Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Nick78 on April 10, 2009, 01:34:05 AM
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Do you know anything about the upcoming Como Lake stockings Rodney? The link below says it's supposed to be stocked with 4000! fish this spring but the hatchery only released the total number of 592 fish yet... ???
http://www.gofishbc.com/r2plans.htm
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i think if you look at that chart the numbers arent what they stock at one time but what they plan to stock over the season mentioned (IE: spring) just like the lake i fish it says 2 stockings 1 of 700 fish & then 1 of 2000, so far they have put in 700 & 768 fish so i assume it will get stocked twice more before they stop for the summer and start again in the fall. Just my 2 cents ;)
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I think the same way too HOOK, but the spring stockings will last til about late May or early June i guess. How will they put an ammount of 3400 fish in that small lake in the time of 8 to 10 weeks...just wondering ???
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they will put in large amounts probably every couple weeks like they do with Lafarge lake, at least thats what im assuming
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Nick, the stocking plan is simply a plan and most of the time the amount planned to be stocked will be quite different to the actual amount being stocked. Many factors are involved when the hatchery manager makes the decision on stockings. Consultations are done with staffs at Ministry of Environment, who do the assessments of biotic factors of lakes. These factors determine the timing and amount of fish. Creel surveys are also used to determine stockings. A lake such as Lafarge that receives high pressure tends to be stocked with more fish. If the lake seems to be underutilized, such as this spring at Como Lake, then stocking numbers maybe reduced. Time and staff availability also affect timing. Each large truck has the ability to carry enough fish to stock two lakes. Usually two lakes are stocked per day, four would be the maximum. A couple of days a week are used for stocking, as there are other duties that need to be taken care of back at the hatchery. Stockings in the Lower Mainland usually take place until second or third week of June, perhaps longer this year if the cold weather persists. Como should get at least a couple more stockings this spring.
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Tanks for your answer Rod! I know you can't plan exactly when to stock a lake but for the numbers you can and you have to know it because the hatchery needs to know it too but a year before. I know what I'm talking about cause i did this a couple of times. Was just wondering about that, so many fish in such a short period of time. Also i live pretty close to Como and it's nice to take the Kids out there to the playground and Daddy can make a few casts... ;)
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Nick, phone the hatchery regarding Como, not just to find out about when it maybe stocked again, but also to let them know that there is an interest from anglers. As I mentioned in the previous post, stocking is also determined by how much it is utilized. Our last briefing from the COs indicated that Lafarge was quite heavily used, while not many people have been fishing Como Lake. The hatchery is always looking for feedbacks on their products so they'd be happy to hear from you.
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I hope people have been letting them know Green Timbers gets heavily used and could be stocked more. today there was probably 40 people fishing (most retaining) and usually always 10 or more people there daily. For the most part only the fly guys are catch & releasing.....and some others but not many.
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Don't hope, phone the hatchery. Good to see 40 people fishing it in one day, which meets the objectives of "Fishing in the City" program.
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Lots of people out on lafarge lately. good to see a lot of people getting out there to enjoy that fishery. Oh, and Rodney, would you happen to know anything about the camera behind the recently built dock?
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, would you happen to know anything about the camera behind the recently built dock?
maybe its a new web cam
now wouldn't that be intersting to watch :o
Lafarge is becomming quite the place to fly fish from boat or tube and also many more shore fishermen\women
"Fishing in the City" program. is working here for sure
I did see two young kids in an inflatable strugling in the wind today
only one of them had a life vest on :-\
Someone did loose there tube today too (ended up being chased down by his buddy in a tube)
but i won't mention any names
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If it is the same camera that was discussed with me at a meeting awhile ago, it is used in an angling participation study by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, not for public broadcasting.
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Tried Lafarge for the very first time today as my wife and her sister wanted to go to that big playground with my kids. What a Gong show! 8 people out with a belly boat + 1 guy in a rubber boat and the hole shoreline was crowded! Luckily I found myself a free spot. Caught my 4 fish in about 1 hour, 1 very small one and 3 fish with about 2 lb. But i don't know, that's not the real fishing to me...it's ok for some late afternoon fun. Rod, the problem is, the more fish beeing caught at Lafarge the heavier it is utilized, the heavier it's utilized the more fish will be stocked by the hatchery, the more fish will be stocked the more fish will be caught and so on...you know wht i'm trying to say.
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Lafarge should have a lottery system for access. Or a large gong installed on that platform.
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That's why I am not fishing there. ;)
Nick, Lafarge, Como, Green Timbers and Rice Lakes have been managed as "Fishing in the City" program so they can be used to generate angling interests from the public. As a result, like you said, usage increases and can be quite crowded at times. It all depends on what type of angling experience you are looking for when heading out. These lakes are typically used by entry-level anglers who do not mind sharing the lake with lots of people if they are able to catch some fish. Obviously some will continue going back again and again but many eventually will become bored and move onto better quality fisheries that are available in this province. It's impossible to expect to be fishing in near solitude at a lake that is so close to home when one lives in an urbanized area. That being said, there are still many lakes that offer the same catchable rainbow trout fishery near Vancouver. Alice (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/region_two/alice_lake.html) and Edith Lakes (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/region_two/edith_lake.html) in Squamish are two that I enjoy visiting when they are stocked.
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=19
Green Timbers, Como, Lafarge, Rice, Sasamat and Mike Lakes are expected to be stocked this week (Wednesday and Thursday).
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When lafarge is stocked , some of the people fish everyday so they can fill their freezers . They must be on a fish diet .
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I have lived in Port Coquitlam for 22 years. Years back, when the Coquitlam River was stocked, I used to take kids fishing there, and nobody talked much about Lafarge because it was much harder to catch a trout in the lake than the River. Then the stocking at Coquitlam River was stopped to the disappointment of those real young anglers (usually under 12). Even the local tackle store had to cancel a fishing contest of sort for the kids. Then Lafarge got busier, not because of the young kids, but many adult fishermen. But it still did not have the number of fishermen like now. Funny, if you look at those new fishermen there, there are no really young kids. The fishing is too physical for them with the long casts unless they are accompanied by adults. The new folks are mostly retired people, many are new immigrants, plus a lot more boat & tube fishermen.
The last 2 years saw literally an explosion of fishermen coming to fish Lafarge due to its productivity. I suspect many of these new comers are not even local residents. Hey, if there is a productive urban fishery, who needs to drive far out of town in this day & age of high cost of gas? ;D I tried to take some of the retired guys to experience some salmon fishing, but most just quit after one season - too physical and strenous for their aging bodies. So they are just happy to have a place to spend some time during the long day of retirement life. Perhaps they should set up some chess tables there, so those older folks can play chess and fish at the same time. ;D
Lafarge fishing to me is just a quick in & out activity. A typical day out there is like this - drop my wife off to shopping/dancing, hop out to the lake for an hour or two, pick her up and probably eat something or shop for grocery and head home. It is not an exciting fishery, but a good past time, fish or no fish, and you can still spend time with your family. Many people head out there even after dinner in summer, as a way to spend the evening with the family. It is also a great place to start tubing for your trouts with flies, being close by, safe, and quite productive. So to each its own.
Enjoy the lake guys. I just wish Coquitlam River is stocked again, so the real young kids who can only cast 10 ft out with their beginner combo can still hook something, like they used to do below the Kingsway railway bridge. :) They used to own that place, but now they have to elbow with the adults in a busy lake. Poor kids.
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Well Said! I too truely enjoyed the rainbow fishery in the Coquitlam. It was where one of my son's learnt how to fly fish. It's too bad that they don't contiue with it. If you read the regs it still states one can keep to hatchery rainbows 20 to 30 cm.
Going even further back Lafarge was the local place for teenagers to drink and drive cars into it! Wasn't stocked back then!
Times sure have changed!
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Rod,I like the idea with the "Fishing in the city" program but i think that won't work. All I see when i go to the lakes like Como or Lafarge are people with pro or semi pro equipment. An entry level angler or rookie doesn't have this kind of stuff...but also many of the guys behave like rookies. My point of view is that at least 50% of the guys out there are the typical "meatmakers".(dot!) The next thing that I can't understand is why they changed the regs for como. It was a Kids,old folks and disabled people only lake, the last one in the lower mainland i think. The MOE posted reasons for that change but i don't agree with most of it. It was a lake where the little ones didn't have to fight about free spots with the adults and now the only place where it is possible for them to cast far enough,the 2 docks, are taken by adults.Maybe some training to fish the rivers once they are grown up ;D just kidding. At the other hand i sometimes take that opportunity to fish together with my son but i was fine by just watching him and explain what he needs to do in the past. There are enough other lakes where we could fish together. I got much more things to talk about but i don't want to be misunderstood, maybe I'll meet you one day Rod.It is what it is... :'(
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I have always thought that it is the adult's game that took away the kid's dream fishing spot in Coq/Port Coq area - the Coquitlam River. I was under the impression that the kids could not fish the Coquitlam the way they used to do for years was because some adults thought that the kids' short fishing season (usually the Coquitlam was stocked July 1st & August, twice only per year) is endangering the other fish species in the river which some adults target. There are people who would feel the kids can destroy their 'exclusive fishery' by their few weeks of fishing the Coquitlam, mainly at the train bridge pool. So the kids who are voiceless are out of luck.
It is a shame indeed. You see, that train bridge pool is right by the busy & popular Lion Park where kids enjoy their slides and games. So many kids playing at the park discovered the success of other young anglers at the pool when they walked around the Lion Park. They started to ask their parent/uncles to take them out to try fishing for the rainbow trout when they saw other kids doing so well. That place was a magnet for aspiring young anglers, I mean real young kids. The fisheries folks and city folks can talk about introducing fishing to young people all they want (which is to be respected), but the act to close down the Coquitlam to the kids is anything but opposite to the their intended goal. Even up to now, when some of these kids (who I took fishing at the Coquitlam) are already 15+ years old, they still ask me about if the River ever opens again for the stocked trout fishery, or why they stopped the trout fishery there.
As Nick says, back then, quite a few kids were flyfishing besides the usual power bait stuff. It is a place small enough and productive enough for young flyfishers to thrive and to take up a good fishing hobby. Perhaps, as a compromise to those who like to protect other fish species, they should only allow flyfishing and c&r only. At least local schools (some with school fishing clubs) and tackle shops can organize the young kids to begin the odyssey of flyfishing life. That will be wonderful for both the kids and those who want to see more kids involved in a good fishing hobby than getting involved with drugs or wild parties when the grow up. That, my friends, is the best thing a much depleted and polluted Coquitlam River can be utilized, instead of just catering to the very few fishers who harbour this 'exclusive' and 'hate-to-see-others around' mentality.
So, I hope the fishing authority and city managers would consider the Coquitlam River as a good starting place for the kids by stocking it again as part of the 'Fishing in the city' program. My humble 2 cents on the subject.
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Lakes and streams in British Columbia are managed by the BC Ministry of Environment, so stocking decisions are done by them, not by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC or municipalities where these lakes and streams are located (but they can certainly consult with MoE).
MoE made the decision to stop the stocking of Coquitlam River due to its concern of stocked population out-competing populations of wild fish in the river (ie. rearing juvenile salmonids and resident fish). The concern certainly has its merit but July and August (the two months when stockings usually take place) typically has no fish utilizing the river. It is also somewhat contradictary when the decision is coming from a ministry that has cut back or ended hatchery supplement to enhance depleted urban steelhead populations such as one that exists in the Coquitlam River.
There are still talks of re-establishing this type of fishery.
As mentioned earlier, you should email or phone (in this case, the ministry) and let them know what you would like to see. After all, you are paying for the products and employing them by purchasing a licence annually. The wheel can spin faster with a bit of push. :)
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I still think the kids dream spot is a muddy creek full of pikeminnows within an arms length away ;) (At least, for any younger than eight years old)
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I think it is great that these lakes are packed full of anglers (rather easy to say since I don't fish them but...) as it will be great to promote angling. It is similar to a packed restaurant. When people walk buy and see the place full they think there must be something there worth their while. I'm not very familiar with the "fishing in the city" program but these lakes seem like a great place to provide anglers with knowledge on proper fishing ethics and environmental issues that affect our fisheries.
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The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC has provided this short bulletin about the program after following this discussion.
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fishy_news/file/090417-1.doc
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Can you put a boat in Como Lake? Can't seem to find any info on this. :-\
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Yup. :)
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When I came back from Vancouver Airport today I decided to give Como a quick visit together with my son. I only saw 6 guys, all were fishing the westside dock that I normaly prefer as it is not so crowded like the one on the eastside. This time I fished the empty one but without any success. Moved on to the western one while casting every now and then on my way to it. But also no luck. Finally I managed to pull out three close to the dock with a little help of my son. I just did the hookset and gave him the rod once the "fight ;)" was on as he was not able to cast that far where the fish were. Was a nice evening trip as the weather was getting better late in the afternoon and we got a nice dinner now for tomorow ;D
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Well Said! I too truely enjoyed the rainbow fishery in the Coquitlam.
I agree as they used to stock the Brunnette as well and it was a blast. Then they stopped stocking rainbows there too... ???
Too bad Latimer was destroyed, I used to love going there...