Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Jelly_ on December 22, 2023, 08:45:38 PM
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"In tidal waters, it is illegal to angle with a fishing line that has more than one hook, artificial lure or artificial fly attached, with the following exceptions: (1) When bait fishing, you may attach multiple hooks to hold a single piece of bait as long as the hooks are not arranged to catch more than one fish. (2) When fishing for herring, mackerel, northern anchovy, Pacific sand lance or Pacific sardine you may attach any number of hooks to a line. (3) In the tidal waters of the Fraser River (see area boundary description below), you may fish with two hooks, artificial lures or artificial flies (on one line)."
So if I were to fish for herring in the tidal Fraser in Steveston, am I only allowed to use 2 hooks? Just want to make sure im following the regs properly
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"In tidal waters, it is illegal to angle with a fishing line that has more than one hook, artificial lure or artificial fly attached, with the following exceptions: (1) When bait fishing, you may attach multiple hooks to hold a single piece of bait as long as the hooks are not arranged to catch more than one fish. (2) When fishing for herring, mackerel, northern anchovy, Pacific sand lance or Pacific sardine you may attach any number of hooks to a line. (3) In the tidal waters of the Fraser River (see area boundary description below), you may fish with two hooks, artificial lures or artificial flies (on one line)."
So if I were to fish for herring in the tidal Fraser in Steveston, am I only allowed to use 2 hooks? Just want to make sure im following the regs properly
this has been a problem for a while. The official rule is that you may only use 2 hooks in the tidal fraser which Steveston falls under, however if you go to imperial landing you will see a hoard of anglers with 4-6 hooks on one line. Catching herring is actually snagging the fish 99% of the time, and yes you are legally allowed to keep snagged herring. The goal is to find a dense school and jig your hook which has 4-6 hooks attached.
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this has been a problem for a while. The official rule is that you may only use 2 hooks in the tidal fraser which Steveston falls under, however if you go to imperial landing you will see a hoard of anglers with 4-6 hooks on one line. Catching herring is actually snagging the fish 99% of the time, and yes you are legally allowed to keep snagged herring. The goal is to find a dense school and jig your hook which has 4-6 hooks attached.
Where are you getting that fishing herring is mostly snagging? I’ve caught around a hundred herring in the ocean this year and only 1 was snagged so those stats seem flipped. In my experience, herring are generally pretty eager to bite sabiki rigs
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This above
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fishing for herring off the coast is not the same as when you fish for them in the Fraser. I learned this from ScreamingReelsTV, his Yt channel is up but all of his videos have been taken down I'm not sure why that is. It makes sense, the water clarity is much better in the open ocean and the fish are actively feeding. When we catch them from piers or ect they are spawning and are always in huge schools leading to a lot of the fish being snagged. I am aware they are schooling fish in the open ocean aswell but even more-so when spawning why do you think people are using 6 hooks on a line...
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Herring are found in the Fraser estuaries throughout the winter months when water clarity is excellent. They are in there as historically they'd spawn along the reed beds. All of the herring which I've caught in this stretch of the Fraser River were not snagged. In fact I'd catch a lot of them by fly fishing, stripping a minnow pattern which could also catch a bull trout, cutthroat trout, or even overwintering coho at times.
Regarding hook restriction, although the Tidal Fraser River has a two hooks restriction, herring rigs with multiple hooks are allowed. The one thing to note is that all of the hooks need to be barbless. In the idal Fraser all hooks need to be barbless when fishing for any species of fish.
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Thanks for the reply Rodney, around what time does the herring season start?
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The traditional FN herring rake is still allowed, even in the tidal Fraser. But you really do need to find a dense school for it to work.
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Curious. Has anyone ever used herring roe for Coho, Springs, or Steelhead on the Vedder?
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Does anyone know how far up the fraser the herring travel? I want to see if I can fish for them around Mitchell Island..
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I fish from Steveston fisherman dock. $20 for 20lb. best rig
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What is the best season? All winter? Incoming tide or outgoing? Please.
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Herring season has already started, you should try imperial landing around high tide.