Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Fish Assassin on June 17, 2025, 04:11:06 PM
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Somebody has to start a thread, might as well be me
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Hopefully they don't show up. People and garbage everywhere..
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Haven't seen any so far. Having said that... what are the dead giveaways its a pink?
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what are the dead giveaways its a pink?
I think the singular defining characteristic of a pink is the oval, elongated spots all over the tail. They get much easier to ID w.r.t colour and body shape as they get closer to spawning condition, but the tail is always a dead giveaway
I think pinks are most likely to be confused with jack springs; compare pics of the tail spots of the two and the difference in spot shape will become quite obvious
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With the numbers they are projecting to return in the Lower Mainland, the Fraser River should be awesome this year. Lots of areas in the tidal portion of the Fraser that should fish well. Had great results 2 years ago and the return was nothing near what they are expecting to return this year. Can't wait.
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With the numbers they are projecting to return in the Lower Mainland, the Fraser River should be awesome this year. Lots of areas in the tidal portion of the Fraser that should fish well. Had great results 2 years ago and the return was nothing near what they are expecting to return this year. Can't wait.
If they do what they usually do and don't let us in the river until Sept 10th, there can be 200 million pinks for all I care. The fish are pretty much inedible by then. Even with the roe by that date, a lot of the skeins are turning into loose eggs by then.
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I caught like 5 just off jericho beach in a kayak 2 yrs ago. So if there are more this year I'm in for a treat ;D
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starting to show on the east coast of the Island. Know a guy with his first earlier this week. Soon fury creek will be happening like 10-14 days.
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Any predictions on when the pinks will arrive around the cap or steveston?
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If they do what they usually do and don't let us in the river until Sept 10th, there can be 200 million pinks for all I care. The fish are pretty much inedible by then. Even with the roe by that date, a lot of the skeins are turning into loose eggs by then.
I think your disdain of DFO has affected your memory of events...
In 2023, tidal and non-tidal waters of the Fraser opened on Sept 1
In 2021, tidal Fraser opened Sept 3, and to your point non-tidal opened on Sept 11
The Fraser was closed in 2017 and 2019
In 2015, the tidal and non tidal Fraser both opened on Sept 5.
In 2013, the tidal and non tidal opened Aug 30 and Aug 31 respectively.
So as far as I can tell, going back to 2013, the non-tidal Fraser has opened well before Sept 10 (except 2021) and mostly concurrent with the lower Fraser.
If the non-tidal Fraser is opened later this year, but all means take the comparatively short drive to the lower Fraser and catch some nice fish with the rest of us Metro Van denizens.
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Any predictions on when the pinks will arrive around the cap or steveston?
first if you haven't,look over the previous discussion here:
https://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=45428.0
this record return isn't money in the bank and DFO forecasts are often well off the mark for reasons discussed in that link.
There are 3 major runs locally; in addition to the Fraser, there is the Squamish & Indian River up Indian Arm via Burrard Inlet. These 2 time a month or more earlier than the Fraser. Neither is included in the DFO pre-season Forecast. The Indian River fish will often be caught off the North Shore beaches in late July and early August though. Fraser runs will usually be in numbers by late August though timings can vary up to plus or minus 10 days.
Watch for DFO in season forecasts and for the prognostications of the armchair fisheries scientists who will post here once the 1st test fishery results become available in July.
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I think your disdain of DFO has affected your memory of events...
In 2023, tidal and non-tidal waters of the Fraser opened on Sept 1
In 2021, tidal Fraser opened Sept 3, and to your point non-tidal opened on Sept 11
The Fraser was closed in 2017 and 2019
In 2015, the tidal and non tidal Fraser both opened on Sept 5.
In 2013, the tidal and non tidal opened Aug 30 and Aug 31 respectively.
So as far as I can tell, going back to 2013, the non-tidal Fraser has opened well before Sept 10 (except 2021) and mostly concurrent with the lower Fraser.
If the non-tidal Fraser is opened later this year, but all means take the comparatively short drive to the lower Fraser and catch some nice fish with the rest of us Metro Van denizens.
So what you are actually saying is that we have been open for Pinks 1 time in the last 12 years on Sept 1st? Not too much different than what I said.
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but all means take the comparatively short drive to the lower Fraser and catch some nice fish with the rest of us Metro Van denizens.
I won't even look at the exit west on highway 1 from Chilliwack unless I'm going to Costco or some absolute unavoidable neccessity that I have to go west.
The drive to the lower Fraser and back would cancel out any stress relief I got from a days fishing.
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So what you are actually saying is that we have been open for Pinks 1 time in the last 12 years on Sept 1st? Not too much different than what I said.
My bad, I mis-read your post. I thought you wrote Sept 10
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My bad, I mis-read your post. I thought you wrote Sept 10
You did not misread my post. You misunderstood it.
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5 Dollar pinks at the supermarket again. Cheaper than some fishing spoons ;D
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Have you seen the shape they're in ? No wonder it's five bucks.
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Test fisheries should start late June with Whonnock starting earliest (2024 was on June 28).
Whonnock is one of the best test fisheries for Fraser pinks as it is located north of Glen Valley between Maple Ridge and Mission.
It should show when the river is loaded with fish.
Earlier test fisheries (as in the fish arrive earlier) are Area 12 is the north end of VI and is a good early indicator of Fraser spawning fish.
Area 20 which is the south end of VI - a certain (fairly small) percentage travel down the outside of the Island.
Purse/Seine tend to be more accurate than the gillnet counts - wrong size mesh, etc.
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looking at my notes from 2023 august 12 I caught some nice brights ones off bowen island, west van trolling the usual pink hootiches.
Fraser the numbers don't matter only the politics do. So save yourself a brain aneurysm and don't look at the test fisheries.
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Changed my mind.
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FWIW if you look at previous years test fisheries and hydroacoustic data it's pretty consistent that the first ones will show up in the Fraser sometime mid-august but not many. I dont have it in front of me, but I ran some numbers in previous years based on test fishery data and I recall that something like 10-15% of the run returns in Aug and the vast majority won't be until the first three weeks of september
Unless I'm mis-remembering, the largest 7-day rolling return period in the Fraser test fisheries is usually in the second week of September (ie Sep 7-14 +/- a few days). It's not unusual to see 40%+ of the total test fishery sampled during that peak week. By the last week of Sep, the run is basically done in the lower Fraser.
In 2023, tidal and non-tidal waters of the Fraser opened on Sept 1
In 2021, tidal Fraser opened Sept 3, and to your point non-tidal opened on Sept 11
The Fraser was closed in 2017 and 2019
In 2015, the tidal and non tidal Fraser both opened on Sept 5.
In 2013, the tidal and non tidal opened Aug 30 and Aug 31 respectively.
Based on this, if there is an opening it seems that it's typically early enough in Sep that there will still be plenty of time for you all to hit the bulk of the run. Plenty of fresh ones to be had, especially if you are able to hit the lower Fraser or the salt.
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The earlier opening is about the opportunity not the success. Some like to get out early before the crowds of people show up even if chance to catch one is low.
Opening Pinks early in the lower Fraser, where bycatch is minimal, is a sensible approach in a year when the forecasts predict high numbers.
However, as I mentioned, it has become excessively political. Therefore, spare yourself the mental strain and check in after the long weekend in September.
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Absolutely on the mark. These are points I have tried to make for years. In river it is a September fishery with a major peak mid month.
FWIW if you look at previous years test fisheries and hydroacoustic data it's pretty consistent that the first ones will show up in the Fraser sometime mid-august but not many. I dont have it in front of me, but I ran some numbers in previous years based on test fishery data and I recall that something like 10-15% of the run returns in Aug and the vast majority won't be until the first three weeks of september
Unless I'm mis-remembering, the largest 7-day rolling return period in the Fraser test fisheries is usually in the second week of September (ie Sep 7-14 +/- a few days). It's not unusual to see 40%+ of the total test fishery sampled during that peak week. By the last week of Sep, the run is basically done in the lower Fraser.
Based on this, if there is an opening it seems that it's typically early enough in Sep that there will still be plenty of time for you all to hit the bulk of the run. Plenty of fresh ones to be had, especially if you are able to hit the lower Fraser or the salt.
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Some Pinks were caught yesterday in the Area 12 Gillnet. Lots of sockeye being caught so far compared to 2023.
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Some Pinks were caught yesterday in the Area 12 Gillnet. Lots of sockeye being caught so far compared to 2023.
Not a great comparison. 2019 was the Big Bar slide, so 2023 was expected to be a terrible year.
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I am not sure what 2023 sockeye test catches have to do with it since as I understand most sockeye in Southern BC are 4 year stock with some 3 and 5 years. The PSC hasn't issued a weekly report as yet though it usually does around the middle of July.
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Furry Creek pinks could be starting in a week or so.
No fisheries notice yet - area 28-4, the boundary between -4 & -5 is the mouth of Furry Creek.
https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm
https://www.travel-british-columbia.com/stories/fishing-furry-creek-for-pink-salmon/
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The First Seine Test Fishery started in Area 12 yesterday. 2492 Pinks caught
Compared to 2023 from July 20 to 24 yielded this many:
302
931
549
1782
69
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Not a bad start, but hope the pattern increases more.
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hmm ... I've said this many times before:
There are significant runs of pinks on the North Coast that move through area 12 much earlier than the Fraser returns. These include the Campbell and the Broughton Archipelago streams as well as returns to some of the north coast Inlets like Bute and Knight. To my knowledge the Fraser returns are about the latest on the coast (also among the farthest south of the major returns) coming into the river in late summer and early fall, as they do. I doubt the Fraser runs are reflected to any significant degree in test catches to this point.
The Squamish returns are not included in DFOs pre-season forecast. The 27 million number in no way reflects what may happen there. The last 3 cycles on the Squamish have been very low relative to returns prior to 2017. Another feature of the last 3 cycles has been later returns with what reasonably good fishing at Furry Creek and in the river taking place later in August . A decade or two ago I saw modest schools of pinks off Furry Creek in the 1st week of July and good fishing by mid-month. I haven't heard a word of anything as yet. Stay tuned but I wouldn't bet money on a major rebound in pink returns to the Squamish. In river conditions just have not been good to pink salmon.
Just wanted to add that the Area 20 Seine catch July 15th to date is a whopping 6 pinks. Gillnet is 284 since July 10.
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hmm ... I've said this many times before:
There are significant runs of pinks on the North Coast that move through area 12 much earlier than the Fraser returns. These include the Campbell and the Broughton Archipelago streams as well as returns to some of the north coast Inlets like Bute and Knight. To my knowledge the Fraser returns are about the latest on the coast (also among the farthest south of the major returns) coming into the river in late summer and early fall, as they do. I doubt the Fraser runs are reflected to any significant degree in test catches to this point.
The Squamish returns are not included in DFOs pre-season forecast. The 27 million number in no way reflects what may happen there. The last 3 cycles on the Squamish have been very low relative to returns prior to 2017. Another feature of the last 3 cycles has been later returns with what reasonably good fishing at Furry Creek and in the river taking place later in August . A decade or two ago I saw modest schools of pinks off Furry Creek in the 1st week of July and good fishing by mid-month. I haven't heard a word of anything as yet. Stay tuned but I wouldn't bet money on a major rebound in pink returns to the Squamish. In river conditions just have not been good to pink salmon.
Just wanted to add that the Area 20 Seine catch July 15th to date is a whopping 6 pinks. Gillnet is 284 since July 10.
Mr Ralph your just full of good news!
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Just wanted to add that the Area 20 Seine catch July 15th to date is a whopping 6 pinks. Gillnet is 284 since July 10.
Area 20 Purse Seine starts July 25th according to.
https://www.psc.org/publications/fraser-panel-in-season-information/test-fishing-results/
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my apologies. PSC report page for this years links to last year
https://www.psc.org/TestFish/Area20_1PSsummary.PDF
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First Area 20 Seine Net of the season yesterday resulted in 257 pinks caught. It's looking good the Fraser and Puget Sound Area so far compared to 2 years ago.
In 2023, from 22nd to the 25th this is was the result.
28
62
70
50
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so that's 257 in one day vs 210 in 4 days in 2023.
On the basis of that I think it is more than justified to quadruple the forecast to 108 million pinks to the Fraser this year! YEE HAW! ;D
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Worth noting that Washington State is forecasting 7.75 million pinks for Puget Sound (mostly the Green and Nisqually Rivers), 7.78 million for the Skagit and over 300k for the Nooksack, all also based on fry counts in the spring of '24.
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https://wdfw.wa.gov/newsroom/news-release/washington-salmon-fishing-seasons-tentatively-set-2025-2026
The 2025 Puget Sound pink salmon forecast is 7.76 million — up 70% from the 10-year cycle average — and predicted to be the third largest total return on record (up from a 2023 forecast of 3.95 million and an actual return of 7.22 million). The Green and Nisqually rivers are expected to have strong pink returns. In southern British Columbia, the Fraser River pink forecast is 27 million.
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https://wdfw.wa.gov/newsroom/news-release/washington-salmon-fishing-seasons-tentatively-set-2025-2026
The 2025 Puget Sound pink salmon forecast is 7.76 million — up 70% from the 10-year cycle average — and predicted to be the third largest total return on record (up from a 2023 forecast of 3.95 million and an actual return of 7.22 million). The Green and Nisqually rivers are expected to have strong pink returns. In southern British Columbia, the Fraser River pink forecast is 27 million.
a little more info there including the Puget Sound forecast for this year is very close to what the actual return was in 2023. It's also an example how inaccurate the pre-season forecasts can be.
2015 through 2023 saw comparatively lower returns than the previous 10 or 20 years so hopefully things are moving to a higher cycle period that saw more large returns ie 10 to 20 million to the Fraser.
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Dr Marvin Rosenau, BCWF Inland Fisheries Chair, presents a BCWF Conservation Webinar on the sustainability of a pink salmon fishery on the Fraser River this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZVcY_WLHt4&t=1706s&ab_channel=BCWildlifeFederation
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pink fishing in front of bowen and west van has been slow this year compared to two years ago, does not look like the indian arm is going to have a huge return like it did in 2023 that made up a good portion of the late July pink fishing that was really good in 2023. 2023 was already done canning pinks by this time.
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Squamish was opened for Pinks Jul 1 - catch and release only. As of today no change. I don't know the Indian Arm well but they should be showing well by now. They could still come however it doesn't speak well for the Squamish run.
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There are reliable reports that pinks are now in the lower Squamish in modest numbers. That's pretty much average timing.
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PSC report for the week ending Aug. 1, 2025 on Fraser pink salmon abundance:
Test fishing and stock identification information
Thus far, pink salmon have mainly been caught in Johnstone Strait while catches in Juan de Fuca Strait have been low for the time of the year. These catches are expected to be dominated by non-Fraser pinks and reports on the proportions of Fraser pink salmon will be provided later this month...
In Season Assessment Information:
Fraser River Pink Salmon
It is still very early in terms of pink salmon assessments and in-season assessment results are expected to be available in the latter half of August.
https://www.psc.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&task=file.download&wpfd_category_id=723&wpfd_file_id=19337&token=&preview=1
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We are tacking about 20,000 below this time last run but lots of time for the numbers to pick up in area 20 test fishery.
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There are reliable reports that pinks are now in the lower Squamish in modest numbers. That's pretty much average timing.
I fished Furry Creek last Sunday, and didn't get a single bite, or see any signs of the pinks! Did I miss them swimming through already?
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I fished Furry Creek last Sunday, and didn't get a single bite, or see any signs of the pinks! Did I miss them swimming through already?
It's been like that the last 3 Pink Cycles. 2015 and earlier, you can't keep them off your hook there. Probably flooding and gravel moving events has eroded a lot of the eggs.
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In 2021 and 2023 in particular reports were pink salmon numbers were higher both at Furry Creek and in the river quite late in the season; like late August for Furry Creek. Others said some days at Furry were good and others were basically dead as you experienced.
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I fished Furry Creek last Sunday, and didn't get a single bite, or see any signs of the pinks! Did I miss them swimming through already?
the fish could also just be swimming up the other side of the inlet. last cycle was good at McNabb creek for pinks if you had a boat to get across to there.
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FLC, RalphH and redside1, thank you all for your replies and your in-depth knowledge! Much appreciated.
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As a side note:
Just returned from the yearly trip to the Campbell River V.I.. Been doing it, same date , Aug 9th weekend, for years . This is the first time there was no pinks of any numbers in the river. NONE .
Lot's of fish in the ocean and some taken from the peir. Lot's of fish a bit further up the island in Sayward and the Eve.
Seems strange for some reason this year the pinks seem to be a bit slow to enter the rivers. Just an observation, but for those anticipating, things are indeed looking good.
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Have a buddy whos a commercial fisherman in alaska.
They were expecting a huge pink year this well and its coming at roughly 60-70% of original forecast.
Hope thats not the case here.
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Have a buddy whos a commercial fisherman in alaska.
They were expecting a huge pink year this well and its coming at roughly 60-70% of original forecast.
Hope thats not the case here.
Even the Fraser's run 60% of original forecast, we're still looking at way more fish than last pink season. Too early to tell right now still what will happen. There are lots of pinks making past Mission already.
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Have a buddy whos a commercial fisherman in alaska.
They were expecting a huge pink year this well and its coming at roughly 60-70% of original forecast.
Hope thats not the case here.
this is quite common and for a specific year the preseason forecast can be highly inaccurate. A few examples; 2017 was forecast at 8.7 million but came in at 3.7, the lowest return in a couple of decades, 2015 was forecast at 14.5 but came in at 6.2 million, 2007 was forecast at 19+ million but came in at 11 million.
Not related to pinks but the sockeye forecast for 2009 was 9 million but came in around 1 million.
Of course it also flips the other way. Also in my experience huge returns do not always turn into proportionally better fishing in river as so many fish can be caught by commercial fisheries in the tidewater. The escapement targets at around 6 to 7 million are not adjusted upwards when the return is very large so there is a potential for millions pinks to be caught in nets.
Just wanted to mention that the actual forecast DFO issues included the probability of the run size so accounts for possible error. The forecast of 27 million is really that the is a 50% probability of it being 27 million or higher. Conversely there is a 50% probability it will be lower. The forecast is actually a curve called a cumulative distribution function that expresses the chances that a particular variable will take on a specific range of values and looks something like:
(https://media.geeksforgeeks.org/wp-content/uploads/20240903190859/Cumulative-Distribution-Function.png)
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on the plus side a few pinks have been caught already in the lower Fraser test fishing done by the pacific salmon commission. it's only a handful but better than zero.
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be looking for a fisheries notice on Friday stating the lower Fraser is open for pink salmon retention. Rumour is there is a notice being prepared today for release tomorrow
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on the plus side a few pinks have been caught already in the lower Fraser test fishing done by the pacific salmon commission. it's only a handful but better than zero.
The passage at mission acoustics testing is showing more pinks than the last 2 cycles up to today's date. However 2017 showed even more but ultimately crashed down to less than 4 Million total. We need the steady numbers to repeat themselves day after day well into mid September to confirm a good run.
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Fabulous! Now we can all spend hours & hours chucking lures at nothing! People shouldn't spend money to buy lures for such an opening. Better to send the money to me and I'll invest it for them. What scam to lobby to open the river for pinks now. DFO will just say they gave us what we asked for. Nothing like an opportunity for nothing. 8)
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I was looking at previous years around August 25 there starts being decent numbers in the lower Fraser.
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Sockeye are opening in the Strait on Saturday. The Fisheries Notice was issued this afternoon. Area 29 isn't included. Doesn't sound too promising for any kind of salmon opening in the river this weekend.
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Sockeye are opening in the Strait on Saturday. The Fisheries Notice was issued this afternoon. Area 29 isn't included. Doesn't sound too promising for any kind of salmon opening in the river this weekend.
Wait until after 4pm tomorrow, standard dfo practice is late in the day before the opening day.
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In '23 the fishing was actually quite good by the Labour Day weekend which historically is quite early. I have fished pinks for over 30 years and invariably the fishing in the river below Mission is quite slow to non-existent in the later part of of August. Many times I have seen people head out to the bars or out in boats and get little or nothing. Historically the main push comes in over 7 to 10 days sometime late in the first week of Sept or in the 2nd week. Over many years of checking the Whonnock test fisheries and comparing it to my angling success the numbers have to be well past 100 and even 200+ for good fishing. I personally find the push to open the river in August suspect and more tuned to business interests than to angler success. Many many people will be skunked and turned off after all the hype. If and when the fishing gets hot it will be a gong show regardless
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Subject:
FN0821-RECREATIONAL - Salmon - Pink - Tidal Waters of the Fraser River - Subareas 29-11 to 29-17 - Opening - Effective August 18, 2025
Effective 00:01 hours August 18, 2025, until 23:59 hours September 18, 2025, the daily limit for Pink salmon is four (4) in the following waters:
Subareas 29-11 to 29-14 and 29-17 (tidal waters of the Fraser River below Port Mann Bridge).
Effective 00:01 hours September 19, no fishing in all waters listed above.
Effective 00:01 hours August 18, 2025, until 23:59 hours September 20, 2025, the daily limit for Pink salmon is four (4) in the following waters:
Subareas 29-15 and 29-16 (tidal waters of the Fraser River below Mission Bridge to Port Mann Bridge).
Effective 00:01 hours September 21, no fishing in all waters listed above.
Reminder: The daily limit for all species of Pacific salmon from tidal and fresh waters combined is four (4). Individual species limits also apply.
Reminder: Anglers fishing for salmon in the Fraser River are required to take every measure possible to ensure that their fishing activities avoid impacts on non-target stocks. Anglers are requested to use angling methods that do not catch non-target stocks.
Reminder: First Nations food, social, and ceremonial fisheries are ongoing. Anglers must minimize or eliminate gear conflicts with other harvesters.
Variation Orders: 2025-RCT-332, 2025-RFQ-331, 2025-GMB-096 in effect.
NOTES AND REMINDERS:
Barbless hooks are required when fishing for salmon in tidal and non-tidal waters of British Columbia.
The term "marked", "hatchery marked", or "adipose fin clipped" means a fish that has a healed scar in place of the adipose fin.
All anglers must have a licence to fish in tidal waters in BC. Apply for your BC tidal waters recreational fishing licence and salmon conservation stamp at: https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/licence-permis/index-eng.html.
Anglers are advised to check: http://bcsportfishguide.ca for fishing closures and other recreational fishing information.
Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) are currently in effect and are closed to all fin-fishing. Descriptions of RCAs and other closures such as finfish closed areas, salmon non-retention areas, and other recreational fishing information, can be found on the internet at:
https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/index-eng.html
Fishers are encouraged to participate in the Salmon Sport Head Recovery program by labelling and submitting heads from hatchery marked Chinook and Coho Salmon to head depots. The head-off measurement can be used by enforcement officers to assess compliance on size limits if you remove the head from Chinook or Coho. Recovery of microscopic coded-wire tags found inside hatchery marked Chinook and Coho heads provide critical information for coast-wide Salmon stock assessment programs. Contact the Salmon Sport Head Recovery Program toll free at 1-866-483-9994 for further information.
Sport fishers are reminded of the importance of catch monitoring programs for recreational fisheries. As a condition of their BC Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence, fishers are required to provide complete and accurate information regarding their catch and fishing activities upon request of DFO creel surveyors stationed at marinas and boat launches. DFO Creel surveyors are designated authorities of Fisheries and Oceans Canada under s.61(5) of the Fisheries Act; please be respectful when asked to report catch and allow biological sampling. Refusal to report catch and/or harassment of creel surveyors will not be tolerated and may result in charges laid.
"Internet Recreational Effort and Catch Reporting program (iREC): Sport Fishers are reminded that it is a condition of their BC Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence to complete their iREC report online before their reporting deadline. The assigned reporting period, the web address of the iREC reporting program, a unique access ID and the reporting deadline is printed on each adult licence. A report must be completed even if you did not fish during your reporting period, and also if you fished, even if you caught nothing. iREC reports are used to estimate recreational effort and kept and released catches of finfish and shellfish. For further information see FN0330 or contact the Sport Fishing Report Team at DFO.SportFishingReport-RapportPecheSportive.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
The Government of Canada recognizes that Southern Resident Killer Whales face imminent threats to their survival and recovery. In May, the Government of Canada shared the 2024 and 2025 management measures to be implemented this spring and summer that help address the key threats of reduced prey availability (primarily Chinook salmon), and acoustic and physical disturbance. These measures include salmon fishery closures, Interim Sanctuary Zones that restrict vessels from entering (including fishing), Speed Restricted Zones that restrict vessels to a maximum of 10 knots in designated areas (including fishing), minimum approach distances and a number of voluntary measures including to stop fishing (do not haul gear) and reduce speed to less than 7 knots when within 1,000 metres of killer whales and let them pass, and a voluntary speed reduction zone in Tumbo Channel.
For more information about the 2025 management measures, please visit https://www.canada.ca/southern-resident-killer-whales or contact the Marine Mammal Team at DFO.SRKW-ERS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca. For more information on the best ways to help whales while on the water, please visit: bewhalewise.org.
If a marine mammal becomes entangled in fishing gear, fishers should immediately call the Observe, Record, Report (ORR) line at 1-800-465-4336. Fishers are advised not to attempt to free the animal of the fishing gear as this can pose a serious threat to the safety of the fisher and the animal. If your vessel strikes a whale, or if you observe a sick, injured, distressed, or dead marine mammal in B.C. waters, please contact the hotline immediately: 1-800-465-4336 or VHF Channel 16.
If you see a sea turtle, please call this toll-free phone number: 1-866-I SAW ONE (1-866-472-9663). Please include information such as the species of sea turtle seen (i.e. leatherback), the location and time of sighting.
Report suspicious activity or violations by email at DFO.ORR-ONS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca or by calling the 24-hour, toll-free Observe, Record, and Report line at 1-800-465-4336 or 604-607-4186 in greater Vancouver.
The 24-hour, toll-free information line for fishery notices regarding openings and closures is 1-866-431-3474 or 604-666-2828 in greater Vancouver.
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Subject:
FN0821-RECREATIONAL - Salmon - Pink - Tidal Waters of the Fraser River - Subareas 29-11 to 29-17 - Opening - Effective August 18, 2025
Wow early opening. Waste of time lol? ;D
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Wow early opening. Waste of time lol? ;D
is a day fishing ever really a waste of time?
with today's rain I would expect a fair bit of fish movement over the next few days. Should be fish around
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Wow early opening. Waste of time lol? ;D
We'll know soon enough
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Great news! Non tidal Fraser won’t be far behind.
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I looked at Brownsville pink test catches for '23. It they didn't come close to 100 per set until late Aug on the 27th when 170 were caught in 2 sets. After that the test fishery was ended. At Whonnock catches were also low until Sept 2nd. Looking at 2013, the last large return, Whonnock didn't see good numbers until Sept 4th and the highest numbers were Sept 15th through the 19th.
I am looking forward to some of you posting your results over the next week. If no one does well that's tells me a story. Good luck. :)
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Today's PSC Report:
Fraser River Pink Salmon
Pink salmon abundance in marine areas remains high and pink salmon are now also being caught in the in-
river test fisheries. The estimated escapement of pink salmon past Mission though August 14 is 46,700. The
pre-season forecast for Fraser River pink salmon was 27 million and test fishing catches to date are in line
with this prediction
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At this point in 2023 estimated escapement past Mission was about 32,000. The preseason forecast was 6.1 million The first in season forecast was 8.6million (Aug 18) which was updated to 17 million on Aug 25th then decreased to 15 million Sept 15th. The actual pink salmon run size reported in Fraser Panel Annual report for 2023 was 10.5 million fish. There is a variation of about 100% in the estimate numbers vs the actual tabulated run. I think most people don't have an appreciation for how uncertain these estimate methods are.
Does the Mission sonar fence actually count pinks? In the past it has been difficult to distinguish pinks from sockeye with that method. It's actually based on the catch at the in river test fisheries. In some cases they make an estimate when nothing has been caught. Two pinks caught at Brownsville on August 3rd resulted in an estimate of 2,000 past Mission on August 4th.
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Looks like they are skipping the Cottonwood Test fishery this year. We'll have to go by Brownsville and Whonnock tests for the Fraser.
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Went out for a half an hour for a look today (and a few casts).
Nothing on top but a sturgeon and a few sockeye.
I see decent numbers of pinks have turned up in the Brownsville test fishery - might be a few in Richmond by now.
Water was a lot clearer than I was expecting for this time of the year.
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I’m currently at the river park in new west by sapperton skytrain station I’ve been here 20 mins and seen two caught on the little dock. But nothing jumping or rising. So there is or was at least 2 here
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This morning at Derby Reach nothing happening at all but wondering if it got better after high tide.
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Went out after dinner around Maple Ridge. Did catch one male and my wife hooked into one but lost at shore. We were out about 2 hours so that was fun. Looking forward to a fun season.
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Should be better in the evening with the large incoming tide
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I am surprised that people are catching the odd one here and there. Good stuff.
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Last two days they have 100k pinks passing the mission acustic counting station.
I went back 20+ years and nothing that high this early, So they are either sockeye or the pinks are early
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I am surprised that people are catching the odd one here and there. Good stuff.
I'm pretty sure you told us earlier that no one catches Pinks in August when I complained about the sporties not being allowed to fish for them early.
Last two days they have 100k pinks passing the mission acustic counting station.
I went back 20+ years and nothing that high this early, So they are either sockeye or the pinks are early
And yet here we are again in the Non Tidal Region 2 locked out because the FNs pressured those in charge to keep us out of the river. Got to love it when decisions are based on race and and determined by politics.
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Last two days they have 100k pinks passing the mission acustic counting station.
I went back 20+ years and nothing that high this early, So they are either sockeye or the pinks are early
That is surprising, but if you look at the Passage Through Mission work sheet, they are using Brownsville catches a method for estimating the passage at Mission. I've seen those boats there before it looks like they fishing well off shore where the sockeye are.
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There are pinks, sockeye and springs in the thompson river. FN nets on the thompson, coming into campgrounds selling out of the back of a pickup. I am doubtful the way the fish are counted that they can tell the difference between pinks, sockeye or springs.
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It looks like pinks are probably going to be down graded from the preseason forecast of 27 million to 10-20 million.
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I was out yesterday for the opening and got into 2 and a spring jack as well. Was also out of horseshoe Bay on Sunday and got into a dozen pinks and we were scaring huge schools on the surface.
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It looks like pinks are probably going to be down graded from the preseason forecast of 27 million to 10-20 million.
LOL
looking at the notes for today's PSC meeting it look more like 15 to 20. That's still a high return and above the historical mean of 11m. There is no recommendation on an in season forecast as yet. I also noted the ocean catches of summer runs and late run sockeye has dropped dramatically as have pinks.
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Never mind
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Hello,
Thanks for support/ input on all of these planned rec fisheries and the patience waiting until they are announced. I know these are not going to address all the input we’ve received this past week. Here is where the fisheries planning is as of right now.
The following information is still subject to change, please go with what is in the Fisheries Notices when they are posted, not what is in this email as it may contain errors,
South Coast: FN0810
August 16 to 23:59 hours August 24, Effective 00:01 hours August 16, 2025, until 23:59 August 24, 2025, the daily limit of Sockeye salmon is four (4) in the following waters:
- Areas 11 to 15;
- Subareas 16-1 and 16-19 to 16-21;
- Areas 17 to 20;
- Subareas 28-1, 28-2 and 28-7;
- Areas 111 and 121, 123 to 127
FIA- The daily limits for sockeye for the fisheries below will be 2/day at this time (have heard interest in 4 sockeye day). The daily limits for Pink will be 4/day.
1. Tidal Waters (Area 29-11 to 29-17): Pink Rec Fishing - August 18 – to Sept 18 & 20 (Steelhead WC), FN0821 (boundary will be updated to read Tidal waters of the Fraser River (Fraser River downstream of the CPR Bridge at Mission, BC to the mouth of the river);[PFMA 29-11 to 29-17))
2. Tidal Waters (Area 29-11 to 29-17): Sockeye Rec Fishing – August 22 – Sept 2
3. Fraser Mainstem (Region 2) to Alexandra Bridge: Pink and Sockeye Rec Fishing - August 22 - Sept 2 for sockeye, and pink to continue to the Steelhead WC date (Sept 21 &25).
4. Fraser Tributaries (Region 2): Pink Rec Fishing - August 22 -Sept 30
4.
a. Harrison River: Sockeye Salmon (2/day) effective August 22 - Sept 2
5. Fraser River (Region 3 - Lillooet): Pink and sockeye rec fishing – August 22 – Sept 23
6. Thompson River, South Thompson River and , Kamloops Lake (Region 3): Pink and Chinook Rec Fishing – August 28 -Sept-30 (detailed waters in the FN)
7. Quesnel River (Region 5A): Sockeye and Pink Rec Fishing – sockeye August 28 - 15 Quesnel River/Lake (Fraser Tributary, Region 5A); Quesnel River (Fraser Tributary, Region 5A) Pink Aug 28 – Sept 30
8. Nechako River (Region 7): Sockeye and Pink Rec Fishing – August 28 – Sept 21
9. Squamish mainstem is currently non retention pink, interest in retention, potentially ~Aug 24 tbc
If you see an error on any of the upcoming Fishery Notices, please let me know.
Looking forward to updates from the Panel this week,
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At work this morning at low tide off the mouth of north arm and it was pinks as far as the eye could see. Thousands.
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Hello,
Thanks for support/ input on all of these planned rec fisheries and the patience waiting until they are announced. I know these are not going to address all the input we’ve received this past week. Here is where the fisheries planning is as of right now.
The following information is still subject to change, please go with what is in the Fisheries Notices when they are posted, not what is in this email as it may contain errors,
e let me know.
Looking forward to updates from the Panel this week,
... who or where is this coming from?
Anyway so much for the all carping about no sockeye opening. I wonder will there now be a FN economic opportunities opening?
Answered my own question. Opened yesterday for 10 hours. Expect to see this up river in a few days. I half suspected a rec opening wouldn't happen without FN EO openings.
https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=329060&ID=all
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I wonder will there now be a FN economic opportunities opening?
already started, that's why the inriver for rec is being looked at now
Category(s):ABORIGINAL - Salmon: Economic Opportunities
Subject:FN0829-Aboriginal: Salmon - Economic Opportunities - Sockeye - Area 29 - Lower Fraser Area - Musqueam - Gillnet Opening - August 18, 2025
The following commercial economic opportunity fishery was authorized for the Musqueam First Nation for Sockeye salmon gillnet gear in the lower Fraser River:
This fishery opened for gillnet, from 11:00 hours to 19:00 hours, August 18, 2025.
The fishing activity was authorized in the following area:
Those waters of the Fraser River westerly of the Patullo Bridge and the waters of the Strait of Georgia bounded by a line commencing at Point Grey thence northerly to the light on Point Atkinson, thence westerly to the light on Point Cowan on Bowen Island, thence following the southerly shoreline of Bowen Island to the light on Cape Roger Curtis, thence in a direct line southeasterly to the Roberts Bank LL# 309 (known as the Hooter Buoy) thence due west to the 40 metre contour line as shown on C.H.S. 3463, thence follow the 40 metre contour line to the International border.
Portions of DFO Management Subareas 29-3, 29-4, 29-6, 29-7, 29-9,29-10, 29-11, 29-12, 29-13 and 29-14.
Only individuals designated by the Musqueam First Nation are authorized to participate in this fishery. All aspects of the communal licence will be enforced. Fish harvesters are advised to contact their band for a copy of the conditions of their fishing licence.
The target species in this fishery is Sockeye salmon. Retention of Chinook salmon, Pink salmon, Chum salmon, and hatchery marked Coho Salmon caught incidentally is permitted. There will be non-retention of wild Coho Salmon, Steelhead and Sturgeon. All non-target species will be released back to the water alive and unharmed.
It is mandatory that all salmon retained under the authority of this licence be transported to the nearest landing station and made available for inspection. A monitor shall be present during all landing of catch to record the number and weight of each species of salmon delivered.
Lost Gear Reporting:
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LOL
I also noted the ocean catches of summer runs and late run sockeye has dropped dramatically as have pinks.
lol
I know thats why used 10 and not 15 to cover that possibility in my arm chair estimate lol
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Category(s):
RECREATIONAL - Salmon
Fishery Notice - Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Subject: FN0841-RECREATIONAL - Salmon - Pink and Sockeye - Lower Fraser River Non-tidal Waters of the Fraser River mainstem - Opening August 22, 2025
Effective one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset each day between August 22, and September 1, 2025, in the waters described below you may retain two (2) Sockeye Salmon per day:
Non-tidal waters of the Fraser River from the downstream side of the CPR Bridge at Mission upstream to the Highway 1 Bridge at Hope; and
Non-tidal waters of the Fraser River from the Highway 1 Bridge at Hope to the downstream side of the Alexandra Bridge.
In the waters described below you may retain four (4) Pink Salmon per day:
Non-tidal waters of the Fraser River from the downstream side of the CPR Bridge at Mission upstream to the Highway 1 Bridge at Hope - Effective one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset each day between August 22, and September 21, 2025; and
Non-tidal waters of the Fraser River from the Highway 1 Bridge at Hope to the downstream side of the Alexandra Bridge - Effective one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset each day between August 22, and September 25, 2025.
Management measures:
- No fishing for Chinook, Coho, or Chum salmon.
- You must not use bait when fishing for salmon.
- Fishing is permissible during daylight hours only.
Anglers fishing for salmon in the Fraser River are required to take every measure possible to ensure that their fishing activities avoid impacts on non-target stocks. This means that anglers are requested to use angling methods that do not catch non-target stocks.
Anglers should be aware that the First Nations food, social and ceremonial fishery is open in this area. Anglers are encouraged to minimize or eliminate any gear conflict in this area. Please be diligent when harvesting and navigating in this area and exercise patience when and if in contact with other fishers.
Variation Orders: 2025-RCT-337, 2025-RFQ-336, 2025-GMB–018
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... who or where is this coming from?
coming from emails DFO is sending out to those that are participating in the PSC meetings and other various groups.
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FN0853-RECREATIONAL Salmon - Pink - Region 2 - Fraser Tributaries - Opening - August 22, 2025
4 Pink Limit on the Vedder this year.
I believe the last time we had a 4 fish limit was 2011.
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So many openings. Hopefully that will thin out the pressure.....somewhat.
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Went out yesterday in Langley on the incoming tide.
Only fished for half an hour but saw some pinks jumping.
Should be good by Monday.
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Went out yesterday in Langley on the incoming tide.
Only fished for half an hour but saw some pinks jumping.
Should be good by Monday.
derby?
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Lots of fish jumping this morning but no biters. :(
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Lots of fish jumping this morning but no biters. :(
The tyee master has spoken
i'm not worthy, i'm not worth
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These first days of the opening have played out more or less as I thought they would. People fish but are not having much success. Yes there have been the odd ones caught. I saw a photo on FB of nice young lad with 2 beautiful pinks at #5 Road. There was also a video of a guy who fished about 3 hours in the same locale. He lost one and person next to him caught one. Some fish were rising close to him but not a lot of fish. Most of the fish people see "jump" particularly farther out in the river are likely sockeye. The best is yet to come.
Curious to see how the first wave of flossers do up river. Sockeye numbers are fair in the Whonnock test and good at Brownsville. Pinks numbers pretty scratchy at both.
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There's always a small chance if you try in these early days on the Fraser. Your chances are no better than Ambleside or Furry Creek right now. Most people will catch early to mid September. I think the Vedder will have too many pinks getting in the way of coho and springs ;)
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derby?
No, I was fishing by myself...
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So many openings. Hopefully that will thin out the pressure.....somewhat.
Got word from Richmond that the commercial fleet is in full swing, drifting their nets on both sides of the river, pretty much intercepting every school. Add to that the FN openings...I'm sure many sporties will return home disappointed this weekend.
I know it happened to me more than once when I used to partake. Tossing those betties into the drink all day, all for naught.
I hope the young crowd understands that an opening does not guarantee catching fish.
That said, if this return is as robust as they claim, it might not be that bad.
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It the commercial guys are open in the lower by steveston, I would just stay home if fishing upper river. Until I bought my jet boat, I had no idea how many their actually are. Literally have to dodge them and their nets heading out to sand heads. Real eye opener.
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Looks like the Commercial fleet is targeting sockeye and skipping the pinks for now. Their nets will probably kill a bunch of pinks too. Unless there is another extension, by next weekend they will be off the water for sockeye anyways.
PSC Meeting Today Kept the 27 Million Pink estimate as the test catches are ramping back up again.
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Actual commercial gillnet fleet opening was on Tuesday Aug 19 - Wednesday Aug 20 from 0600-2000 (Closed at 2000 Aug 20) with each license given a transferable quota of 235 sockeye & 2257 pinks.
https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=328963&ID=all (https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=328963&ID=all)
The current fleet you would be seeing after Aug 20 would be the FN fisheries. https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/fraser/abor-autoc-eng.html#lowerfraser (https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/fraser/abor-autoc-eng.html#lowerfraser)
Generally the gillnet fleets main target will be sockeye with bycatch of pinks. If the pinks show up in the expected numbers they would open it up for seiners at the mouth for commercial.
The pink run is still on its way and usually starts to pick up the first week of September. Like Ralph said above, the current jumpers you see on the river are mostly sockeye, the pinks when stacked you will see a lot more finning and smaller jumping scene.
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No, I was fishing by myself...
hahahahaah so good. literally logged in after 15 years to write this.
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Some may enjoy this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7055Fh2UUQU&ab_channel=CBCBritishColumbia
Could be included in the Sockeye topic as well.
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Some my enjoy this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7055Fh2UUQU&ab_channel=CBCBritishColumbia
Could be included in the Sockeye topic as well.
Comments are turned off.
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Not as many pinks showing this morning as a couple of days ago. Saw at least a dozen caught.
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Over 2 dozen caught this AM lower Fraser
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Almost 1 Million counted past Mission. Looks like it's ramping up a bit early.
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Did really well at Furry Creek at high tide . Fish jumping everywhere . Slow trolling . Caught and released a dozen . Once the tide came down and the water colored up it was over . Fish still jumping all over, however visibility was poor .
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Did really well at Furry Creek at high tide . Fish jumping everywhere . Slow trolling . Caught and released a dozen . Once the tide came down and the water colored up it was over . Fish still jumping all over, however visibility was poor .
I see, this yesterday on social media people were saying Howe sound was on fire, I thought it was kinda late but good to hear it
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I see, this yesterday on social media people were saying Howe sound was on fire, I thought it was kind of late but good to hear it
Thought it was a bit strange or maybe not . Back on the highway just as i was passing Sunset Marina I looked across to the small Bowyer Island and seen 20 plus sporty boats at the north east side . Must have been a ton of salmon around there . Maybe that is the reason no boats were around Furry yesterday . Sockeye perhaps ? . Why such a concentrations of sporty fishers there ?. I didn't get the memo .
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Almost 1 Million counted past Mission. Looks like it's ramping up a bit early.
I have not been keeping up with the updated forecasts, but if it's still expected to be 20M+, then 1M is <5% of the total return and the ramp up is probably right on schedule for a massive peak in the first two weeks of Sep.
If you're referring to sufficient numbers for people to have a decent chance to actually go out and get something, then based on some of the recent reports here, it certainly is early than what were used to seeing, due to the sheer size of the return.
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going out after work today in richmond. will update how it goes.
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If you're referring to sufficient numbers for people to have a decent chance to actually go out and get something, then based on some of the recent reports here, it certainly is early than what were used to seeing, due to the sheer size of the return.
Yeah, I am surprised quite a few people are catching them this early.
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I have not been keeping up with the updated forecasts, but if it's still expected to be 20M+, then 1M is <5% of the total return and the ramp up is probably right on schedule for a massive peak in the first two weeks of Sep.
If you're referring to sufficient numbers for people to have a decent chance to actually go out and get something, then based on some of the recent reports here, it certainly is early than what were used to seeing, due to the sheer size of the return.
it's actually 3.4% of 27 million which is still the official forecast. Close to 60% (59.7%) of the passage past Mission has just happened in the last few days. Again the passage is just an estimate based on catch per effort at Whonnock.
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Well this evening was fun! Tons of sockeye jumping all over the place and the odd pink getting hooked, limited out before 7pm today and lost a few more.
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I think this test fishery just broke the record of how many pinks were caught. I checked 2023 and 2011 and not even September test catches were this high.
May be this 27 Million record will be set this year.
Area 29 - Whonnock Sockeye Gillnet 8/25/2025 543
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I think this test fishery just broke the record of how many pinks were caught. I checked 2023 and 2011 and not even September test catches were this high.
May be this 27 Million record will be set this year.
Area 29 - Whonnock Sockeye Gillnet 8/25/2025 543
2019 had a day over 700
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Where are you seeing the updated whonnock numbers? I check the PSC website and the last update was the 19th.
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Where are you seeing the updated whonnock numbers? I check the PSC website and the last update was the 19th.
https://www.psc.org/publications/fraser-panel-in-season-information/test-fishing-results/
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500K pinks estimated past mission yesterday
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I think this test fishery just broke the record of how many pinks were caught. I checked 2023 and 2011 and not even September test catches were this high.
May be this 27 Million record will be set this year.
Area 29 - Whonnock Sockeye Gillnet 8/25/2025 543
Nothing in 2003 to match, which I think was the record return? At 2003 and 2011 were 2 of the historical high run sizes.
so apart from the San Juan Seine test on August 14t when 38k pinks were caught in 6 sets, there isn't any other test catch that mirrors what Whonnock reported yesterday. Hard to say what that one report means in terms of the eventual run size.
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Nothing in 2003 to match, which I think was the record return? At 2003 and 2011 were 2 of the historical high run sizes.
so apart from the San Juan Seine test on August 14t when 38k pinks were caught in 6 sets, there isn't any other test catch that mirrors what Whonnock reported yesterday. Hard to say what that one report means in terms of the eventual run size.
They extrapolated that catch for % passing mission I think 500k is high and more are sockeye.
Based on all pink historic timing there is nothing that big this early
you are correct too the marine catches are low so i guess will see
There is a bunch of pinks going down the US side of the JDF, however not seen data on the DNA split for % Fraser
https://www.psc.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&task=file.download&wpfd_category_id=130&wpfd_file_id=11863&token=&preview=1
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Looks like they are down grading the pink run to 12.5 million
https://www.psc.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&task=file.download&wpfd_category_id=721&wpfd_file_id=19361&token=&preview=1
also bumped up the run time by 8 days from 21-Aug to 13-Aug
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Really? Downgrading? I get the marine tests have been low but I've seen alot of pinks already.
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Also that link for the test fishery is the same I've been using but it's still only updated to August 19th.
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also bumped up the run time by 8 days from 21-Aug to 13-Aug
Wondering if that means the Vedder will get earlier pinks this year.
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Also that link for the test fishery is the same I've been using but it's still only updated to August 19th.
There's a link somewhere on the PSC website that talks about stale links - sounds like you need to clear your cache.
Should be instructions in Google for your browser.
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their last friday report said what they've caught so far has been inline with their estimate.
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First in season forecast issued today:
The Panel adopted a run size of 12,500,000 for Fraser River pink salmon with an associated Area 20 timing of August 13.
cuts it down the middle between 10 and 15. It's also generally in line with the final published run size for 2023 which was 10.5 million.
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There's a link somewhere on the PSC website that talks about stale links - sounds like you need to clear your cache.
Should be instructions in Google for your browser.
Thank you very much easywater! That seems to have worked, Idk why I didn't think of that in the first place.
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Another excellent morning in the Lower Fraser. Over 30 caught, 90% of which were big males.
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They have 900k passing missions for yesterday if this is right and the marine catches are right and the run is 8 days early then it’s prime time.
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They have 900k passing missions for yesterday if this is right and the marine catches are right and the run is 8 days early then it’s prime time.
Or it's on time and we'll get 27 million.
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The river was alive this afternoon. I fished annacis island for two hours. Fish were everywhere. I got a couple. And kept one. The 5 others in my spot limited out also. Tomorrow will be even better. Good luck to everyone out there.
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They have 900k passing missions for yesterday if this is right and the marine catches are right and the run is 8 days early then it’s prime time.
good thing the river opened early for the sports anglers. Just think if DFO waited until well into September like in the past.
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1.2 million more pinks past mission yesterday, 2 million last 2 days.
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Ocean test catch low but in river high. These fish seem to skip the staging and go right through. Seals and whales chasing them in river perhaps.
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I noticed the sockeye being more silver this year than the last sockeye season. Saw under developed milt and eggs.
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Not as many fish showing as in the past couple of days but still pretty darn good fishing. Amazing how fishermen tend to congregate to their kins. Walk 50 feet and you're in no man's land and the fishing is still good.
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I noticed the sockeye being more silver this year than the last sockeye season. Saw under developed milt and eggs.
Yes. I agree. The socks are much more chrome this opening but of a smaller size.
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Gillnetters were out in the Lower Fraser this morning. Despite that, pinks were being caught, but not as many as a few days ago. Expected I guess.
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Gillnetters were out in the Lower Fraser this morning. Despite that, pinks were being caught, but not as many as a few days ago. Expected I guess.
Trying not to be that lazy guy. But does someone have a link for commercial and FN openings on the Fraser?
Saw a whack of boats this morning, no bites along the stretch I was fishing.
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Good bump of fish this morning. Fishermen were happy, happy as they leaving.
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Trying not to be that lazy guy. But does someone have a link for commercial and FN openings on the Fraser?
Saw a whack of boats this morning, no bites along the stretch I was fishing.
all openings for area 29 Fraser River below Mission and the 'banana' off the mouth
https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=search_results&ID=all&Regions=&Fisheries=&Areas=2635&year=2025
otherwise go to https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=fishery_search&ID=all
and select what you want to see from the drop down boxes ie drop down area 29 from Management areas then select what you to look at from 3. below.
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As there hasn't been any non FN commercial openings since the Opening on Aug 19-20, you can check https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/fraser/abor-autoc-eng.html#lowerfraser (https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/fraser/abor-autoc-eng.html#lowerfraser) for all FN fisheries that are listed, which are what you see on the river at this time. With the numbers from the test fisheries recently does not look like any non FN commercial openings for the rest of this sockeye/pink runs.
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FN openings aren't always listed in the general fisheries notices.
if you look here you can see there are communal openings in the lower river through tomorrow.
https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/fraser/index-eng.html
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Good bump of fish this morning. Fishermen were happy, happy as they leaving.
what area was this or are you just touring all the bars and conducting interviews? ;D
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what area was this or are you just touring all the bars and conducting interviews? ;D
Lower Fraser near the mouth
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Tried a new location up from where I normally fish. Only one fish caught.
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Envious of all the action near the mouth it seems. But not envious enough to bother driving to Richmond :)
Hoping to see more action, and the fabled "20 fish a day" one of these days where the non-tidal begins. I should get a boat...
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Yesterday was very productive in the lower Fraser. This morning not so much.
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Time to start thinking of other locations... particularly those with clearwater! As mentioned in the paper Clarki provided above, pinks into streams in the Fraser valley time later than those headed farther up the Fraser. While water is clear, the temperatures are high. The fish will be most interested in biting early in the morning. I got my limit yesterday. Small schools were moving. Caught my last fish at about noon when my thermometer registered water temp of 18C. Caught my fish on flies and switched to a faster sinking tip the last hour. The fish move deeper and hold at the brightest part of the day. Shared a good spot with one other angler who got his limit as well.
(https://i.imgur.com/6KmUpNI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/EB80Gde.jpg)
pretty shiny eh?
(https://i.imgur.com/U5TPPb7.jpg)
#4
If the return is good and one hits it right the Harrison can be outstanding around Thanksgiving. It usually lasts a day or 2 no more. I have fished schools passing through as late as early November though those fish were colored.
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I wanted to share something very interesting i saw a few days ago in the tidal fraser near new west. I saw something very unusual. A killer whale. Yes I am 100% sure it was a killer whale. I had first seen it across the river. Something large and black surface for about 2 seconds the exact same way a killer whale does. This one was maybe 18-20 ft large. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I was just thinking, that's way too large to be a seal or salmon. Too dark to be a sturgeon and unlike how they usually jump or surface. Then about 2 minutes later I see it jump about 3 meters into the air with the sun reflecting on it's black skin. This thing was huge and the same shape as a killer whale. Some smaller tug boats actually were going by across the river while it was in the area which I know can confuse them or negatively affect them. I wonder what happened to it. After the second surfacing I started recording to try to get it on camera but of course it didn't want to come out after that. Just wasn't meant to be I guess. Anyways something I'm sure is pretty rare to see. The day before it I also witnessed the man floating by hope on the fraser that fell off his kayak. Man that stretch is fast and I was glad to find out he made it ok. But seriously an inflatable kayak on a windy day on that stretch of the fraser is a terrible idea and I hope he doesn't get back his kayak for his own sake. That man is very lucky to be alive. Somebody beside me alerted SAR just incase. He seemed calm and didn't utter a word as he floated down the middle of the swift river in his life jacket. Anyways quite interesting events to witness on the Fraser in back to back days! You never know what you will see out there...
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That's interesting. It's not the first such report and there is a thread from 2014 posted by someone who said they saw a killer whale in the river, as opposed to the mouth or the estuary. It's plausible as they do do such things. One report I saw says KWs have been confirmed in the Columbia up to 100km from the mouth. They can't stay in freshwater long though. They will get sick and likely die.
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I wanted to share something very interesting i saw a few days ago in the tidal fraser near new west. I saw something very unusual. A killer whale. Yes I am 100% sure it was a killer whale. I had first seen it across the river. Something large and black surface for about 2 seconds the exact same way a killer whale does. This one was maybe 18-20 ft large. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I was just thinking, that's way too large to be a seal or salmon. Too dark to be a sturgeon and unlike how they usually jump or surface. Then about 2 minutes later I see it jump about 3 meters into the air with the sun reflecting on it's black skin. This thing was huge and the same shape as a killer whale.
Darko, what you saw is a Russian submarine shaped and painted to resemble a killer whale. The Russians have long been wondering about our awesome salmon returns, so Putin dispatched a specially disguised submarine to follow our salmon and collect scientific data. ;)
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Time to start thinking of other locations... particularly those with clearwater! As mentioned in the paper Clarki provided above, pinks into streams in the Fraser valley time later than those headed farther up the Fraser. While water is clear, the temperatures are high. The fish will be most interested in biting early in the morning. I got my limit yesterday. Small schools were moving. Caught my last fish at about noon when my thermometer registered water temp of 18C. Caught my fish on flies and switched to a faster sinking tip the last hour. The fish move deeper and hold at the brightest part of the day. Shared a good spot with one other angler who got his limit as well.
(https://i.imgur.com/6KmUpNI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/EB80Gde.jpg)
pretty shiny eh?
(https://i.imgur.com/U5TPPb7.jpg)
#4
If the return is good and one hits it right the Harrison can be outstanding around Thanksgiving. It usually lasts a day or 2 no more. I have fished schools passing through as late as early November though those fish were colored.
18C is cooler than I expected, very nice catches!
I checked the dates of when I caught my pinks and the water temps were also around that, will have to get up early and try more before the sun is out... Hoping next weeks rain will help cool things down before the season ends in the Lower Fraser.
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Darko, what you saw is a Russian submarine shaped and painted to resemble a killer whale. The Russians have long been wondering about our awesome salmon returns, so Putin dispatched a specially disguised submarine to follow our salmon and collect scientific data. ;)
Ah yes how silly of me to not think of that!
That's interesting. It's not the first such report and there is a thread from 2014 posted by someone who said they saw a killer whale in the river, as opposed to the mouth or the estuary. It's plausible as they do do such things. One report I saw says KWs have been confirmed in the Columbia up to 100km from the mouth. They can't stay in freshwater long though. They will get sick and likely die.
interesting! I wonder if they are entering the river because I also heard that the salmon are not staging as much or as long as usual at the Fraser river mouth.
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I wanted to share something very interesting i saw a few days ago in the tidal fraser near new west. I saw something very unusual. A killer whale. Yes I am 100% sure it was a killer whale. I had first seen it across the river. Something large and black surface for about 2 seconds the exact same way a killer whale does. This one was maybe 18-20 ft large. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. I was just thinking, that's way too large to be a seal or salmon. Too dark to be a sturgeon and unlike how they usually jump or surface. Then about 2 minutes later I see it jump about 3 meters into the air with the sun reflecting on it's black skin. This thing was huge and the same shape as a killer whale. Some smaller tug boats actually were going by across the river while it was in the area which I know can confuse them or negatively affect them. I wonder what happened to it. After the second surfacing I started recording to try to get it on camera but of course it didn't want to come out after that. Just wasn't meant to be I guess. Anyways something I'm sure is pretty rare to see. The day before it I also witnessed the man floating by hope on the fraser that fell off his kayak. Man that stretch is fast and I was glad to find out he made it ok. But seriously an inflatable kayak on a windy day on that stretch of the fraser is a terrible idea and I hope he doesn't get back his kayak for his own sake. That man is very lucky to be alive. Somebody beside me alerted SAR just incase. He seemed calm and didn't utter a word as he floated down the middle of the swift river in his life jacket. Anyways quite interesting events to witness on the Fraser in back to back days! You never know what you will see out there...
There is no way a killer whale was in the fraser in new west. most local orca sightings are tracked/reported. There would be many reports and videos
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Geez Darko, either you are losing it or you made the observation of a lifetime.
I'v been thinking along the same lines as @sockeyed. If there it was indeed an orca, and this being salmon season with commercial boats on the water and anglers lining the banks, not to mention all the recreational boat traffic and tugs on the water, there should be other reports, cell phone footage...
You may want to reach out and share your sighting with one of the cetacean sighting websites: Ocean Wise is one, or DFO has a ph# to call into.
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There is no way a killer whale was in the fraser in new west. most local orca sightings are tracked/reported. There would be many reports and videos
It wasn't exactly in new west, it is more downstream, but I don't want to blow up any spots..
I am 100% sure it was a killer whale as I said. I saw it surface and I saw it leap out of the water. There was other people fishing nearby that probably saw it too. Trust me I have a good eye and I'm sure of my sighting. Like I said I started recording after the second sighting but it didn't show again.
Geez Darko, either you are losing it or you made the observation of a lifetime.
I'v been thinking along the same lines as @sockeyed. If there it was indeed an orca, and this being salmon season with commercial boats on the water and anglers lining the banks, not to mention all the recreational boat traffic and tugs on the water, there should be other reports, cell phone footage...
You may want to reach out and share your signing with one of the cetacean sighting websites: Ocean Wise is one, DFO has a ph# to call into to.
I will check the DFO contact and describe my sighting although that was on Tuesday.
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It wasn't exactly in new west, it is more downstream, but I don't want to blow up any spots..
I am 100% sure it was a killer whale as I said. I saw it surface and I saw it leap out of the water. There was other people fishing nearby that probably saw it too. Trust me I have a good eye and I'm sure of my sighting. Like I said I started recording after the second sighting but it didn't show again.
I will check the DFO contact and describe my sighting although that was on Tuesday.
there are many drift wood. They sometime look like whales. they are dark
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I saw a pair of gillnet boats today just downstream of the Patullo Bridge. One might have been the Brownsville test boat. Didn't see any whales but I wasn't looking. It is true about whale sightings being tracked and reported on line. You can look. KWs usually travel in groups of 3 or more. Very rare to see one alone though it is possible they were separated enough you could only see one. You have also not mentioned additional details that would convince me you actually saw a killer whale and not something else namely the color and the distinctive dorsal fin.
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there are many drift wood. They sometime look like whales. they are dark
Sarcasm at its finest
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there are many drift wood. They sometime look like whales. they are dark
Sarcasm at its finest
and they jump, frequently.
more food for thought:
https://sportfishingbc.com/threads/ever-seen-an-orca-in-the-fraser-river.72448/
Post #3 I was born in Richmond to a commercial fishing family and spent a good part of my life on the Fraser river. In approx. 1960 while deckhanding on my fathers boat we observed a large male Orca proceeding upriver at Steveston in either July or August.
This was the only time this was seen and is still etched in my mind. I guess you can never say never.
that he could distinguish it as a male makes this more credible for me at least.
https://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=35940.0
anyway it's nothing new for people to report seeing them in the Fraser but is that what they really saw?
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I’ve spent the last 40 years working on the Fraser between Mission and the mouth, North Arm and main stem. I have never seen or heard of a killer whale in the river. That’s my two cents.
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Very slow this morning at 2 locations. Fishing pressure has dropped off noticeably the past week so have the fishing. Only 1 caught.
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Very slow this morning at 2 locations. Fishing pressure has dropped off noticeably the past week so have the fishing. Only 1 caught.
They learned to not bite our lures. 900K fish swam through yesterday and probably similar amount today.
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Very slow this morning at 2 locations. Fishing pressure has dropped off noticeably the past week so have the fishing. Only 1 caught.
There are still harvesters shamefully bottom bouncing up in the non tidal and limiting out >:(
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Another very slow morning in the tidal Fraser. Fishermen heading home with glum faces.
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There are still harvesters shamefully bottom bouncing up in the non tidal and limiting out >:(
it's open until Sept 25th though numbers of fish will drop over the coming week
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In the last five days while working I’ve only seen a half dozen or so fish roll. Have seen plenty of shore anglers and none of them have been hooked up. On the North arm.
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Heard the Squamish system is fishing well.
11 fish caught today by a youngster.
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Heard the Squamish system is fishing well.
11 fish caught today by a youngster.
Visibility is zero, so no real fishing to speak off. Only snagging and flossing is what is happening.
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Still schools of pinks moving through the Lower Fraser.....
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Action picked up at Mission this morning. People having the best luck with the tassie it seems. Still a few flossers around. Had a couple hooked on spoons but they were really coloured up.
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were into some big humpies on Saturday out in front of the Fraser. Over 6 pounds strong enough to pop the clip and screen some line out.
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Mission bridge was decent, me and a buddy hit another system to see if we could find some pinks but alas, none to be found so we made a quick roll to the park. Bud got into a pink in the first 4 casts, I could hook fish but only landed 1, but still a decent day and lots of laughs to be had. :)
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Caught two early last week in about an hour and since then haven’t been able to catch anymore. Have tried Richmond south arm near 4 road a couple times and from Burnaby Foreshore park once. I’m brand new so I’m learning a lot but it is disappointing when you have such success early on and then a period of nothing.
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Caught two early last week in about an hour and since then haven’t been able to catch anymore. Have tried Richmond south arm near 4 road a couple times and from Burnaby Foreshore park once. I’m brand new so I’m learning a lot but it is disappointing when you have such success early on and then a period of nothing.
With fishing there are highs and lows, this year in particular hasn't been the most easy despite the large numbers coming back but don't let it discourage you as you aren't the only one who is having difficulty right now, seen many anglers from between no3 road and Gilbert the past two weeks who have either caught only one or two despite multiple hours of fishing or none at all.
I've been fishing that area of the lower Fraser with great results since opening, watch other anglers who are having success, strike up a convo and you never know who you might run into. ;)
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It's as they say, they call it fishing and not catching ;)
Always try moving around a bit too, even within the same spot. I was packing up and getting ready to leave, when I cast a couple more times on walk back and almost immediately got into fish, much after everyone seemed to have stopped getting fish.
(https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/habitat/frw-rfo/reports-rapports/2025/images/2025-09-08-qualark-temp-eng.jpg)
New forecast for temps are looking great. Should be able to catch the tail end of the pink run with hopefully faster fishing.
Talked to a few guys that said they drove from out east and the Fraser tributaries are still pretty slow for Salmon.
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Fabulous! Now we can all spend hours & hours chucking lures at nothing! People shouldn't spend money to buy lures for such an opening. Better to send the money to me and I'll invest it for them. What scam to lobby to open the river for pinks now. DFO will just say they gave us what we asked for. Nothing like an opportunity for nothing. 8)
not trying to beat you up Ralph but looks like this comment aged well.
Pretty much 90% of the return already past Mission right now. The fish arrived a week earlier than forecasted and of course the run size was 1/2 of original forecast. It's a good thing the opportunity to fish came early instead of waiting until early September to open it. Having the river open with few in it should have created a better angling experience overall. Challenging to get with such a demand for fishing opportunities.
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not trying to beat you up Ralph but looks like this comment aged well.
Pretty much 90% of the return already past Mission right now. The fish arrived a week earlier than foretasted and of course the run size was 1/2 of original forecast. It's a good thing the opportunity to fish came early instead of waiting until early September to open it. Having the river open with few in it should have created a better angling experience overall. Challenging to get with such a demand for fishing opportunities.
in fairness i don't think anyone predicted the earliest return on record
but also lol
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there is estimated 12 million pinks now migrated past mission, I wonder how that ranks for spawner escapement
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in fairness i don't think anyone predicted the earliest return on record
but also lol
I agree, Not trying to beat up Ralph, just pointing out it's better to have an open fishery before the fish actually show up so it's fishing not just a mad rush mayhem experience because the fish are here right now and could be gone tomorrow. Ralph offers many informative posts almost every day.
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Not a bad morning to be out. Quite a few fish including a limit caught
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13.5 Million Pinks accounted for. It doesn't look like they will change the 12.5 Million in-season estimate. We could hit 15+ Million when it's all said and done.
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I think the pink season may be all but over. They haven't published the Mission passage for yesterday as yet but Friday's weekly report was that what mostly remained was approximately 1.3 million 'late' fish. Since then about 1.5 million has been recorded as passing Mission. Remember that thjis years return is 12 to 15 days earlier than the long term average.
I was on the Vedder last Wednesday and yesterday. The difference was remarkable. Last Wednesday schools of clean fish were passing through. Few anglers were present. Yesterday the river was crowded. I saw no fresh schools move through from the start of the flood through about half the ebb. There were large numbers of pinks but they were largely dark zombie fish tight against the cut banks and not in the good numbers at least based on the forecast. Maybe the Chilliwack run still hasn't recovered from the '21 floods. I was skunked though I saw fish caught by drift anglers who who swept presentations through the schools. Not the sort of fish I would retain.
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not trying to beat you up Ralph but looks like this comment aged well.
Pretty much 90% of the return already past Mission right now. The fish arrived a week earlier than forecasted and of course the run size was 1/2 of original forecast. It's a good thing the opportunity to fish came early instead of waiting until early September to open it. Having the river open with few in it should have created a better angling experience overall. Challenging to get with such a demand for fishing opportunities.
They actually rang quite true for the first week of the opening when fishing was very slow. Fishing didn't really get going (I would not call it excellent) until a few days before the Labour Day weekend. It was also directed more at the hype specifically from the BCWF presentations that went so far as to say the return could be as high as 50 million.
BTW to say the comment "aged well" means it rings quite true in hindsight. Early on I warned that the preseason estimates are very unreliable and actual returns could be much lower. Certainly was true in this case as returns look to be less than half the preseason forecast. I was more right than wrong.
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I was more right than wrong.
;D
labor day was also early this year next pink run it will be a week later lol
on the plus side it seems like its gonna be a good coho year, caught more hatch coho this year then previous out at the mouth. Reports of the same too. they were all pretty small tho
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At 208,000, yesterday's passage of Pink salmon is the lowest it has been since Aug 24th. That's quite a drop from less than a week ago when it approached 1 million and was over 1/2 million for a number of days.
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How convenient that the weather is only starting to get good and the run ends... At least coho is next :)
It was a slow season for me start to finish but still happy with what I got. Everyone I encountered was very polite which gives me hope.
Will still try to get out there a couple more times before the end of the week, lower numbers but lower temps may mean less people to compete against
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Still quite a few people out but not as bad as a couple of weeks ago.
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I last fished the lower river at about 4pm on the incoming tide on Monday September 8. It was slow. No surface activity. After about 1 hour, I landed a small very fresh pink buck with the help fellow angler named Philip (thanks). It looked like a doe until I cleaned it; the milt sacs were pink instead of white.
This was probably the last pink on my last cast for the season. I will probably not go out again until 2027. For me, the run peaked on August 31, when I limited out. Since then the fishing in the lower river has really fallen off. It has been a fun season, 16 fish over 16 days of fishing about 3 hours per day. We ate the first one and the last one, froze two and gave the rest to friends and relatives. People were happy to get a fresh fish.
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Curious if you guys find if the fish will swim close to shore if there is a lot of log pilings along the river. Fished middle arm a couple days ago since the south arm was looking like sockeye fishing and thats the logging channel. Didnt see any fish jump and was wondering if the logs pushed them out more towards the middle.
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Still a few being caught this morning in the Lower Fraser
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Lost 2 landed 1 today in the Lower Fraser. Definitely not as plentiful weeks ago but it's still possible to hook up.
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15 mill past mission with over 1 million harvested seaward. puts the run now over 16 million
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3 more days before the tidal pink season ends. Still quite a few fish moving through. As expected, not as crowded. Fishing still decent; at least a dozen caught.
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its nice when its like that, nice and peaceful
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Last day of the tidal pink fishery. Still fish moving in. My buddy caught 3 this morning.
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gonna miss the quick afterwork runs to the lower fraser
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How would you rate this years pink run?
For me it would be an 8 out of 10. Pretty steady though out the opening, not lights out crazy but steady.
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Hmm interesting.
What was positive:
at 18 to 19+ million, largest return since 2011. Of those close to 18 million fish passed Mission and a few are still coming.
at this point looks to be the 6th largest return since 1959
exceeded the average annual return of 11 million by about 80%
the tail of the run was long and sizable, providing pretty good fishing right to the end of the season
huge numbers of people got to participate
despite everything that has been lost on the Fraser fishery, the summer chinook fishery and the fall bar fishery etc, it made us realize how good it can still be
What wasn't so positive:
The pre-season forecast of 27 million was out by close to negative 10 million
The high pre-season forecast was used to hype the return far beyond the actual result. Also demonstrated once again the pre-season forecast is useless as a planning number
The final in season forecast of 10.5 million fish was low by + 8 million fish. Proving again the forecast system isn't that reliable
The return was remarkably early. By my figuring the peak (50% of escapement ay Mission) was Sept 4th. The river was low, warm and dirty on the Fraser, which put a damper on catch results.
Fishing conditions were exceedingly crowded. Huge numbers of people participated.
Reminded some of us of everything that has been lost on the Fraser fishery. Not too many years ago we could be looking forward to the Fall bar fishery which often got rolling in the last week of September.
I went out 3 times. Once I got a limit. Once I caught a fish and once I got skunked. I decided that was enough and pursued something else that was for me more enjoyable
I don't think 8 of 10 is unreasonable but I'll call it 7. Not close to any of great years I recall like 2011, 2003 and 2001.
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Consistent is the word I would describe the fishery.
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Tons of fish around the Hope area bars. The challenge was getting them to bite up there. The water cleared up nicely as the season went on. Was hoping to fish lower Fraser bars where the fish are more bitey but there was way too many people for my liking. Hoping for some more rain and a good coho season this October.