Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: scruffy on September 02, 2005, 08:09:30 PM
-
went to peg yesterday and WOW :o the biggest GONG show in chilliwack,so went to another bar up river and it was a lot better maybe no more than 20 people and everyone hooking into fish got 1 sockeye,1 pink both does ;D
-
Someone should bring a gong, and bang on it once every ten minutes, or everytime when someone hooks up a fish... two bangs for each sockeye, one bang for a pink... You'll make friends very fast like that... ;D
-
what about spring ;D
-
We need a marching band for that... ;)
-
Anglers jubilant over sockeye opening
By Jennifer Feinberg
The Progress
Sep 02 2005
Opening a week-long sockeye fishery this week for recreational fishermen makes a lot of sense, said local angling rep Frank Kwak.
"Recreational anglers are finally happy," he said.
At midnight on Wednesday, DFO opened the Fraser River to anglers for the daylight hours. It is only open upstream from the confluence of the Chilliwack/Vedder river system to the Hope bridge.
The recreational fishery runs until Sept. 7 with a daily limit of two per day retention.
The last minute announcement came soon after the commercial sector was told it would not be getting an opening and the aboriginal food fishery was closed downstream from Chilliwack. Sto:lo food fishers have openings for set and drift net for the weekend.
Local bar manager Dan Brooks works nights so he headed down to Peg Leg bar yesterday morning to catch his sockeye limit. He'd heard through the grapevine at Major Leagues the rec fishery was set to open.
"Finally it's open," he said. "Everybody is happy and there's no tension here yet. But it's going to become a zoo on the river."
By 10 a.m. Thursday, the anglers were already starting to line up at Peg Leg.
"This is where everybody comes who doesn't have a boat," he said. "It's beautiful weather and I bet over the long weekend it's going to be even busier here."
The economic spinoffs from the annual meat fishery can be huge.
"Based on the statistics recorded by DFO and various reports, the sockeye fishery is worth a lot of money to the community," Kwak said.
Tackle shops, hotels, restaurants and gas stations will likely see an increase in business this weekend.
Boundary markers are now in place on the river to show where the limited angling area starts.
"We asked them last year to put up the triangles to indicate where anglers could fish," he said.
Some anglers were considering a protest when it looked like DFO was not going to open a recreational fishery at all, despite the fact that eight million sockeye are estimated to be in the system.
The ultimate way to express genuine concern with the way the fishery is managed is to join an organization with a mandate to lobby hard to see the fish protected, Kwak points out.
Some of the organizations worth joining, he says, include the B.C. Federation of Drift Fishers, the Fraser Valley Salmon Society, a local rod and gun club or the Sportfishing Defence Association.
"There's an opportunity to make a bigger impact that way," he said. Kwak is a vice-president of the salmon society and a director of the SDA.
(http://edit.bcnewsgroup.com/uploads/chilliwack/.DIR288/3920050902164925sockeye_fmt.jpg)
Dan Brooks (right) tries to catch a second sockeye salmon at Peg Leg as he and other fishermen line the shores of the Fraser River Thursday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
-
gong banging time GONG GONG GONG ;)
-
That's insane!! Sure not my kind of fishin', but I guess each to their own.
Nikko
-
yea the guy with the red hat was a beauty
i think he might have looked once pre cast
funny though
he still caught fish
:D
-
wheres chuck barris when ya need him ;D ;D im gonna sit this weekend out and wait till tues. by then most of the gongs will be back home where they belong. ;D ;D
-
omg how does that even qualify as fishing? If these people want to eat salmon so bad, just go buy some!
-
who said they were fishing? Their only it it for the meat!
-
Why do people wear waders while standing on shore flossing? lol.
-
good point i have often wondered why they wear waders when from shore and its 100 degrees outside. guess its a fahion statement ;D ;D
-
That is so funny. I guess that's why their called beeks. ;D
-
Went out today, thought that it would be a mess! It was. I dont know, if you can cast and hook a fish in that situation you can do it anywhere! Not all the guys out there are BEAKS by the way! Most of the people around us were good fishermen, very few tangles and people were pretty friendly! Everyone knows that it is a meat fishery and it is accepted as that! I also fly fish on lakes and streams, so I dont consider myself a beak! It was actually kind of fun!
-
About a week ago, when the pink salmon fishing was fairly good, Dyke Road in Richmond (approximately 1.5km) had about 100 people lined up fishing for them during the incoming tide. The space between two anglers would be about 30 feet. It was a very friendly atmosphere. Some gathered on the trail to share a few laughs. Some newbies would have troubles casting but only to be helped by more seasoned anglers who saw what was happening. When a fish was hooked, anglers surrounding the lucky inidividual would reel in and await for him or her to finish fighting the fish before fishing again. We saw families out together fishing, the trail remained fairly clean. It was orderly.
Why such a big contrast between this and Peg Leg?
Duration of the opening: By having such a short, late opening that many anglers have anticipated since late July, DFO created a gold rush effect. People are lead to believe the resource is limited, which will be harvested on a first come first serve basis. Under such competitive atmosphere, tension will build up. In my opinion, there should never have been an opening unless we have these social issues worked out.
The value of the resouce: The target species, sockeye salmon, is much more valuable than pink salmon due to its taste. It's apparently so good that some people would disregard all manners to get them. They disregard the people who surround them, the river bank that they stand on, and the fish. In the end, problems such as garbage, trespassing, fights emerge.
Newcomers and oldtimers: A popular area such as Peg Leg is advertised between anglers. Each season it receives many newcomers who are inexperienced in river fishing. Fishing in a crowd can be fun as human beings are social animals, but mixing newcomers and oldtimers can be bad news. It only takes one person who doesn't know the local unwritten rules to create a conflict.
What will happen?
DFO should recognize that there is a safety concern here, eventually someone will get hurt. It might not be this year, it might not be next year, but it will happen. It only takes two type A anglers to get an assault going. In the end, anglers are only limiting fishing opportunities themselves as either the City or DFO will implement a closure in this area if they believe it is unsafe for anglers to utilize.
The issue here is not about the impact that recreationalf fishery has on the Fraser River sockeye stock, as it is insignificant compared to the other two fisheries (First Nations and Commercial). The issue is not so much about whether the fish is biting the hook or not, DFO needs to implement regulations on flossing if it believes that there is a problem. The issue is the degradation of the social and environmental aspects of this fishery at popular shore access locations.
Is it worth to harvest two sockeye salmon knowing that your safety maybe jeopadized by putting yourself in that situation? Is the angling community prepared to go back to these locations once the fishery closes and perform a post-season river cleanup?
-
will they clean-up? No! The mess is rediculous and it is getting worse! Why don't they institute a rule like steelhead, two socks leave the river for the day! I know there are lots of pinks to be had but it would take care of part of the problem! I only caught one but a couple of guys who came in fished until they caught their two and then left! Actually the area that I fished was quite civil and mature! I enjoyed it! :D