Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Rodney on August 15, 2025, 11:31:54 PM
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Tidal Fraser River (downstream from CPR bridge in Mission) opens to pink salmon fishing on August 18th, 2025. Complete opening details can be found in the fishery notice below:
https://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=328805&ID=all
As always, this thread is set up to provide background information for beginners who would like to get into this fishery. You are also encouraged to provide updates throughout the season, not necessarily the exact fishing spots where you are successfully catching them, but river condition, catch count, tide timing can all be very helpful to other anglers. Please do not ask others where they are fishing, you can do so by email or private messaging. If they wish to publicly disclose their fishing spot, they will voluntarily post it.
This discussion is not only limited to the tidal portion of the Fraser River, but the entire Lower Fraser River up to Hope where this fishery is available.
Background Information
If you have never tried the Fraser River pink salmon fishery and are unfamiliar with it, I have put together an article on how to catch them with spinning gear. You can read it at:
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/estuary_fishing/fishing_for_tidal_fraser_pink_salmon.html
Here are also some videos for additional help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtYuhfx2QrQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvo1-1sliwg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBHPQrSOh-I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cN1LGC8w-A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAIqI5rFZv8
Season, Timing and Locations
You can catch pink salmon in the Fraser River during odd years in as early as mid August, but the fishery typically starts in the last week of August. The first two weeks of September can be excellent. By the third week of September, it tapers off but you can still encounter the odd fish until the end of September.
The last three hours of incoming tide is usually best at most spots, but some locations can produce fish at any given tide. Sometimes fish will also enter the Fraser River when the tide is low. It is best to visit a spot several times at different tides to determine when it is most productive.
You can catch pink salmon at any spot along the Fraser River. They will enter both North and South Arms of the Tidal Fraser River in Richmond and Vancouver, converge into one arm in New Westminster. River/Dyke Roads along the shorelines of Richmond and Delta are popular spots. The south shoreline along Langley and Mission can be popular. Going further upstream, the popular gravel bars between Chilliwack and Hope will all produce.
Important Fish Identification Information
When the pink salmon fishery is taking place in the Lower Fraser River, several other salmon species will also be making their way through the river. Other Pacific salmon species are closed for retention so you must release them with care by keeping them in the water at all time and using a catch and release net. Wild steelhead, trout and char are also required to be released. It is your responsibility to identify these fish correctly. If you are unsure what species you have at the end of your line, please let it go without handling it too much. Here are some photographs for reference.
Pink Salmon
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc90/fishingwithrod/2013/130814-01_zpsa4498fb5.jpg)
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc90/fishingwithrod/2013/130814-02_zps2dcd8db5.jpg)
Coho Salmon
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc90/fishingwithrod/2013/130814-04_zps45a7129a.jpg)
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc90/fishingwithrod/2013/130814-03_zps294098e0.jpg)
Sockeye Salmon
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc90/fishingwithrod/2013/130814-05_zps7d9c41a6.jpg)
Bull Trout
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc90/fishingwithrod/2013/130814-06_zpsd79cff02.jpg)
Regulations
Beside your saltwater fishing licence, you must purchase a salmon stamp if you wish to keep your pink salmon. Make sure you are using a single barbless hook. Opening times and daily limit can be found in the fishery notice:
https://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=328805&ID=all
Advise and help new anglers who may not be familiar with the regulations. If it is apparent that they are aware of the regulations but choose to ignore them, you can report the violations by phoning 604-607-4186 or 1-800-465-4336.
Good luck and have fun in the next six weeks!
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Any idea when non tidal will open?
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Sunday morn9ng update:
Fished first light mid river for pinks, got one and one other person did also, dozen anglers out.
died off round 9 with the outgoing tide building force
fished all last week starting at the low tides, saw few that looked like pinks, lots of sockey and sturgeon jumping and springs being caught
this morning the river was packed with jumpers, looking forward to quiet mornings and very fishy tides this week
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Fished for a couple hours starting at 6AM around Maple ridge Area. Saw some fish rise and for the first time this year, porpoise. No luck for me. Strange thing is I went out first day of opening and caught a nice male. Skunked since then.
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Fished for a couple hours starting at 6AM around Maple ridge Area. Saw some fish rise and for the first time this year, porpoise. No luck for me. Strange thing is I went out first day of opening and caught a nice male. Skunked since then.
Opening day seemed pretty decent then tue wed ect was slower, I think there had been commercial openings involved. I saw a ton fewer fish jumping after that Monday
This morning at first light was good, I got two pinks, no one else around got any. Low tide last night was a bust, Mid river
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A lot more pinks seen and I landed 3 mid river at the early morning high dropping tide
Many many nets in the water, local boats and larger boats, many lights on the water at dawn
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A lot more pinks seen and I landed 3 mid river at the early morning high dropping tide
Many many nets in the water, local boats and larger boats, many lights on the water at dawn
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Commercial? or FN drifting gill nets?
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Commercial? or FN drifting gill nets?
FN Commercial fishery today
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FN Commercial fishery today
Thank you.
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Lower Fraser. I landed one, lost another and a few soft touches that didn't hookup. People around me were getting into fish as well.
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this morning saw many pinks rising, almost like mid season is, some years
almost got double digits, saw a few others catch one or two
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this morning saw many pinks rising, almost like mid season is, some years
almost got double digits, saw a few others catch one or two
Makes you wonder if this is the mid season peak and if it slowly dies out a week earlier in September.
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A lot of fish swam through Mission yesterday. 907,900. 2.2 Million accounted for.
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Fished lower Fraser from 7-11. There were plenty of fish rising but only had a few bites until about 9:30 when there seemed to be a few waves of fish push through. Landed 3, 2 male and a female.
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Popped down to my hometown yesterday afternoon for a bit and right away saw plenty of pink salmon rolling through at 4pm at the start of the incoming tide. I managed to hook four and missed a few until 6pm when suddenly someone turned the tap off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvo1-1sliwg
(https://scontent.fyvr3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/540970874_1294253785393435_3655960659999461209_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=EsrU1htQHlIQ7kNvwGkxyHw&_nc_oc=AdlLLwGTp6ud8U5O0iKSXATTvPrXfnx5P8DGepQsXMLXW3aQYUx-8gk55dOHFtsZnFK7GuFCPeRGyICEy10uARXx&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fyvr3-1.fna&_nc_gid=IanMeWuWw8YMegdr90uvMQ&oh=00_AfVQskmnhw0zh0H9nbCfLs7N-7YT4JaxN_kxq6MHiOkUEQ&oe=68B687D6)
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fished the incoming morning tide mid river as I have done since Sunday, again today. Got 5, had three follow my jig right to the surface lol.
slower than yesterday, hardly saw any risers, pretty quiet as was last evenings incoming tide, almost no risers seen
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Fished mid river on Thursday. Not as many risers as in previous days. Started fishing mid morning until about 11. Managed to hook one and tried to pass off my rod to a kid close to me. He had a chance to play it for a few seconds then it got off. Nothing else for me though. Need a magic jig.
btw... Any one other than Rodney fished Richmond or Mission lately? How about a report?
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I was out for the 1st time in this cycle. Had much the same experience. Took one home. Had many of the tap tap tap takes Rod mentioned. These could also have been small pike minnow or even the weight on my line bouncing off rocks. It was shallow near shore. While some people did relatively well most did more or less like me or worse. I was testing some home made lures and had no proven spinners or spoons along so my result wasn't unexpected. One worked!
This has so far been a unusual cycle. First the prediction of a massive record cycle, which is invariably incorrect. Started earlier and slowed down quickly. Could it already be over? I'll be interested to see what the PSC weekly report says. I wouldn't be surprised if the forecast is set below 10 million.
photographic evidence:
(https://i.imgur.com/uh7zV7Z.jpg)
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I thought I remeber reading in 2023 that a good portion of the pink return was from above hope as most of the population below was hit hard by the floods.
Wonder if that’s true for this year as well
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1 Million swam past Mission yesterday based on Hydroacoustics-based. Sockeye Decreased to 61900 from 200K the day before. Looks like counters are being hit by mostly pinks now.
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I thought I remeber reading in 2023 that a good portion of the pink return was from above hope as most of the population below was hit hard by the floods.
Wonder if that’s true for this year as well
as I recall:
Historically the biggest segments of the Fraser pink run are:
1) the Fraser between Chilliwack and Hope
2) Interior streams mainly the Thompson (and tributaries) and Seaton
3) the Harrison - which is the largest run for a single stream or river
the Fraser and Harrison pinks did not seem to be much affected by the Nov 2021 floods.
other runs like the Chilliwack are relatively small. It seemed to me the 2023 return was noticeably lower and I wondered if it should have been set to no fishing or c&r
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1 Million swam past Mission yesterday based on Hydroacoustics-based. Sockeye Decreased to 61900 from 200K the day before. Looks like counters are being hit by mostly pinks now.
I fished at Mission and the river was by no means alive with pinks. Most other people commented how much better the fishing was the previous 2 days.
At 4.5 million it suggests the run is approaching the 50% mark. Remains to be seen what happens on local rivers that are open or if the whole season may just fizzle out after the weekend.
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https://www.psc.org/publications/fraser-panel-in-season-information/fraser-river-panel-information-package/
Aug 29th update.
In season adjusted to 12,500,000 which is preliminary until approved.
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Seems fishy to me...I went back 30 years and there was not a pink run that came in this early this large.
I still wonder if the sockeye/pink ratio is correct and % is more sockeye then they estimate.
all armchair of course
if pinks they did dna for pinks there would be more answers guess will see when they hit the spawning grounds
I also looked at the average run timing and it lasts about 10 days so if this run is early the lower fraser fishery could be over in the next 5 days.
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The modelling is showing 12.5 Million Pinks for the Time being, but that'll change if either the marine tests spike again or the steady stream of fish keep moving passing Mission in large numbers. Either way, this year will be record setting in certain ways.
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That a pre-season big forecast is dashed by actual returns yet people think there will be some last minute turnaround has happen before. It is almost Sept and by now they have a good idea how many fish have come through the marine approaches and possibly what number is waiting in area 29. A big late recovery is not likely.
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There were a few big schools that came by Richmond area today. Lost quite a few.
August 29 Weekly Report PSC
Fraser River Pink Salmon
Like delaying Late run stocks, pink salmon delay their upstream migration into the Fraser River. At the moment,
around 5,000,000 pink salmon are estimated to be present in the Strait of Georgia. In the last few days there has
been a substantial increase in the abundance of pink salmon entering the Fraser River and this has been reflected by
the very large daily pink salmon estimates observed at the Mission site, approximately 1,000,000 a day for the last
three days. The estimated escapement of pink salmon past Mission through August 28 is 4,524,700. This is the earliest
upstream migration of large abundances of pink salmon since enumeration at the Mission site commenced in 2011.
The pre-season median (p50) forecast for Fraser River pink salmon was 27,000,000 (12,600,000 at the p10, up to
57,900,000 at the p90). At Tuesday’s meeting the Panel reduced the run size to 12,500,000 with an associated Area 20 timing of August 13.
This is the earliest timing for pink salmon on record but is in line with the timing observed in
the past 5 return years (15-20 August). It continues the recent trend towards earlier pink timing given that the longterm median timing is August 28. The earlier migration timing of pink salmon results in an increased overlap in
sockeye and pink salmon migration through marine areas, complicating fisheries access to harvestable surplus of
pink salmon while limiting bycatch of Late run sockeye.
https://www.psc.org/download/723/2025/19366/august-29-2025-2.pdf (https://www.psc.org/download/723/2025/19366/august-29-2025-2.pdf)
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saw very few fish mid river this morning, almost no jumpers or risers other than sturgeon
nets out as well
one guy got two pinks after tying himself the jig I had been using all week, we named it the copy cat killer
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Fished mid river on Thursday. Not as many risers as in previous days. Started fishing mid morning until about 11. Managed to hook one and tried to pass off my rod to a kid close to me. He had a chance to play it for a few seconds then it got off. Nothing else for me though. Need a magic jig.
btw... Any one other than Rodney fished Richmond or Mission lately? How about a report?
Still producing limits if you know what you're doing.
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Seems fishy to me...I went back 30 years and there was not a pink run that came in this early this large.
I still wonder if the sockeye/pink ratio is correct and % is more sockeye then they estimate.
all armchair of course
if pinks they did dna for pinks there would be more answers guess will see when they hit the spawning grounds
I also looked at the average run timing and it lasts about 10 days so if this run is early the lower fraser fishery could be over in the next 5 days.
Has an entire run of any salmon or steelhead ever arrived late or early? I’ve heard people say they’re late when the run is simply just poor. Never seen a rivers entire run shift though
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Has an entire run of any salmon or steelhead ever arrived late or early? I’ve heard people say they’re late when the run is simply just poor. Never seen a rivers entire run shift though
Back in the 90s the Adams River sockeye run arrived 3 to 4 weeks early and then held in the lower Fraser for quite some time. Many of those fish died of disease. Same thing happened to the Harrison/Weaver run around the same time. Those fish moved into the Harrison. Water temperatures were high and a large % died. I remember fishing the river in Sept for trout and the banks and river floor was covered with dead rotted salmon. In both cases this behaviour lasted 3 or 4 years then the runs shifted back to their historical timing.
Interesting to note the Harrison has been opened for sockeye for the first time since then. Prior to that event they were caught on 'krill', just the small cocktail shrimp you can buy at Safeway etc. No need to floss.
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Stopped at busy spot late this morning after yoga, my buddies had been there all morning, saw not even one fish caught in the crowd or even risers
nets out again
fished last eve mid river and got a couple pinks, hoping it either gets better or it rains and gets the mushrooms up so I have something to do till coho season
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I went out this morning to a popular spot as well as its close to home and had both kids with me. Counted 12 boats with nets in front. Didn't expect much when I saw them. Didn't see anyone hook up.
Found a disoriented pink doe swimming on its side by the shore, clearly had wiggled through a gill net. Tailed her and helped her recover and swam off.
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Fished the lower in the morning. Nobody on shore had fish on. The occasional fish swam by without biting. There were way more fish on Tuesday.
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Fished Langley on incoming today. Caught 1 fish. A few risers around, but really slow.
How long are the nets in the lower Fraser for?
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https://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fraserriver/firstnations/PDFs/CommunalOpeningTimes.pdf
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fished richmond this afternoon from 1030-3. landed 1, lost 1. Couple of people around me landed/lost some but was about 1-3 bites per person form what I saw. Been hearing its been spotty from the fraser mouth to langley despite a good chunk of the run already pass mission.
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Back in the 90s the Adams River sockeye run arrived 3 to 4 weeks early and then held in the lower Fraser for quite some time. Many of those fish died of disease. Same thing happened to the Harrison/Weaver run around the same time. Those fish moved into the Harrison. Water temperatures were high and a large % died. I remember fishing the river in Sept for trout and the banks and river floor was covered with dead rotted salmon. In both cases this behaviour lasted 3 or 4 years then the runs shifted back to their historical timing.
Interesting to note the Harrison has been opened for sockeye for the first time since then. Prior to that event they were caught on 'krill', just the small cocktail shrimp you can buy at Safeway etc. No need to floss.
Below is a link to a paper on the phenomena I mentioned above. It lasted at least 7 years ('95 to 2002) and lead to very high mortalities of over 90% in some cases. At least at the time the catastrophic decline of Cultus Lake sockeye was attributed to this delay:
Abstract:
Late-run stocks are unique among Fraser River sockeye salmon populations in that they typically delay in Georgia Strait4 to 6 weeks prior to migrating upstream to spawn. Beginning in 1995, and continuing through 2002, this delay period to 6 weeks earlier than normal. Each year, the early river entry has been associated with high rates of en-route and prespawning mortality (>90% in 2000 and 2001). The abnormal behavior and mortality was less extreme in 2002 than the prior two years and results from a radio tagging program indicated that individual late-run sockeye exhibited a range of behaviors from little or no delay to near normal delay. The abnormal behavior and subsequent mortality is already threatening the viability of small populations (e.g. Cultus Lake sockeye). The Pacific Salmon Commission has held workshops and funded several studies to begin investigating the causes of this behavior. Many competing hypotheses have been proposed (e.g. involving physiology, environmental conditions, contaminants, parasites, and predators) regarding the reason(s) for early migration and high mortality. However, the cause of the behavior and mortality remain unknown. Precautionary management actions have resulted in large foregone catches of late-run and summer-run sockeye populations that co-migrate with late-run stocks in the fishing areas (e.g. Adams and Horsefly River sockeye). Similar behavior has been observed in other Fraser River salmon species, but the high mortality rates have not yet been observed
https://www.watershedwatch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Exh-72-NonRT.pdf
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Fished Langley on incoming today. Caught 1 fish. A few risers around, but really slow.
How long are the nets in the lower Fraser for?
Monday is the last day if I read things right
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fished mid river for 3 hrs on the incoming tide, caught dozens on the old pink jig, had some rain, some lightening, no one else around it was pretty epic
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Lower Fraser hooked 3, landed 2. Most People around me were catching too. A few double headers.
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Monday is the last day if I read things right
pink till the 18th i think, sockeye last day is monday (9/1)
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Fished evening tide at Mission. Saw only two fish rise. There must have been close to a hundred rods on the beach. Only one caught two and he packed up.
Also saw one guy bottom bouncing. Big betty with leader saver connected to > 2meter leader and a hook with some fluff. Tried to explain that it was a drift setup and cast way upstream. Got upset if people were close to his right. Sad.
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Fished evening tide at Mission. Saw only two fish rise. There must have been close to a hundred rods on the beach. Only one caught two and he packed up.
Also saw one guy bottom bouncing. Big betty with leader saver connected to > 2meter leader and a hook with some fluff. Tried to explain that it was a drift setup and cast way upstream. Got upset if people were close to his right. Sad.
Idiots abound all over the river. Check out the brawl at Gill rd Sunday that’s posted all over the social media pages.
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I am pleased that my little padawan caught his first salmon yesterday, in fact he caught his first three!
Last fall, I started mentoring a co-worker's early 20's son in the ways of the salmon. Spent an evening with he and his brother talking about salmon fishing and showing them the gear I use for coho. Also took him out late in the season to show him some spots other than the crowded tidal canal he had been fishing unsuccessfully.
In the last week of August, I took him out for pinks. We got skunked but I showed him a couple of spots and he got an idea how the fishery works and the importance of tides.
I'm out of town this week so he and his brother went pink fishing on Saturday. His bother hooked and lost one. Yesterday little padawan landed three pinks, but broke his POS rod. He's young and got a good job; now's the time to buy quality gear before he has a wife and family!
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Idiots abound all over the river. Check out the brawl at Gill rd Sunday that’s posted all over the social media pages.
Overall I think these incidents are still rather rare and serious extremely rare. However I do recall a stabbing on one of the flossing bars a number of years ago. The few incidents I have seen were loud voices and a bit of shoving which subsided once a few people told them to calm down. I remember one where after such a tussle, 2 anglers had to untangled a bird's nest of their lines entangled after a particularly long flossing sweep. Also saw the odd one back in the early 70s and late 60s. My father even got physically involved once or twice when an adult male angler tried to muscle in on my spot (really bad form on a someone who was 11 to 13). One was a very burly young man who quickly retreated when Dad moved in quickly so they were face to face, pushed him off and Dad's knee was dangerously close to the other fellows groin.
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I am pleased that my little padawan caught his first salmon yesterday, in fact he caught his first three!
Last fall, I started mentoring a co-worker's early 20's son in the ways of the salmon. Spent an evening with he and his brother talking about salmon fishing and showing them the gear I use for coho. Also took him out late in the season to show him some spots other than the crowded tidal canal he had been fishing unsuccessfully.
In the last week of August, I took him out for pinks. We got skunked but I showed him a couple of spots and he got an idea how the fishery works and the importance of tides.
I'm out of town this week so he and his brother went pink fishing on Saturday. His bother hooked and lost one. Yesterday little padawan landed three pinks, but broke his POS rod. He's young and got a good job; now's the time to buy quality gear before he has a wife and family!
May I ask what’s a little Padawan? I have never heard that word before.
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Overall I think these incidents are still rather rare and serious extremely rare. However I do recall a stabbing on one of the flossing bars a number of years ago. The few incidents I have seen were loud voices and a bit of shoving which subsided once a few people told them to calm down. I remember one where after such a tussle to 2 had to untangled a bird's nest of their lines entangled on a particularly long flossing sweep. Also saw the odd one back in the early 70s and late 60s. My father even got physically involved once or twice when an adult male angler tried to muscle in on my spot (really bad form on a someone who was 11 to 13). One was a very burly young man who quickly retreated when Dad moved in quickly so they were face to face, pushed him off and Dad's knee was dangerously close to the other fellows groin.
One of the funniest things I saw was years ago when Peg Leg bar still existed. A fellow on the one side of the river hooked the line of another angler on the Peg leg side of the bar. They both played each other for about 5 minutes! When they realized they were hooked to each others line the screaming and yelling profanities at each other started! That lasted till one of the combatants cut the others line off. LOL
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I knew it was going to happen this sockeye opening, population growth and cell phones everywhere. I would have bet good money on a few fight videos coming out.
today mid river on the Fraser for pinks I saw lots and lots but managed only 6 to shore, buddy had a few also
pink jig again for the good times
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May I ask what’s a little Padawan? I have never heard that word before.
It’s a term from Star Wars referring to an apprentice Jedi
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It’s a term from Star Wars referring to an apprentice Jedi
Ah okay! I did not watch any of the Star Wars movies.
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...so Clarki thinks of himself as a Jedi among anglers! ;D
OH KAY!
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I thought, "Damn, I want a Padawan too..." but then I remember I still have two little kids...
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Over 7 Million Pinks accounted for but it's slowing down a bit now.
1,259,700
1,014,800
651,800
715,700
653,600
592,900
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Also over a million caught so that would make it 8 mill accounted for out of a 12.5 mill estimate.
So quarter of the estimate left to go
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If the sockeye fishery is closed is it even economical to only keep fishing for pinks and get paid a dollar a fish lol
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If the sockeye fishery is closed is it even economical to only keep fishing for pinks and get paid a dollar a fish lol
bycatch can most likely be retained. I haven't read any notices to confirm
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What do you think the odds are on the in season estimate being wrong?
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If the sockeye fishery is closed is it even economical to only keep fishing for pinks and get paid a dollar a fish lol
bycatch can most likely be retained. I haven't read any notices to confirm
Don't let them fool you. The Natives are 'banking' on a good bycatch. I'm just saying the quiet part out loud.
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What do you think the odds are on the in season estimate being wrong?
I think it is wishful thinking if you believe the numbers should be higher, maybe realistic if you think it should be lower. The Hydroacoustic numbers are falling now, personally I don't want to believe the main run may be over but I would not be surprised.
Lot more pinks porpoising in the mornings around Mission, even though lately it has been the outgoing tide at that time. Hoping someone else can chime in, but if feels as if the lower tides are more productive lately despite popular belief being the opposite, at least for shore fishing the fraser from Langley to Mission.
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slow day on the incoming tide mid river. got a few fish but looked very quiet
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Location, location, location. Fished incoming until just after peak on mid river. Waves of fish went through. My buddy was around Langley and reported that all was very quiet. Played a few and landed a few. Timing is excellent because I wanted to can pinks tomorrow.
Anyone fish Richmond area?
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What do you think the odds are on the in season estimate being wrong?
From meeting notes today, they had an alternative model based on ocean catches showing up to 15 Million is possible, but they kept the 12.5 Million. Just seeing the way the number of fish moving past Mission right now, I think the estimates are pretty close to accurate.
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Location, location, location. Fished incoming until just after peak on mid river. Waves of fish went through. My buddy was around Langley and reported that all was very quiet. Played a few and landed a few. Timing is excellent because I wanted to can pinks tomorrow.
Anyone fish Richmond area?
Fished evening got one in about 10 minutes then quiet until tide shifted and started going out, got another one. It was slow and not much fish showing. Between Garry point to NO.5 area
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Location, location, location. Fished incoming until just after peak on mid river. Waves of fish went through. My buddy was around Langley and reported that all was very quiet. Played a few and landed a few. Timing is excellent because I wanted to can pinks tomorrow.
Anyone fish Richmond area?
Was fishing yesterday incoming tide in N3 road area. Very slow. A lot of peoples. Saw only 3 fish landed in two hours,
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I was fishing the mouth yesterday, 2023 at this time could not keep the pinks off, still got into a few pinks but there was not many waiting to come into the river. Did go over one good size school that was dining and jumping but not like 2023.
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I was fishing the mouth yesterday, 2023 at this time could not keep the pinks off, still got into a few pinks but there was not many waiting to come into the river. Did go over one good size school that was dining and jumping but not like 2023.
I agree, we only hooked into a handful of pinks where I remember 2023 you couldn't keep them off.
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Yesterday was my best day by far. Mid river, I landed 18 and lost over a dozen. It was wave after wave of fish around 5 pm. Alot of the fish were very humped out and quite a few of the does were starting to color up.
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Why does it seem to be acceptable to C&R Pinks but not Sockeye?
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IMO
1) earlier in their freshwater travel. Still seeing saltwater.
2) shorter migration - more likely to make it there after C&R
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Why does it seem to be acceptable to C&R Pinks but not Sockeye?
Because people are idiots. The mortality rate of released pinks, in these current water temperatures, will be significant.
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IMO
1) earlier in their freshwater travel. Still seeing saltwater.
2) shorter migration - more likely to make it there after C&R
Well both those reasons are completely wrong. Seen Pinks in the Thompson River this past weekend so saying shorter migration in wrong. More people fishing well above the area where there would be even a hint of salt water so that statement is wrong as well.
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Skunk after skunk around Mission. Met a very nice gentlemen who had some luck on spinners early 6am right around sunrise, but otherwise very little rising or bites. I should really just have bought my tidal...
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Skunk after skunk around Mission. Met a very nice gentlemen who had some luck on spinners early 6am right around sunrise, but otherwise very little rising or bites. I should really just have bought my tidal...
That sounds like the guy I saw on Sunday. Out of a hundred rods on the beach, only his had fish. Landed two and left.
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I've been trying out the outgoing tide the past few mornings, have had a few nibbles but likely from smaller fish. The wildfire smoke today didn't help, as well as water temp being over 21c , doesn't surprise me about the lack of fish biting despite the numbers. Makes sense why mid-river and mouth of the Fraser seem the most productive, probably where most of the colder water is.
https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/habitat/frw-rfo/reports-rapports/2025/2025-09-01-eng.html
(https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/habitat/frw-rfo/reports-rapports/2025/images/2025-09-01-qualark-temp-eng.jpg)
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Why does it seem to be acceptable to C&R Pinks but not Sockeye?
Mortality of C&R in the Fraser aside, if sockeye actively bit as readily as pinks and had good abundance, I dont think too many people would have much of an issue with sockeye C&R. Wouldn't be any different than targeting coho or steelhead in systems which are basically 100% wild, or any other C&R fishery like sturgeon, bull, cutts etc (though some don't do it on ethical grounds).
However, snagging non-biting sockeye (or any species) just to release them anyways won't sit well for most people, unsurprisingly
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Well both those reasons are completely wrong. Seen Pinks in the Thompson River this past weekend so saying shorter migration in wrong. More people fishing well above the area where there would be even a hint of salt water so that statement is wrong as well.
You asked a good initial question, but @Dragonspeed's reasons are not completely wrong. He's got a good point.
With the exception of a small pink run to the Quesnel River, the furthest the pinks migrate is into the Thompson. One map shows they only migrate as far as Shuswap Lake https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/189621.pdf (page 5)
Sockeye, on the other hand, migrate vastly greater distances https://www.psc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PSC-Spawning-Grounds-Map.pdf
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That paper from 1995 is relatively old and doesn't include any data after 1991. I have 'heard' (or read) of increased numbers of coho steelhead and now pinks in Fraser above the Thompson and Seaton watersheds. Certainly not huge number but considering the period subsequent to the paper has seen some very large returns makes me wonder if they are colonizing more watersheds above the T. Given the initial expectation of a huge return, and the marketing hype, surprising requests came from upper parts of watershed for pink openings as far north as Prince george and the Nechako. Another feature of the paper is the remarkable swings in abundance.
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One of my most frustrating fishing situations.
I was fishing mid river and was hoping to get some pinks to can. It was early evening and fish were seen passing so i quickly caught 1 and was hopeful for more because I need at least 5 or six to make it worth heating up the pressure cooker. There are three at home in the freezer and what I wanted was at least one more. After a couple hours I finally landed another. Bonked it, cut it's gills and put it down next to a log. I then went to get my stringer, turned around and could no longer see the fish. I'm getting old and my short term memory is terrible, but I swear I put the fish down next to a the log. Unfortunately I forgot the it is possible for things to slide under the log and due to tidal action there is a cavity there. I reached in under the log as far as I could to feel around for the fish but no luck.
Arrgh!
Fishing was pretty good though. There was a couple families fishing a little up river of me. They were consistently hooking into fish. Kids were having a blast. Wish I was eight years old again.
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Had an ok afternoon a couple days ago in Richmond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Bjmedtnqc
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Fished yesterday in the Lower. No luck for me and the rest of the bar. 1 Fish landed among 20 people. The test catches are showing lots of fish but they decided not to bite while I was there.
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Yes the Mission HA numbers have gone up the last 2 days (over 900k yesterday) so there should be good fishing available. Current escapement is over 9.5 million so there should be no complaints that not enough fish were put on the spawning beds this fall.
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Next week is looking very agreeable weather-wise too.
(https://i.imgur.com/pPtBr7H.jpeg)
Learning to use the airbrush with the downtime and hoping to cast these out soon. Have a few other lures I whipped up in the 3D-printer that will hopefully be productive too.
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10.5 Million Pinks Accounted for. The 12.5 Million Estimate could be reached by Monday. It's looking more likely the final number will be a lot more than that.
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gorgeous looking paint job Yoh!
fished the last few evenings mid river minimal effort, seems to be lots of pinks running by as the tide starts to drop, very high tides though I had to climb an alder tree to cast last night
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Have a few other lures I whipped up in the 3D-printer that will hopefully be productive too.
Hi Yoh
Can you show us what you printed?
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I was planning on only posting if I actually caught anything, but since you asked...
(https://i.imgur.com/amHIvJF.jpeg)
Everyone going crazy with these lures made me think "Well, I could probably model this in Blender and make some prints pretty quick". Combined with the Airspray Gun I got from Canadian Tire a while back on clearance, figured this would be a good time to use both to make some salmon catching lures.
Currently have a base-coat of primer drying. The resin material i'm using is a bit flexible but hoping it gives good action underwater as a result.
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The PSC weekly report is out. No change in the estimate for pink salmon. It's estimated that 1.3 million late run pinks are still in the Strait of Georgia.
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I was planning on only posting if I actually caught anything, but since you asked...
Everyone going crazy with these lures made me think "Well, I could probably model this in Blender and make some prints pretty quick". Combined with the Airspray Gun I got from Canadian Tire a while back on clearance, figured this would be a good time to use both to make some salmon catching lures.
Currently have a base-coat of primer drying. The resin material i'm using is a bit flexible but hoping it gives good action underwater as a result.
Thanks Yoh,
Looks like a cool experiment. But could be a deep rabbit hole with how many variations are possible.
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Thanks Yoh,
Looks like a cool experiment. But could be a deep rabbit hole with how many variations are possible.
I'm already in the deep rabbit hole of fishing gear...one more hole couldn't hurt ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/L2OO3hb.png)
My masking job is horrendous, so will have to improve that. Also found out that these are far too buoyant on their own and the original have lead/steel inserts in them to help sink, so I will have to go back to the drawing board.
Also was out at Mission again today, nobody was catching anything this evening, only there for a short while. Hoping the forecast stays true and we get some rain to help some fresher fish push into the system.
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I landed 8 last night but the amount of fish showing was incredible. At about 7pm they all turned around and we're flying back down river though.
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Do y'all reckon I am wasting my time fishing around the mission area? I was under the impression "mid river" starts around here but looking at a map of the fraser, I realize it is quite longer.
It's just within convenient enough distance and usually it's not too busy, but hearing people of catching dozens while I've only maybe had a few on the line on a good day makes me question if I should commit to driving further out...
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To be honest with you you, it's only in the last 4 days that it's picked up for me. When the main bulk went by I was having crap luck compared to other years. But I found the fish seemed to be travelling a little further out then what I've experienced in the past. Once I was able to find a spot that I could reach a travel lane things turned around.
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I have been looking at depth maps of the Fraser and also trying new spots accordingly. Some mornings and evenings I see them coming to the surface, other times nothing. Will have to keep putting in the foot work to find a spot that is in that sweet spot. Wish the summer weather cooled down sooner as well, not just for the fish but more importantly for myself!
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It ain't over yet. We spent a few hours this afternoon (Wednesday) to fish the start of the incoming tide at South Arm in Richmond. Water clarity has gone down in the Lower Fraser in recent days, but clarity was just fine in Richmond as usual due to the saltwater influence. Not a whole lot happening but from 4:00pm to 4:30pm, there was a solid push of pink salmon moving through, as well as plenty of sockeye salmon leaping in the middle of the channel. I managed to hook two out of the four bites, and landed one of them.
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Whonnock test had its biggest pink set of the year yesterday
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Mission was pretty good for a couple hours in the morning around 8am today. Was trying a new rod/reel set and didn't set the drag right and lost a couple fish right at the shore...
Soon after the bite died off completely so just my luck, but was getting tons of hits compared to earlier. Plenty of people were limiting out. But they are really starting to colour up with the males being extra humpy.
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Fished morning around Maple Ridge. First couple hours fish were consistently moving through but not biting. Finally they were willing to chase the lures. All the ppl where I was were hooking consistently. I got four on the beach in about 30 minutes and I was done and happy.
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Fished first peak this morning. Before peak there were plenty of fish rising. Was able to land two doe's before 11. Fishing was still good but may be slowing down.
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Same here. Good at first light, then nothing afterwards. Most likely to do with a seal that decided to give us a surprise appearance... Have only gotten doe's the past few times.
Definitely slowing down, lots of spawned out salmon showing up and washing up on the shores now. Had one bump into my foot today twice, might have been the same fish both times, tried to guide it back out.
Fewest amount of people out by far in the season, and that's on a Friday. Only saw a couple other people hook up and land a couple fish.
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all morning the fish streamed by with the incoming tide mid river, fishing was good until about noon, tide reversed and they kept showing but stopped biting
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lots of spawned out salmon showing up and washing up on the shores now. Had one bump into my foot today twice, might have been the same fish both times, tried to guide it back out.
Being the Fraser I would suspect casualties of gill nets more than the latter
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Being the Fraser I would suspect casualties of gill nets more than the latter
Maybe, it was quite dark and the scales were quite damaged, but I didn't want to disturb it too much for a closer inspection. It still had enough energy to swim back out after I turned it around.
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Released a couple out in the ocean today at the mouth but there were fewer jumpes but they are still around.
But wow just wow the coho have never caught so many wild and hatch I’ll be shocked if it’s not a good coho year.
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Fished morning tide near Maple Ridge. Situation similar to yesterday except with what seemed like fewer fish. Did land a doe and left soon after. Others were still working on their first.
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Not lower fraser, but was in the Hope area all day and the amount of salmon piling up is insane. Plenty of fresh coloured fish, but even with the clearer water conditions, rarely did they seem to bite. Had to move multiple times across two different bars due to constantly foul hooking them no matter the lure or retrieve speed.
This marks an end to the season for me. It was a great learning experience as it was my first pink season, and I'm happy to have caught any at all. Wish I could have limited out even once, but onto coho season...
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I had most likely my last day of pink fishing yesterday and I landed 2 lost 1 and had 9 solid hits that I flubbed on.( Didn't bring my file and I regret it lol)
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Yesterday around ridge meadows the morning incoming tide still had huge amounts of fish showing like crazy
however I managed only half of what I did the day before, not making double digits
today I tried a busy wharf and we saw nothing, one person had one on briefly. C'est la Vie
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Yesterday around ridge meadows the morning incoming tide still had huge amounts of fish showing like crazy
however I managed only half of what I did the day before, not making double digits
today I tried a busy wharf and we saw nothing, one person had one on briefly. C'est la Vie
sounds like you had some pretty good success this year. what kind of jig were you using? I was mostly using pink grubs and tazzies. I had some great days but overall challenging to hook these pinks this season compared to others.
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sounds like you had some pretty good success this year. what kind of jig were you using? I was mostly using pink grubs and tazzies. I had some great days but overall challenging to hook these pinks this season compared to others.
I had a couple days of memorable fishing but this was such a weird season, and my best spot was not accessible this season either.
biggest part of this fishery for me is fishing in the travel zone, second biggest is go slow and be able to feel every touch
most years they can fool you by sheer numbers and you cant miss, but when its slow you need to dial it in, like Rodneys most recent live stream demonstrated, the bites can be very subtle and you have to be ready. I wish I had fast reflexes like Rodney
I found if you jig softly from a boat etc you can detect them mouthing it by letting the jig fall and when the line doesn't drop it just goes limp its a fish.
I prefer a simple lead head jig with pink marabou and some added flash.
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I had a couple days of memorable fishing but this was such a weird season, and my best spot was not accessible this season either.
biggest part of this fishery for me is fishing in the travel zone, second biggest is go slow and be able to feel every touch
most years they can fool you by sheer numbers and you cant miss, but when its slow you need to dial it in, like Rodneys most recent live stream demonstrated, the bites can be very subtle and you have to be ready. I wish I had fast reflexes like Rodney
I found if you jig softly from a boat etc you can detect them mouthing it by letting the jig fall and when the line doesn't drop it just goes limp its a fish.
I prefer a simple lead head jig with pink marabou and some added flash.
thanks, will have to add something similar to my arsenal next run!
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Still some massive schools showing up at sandheads the past few nights
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September 14.
Went to Haney docks thinking the rain should decrease the population down there. Still quite a few hard core fishers. Saw about 6 brought in. Fish weren't showing themselves but obviously they were there.
Had some guests over so I prepared some of my freshly canned salmon. Just salmon, mayo and mustard with some crackers. Everyone seemed to enjoy that. Felt good to have canned about four dozen jars and seeing people enjoy it.
After dinner I tried my usual place around Maple Ridge. Didn't see any fish rise and no bites detected. Left after an hour.
Still hopeful for the coming week.
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Was out last night on the dropping ride and managed 2 to the net lost a couple and had some good hits. Still fish streaming through.
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17 million pink salmon in season estimate
in the latest report
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Pretty decent numbers but probably won't break the 2011 run size record when more than 20+ Million were accounted for. Lots of them in the Vedder now.
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'91, 2001 and 2003 all exceeded 2011. Total run size in 2003 was over 24 million. https://psc1.shinyapps.io/salmon-run-size-app/
Looks like there was a good segment of the run that came in according to the average timing. If you look at page 12 of the briefing notes for Sep 16th you can see the difference between 2011 and this year plus the 'long right tail' of this years return
https://www.psc.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&task=file.download&wpfd_category_id=721&wpfd_file_id=19385&token=&preview=1
(https://www.psc.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&task=file.download&wpfd_category_id=721&wpfd_file_id=19385&token=&preview=1)
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Still lots of pinks out there in the lower Fraser I had maybe my best day so far this season. And the clear....ish water made for some really cool hook ups along the surface.
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'91, 2001 and 2003 all exceeded 2011. Total run size in 2003 was over 24 million. https://psc1.shinyapps.io/salmon-run-size-app/
Looks like there was a good segment of the run that came in according to the average timing. If you look at page 12 of the briefing notes for Sep 16th you can see the difference between 2011 and this year plus the 'long right tail' of this years return
https://www.psc.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&task=file.download&wpfd_category_id=721&wpfd_file_id=19385&token=&preview=1
(https://www.psc.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&task=file.download&wpfd_category_id=721&wpfd_file_id=19385&token=&preview=1)
interesting but its almost shaping up to have a normal run time wonder how accurate that initial bump of fish was to me it seemed like it was more sockeye then pinks.
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interesting but its almost shaping up to have a normal run time wonder how accurate that initial bump of fish was to me it seemed like it was more sockeye then pinks.
might also mean a massive run to the upper fraser, which run earlier. I seen some videos and heard reports the thompson was loaded with pinks.
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Still lots of them moving pass Mission. At this rate, we'll probably exceed 20 Million.
469,600
313,700
294,600
354,400
408,700
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how do they differentiate between pink, sockeye, coho chum and springs in determining the number of fish counted.
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Lotta rods on the North Arm today !
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Went out on Friday around Maple ridge. Still fish passing through. Fished after dinner and had a hook up on my third cast but it took off on me. Didn't understand why it was peeling line on me so I thought my drag was too loose. Tried to tighten it but after that the hook popped off. I think it may have been hooked in the tail. Rest of the evening we still saw fish moving but unable to hook any. Will be trying again today.
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You do realize that the season ended on the 18th ?
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You do realize that the season ended on the 18th ?
Below the Port Mann it was open to the 18th. Above Port Mann to Mission stayed open until the 20th.
It's a bit unusual because the Port Mann is not a fishing boundary we usually see
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In the past at least in the tributaries it was open until the end of October. The Fraser of course has the rolling IFC and IFS closure windows.
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Last day to retain pinks is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th. Pretty glad it's a BC stat holiday. I have co-workers in Ontario who have to work on that day.
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Went to Haney dock with friends yesterday to see if we could catch some crayfish. I suggested this because I expected the dock to be empty because Salmon retention was over. When I first got there there were a few people fishing but their equipment was basic and weren't doing well so they all left. But soon people started to trickle in and soon the dock was almost full again. There were 6 of us on the north side of the dock sitting and pulling our trap up from time to time. My friends daughter was having a great time because we were catching crayfish. Then one guy decides he was going to cast behind us. I spoke up and told him he can't do that. I have a hard time understanding how he thought it was ok to possible hook us on his cast to illegally fish.