Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing-related Issues & News => Topic started by: Frankey on October 11, 2009, 07:07:49 AM
-
Any of you old timers remember when all we fished for in the fall were cohos on the Vedder and Fraser? You weren't allowed to keep a pink or chum.Nobody fished for these species and what you see going on now was nonexistant.There was no flossing or snagging like there is today.Just lots and lots of hardfighting coho,my favorite was anchoring out on the Fraser fishing with roe and catching limits of cohos,just relaxing and having fun.Gone are those days! The cohos have been replaced by bigs runs of pinks and chums and hordes of people snagging ,flossing and bonking, alot of the time dark fish not fit for table fare.How times have changed.
-
sounds like fun!, I wonder what the population growth has been in the lower mainland over the last 30 years? That probably would explain a few things. ??? I for one have not been fishing long enough to have much reference for the "the days" you speak of.
-
No doubt the population growth has has a big effect of the numbers of anglers on the local rivers.I would say the result of these huge pink and chum runs and DFO allowing retention of these species has been a biggest change to the fishery, attracting hordes and hordes of new anglers,flossing and snagging away.My dad has been fishing the fraser for 50 yrs the same way he has always fished,setting up a bar rig with a pc of roe waiting for a Coho to bite.Not many bite anymore.Back in the day if someone wasn't fishing properly they were thrown into the river.I saw this for myself as a kid a few times out fishing with the old man.
-
Yes we never heard of flossing in those days. I donot think we even had dental floss in those days. ;D ;D
Frankey do you think pink retention should not be open for retention in non tidal waters?
That should get the discussion going and most likely should be on a seperate thread.
-
According to the stats from a year or two ago, the number of fishing licenses sold is not proportional to population growth. Does that mean fewer are fishing (per capita) or does it mean more are fishing without a licence?
-
That is a good question Chris,.I do think that the opening of these fisheries have been detrimental to the sport, attracting a" new type" of angler in numbers unseen in my lifetime.My Dad just shakes his head at what is going on nowadays.I can remember him releasing doe cohos and retaining only the big bucks for the smoker as they have a better taste.There used to be a late run of Northerns that we fished right into November.Thompson Steelhead used to break us off on occasion!The type, quality and cure of the roe was what determined how succesfull you were when fishing for cohos.
-
i remember bar fishing on bowman's with my son and nephew's, when mission fishing guides ken and dave were pretty exclusive and dave's was i think, one of the only jet boats at that time. and you had to chase sockeye and pinks in the ocean! then again, the chum fishery was non retention in fraser and you were allowed one thompson steely a year!
we have come a long way, make's you think where we are headed :(
-
Fishin Mission guides! Remember the name.I heard Ken closed the company?Alas ,here some reports of a few coho around these days on the Fraser.Maybe i will get out,to a spot where i used to catch them for old time sakes.Won't go anywhere near the vedder this time of yr,not since DFO opened up these Pink and Chum fisheries to retention.
-
Remember the 8 cohos daily limit ?
-
4 over, 4 under.....20 inches
kill whatever, regardless of the small finn
nobody targeting humps/dogs......was not that long ago
-
The cohos were so plentiful...Factory fish never entered into the equation...those were the days!Seems to me very similar to what these chum fisheries are now.We used to point the rod at a Chum and bust it off,they were a undesirable fish.The under 20cm were for the jacks which were very plentiful,some days thats all you went home with were a couple of great tasting jacks in the frying pan.Havent seen a coho jack in yrs...
-
fishin mission .those were the days Dave now lives and guides in Mexico .maybe that is where all the real fishing is now ;)
-
The cohos were so plentiful...Factory fish never entered into the equation...those were the days!Seems to me very similar to what these chum fisheries are now.We used to point the rod at a Chum and bust it off,they were a undesirable fish.The under 20cm were for the jacks which were very plentiful,some days thats all you went home with were a couple of great tasting jacks in the frying pan.Havent seen a coho jack in yrs...
Yep, every time my float took a dive it was almost guaranteed to be a coho. White springs were a rare catch. Almost everyone fishing around me using and floating roe. Those were the days indeed. I always fished in the same spot. Never had to scout or look for them as fishing was so consistent for the whole month.
-
I think it was 94-95 when the jack springs/springs showed in any numbers......ruining the good coho fishing...
I rember killing 4 does by 20 min after 7am.....starting at 7 am... more than once !
-
Chris
Closing Pink and Chum for retention would go a long way in alleviating some of the problems we have seen this season on the Vedder.
-
Buck I would tend to agree.
I wonder if the gov would ever consider stopping hatchery production of white springs, chum, and pinks and put more money towards coho.
I'm not sure but I think that the Vedder now has MORE than enough white springs and chum and even pinks spawning naturally, how many even come to the hatchery?
Why have the numbers of coho smolts been so reduced, is it just because of gov funding or are other reasons involved?
-
1986 on the vedder was great. They released lots of hatchery Coho for expo that year.
Raising the price for license/ limiting the amount of time seniors fish on the Vedder would go a long way to improving fishing there. :)
-
Buck I would tend to agree.
I wonder if the gov would ever consider stopping hatchery production of white springs, chum, and pinks and put more money towards coho.
I'm not sure but I think that the Vedder now has MORE than enough white springs and chum and even pinks spawning naturally, how many even come to the hatchery?
Why have the numbers of coho smolts been so reduced, is it just because of gov funding or are other reasons involved?
Chum and pinks have a greater ocean survival rate than coho and thats the reason they release more of them. We need these fish to put nutrients back into the rivers so stopping the hatchery enhancement is not a good idea.
-
Chum and pinks have a greater ocean survival rate than coho and thats the reason they release more of them. We need these fish to put nutrients back into the rivers so stopping the hatchery enhancement is not a good idea.
Plenty of nutrients this year. ;D
-
I think it was 94-95 when the jack springs/springs showed in any numbers......ruining the good coho fishing...
I rember killing 4 does by 20 min after 7am.....starting at 7 am... more than once !
Interesting, I did not know this was so recent.
-
These Spring,Chum and Pink runs that seem to dominate the Chilliwack river now bringing wth them the hordes of unethical anglers we see now was never an issue when the Cohos were the only species we fished in the fall.Fall Coho fishing was our bread and butter here in the valley and on the Fraser, just a diiferent way back then and i miss it terribly.
-
yes it is disappointing to see the deterioration in coho on the Vedder, but I think we should be glad that the other species are around in good numbers so that there still are a lot of fish to catch. It's not just the Vedder coho that are reduced, it's most rivers in the Lower Fraser system that have seen a similar reduction in this same period (some rivers more/less than others). I think it has more to do with Ocean survival than river enhancement of different species. I used to fish the chuck every year in Campbell river and there were lots of coho. Then all of a sudden the Strait of Georgia coho seemed to disappear. I think you'll find a good correlation with the reduced Vedder returns and the Strait of Georgia overall. I'm not sure if they have pinpointed why this reduction has taken place, but reduced herring in the straight, overfishing and (potentially) fish farms are all likely contributors.
In certain local rivers, one still has a chance to catch as many coho now as then though. Either that or I've just learned how to fish better ;).
-
Everyday
One of the reasons for the production cuts to coho is to try and protect wild coho populations. Wild smolts have to compete with the millions of hatchery smolts that are much larger. All these fish tend to enter the chuck at the same time which put the wild component at a disadvantage. Production cuts have also been made to chum and chinook. Pink returns are from wild production and have not been enhanced. White chinook returns remain strong even with the reduction in release numbers. Coho should follow chinook as they seem to have found a good area to feed. Good luck with your studies.
-
Coho crazy
We have been monitoring wild coho stocks on the Chilliwack for the last 28 years and have a pretty good idea of their numbers. At this point in time we have five indicator streams that we use for stock strength and check for the presence of hatchery fish. ( Depot, Post, 14 Mile, Ryder, and Salwein ) The upper Chilliwack ( top end of Chilliwack Lake ) still has a run of wild coho but their numbers are
unknown. One would have to be flowen in by chopper, dropped off and spend the day walking downstream to the lake to get a count.. Depot has a small run of wild coho and Post a very health run. The other three have a mixture a wild and hatchery fish. Every year during our trap sorts we get a number of wild fish diverting into the hatchery and we take these fish and spawn them with our hatchery stock.
Chum returns over the years have been up and down and only a small % of the returns have been of hatchery origin. Wild production on some years has been very strong. When we take our brood stock we spread our egg takes as late as possible. Are the late run chums hatchery or wild ? Could be a mix.
As for a meat fishery I think you hit it right on the head. I'm totally disgusted with the ongoing snagging and the total disregard for our salmon. However, in saying that ,there are a lot of excellent anglers
who care about the resource and with a little time and effort can still get away from the mobs and enjoy some enjoyable fishing.
-
Very interesting read Buck.How long have you worked with the Hatchery? Are these Pink runs enhanced? And have the coho been reduced as to how many you put back in the system as smolts?
-
Yes we never heard of flossing in those days. I donot think we even had dental floss in those days. ;D ;D
Frankey do you think pink retention should not be open for retention in non tidal waters?
That should get the discussion going and most likely should be on a seperate thread.
I believe this would be bad.
If you don't allow the hordes who believe spawning pinks are a delicacy to take their carcasses, they will start fishing for the good stuff.
This way beaks can have their carcasses and we can have you know what... :D
-
Frankey thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Those were good times out on Bowmans Yota.
I remember racing Ken and Dave to the spot many a morning but id allways win because id put in at wing dam and they had to wait for the gate at Dewdney.
Thats when they had the big fiberglass Aqua something.
They and there buddys were some of the first Jets out there and before that Freds 17 foot PrinceCraft was like the Queen Mary of the river. ;D
I look back fondly on those days and all the fun we had out there.
However the Sockeye fishery ruined all that.
Good times indeed. ;D