doing it.

Is there such a thing as ethical fishing from shore for these beauties, or do all fishermen leave their ethics at the door when hitting the river for these fish?

[wallygator24]

You can get a spey rod and floss'em that way too.  You wont feel guilty about having a cannon ball.  Just the long leader.

[Ambassador]

You can get a spey rod and floss'em that way too.  You wont feel guilty about having a cannon ball.  Just the long leader.

Haha! That's probably as close as I can get. Just picked a couple of those up recently - I'd better get my casts dialed before they come!

[Archer]

4-5 foot leader, you can use a little yarn and/or a corky or two to take away the guilt. Springs may attack more with yarn. Or go naked, and HAVE FUN!

[typhoon]

Fish for them in the Harrison. Sockeye will actively bite in fresh water, just not in the muddy Fraser.
If you dead drift a jig you will NEVER floss one.

[Steely]

I know it is possible to catch them ethically in the Harrison when they are in. Using what I'm not sure, I've caught them accidentally on prawns and jigs in the Vedder. They will attack flies too. However if you are talking about in the Fraser then that really is the only way to catch them consistently, the odd one is caught on a bar rig or spoon every year but very few.

[Daguru]

I have also had them attack a fly at the vedder but I think it's just too murky in the fraiser during the run for anything to be really affective

[chromeo]

I know for a fact you can catch them willingly from the mouth.  Was fishing for springs last season in late july and water was about 2ft visibility.  Put on a lure i use for salmon and had it dangling behind the boat fishing on a bar.  Set the rod in the rod holder and sure enough a fish takes it!  Thought for sure it was a spring but ended up being a sockeye lip ringed on the bottom jaw.  Pissed me off cause i thought it was a spring but it proved to me that sockeye do bite.  I'm 100% for sure they bite in the fraser.  Not all will bite but i just used this technique once and it caught a sockeye.  Gonna use it this year in the boat when your able to keep fish to verify it.  I will say colour is important but in this case the action was more important and sound do to the stained water.  Also to note that i don't believe there were many socks in the river last season.  This year i'm looking forward to actually fishing them correctly in the fraser with the large amounts of fish projected to arrive.

[chromeo]

But i would say catching a sockeye from shore other than flossing is not gonna happen.  The whole numbers vs line crossing their mouths with the flow thing makes me skeptical. 

[bcguy]

Another year, same conversation.
I have never been able to get them to bite in the Fraser my self, tried floating jigs and prawns out of Fort Langley, but no luck, tried many times instead of driving uo towards Hope. Have seen them bite on the Veddar, and rumors of legit bites on the Harrison

[Easywater]

The problem with catching them in the Fraser is the water is too muddy for them to see any lures.

The main return will be around the beginning of August - water is very muddy at that point.

During pink seasons, the water doesn't really clear up enough until late August for the fish to bite and that is only in the lower section of the river - still muddy higher up.

[clarki]

I read Rod Toth from Bent Rods to say that he has caught sockeye on jigs from boats anchored in the Fraser. The key is to find, and anchor in, the fish travelling lanes.

Never done it myself, can only recall reading what he wrote about it. I'm sure if you were interested in buying some jigs from him, you may be able to have him talk more about it            

[tim3500]

Small red flasher #3 red hook and a small red bead 24inch leader when trolled

[Rodney]

I've caught them a couple of times in the tidal portion of the Fraser River while targeting pink salmon. I've seen them caught on spoons in the Harrison River. In the past couple of years, I've enjoyed catching and releasing them in the Chilliwack River as they seem to love krill when presented under a float. I've also caught them a few times while bar fishing for chinook salmon in the non-tidal portion of the Fraser River between Chilliwack and Hope.

[losos]

4-5 foot leader, you can use a little yarn and/or a corky or two to take away the guilt. Springs may attack more with yarn. Or go naked, and HAVE FUN!

I most categorically protest  sodomizing fish even if it is sockeye.