Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Rodney on April 01, 2014, 01:50:38 AM
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In the past few months my colleagues and I have been working on a new proposal to improve the salmon fishing experience in the Lower Mainland. In case you haven't noticed, fly fishing seems to have exploded in the past several years. With the introduction of fly fishing films, fly girls, fly boys, fly parties, extreme fly fishing, double handling, fly this, fly that, some of the more accessible river systems are now congested with fly anglers. There certainly is no doubt that the fly fishing cult movement is growing and has raised plenty of money for conservation projects, but the expansion of this user group has made others feel our river systems are now quite unbearable.
Single handers pose a danger to other users by utilizing a large area behind them. The less experienced often do not observe their surroundings and watch their back casts. This results in body injuries at times. Double handers may not utilize the space behind them, but they often occupy the entire run and insist that 50 to 100 ft up and downstream from them cannot be occupied by other fishers. In a populated area such as the Lower Mainland, this expectation is not very realistic. People are out to recreate and relax during their free time, twenty or more people should not have to wait for one person to whip his or her fly line until he or she is satisfied the water is completely covered, or disturbed. This type of attitude clogs up the river traffic and can create frustration among users during peak months like October.
Furthermore, in my own personal opinion, fly fishing for salmon can be a little questionable when fish are being hooked in all parts of the body beside the mouth. The more experienced fly fishermen can do it discretely but the novice ones can often find themselves in trouble, which leads to poor fish handling prior to their release. This uncertainty of whether the fish are biting or not can be eliminated by the usage of roe. More often than not, a hook-up results in the hook being embedded in the fish's mouth, or throat, which suggests the fish are in fact ingesting the offering.
Because October is the peak salmon fishing month in the Lower Mainland, and fly fishermen already have the privilege of seasonal regulations which accommodate their needs (fly fishing only area, etc), we are developing a proposal which recommends the ministry to implement the "roe only" regulation in the month of October for the Chilliwack/Vedder River system. Before you get too excited (or outraged), you should note this is only at the proposal stage so don't expect it to come in effect in October 2014 when we are expecting yet another stella coho salmon return. It is more likely we can see this becoming reality in 2016 or later.
Before the fly fishing purists become enraged by such a proposal, please rest assure that the regulation will only apply to the month of October. You can still freely fly fish in other months on this beautiful river system. Furthermore, fly fishing will still be permitted during October in other river systems where fly fishing is in fact more suitable. Stave River, Squamish River, Harrison River are just three good examples. You should also note that most urban lakes are restocked with catchable rainbow trout in October so you still have lots of opportunities to use your fly rod there.
In fact, this type of segregation should reduce user conflict and improve the experience for all anglers. Roe fishermen can line up along a productive run and rotationally cast and drift their floats without worrying about a stagnant fly line in the water. A run can also be utilized by at least five times more people when fly anglers are not in the equation.
You should also note that we have no intention to see such regulation to expand, nor are we conspiring to eliminate the existing fly fishing only or bait ban regulations which in fact prevent a large percentage of licenced anglers doing what they should be able to. We simply wish to see the angling quality on the Vedder River to improve during the month of October and remove any questionable angling behaviours.
If you have feedbacks, please feel free to bring them up now. The proposal should be completed and submitted in late April.
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Another reason for anglers to hate on eachother. In before the fly vs. gear war... Don't worry, I'll leave the vedder to you guys and go fish chum up in squamish on my single hander.
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Don't worry, I'll leave the vedder to you guys and go fish chum up in squamish on my single hander.
Only for October, you can still fly fish during other months of the year.
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Good one Rodney, guess it's that time of year again ::)
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Long lining isnt restricted to fly fishermen. i know and you all know. people floss with gear. how about a leader length restriction and no lead head intruders with sink tip on for the most part for fly guys, because with the abundance of fish it isn't just long fly lines, its those long leader bottom bouncing snaggerman too
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Its APRIL 1st guys.
Just saying.
Nice one Rodney.
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Good one Rodney ;D ;D
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That's what I said but he deleted my post???
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that was funny :)
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interesting. fair is fair. roe fishing only, fly fishing only, i like it, however how about float fishing only so guys using jigs, gooey bobs, yarn balls, jensen eggs etc. can still short float
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instead of making roe only for that month why not dedicate a certain part of the river for fly only in october. its a big river.
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and one more thing, do you mean roe only or gear only. cause we all know how much coho love metal and their is no question if their biting it or not.
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Great idea Rod! Hopefully it'll be as successful as the "Friends of Lafarge Lake" initiative. ;D
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Only for October, you can still fly fish during other months of the year.
Hahaha you didn't have to floss me on that one. Took your bait hook and probably your float as well. ::)
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How about flossing only season? ;D
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I think we should focus more on stopping fisherman from flossing this great river!
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How about flossing only season? ;D
the fall seems to already be a flossing only season there.
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Rod you could have done better than this on this day!!!
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Shouldn't this be posted in the news and announcement section?
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I was reading and thinking Rodney must be insane to dare to chase the purists away from the Vedder during the hottest coho month, and then I realize it is April 1st. LOL. ;D Good one though. Have a big laugh. :D
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yup tricked me good, if i were that coho i would have gotten BONKED.
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Come on Rod fess up !! I want my deleted post back up so my post total goes up :)
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I didn't delete your post actually, one of the other mods must have. I didn't even see it.
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Mmm interesting !! There was one other post deleted as well , will the real post deleted please step forward :)
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This idea sounds very interesting.
Your explanations seem reasonable
& acceptable to me. I'm for it, as long as spinners are allowed too.
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Come on Rod fess up !! I want my deleted post back up so my post total goes up :)
Lol well your post total just went up by 2 in reference to the lost post... so you're positive on the whole.
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Fly only Tues, Wed, Thurs.
Gear/Bait on Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon.
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roe only for october. i use roe but i also hit the spoons and spinners as well. If this is only for the vedder how about roe only for lower vedder....from vedder bridge down to the hwy 1 bridge(aka snaggers run). i have no problem with fly fishers on the vedder.