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[300zxfairlady]

Hey guys, Iv been curious to know if there are any techniques to catch sockeye in the lower fraser? Surrey/newest/burnaby/richmond areas?

I had been playing with the idea of bouncing with lighter weights as the current is not as strong? Are there any other methods you guys can suggest?

[Hike_and_fish]

I've always wondered of the Columbia river way of fishing for Sockeye works but the season up here is only about a month and time is limited. I'll maybe try it out 4 more years from now

[canso]

Spoons spinners and buzz bombs, same as pinks, don't wilfully snag fish.

Don't use the "shady" rig, drives me nuts when I see a dad with kids in the box.

[RalphH]

I have heard they 'buzz bomb' them in the Richmond area but I have also heard that described as a snag fishery. Might be a chance to catch some if the river clears and drops. Suggest you head down to some of the fishing wharves there to see what happens.

[Rodney]

In the last twenty years, I've spent fair amount of time targeting them during peak runs and in total I've hooked three. There were times when the water was boiled with fish during an incoming tide and there wouldn't be a single touch. IMO, sockeye salmon bite just like all other salmon species, they just don't do it as often and water clarity of the Fraser in July and August does not help. Their behaviours are similar to chum salmon once they are travelling through the tidal portion of the Fraser. More often than not it's almost impossible to get a chum salmon to bite as they travel through the Tidal Fraser. Anyway, put in the time, they'll bite. If you don't have time, head further upstream and floss them.

[RalphH]

Some people have told me that certain runs are biters and others are non-biters.

Biter = early Stuart

Non-biter = Adams River.

I think Weaver fish were non-biters while Birkenheads were considered biters.

These were all pre-flossing ideas that might be considered nonsense by many.

[redtide]

 i remember one of bent rods videos he was demonstrating some his new spinners  and ended up catching a sockeye on the harrison river. it was a late fish already in spawning colors but it took the spinner.

[VAGAbond]

In former years I had a boat and fished several peak sockeye runs off the Fraser mouth.  They would all have been primarily Adams River fish and some years they were biters and some years not but it is hard for an individual to tell as the date and tide and weather all have an influence on the bite for a specific day.

In my experience the farther from the fresh water you could intercept them the better.  I had some excellent catches off Point Grey out beyond the QA marker buoy and south to the red buoy, I think it is T10.  A number of times I fished closer in off the main arm near Sandheads and although there were times there were so many fish jumping that having one bang into the boat was not uncommon I never caught a fish there.   Not that one would never hit the bite off Sandheads but in several trips when there were lots of fish around, nothing.

I was out once to the northwest of Sandheads and not catching anything and looking NW up the strait I could see the sun catching splashes of 5 acres or so of leaping fish.   It soon became apparent they were coming towards me quickly so I turned to troll in the same direction with the fish.   The school of leapers swept past me on either side with not a single bite.   I pulled lines, passed the school and reset the lines and they went by me again.   Nothing again.   I followed them all the way to the silty water at Sandheads where they leaped by the hundreds on the edge of the fresh water and then obviously entered the river, stopped jumping completely and disappeared.

One trip there were so many leapers off Sandheads we saw a fellow grab his landing net and go to the bow, clearly thinking there were so many he could net one out of the air.   My buddy being a wiseguy yelled across to him that he was doing it wrong and should put the net in the water.  The fellow looked a bit uncertain and slowly lowered his net and darned it a sockeye didn't immediately swim into it.   He scooped but missed the fish.   The funny part was that almost two hours later he was still standing in the bow with his net in the water.

[cammer]

Gill nets work well in lower

[Fatso]

Spoons spinners and buzz bombs, same as pinks, don't wilfully snag fish.

Don't use the "shady" rig, drives me nuts when I see a dad with kids in the box.

If they dont bite the lure, you have to "bite" them.   

They dont bite down there.  If you hook one its cuz you snagged or flossed them.