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[Hike_and_fish]

I have pontoon drifted from above statlu confluence to boulder creek. Lots of nice water. I flipped the pontoon in the middle of the river when my oar popped out of the holder and i got pushed up into boulders in the middle of the river. The pontoon flipped and I luckily made it to shore. Haven’t done another drift since. The past two years coho haven’t been coming back in numbers. Three years ago the pools were black with coho..now there are only a couple here and there. Lots of coloured ones up in the canyon. It’s unfortunate that chehalis isn’t doing better. The canyon and the river is quite pristine. The net that the local FN band put across the lower mouth of the river before the hatchery channel the other year didn’t make things better either 

I personally saw nets at the mouth in 2014, 2015 and 2016

[Shinny]

Yes. So did I in 2015 and 2016. There was a severe shortage of fish in the system. I walked all the way down and found the net and that answered alot of questions. I went back a couple days later with a friend under the cover of darkness and took care of that problem. Next thing you know we were catching coho in the canyon... Remarkable.

[joshhowat]

Good thing the summer run program is now canceled.

[Hike_and_fish]

I spent an hour at the hatchery yesterday with my son. There were so many Chum lining up the hatchery employees said they dont have enough room for them all. I counted 3 Coho. I go every year at this time to take a look. I can say this year looks like a bumper crop. Even the canyon. The pools are thick.

[Wiseguy]

Good thing the summer run program is now canceled.

Can u elaborate when and why this is? Thanx

[joshhowat]

Can u elaborate when and why this is? Thanx

They decided to stop the program they also stopped all Fraser River cutties and Chapman creek steelhead.

No brood was collected this year so the ball is already rolling. The run was introduced anyways of coq fish.

Also just a reminder there is no retention of chum this year on the chehalis

[Wiseguy]

Is this because there is no funding available?

[Hike_and_fish]

Is this because there is no funding available?

In my opinion that's what it comes down to. The powers that be are under the gun to accommodate the cuts that came down. They find the best way to spin a cut and move on. I'm sure more cuts will come and they'll spin those two. The public will lap it up and say something like " that make sense". I can remeber the big Steelhead budget cut in the early 2000's. Catching Steelhead on the Kanaka Big Silver river. Great memories.

[clarki]

Is this because there is no funding available?

No, although conspiracy theorists like Hike and Fish would suggest otherwise.

More information here http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=42375.0

And you can read the information note from the ministry here http://fishingwithrod.com/fishy_news/files/2018-10-13-region-2-hatchery-cuts.pdf

[Wiseguy]

Thanx for the link. Interesting read. Sad to hear about the winter run on the Chehalis.

[Hike_and_fish]

Lip service.Speaking purely about the Fraser river drainage here. The program doesnt have goals with real results in mind. Monitoring small stream habitat restoration will never replace the endless miles of lower Fraser river coast line that has become an industrial wasteland. Places where Cutthroat and Steelhead smolts would feed before going out to sea are not what they used to be. It will never be the same again.

In my opinion, its purely a budget cut with money wasted with the newer more cost effective budget. There have been other Steelhead programs that have been cut in the province. Last year was the Kitamat river hatchery program. The local government even labeled it a budget cut. BUT if the populations do come back I'll be more than happy to say I'm wrong. However I feel very strongly they wont.

[Shinny]

Guess that’s why I haven’t done so well in the past couple winters on the chehalis looking for winter steel... 

[winter steel]

Agreed, the last couple of years have been tough for WS on the Chehalis but I didn't like the holding water available in the lower end all that much and believe the fish didn't hang around due to it. We'll try again this year and hope its a bit better.

[Hike_and_fish]

A little off topic here but I did manage to make it up past the booms on the Harrison and into the lower section of the Chehalis in my sled. I was twitching jigs and had the best day I've ever had twitching for Coho. It was loaded. Later that day I took the kids to the hatchery and the channel was loaded with Coho. It is such a shame that the vast majority of fish go straight into the hatchery channel at the mouth. I wonder if this is the case for the winters ? How many are bypassing the mainstem and going straight into the hatchery channel.

[iblly]

I made my first visit in 9 years to the Chehalis this past spring. Scattered some of my dads ashes in the river, as my dad and I did with his dads ashes many years before. I could hardly believe how much the river had changed, almost unrecognizable in spots. The parking is a challenge now as well, no parking signs everywhere. What a shame to see and hear what's become of that river. Many good times on that river with my dad, lots of coho and lots of steelhead. I caught my first ever steelhead there, my dad caught his first steelhead there as well. Might go stomp around a bit this winter for old times sake.