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[CHaddon]

Hey guys, I've just started trying my luck with Salmon in BC recently. I had the pleasure of catching the end of the Pink run a couple weekends ago and hoping to get out this weekend for a shot at some Coho/Chinook. Anyway, I have a couple questions about terminology and fishing practices that I've noticed over the last few weeks:

1. I see people refer to some Chinook salmon as "Jacks". What does that mean? I also see terms like Spring and King thrown around, too. Why the inconsistency?

2. While fishing on the Vedder, every single fisherman that I saw keep fish only kept females and released every male that they caught. Why is this? It seems to me that it would have far less impact on the population if it were standard to retain male fish instead of a spawning female who is carrying 500 eggs. Those are 500 potential salmon in a future run!

3. How common are hatchery marked fish and what's the process for that? Do they clip them as juveniles and release them into the river or are they clipped as adults?

4. As an aspiring fisherman, is there any way of getting involved in the Salmon conservation effort beyond just using good ethics, paying my fees and following regulations?

Thanks!

-C

[Tex]

Welcome!

Per your questions:

1) "Jacks" are precocious young adults - they are sexually mature but returning a year earlier than the rest of their brood. They can and do fertilize eggs that the females lay. Many people refer to them as Mother Nature's insurance policy against a run being wiped out by a landslide or something like that.

2) Many anglers keep only females because they want to harvest the roe for future fishing opportunities. This is fine and legal, but there are some out there who discard the rest of the actual fish. This is a rather sickening practice IMO and should not be happening.

3) Hatchery marked fish are very common on some systems, and rare/nonexistent on others. Generally these fish are clipped as juveniles of a few months old (I've done this before, they are sedated with clove oil!) and are released into a river at a later date.

4) Lots of ways! Volunteer at a local hatchery. Join a society that gives back (I'm on the board of the Steelhead Society of BC and much of our work benefits salmon in addition to wild steelhead).

Cheers!
Tex

[Fish or cut bait.]

That sums it up.

[Tylsie]

If you grow up around it you don't even think twice. But to come in new it can be overwhelming. But fortunately, the answers are pretty easy.

1) Most Chinook return to spawn on a 4 or 5 cycle. Jacks are young males that have returned early, usually after only 2 years. They are smaller, and tend to be more aggessive.

Springs/Kings are a slang term for Chinook. Springs because they begin to return in the Spring, and Kings (and American term) because they are the largest of the salmon. Most species have a slang term. Coho are also called Silvers. Sockeye are called Reds. Pinks are called Humpies, and Chum are called dogs.

2) Most fisherman keep a female expressly for the eggs. They are one of the best baits for salmon, as well as a large number of other species. That being said, with each female carrying between 1500 to 3000 eggs, I find this enough for one season and will switch to keeping males. I find they taster better. Others who fish more often may need more.

3) The number of marked fish varies by system. In a system like the Vedder, which is managed as a catch and keep fishery a majority of the fish will be from the hatchery. But I personally don't think there are too many systems that don't have some marked fish in them. Salmon explore. I have known several fisherman that have caught clipped coho in smaller systems that have never had a hatchery on them, and are not easily accessible except by boat.

4) There are numerous volunteer options available in the LML. South of the Fraser there is the Semiahoo Hatchery near White Rock, the Tynehead Hatchery in North Surrey, and the Nicomekl Enhancement Society in Langley. Those are the ones I am most familiar with because I live in the area. But I am sure others on here can direct you to something closer to home if those are too far. 

[clarki]

Good questions CHaddon. Tex and Tylsie is faster typers than me,   but for what it's worth, I'll toss out my responses too

1.I see people refer to some Chinook salmon as "Jacks". What does that mean? I also see terms like Spring and King thrown around, too. Why?
Apart from “jack” , the other terms are just regional nicknames. There is a spring run of chinook up the Columbia and Fraser Rivers, so the term “spring” just expanded to include any chinook, even those caught in the fall. “King” is an American nickname for chinook; as is “silver” for coho.

Jacks are something entirely different. A jack is a sexually mature salmon that has spent year less in the ocean. So it returns as a smaller fish, but a sexually mature one, that is capable of spawning. Jacks are nature’s way of ensuring that there is always a male around to fertilize the female eggs. Jacks are primarily just chinook and coho, although there is some evidence of “jills” (female jacks) and jacks of the other salmon species, beside coho and chinook. Jack coho are around 12-16” in length and jack chinook are generally less than 5 pounds, or so. Google “jack salmon”; lots of info about it.

2. While fishing on the Vedder, every single fisherman that I saw keep fish only kept females and released every male that they caught. Why is this? It seems to me that it would have far less impact on the population if it were standard to retain male fish instead of a spawning female who is carrying 500 eggs. Those are 500 potential salmon in a future run!

Closer to thousands of eggs. A coho, for example, has an average of 2400 eggs.

The females are retained so that their eggs can be used for bait. The females are generally larger than the males (because they are carrying all those egss) so that may be part of the draw too. But mainly, it’s for the roe for bait.

Is there an impact to harvesting just the females?  For non-hatchery stock (i.e. chinook or pink), maybe, probably…. For coho, since you are only harvesting hatchery fish, which the fisheries managers are intending you to catch and not for them to spawn in the wild, no real impact.

2.   How common are hatchery marked fish and what's the process for that? Do they clip them as juveniles and release them into the river or are they clipped as adults? 

Clipped as fry in the hatchery before they are released into the river to smolt and migrate to the ocean.

It depends on the river system, but in the C/V for example, typically you will encounter more wild than hatchery clipped fish. I don’t know offhand (Google does though!) the proportion of wild to hatchery fish in the C/V, but personal experience is that I encounter more wild than hatchery.

4. As an aspiring fisherman, is there any way of getting involved in the Salmon conservation effort beyond just good ethics, paying my fees and following regulations?

Yes, many communities have local streamkeeper organizations, community run salmon hatcheries, or municipal salmon enhancement programs.

There are also local volunteer advocacy groups ie Fraser Valley Salmon Society.

Also river/shoreline clean up events.

[CHaddon]

Thanks Tex!(I mean everyone, apparently I'm slow, too...)

I'm genuinely surprised that there's not some kind of regulation revolving around retaining females and harvesting roe. Additionally, if someone were to catch a female and "milk" them for roe, theoretically they could still release it and it may be able to spawn with the remaining eggs. Wouldn't that be better than just killing it and tossing it in the bushes? Is roe even that good for bait? It seems like there should be plenty of artificial options out there that do just as well that don't have such a huge impact on the fish population. Taking 1 male is just 1 fish but, in comparison, taking 1 pre-spawned female has huge consequences that trickle down for generations.

I have to say, in my opinion, roe harvesting should be more strictly regulated. I'm guessing that the bait bans and such are one of the ways that they do it but it's very indirect and targets the symptom rather than the cause. I think from now on I'm going to practice what I preach and retain only males, that's for sure.

I think I'm going to look into volunteering as well. I love fishing and I hope one day that I can teach my kids to fish but that won't be possible if there aren't any left!

[Fish or cut bait.]

Hatcheries get there quota for eggs.
On a hatchery river the hatchery fish male or female are for the taking (provided you're allowed and have a licence to do so)
Milking for eggs: though it sounds simple enough more damage would be done to the fish and it would probably not survive to spawn the rest of the eggs anyways.
Most keepable fish are not QUITE ready to spawn and therefore you couldn't get the eggs out if you tried.
Some ripe fish will spew there eggs when you lift them out of the water.
Best not to fish for these coloured up fish as they are probably on their redds and not worth keeping anyways.

And when one retains for roe you need the skien to hold the clumps of eggs together.
Milking for eggs spits out single eggs and you would have to over handle the fish and need four arms.
A lot of folks can't even land and release a fish properly without doing damage; let alone have them try to milk eggs.

Wild fish must be released.

[clarki]

Wild fish must be released.

Not to be a hair splitting know-it-all ( no one likes those guys 😀) but that is true for coho, steelhead and cutthroat. But not true for Chinook, chum or pink. You can keep wild fish of those species. And to further complicate matters, you can't retain some clipped fish I.e sockeye.

I know what you were getting at, but the overgeneralization could be misleading for some.

[CHaddon]

Oh, I definitely agree that damage is done to females even if you had 4 arms and the fish didn't fuss while you did it. I was just saying that even an attempt to milk them and return it to the water with some eggs remaining is better than gutting it for the eggs and chucking the carcass out. However, I didn't realize that the "skein" was desired as well. Is that the tissue that the eggs are attached to in the early pre-spawn females? They seem to get quite loose inside the female as they move up the fresh water systems.

I brought in a beautiful female pink salmon a couple weeks ago but when I lifted it out of the water, eggs went everywhere and the guy next to me asked if he could have the ones left in the fish. I did end up retaining that one at the advice of the other fishermen(and gave him the eggs as it felt quite wasteful otherwise) but had regrets for the rest of the weekend.

I get what you mean about people not being able to land and release a fish properly, especially if they were harvesting roe. Seeing the guys drag snagged males up on shore, yank the hook out of their back and kick it back in the water was a bit uh... disheartening.

Thanks for the info! I apologize if I come off as a bit naive as I have limited experience with salmon. I also tend to be a bit of a hippy-dippy idealist but don't tell my friends... 

[Fish or cut bait.]

Clarki is correct.
I was over generalizing thinking of the marked hatchery Coho.

[Tylsie]

Oh, I definitely agree that damage is done to females even if you had 4 arms and the fish didn't fuss while you did it. I was just saying that even an attempt to milk them and return it to the water with some eggs remaining is better than gutting it for the eggs and chucking the carcass out. However, I didn't realize that the "skein" was desired as well. Is that the tissue that the eggs are attached to in the early pre-spawn females? They seem to get quite loose inside the female as they move up the fresh water systems.

I brought in a beautiful female pink salmon a couple weeks ago but when I lifted it out of the water, eggs went everywhere and the guy next to me asked if he could have the ones left in the fish. I did end up retaining that one at the advice of the other fishermen(and gave him the eggs as it felt quite wasteful otherwise) but had regrets for the rest of the weekend.

I get what you mean about people not being able to land and release a fish properly, especially if they were harvesting roe. Seeing the guys drag snagged males up on shore, yank the hook out of their back and kick it back in the water was a bit uh... disheartening.

Thanks for the info! I apologize if I come off as a bit naive as I have limited experience with salmon. I also tend to be a bit of a hippy-dippy idealist but don't tell my friends... 

Disheartening is a good way of putting it. Education is the key. You want to learn, and that is great. Hopefully you can pass along what you learn.

Yes, the skein is the tissue that holds the eggs inside the female. As the eggs develop the skein is stretched and eventually breaks, like a balloon to use a poor analogy. When the female is ready to spawn she squeezes the eggs out into the Redd. I personally use loose eggs in a roe sack than eggs in the skein. It is a personal, and I find regional, preference. Both work. I only put between 4 - 8 coho eggs in a sac so one female giving me 2000 is more than I can use in a season. I just get more next season. But to each there own.

Each person has their own preferences and ethics, and as you gain more experience you will develop a system that works for you.