Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Morty on April 01, 2008, 07:16:31 PM
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Over the years that I have been reading this site I gotten a real sense that most contributors are highly in favor of good stewardship towards the fishes we hunt. I've got to wondering lately if we should be using roe bags for steelhead.
I sometimes see old roe bags lying amongst the rocks at the edge of the river and the "fabric" seems pretty resilient. We often hear and read reports of fish taking a roe bag and not being hooked nor landed. Do they swallow them? Do they break down once they're in a fish's gut?
I'm thinking roe bags may be OK for Chinook and Coho that are going to die after they spawn. but what about steelhead? Steelhead are supposed to return to the ocean and spawn again one day. Are we accidentally killing some of the wilds by using synthetic roe bag materials?
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Yep.
One more reason to use a fly. ;D
p. (as if I needed another reason)
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i doubt it
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I agree, there should be bait bans on most lower mainland streams ( only when fishing for steelhead ). More of a challenge plus not as many smelly fishermen walking the banks. I guess pink worms are no better, but you don't always lose them to the fish, mostly to the river bottom.
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I find 95% of the time the roebag just pops and the mesh stays on the hook....I guess it all depends how you rig them.
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I find 95% of the time the roebag just pops and the mesh stays on the hook....I guess it all depends how you rig them.
My experience as well.
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What about the chemicals used to cure the eggs? Do you think that could poison the fish?
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stomach acid + roe bag mesh= shite
I tend to agree.
Also if you've ever actually watched steelhead take single eggs and roe they don't actually swallow. They just bite down and then spit it out.
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Borax is a very good poison for all manner of critters. Probably fish as well.
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I love all these armchair scientists...on both sides here.
What's poisonous to one species may not be toxic to another...who knows if the cures and borax are toxic. As well, most plastics etc are resistant to acid so who knows if indeed a roe bag can be digested...if not, can it be passed...if not passed is it harmful? Who knows....all I can tell you is that I haven't encountered any dead steelhead washed up on the river (after 15+ years of steelheading).
With so many unanswered questions, I think it is dangerous to propose fixes that may actually offer no benefit to the fish!?! After all, if they banned roe bags, then whats next, roe, pink worms, lead weights, etc, etc, etc.
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Roe bags don't kill steelhead. People kill steelhead. Kinda in the same way guns don't kill people, people kill people.
Haven't seen any dead steelhead (other than those bonked by people and maybe the odd one half eaten by some critter) washed up on the bank. And for those that I've seen killed by people, cause of death was usually being bonked on the head although while not a forensics expert, the gills being ripped out, was probably a contributing factor. As to the odd one half eaten, since I didn't do an autopsy on the fish, I don't know what killed them.
I've fished for and killed rainbows in small lakes and after cleaning them, found cigarette butts inside the stomach. So, while roe bags may or may not be good for them if ingested, I'm not 100% certain it's killing them either. And without any kind of forensic data supporting a mortality rate based on ingested roe bags, I don't think it's a worthwhile endeavor to start changing the regulations. On the other hand, if the Vedder went to a bait ban, I would be fine with that too since I'm swinging flies these days anyways. ;D
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does marabou kill steelhead? the chemicals used to colour it are HIGHLY poisonous to fish and should be banned :D
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something to think about.i wouldn't mind if they had a province wide bait ban,but they should have done it years ago,when there was still salmon/steelhead to save.now it's kind of too late...
ps.this is just my opinion,not trying start flame fest.
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oh my god
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oh my god
;D
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that's why i use the skein in a bait loop, it's alot quicker and easier and i do just fne with it
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With so many opinions it appears there's a lot of uncertainty.
Maybe Rodney could qualitfy for a government grtant and do some research and find this stuff out for sure. Ottawa would likely approve a 6 to 7 figures toward saving a dwindling species.
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I love all these armchair scientists...on both sides here.
What's poisonous to one species may not be toxic to another...who knows if the cures and borax are toxic. As well, most plastics etc are resistant to acid so who knows if indeed a roe bag can be digested...if not, can it be passed...if not passed is it harmful? Who knows....all I can tell you is that I haven't encountered any dead steelhead washed up on the river (after 15+ years of steelheading).
With so many unanswered questions, I think it is dangerous to propose fixes that may actually offer no benefit to the fish!?! After all, if they banned roe bags, then whats next, roe, pink worms, lead weights, etc, etc, etc.
The first part of this qoute is interesting because I am now wondering that if you guys are saying borax may be harmful to some species but maybe not Steelhead, then what about the WD40 that some guys use on their ghost shrimp, roe bags, etc.... WD40 is harmful to us but is it harmful to fish ???.... there could be a lot of things that are but we seem to be more interested in catching fish rather than protecting them.
Cheers,
Dan
Secondly last year was my first year fishing for Steelies ever and I found about a 14 pound wild Steelhead dead, washed up on the river bank about 2 feet from the edge after the river had risen then receded when we had that blow out last year..... Maybe it just got stuck ??? Who knows but I sure wasnt gonna be caught cutting open the stomach of a wild Steelhead in my first year ;)
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Who knows but I sure wasnt gonna be caught cutting open the stomach of a wild Steelhead in my first year ;)
ya no kidding, you have to steelhead at least 5 years before you can do that
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The bait/scent ban is coming..........Alaska has had it off and on thru out the season for years.........We still catch fish ......
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Yup, I think Dion hit the nail on the head on this one.I belive as soon as steelies bite down on something , anything foriegn, they're trying to spit and not swallow.
I've been curiosly squeezing out fishes stomachs that Ive bonked since I was A young lad and rarely have I found Jensen eggs,a small piece of a pink worm once,only a cig. butt once,lots of styrafoam beads in several different fish,but mostly in the aggresive suicidal Stelies ,they're somachs are jammed with bugs and roe and shrimp.Oh ya one this year had one of C.G.s pro cured prawns in it's belly ;D
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I don't think so,cause you would think people would be talking about the dead fish they saw.
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Roe bags aren't the problem...the problem with bait is the fish has a hard time NOT biting down on it everytime it passes by...When your talking about wild steelhead on systems that are trying to recover or are fragile in the first place, the stress of the fight and the build up of acids are what can and does cause the mortality of the fish...
While I hate seeing this happen to wilds in the vedder, the system is stocked with hatcheries so that you can retain your fish...It's hard for me to personally say that banning roe would be better for the fish as pink worms etc littering the river bottom doesn't seem to be a better solution IMHO...
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I have commented on this in the past.For the record I only use skein on steelhead.I remember and possibly some of the other guys here seeing a pile of pink worms gooey bobs and plastic eggs on display at Freds on season about ten years ago.The caption read these all came from the belly of one steelhead!So mesh that breaks down or plastic that plugs up digestive tracts? I fly fish lots and I doubt that chemicals used to cure fly materials are any less toxic than many natural products.
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Fish is really hard!
Someone did an experiment: Observe fish which swallow hooks, the species include carp, crucian, bass, trout and etc. the result is: all fish--100%, spit out hooks in 48 hours.
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hmmmmmm
i have only come across 1 dead steelhead on the bottom in about 2 1/2 feet of water with a few holes poked in it from the birds no doubt. natural causes??
i was helping spawn a couple of winter runs a few years ago and one of them did spit out a rubber worm. no telling how long it had been in there. after the spawning we let them go and they were OK.
i would like to think that these fish are stronger and smarter then we think. all i try to do is leave as little behind as possable short float so i don't leave much gear on the bottom. plain roe instead of bags those dam things are every where.
have fun out there and pick up your and others garbage. ;D
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I would like to propose a hook ban. ;)
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i would like to think that these fish are stronger and smarter then we think.
they maybe strong... but they are as far from smart as you can get.
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I would like to propose a hook ban. ;)
close...how bout a hook size reg...#16 single egg only....oh...that would put most "steelheaders" outta action.... :D :D :D
mojo noodle that... ;D
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I would like to propose a hook ban. ;)
close...how bout a hook size reg...#16 single egg only....oh...that would put most "steelheaders" outta action.... :D :D :D
mojo noodle that... ;D
I do have a 6 weight fly rod built into a spinning rig that I use for lesser Gods.....
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not sure about the roe bags.
but, I save all my used pink worms and any i can find.
I melt them down and make new ones.
blood red and bubblegum pink make the perfect colour.