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[chris gadsden]

 Lower Fraser – This area has one Late Run CU (Cultus-L). The 2016 escapement to this area totals 2,806 (including 207 Sockeye retained for broodstock) (Figure 2a). This escapement is more than double the 2012 brood year escapement of 1,155 and 25% of the long term cycle average (11,325). Although water temperatures in Sweltzer Creek were high through the majority of the Sockeye arrival period (ranging from 20-23oC from August 3rd through September 11th), Sockeye were reported as being in generally good condition.

 As most spawning in Cultus Lake occurs at depths below the visual range (>7m), it is expected that standard carcass recovery surveys on Cultus Lake are biased towards unsuccessful spawners as they are more easily accessible to crews. Therefore the reported estimate of spawning success (10.5%) may be biased low and not representative of the total population. Underwater remote video surveys were conducted in Cultus Lake in 2016 to locate and map spawning areas. No active spawning was observed, but limited numbers of live Sockeye and redds were located.

[Dave]

Thanks for this Chris.  Good to know this stock is still holding on. As you know, a large part of my life was working with these fish .. I wonder how many returnees were of hatchery origin?

[kingpin]

the biggest problem these fish face is the fact that a lot of them stage in the main stem on native land and are either netted or snagged and killed.

[Dave]

That certainly happens k but imo, the lake itself, the rearing area for these fish, is the main reason these fish are on their way to eventual extirpation.
 
 Spawning areas are impacted by a decreased upwelling aquifer, most likely from increased development in the Lindell Beach area, and increasing agricultural activities in upstream Columbia Valley, resulting in lower egg to fry survivals; water temperatures are rising and dissolved oxygen levels are decreasing, all lowering survival rates of fry.

Consider also, this lake sees well over 2 million visitors annually, with what people do naturally, going into the lake daily through the out houses and septic systems.   Add to that up to 20, 000 gulls roosting nightly in winter months, doing what they do naturally.  It has all added up and the writing is on the wall. 
Without the hatchery program for this stock (last I heard estimated at app. $100 k annually) I think Cultus Lake sockeye would be long gone by now.

I believe if this stock was not in the back yard of a major DFO facility, and the huge concerns of senior FN Soowhalie band members, specifically Grand Chief Doug Kelly, it would have been written off years ago.

[RalphH]

Dave, do you think similar cause are responsible for the decline of Sakinaw Lake sockeye?

Also good to see the brood year had a large increase over the last cycle after the (apparently exaggerated) concern over the net fishery on the Chilliwack Lake sockeye stocks last summer.

[Dave]

Dave, do you think similar cause are responsible for the decline of Sakinaw Lake sockeye?

Also good to see the brood year had a large increase over the last cycle after the (apparently exaggerated) concern over the net fishery on the Chilliwack Lake sockeye stocks last summer.

I don't know enough about Sakinaw sockeye to make an informed comment.  As to last summers fishery on "Chilliwack Lake" sockeye, did you hear the final numbers that were harvested?

[Damien]

Would be awesome to have a lake Sockeye fishery at Cultus, Chilliwack, Alouette etc...

The Lake Washington sockeye fisher looks fun.

[RalphH]

Didn't see the final #s Dave - bit I am sure you will enlighten me. Best I recall they didn't catch as many fish as hoped and the openings were extended somewhat.

When I comment apparently exaggerated I mean that the returns do not support the dire predictions about impacts on Cultus Lake sockeye that some were making when poop hit the fans hereabouts after the opening was announced.

[Dave]

Yeah, I know what you meant Ralph.
I said at the time this was a poorly conceived fishing plan due its timing and I still maintain that.  I have no idea how many sockeye were caught and unless some means of stock identification was done we are both just speculating how many Cultus sockeye were harvested … but, if just one was killed in this DFO sanctioned fishery, that was one too many considering the millions of taxpayer dollars that has been and still is being spent trying to recover this stock.

I also said at the time perhaps the biggest disappointment was the very group that fought so hard to have these fish listed first under SARA, and then COSEWIC, were ones fishing.

[CohoJake]

Would be awesome to have a lake Sockeye fishery at Cultus, Chilliwack, Alouette etc...

The Lake Washington sockeye fisher looks fun.

The Lake Washington stock (as well as that of Wenatchee lake) comes from the Baker River, a tributary of the Skagit river.  Baker Lake also has a lake fishery for sockeye.  What makes the stock especially suited for a lake fishery (and river sport fisheries) is that they return early and spawn late, so they stay chrome for a long time and seem much more willing to feed.  This is from the WDFW website on the Baker Lake fishery:  "Adult Baker sockeye enter the trap from mid-June to mid-October. Numbers peak in mid-July. Spawning occurs from mid-September through December, peaking from late September to late November."  That is a long time to hold in the lake, so during the lake fishery they are still more than a month (or two or three) from spawning.

The Cultus Lake fish generally return pretty late, right?  All the sockeye I have caught and seen caught in the Vedder/Chilliwack, whichever lake they are returning to, at least have a little blush already.  All the sockeye I have caught and seen caught in the Skagit River fishery (bar fishing with sand shrimp) have been chrome with all their scales intact and with no hint of color.  My hunch is that these stocks (Cultus and Chilliwack) are not well suited for lake fisheries, even if the returns are good as they have been for Chilliwack Lake, because the fish are too close to spawning when they reach the lake.

[Damien]

Interesting.

I guess the sockeye in the WA. lakes get pretty hungry being in there for so long.  I hear they bite on painted bare hooks behind a flasher or dodger.

[Dave]

The Cultus Lake fish generally return pretty late, right?  All the sockeye I have caught and seen caught in the Vedder/Chilliwack, whichever lake they are returning to, at least have a little blush already.  All the sockeye I have caught and seen caught in the Skagit River fishery (bar fishing with sand shrimp) have been chrome with all their scales intact and with no hint of color.  My hunch is that these stocks (Cultus and Chilliwack) are not well suited for lake fisheries, even if the returns are good as they have been for Chilliwack Lake, because the fish are too close to spawning when they reach the lake.

Some excellent observations WAfishboy.   Cultus sockeye have an interesting return time ... from early August until late December. The early fish are nickel bright and do what most early run sockeye do when they reach their natal lake, that is head down deep beneath the thermocline, into colder water, hold there until spawning time which is typically the end of November and into December.  40 or so years ago, when this population was much more stable, fish spawned well into January.

Chilliwack Lake sockeye enter the Vedder in late June and early July, again nickel bright. They travel to Chilliwack Lake to spawn around mid to late August, in the upper Chilliwack River (aka Dolly Varden Creek), in Washington State, and at a few creek outlet lake beach areas. I suppose a lake fishery would be possible for these fish, at least on a dominant cycle, but to instigate that would mean a much larger FN fishery component.
Bet on that.

Some times it's best to let sleeping dogs... sleep.

 

[CohoJake]

Interesting.

I guess the sockeye in the WA. lakes get pretty hungry being in there for so long.  I hear they bite on painted bare hooks behind a flasher or dodger.

Sometimes, especially in Lake Wenatchee where bait is not allowed, that is the go-to.  In Baker lake, I think hoochies or squirts with shrimp has been the ticket - with only 12 inches or so of leader behind the flasher.  In the Skagit river, the go-to is bar fishing with a spin-n-glo (usually size 6 or so) with tandem hooks and a whole live sand shrimp.

Has anyone ever hiked along the upper Chilliwack River (above the lake)?  I've thought of doing a backpacking trip up there, and it would be cool to see it full of sockeye.  According to old records with WDFW, all five species of salmon (including the elusive wild spring chinook) as well as winter steelhead spawn in the river upstream of the lake.

[Dave]

I have walked it a few times to almost the border.  It is a gorgeous stream with amazing timber alongside.  I would be very interested in seeing the old records of the WDFW you mention .. do you have a link?

[living_blind]

I've canoed and walked it as well. It is a protected area and fishing is prohibited (at least it used to be), but like Dave says, it is scenic. It doesn't get exactly 'fill' up with sox like some streams, but gets a solid run some years. I remember watching little kokanee from the lake sharing redds with the salmon, about ten inches long alongside 6-10 lb sockeye.