Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing Reports => Members' Fishing Reports => Topic started by: joshuag232 on March 02, 2012, 04:09:30 PM
-
Decided to hit up the lower Fraser this morning since it's my day off school. The weather was pretty drab but the fishing was great. Bottom fished with shrimp on a sliding rig and managed to get 4 really nice sized flounder in 2 hours. Once it started raining the bite was off so I packed up and left. All in all, it was a great day to be out.
(http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/1070/img0704ea.jpg)
(http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/2074/img0706kb.jpg)
(http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/1302/img0707i.jpg)
-
Cool !
i wasnt aware that anyone ever kept those things OR if you were even allowed to. They are fun to catch on a lightweight fly rod while fishing pinks in the salt, they feel hilarious on the line cause they wiggle different :)
How do they taste ?
-
Good eats!!!!
-
They taste alright, texture isn't too great though. A little mushy. Just baked the big girl up with some mayonnaise and parmesan, she tasted pretty good. There was also some roe inside that I didnt notice while gutting her which was a nice treat.
-
You had more luck then me!
But I really do wonder if resident fish from the Lower Fraser are safe to eat...
Does anyone know if anything is tested in any way at all?
Have you been eating your catch from the Fraser for long?
Are you fishing the South Arm, Middle, or North Arm?
I have been out a few times now, and nothing on the fly.One thing I have noticed where I fish, the substrate used to be either hard packed sand or gravel; and now there is about 4 inches of sticky Fraser Mud...Anyone who has spend any time in the Lower Fraser will know what I mean!
Hopefully soon I will start to see salmon fry and finger crossed my luck will change!
-
I have been eating fish from the Fraser since I was a kid. I can't imagine its too safe either but what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right? :-X :P I was fishing the south arm
-
Nice catch. Starry eye flounders. Caught tons of them as a kid
-
Nice fish! In my experience, they usually taste a little too salty for me
-
I have been eating fish from the Fraser since I was a kid. I can't imagine its too safe either but what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right? :-X :P I was fishing the south arm
Actually, with the way bio-accumulation works, that which doesn't kill you today will only kill you later.
-
Hey awesome catch!!! Where abouts where you? Near richmond?
-
But I really do wonder if resident fish from the Lower Fraser are safe to eat.
Good question and you have more information on that than most on this forum.
Personally I would not eat a fish species that resided in the lower Fraser for more than one year until I knew from reliable sources that particular species was contaminant free. To my knowledge those data sources are non existant.
-
I was afraid of that!
Will ask around on Monday.
One would think with all the Bivalve testing that is supposedly done...some of the resident fish would also be looked at...
Back when we used to do Species Composition and Biomas in the Lower Fraser, we had Simon Jones come out and take samples. He was amazed at the amount of parasites on fish in the Lower Fraser not too mention tumors and lesions on just about anything larger than 20 cm from the North Arm. South Arm was much better but still the sewage treatment plant off Annacis Island and again the years of abuse "We" have given it...
-
I haven't eaten flounder since I was a youngun' and I always found them a little too boney for me. Much prefer fresh coho. And a very good question MKC about the toxicity levels in the fish. I would question whether it would be safe. Migrating fish are fine I'm sure but I may be wrong but I would think flounder's would pretty much live in one area for there whole existence, would'nt they ?
That being the case I would I would not avail myself the luxury of this fine cuisine even if it might make me stronger. Had a friend who smoked cig's and cigars like a chimney, drank like a fish and never excercised. I often warned him of his habits but he would shrug them off saying, "My grandpa lived to be 95 and he smoked and drank his whole life just like I do, hah."
Passed away at the ripe old age of 54. Nice catch of fish by the way Joshuag232, well done.
-
Actually, with the way bio-accumulation works, that which doesn't kill you today will only kill you later.
:D
-
I was right down by the end of 5 road in richmond cohoaaron
-
i would be leary about eating from the lower frasier (and burrard inlet too). i remember doing a theoretical study on flounder and resident trout, and chemical contamination in uni. on those two fish species. while my report found them "safe" to eat, it was only true if they were consumed at less then 1 kg of fish per week. lol. but since my methods were probably a little suspect i would take this with a heavy grain of salt. that being said, there is a lot of crap dumped/leaching into the harbour and would limit what i do eat from the harbour/lower river... :P
nevertheless, nice catch ;D
-
I was right down by the end of 5 road in richmond cohoaaron
did you go around high tide? How much weight did you need? I would really like to give it a go.......
-
I bet them fish are safer to eat than the chicken and beef your buying at the supermarket.
No steroids in them Flounders.
-
I bet them fish are safer to eat than the chicken and beef your buying at the supermarket.
No steroids in them Flounders.
Yeah right :D
Whatever has been flushed down your toilet, or your neighbours toilet, or your buddies toilet in Prince George, Quesnel etc, or has been been dumped in storm drains in towns along the Fraser River eventually ends up in these mature Starry Flounders and other resident fish like Largescale Suckers, Peamouth Chub, Northern Pikeminnows, and sturgeon. You mention steroids; do you know anyone using birth control pills? Where does that person pee?
As Sandman said, it's a cumulative effect.
-
Yeah right :D
Whatever has been flushed down your toilet, or your neighbours toilet, or your buddies toilet in Prince George, Quesnel etc, or has been been dumped in storm drains in towns along the Fraser River eventually ends up in these mature Starry Flounders and other resident fish like Largescale Suckers, Peamouth Chub, Northern Pikeminnows, and sturgeon. You mention steroids; do you know anyone using birth control pills? Where does that person pee?
As Sandman said, it's a cumulative effect.
Yep... The general public has very little understanding when it comes to hormones in sewage effluent and their effects on estuary wildlife.
-
Yeah right :D
Whatever has been flushed down your toilet, or your neighbours toilet, or your buddies toilet in Prince George, Quesnel etc, or has been been dumped in storm drains in towns along the Fraser River eventually ends up in these mature Starry Flounders and other resident fish like Largescale Suckers, Peamouth Chub, Northern Pikeminnows, and sturgeon. You mention steroids; do you know anyone using birth control pills? Where does that person pee?
As Sandman said, it's a cumulative effect.
Very well put, I like it. Stuff like birth control pills/hormones etc. are very costly if not impossible to filter out. Even more troublesome the fact that some [although cant say for sure in BC] sewage treatment plants remove solids ONLY.
-
Oh my goodness....whenever I catch a large sculpin in the tidal, some old Asian guy asks me for it because he eats them.....grosss
-
@cohoaaron I was using about half an ounce of weight. Tide had just started going out
-
@cohoaaron I was using about half an ounce of weight. Tide had just started going out
thanks :)
-
So I have made a few phone calls and there is no testing done on any finfish in the lower fraser to determine if they are safe to eat.
Everyone says they must be safe, but there is no way they would eat any resident fish species caught in the Lower Fraser.
-
I gave my friend a large starry flounder years ago to eat, however, I told him it was a fresh sole. :D
A few weeks later I asked him how it was and the answer was gross, mushy, basically completely awful.
I also found the flounders to be very aggressive when dragging lures along the bottom.
-
So I have made a few phone calls and there is no testing done on any finfish in the lower fraser to determine if they are safe to eat.
Everyone says they must be safe, but there is no way they would eat any resident fish species caught in the Lower Fraser.
I'm not sure which agency would be responsible for testing resident fish in the Fraser but if people are eating these fish, and it sounds like they are, maybe some cages should be rattled to see if there is indeed a danger to the public.
-
All I need is this sign to tell me what I should or should not be eating from the Fraser. ;D
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc90/fishingwithrod/2008/081112-01.jpg)
Anyway, I liked those starry flounder photos. :) Last year we tried to get some so we could get some better photos of them for the website but failed miserably, maybe it's time to try it again... ;)
-
Are there still a lot of sculpins and other coarse fish around in the winter? I always figured that they disappeared until the summer...
-
Didn't seem like it leaping steely, all I caught were the flounder
-
nice flounders. i get them all the time in the lower fraser around delta. just use a bar rig with worms or roe. easy to catch. however i did talk to berry's bait and tackle about these fish.they are edible but basically anything that lives in the fraser should be avoided. especially crayfish. all that effluent from the interior mills flows down with the mud and runoff and collects on the lower fraser river bed. i let all the fish go except salmon. the flounders also don't look that clean in my opinion when they are caught. but that is just my preference. i prefer eating the flounder/sole from tsawasssen beach saltwater. easy to catch there too.