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[Suther]

So after many years I have returned to one of my childhood passions in fishing.
Got a crab trap to entertain the children with, and that led to me getting a rod to toss out a line while I wait for crabs.
I have now decided to target salmon, but I seem to be too late for the pink run - I have been out a few times to Sapperton Pier in New West with no luck.

With a bit of research I stumbled across some info about a pair of hatcheries in Port Moody that raise both Coho and Chum salmon and release them in neighboring streams. I want to fish the ocean right at the mouths of these streams but need some info... I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these runs? Noons Creek seems easy enough to access the mouth of, but Im not so sure about Mossom Creek? Seems like Chum numbers in the fraser are on the up-swing, but I dont know if that means these creeks should be ramping up too?

Thanks for any info!

[paulj]

As far as I know noons creek  has a very smallm hatchery program with low return numbers of salmon.  It's an extremely narrow and short creek.  I would recommend NOT fishing this system.  Why not target the vedder? 

[TheFishingLad]

I imagine he doesn't want to drive well over an hour.

[Suther]

As far as I know noons creek  has a very smallm hatchery program with low return numbers of salmon.  It's an extremely narrow and short creek.  I would recommend NOT fishing this system.  Why not target the vedder? 

Says here 40 000 fish were released this year.
http://noonscreek.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Creek-Crier-August-2013.pdf

Its not that short of a creek, but it is extremely narrow. I wouldn't be trying to fish the creek itself, Im thinking about the mouth of the creek on Burrard Inlet.

And exactly as guessed, the Vedder isn't a very good option for me at this point. Its a long drive, my car isn't the best on gas, and I generally dont have that much time. If I can get 2 hours in to go fishing, Im happy. Places like Coquitlam River and Noons Creek are nice and close... But I hear a lot of talk about no retention on the Coq River, so thats hardly worth it unless I stick to the mouth where its still considered tidal fraser river.

http://www.mossomcreek.org/about_us

This says 100 000 chum, 5000-10 000 coho per year out of Mossom too. So together, thats 140 000 chum and 15000+ coho released into the Port Moody arm of Burrard Inlet. Considering they have both been running for like 20+ years, I would think there should be some fish returning, but until I asked for fishing locations on a different forum and someone mentioned the existence of these two hatcheries, I didn't even know they were here... So have I found an untapped goldmine of chums? or Is there a reason nobody seems to be fishing here?

[silver ghost]

Although I haven't been to either of the creeks myself, I have attended salmonid enhancement training sessions with volunteers from each hatchery, and from what I hear I wouldn't recommend targeting either of these creeks.

Yes, they do have small, volunteer-run community hatcheries that pump out X number of juveniles, but I heard survival is low so the few returning fish are hard to target in the salt. But hey you don't know until you try! Just be sure you check the regs for retention opportunities in your area... and if you don't know... let it go!

[RalphH]

Says here 40 000 fish were released this year.
http://noonscreek.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Creek-Crier-August-2013.pdf


http://www.mossomcreek.org/about_us

This says 100 000 chum, 5000-10 000 coho per year out of Mossom too. So together, thats 140 000 chum and 15000+ coho released into the Port Moody arm of Burrard Inlet.

Consider that the returns on hatchery coho releases is usually just a few % - often just one or 2 so maybe 500 to 1000 adult fish return to Noons. Chum returns would probably be lower. Then you'll have to figure out timing, what flies work etc. Noons flows into Tidal Waters area 28-11 and retention of 2 hatchery coho is allowed as is retention of chum. People do beach fish the Burrard inlet and Indian Arm area so there are some opportunities there so go explore.

[Sandman]

Used to fish burrard inlet when I lived in the area, you can also catch cutties too.  I seem to remember it being quite muddy so bring boots.

[Suther]

It is definitely muddy out there... Probably can only fish on high tide, because there is a big mud flat infront of Noons Creek. Going to have to pick my battles with the mud too, because it can be really sticky - the fire department has to come out about twice a year to rescue people that get stuck.

Along Burrard Inlet the fishing is pretty limited for salmon from what I've seen/heard/whatever. Other than the Indian River, there is not many large river systems off the inlet. I think most of the beach fishing is for Sole and Flounder, can also target greenling and Perch... But not allowed to fish for Rockfish or Lingcod in area 28.

And yes, Both Creeks flow into the same area, where 4 chum are allowed to be kept. I was thinking I wouldn't target the coho because they obviously have very small numbers returning, but even if only 2% of the 140 000 chum survive, thats still 2800 fish. Of course, I have no idea what that survival rate is, could be higher, could be lower...

I think Im going to go take a walk this afternoon and see what I come up with.

[RiverRunner]

Both those systems are to small to even think about fishing. Give the fish a chance. . .