Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: roeman on September 11, 2007, 09:16:43 PM
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Reading reports of 20 hook ups plus a day for some anglers pink fishing, if people were posting this for sockeye it would be frowned upon. Is there a difference with catching and releasing pinks compared to sockeye? Are we going to see a decline in Pink stocks in the coming years because they are being released and not have the energy to make it to the spawning grounds ?????
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The differences between the two is the distance to the spawning ground and the size of the run.
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Plus the fact that pinks don't get the respect that sockeyes do.
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pinks don't go very far compared to sockeye, many of them spawn in the lower mainland rivers and in the mainstem fraser, not more than 150km from the ocean...
Not to mention the sockeye run collapsed this year... Every fish back to the spawning grounds matters this year.
Cheers,
Nicole
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Some pinks travel quite a distance. The Thompson run is huge....it's a pretty stinky place earlier in the season when fishing steelies during a pink year. Also, with a two year life cycle a whole lot less can go wrong in terms of mortality compared to the other salmon species so I don't think we'll ever have to worry about them in terms of numbers.
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Unless some freaky weather caused another major flood comes along and destroy the odd year run like the even years.
Need to becareful about saying oh it's run size is massive no problem there. So was all other stocks at one point.
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Some good points.
The T pinks have to go a long way through some nasty water and are amazing fish that fight harder than lower Fraser origin pinks (in my experience). It is possible that C+R of these fish could be an issue.
I also agree with the last post that pretty much says don't take anything for granted.
IMO another important difference with pink vs sockeye release is that small lures and flies are used for pink fishing. In my experience small hooks cause less damage to fish. Many (not all) sockeye long liners use at least 2/0 hooks so you see alot of bleeders
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I think C&R will kill some fish regardless if its sockeye in the Fraser, pinks in the Fraser, Coho in the Saltwater etc. I feel bad when I have to catch and release a fish when it looks like it will not make it. I believe bait deep hooked bleeders, often wild coho or pinks (caught on anchovy or cut plug herring in the ocean, or barfishing bait in the river) end up with higher mortality as compared to fish flossed on the outside of the mouth or caught on a spoon.
Roeman, I have also noticed that some people who condemn C&R on sockeye (even in high number years) will brag about it for pinks. Generally people do not care much if a few pinks die from C&R - the species gets little respect.
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All fish should get equal respect...It's how you catch and release them that can make the difference, if your fishing a huge spoon or plug and rip them up then what's the point...I find with a fly if I've got my limit I then try different flies and techniques to see if they work, If I hook one I will try to let it release itself with slack line or if I got it solid in the beek I just pull it in and release it in knee deep water.... IMO you have to first off be using tackle that can get them in quick and not tire them out...I've seen guys out there with such light weight rods that can't possibly get them in quick enough ...but they consider that more "sporting"...I haven't figured that one out yet?
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The difference is that pinks actually bite. and the sockeye, you were asked not to fish for them!