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[Wiseguy]

When I started fishing the local rivers 40 yrs ago and for many yrs one was not allowed to keep a chum. There was plenty of coho to harvest so “Dogs” were considered a nuisance fish when hooked. When hooked many anglers pointed the rod straight at them and clamped down on thier reels so they would bust off quickly. Then re tie and continue fishing for a coho instead of spending the time to play the chum out and have to release it. Not very sporting I know but they were not considered a sports fish. Now a days with the decline of the fisheries over the yrs, bar rigging on the Fraser closed being one example. Chums are now considered sport as you can legally retain them. I still to this day in my old school thinking am not a fan and do not target them. That being said i am very glad  to see this yr from my fishing on the Harrison river/ Chehalis river/Norrish creek and Nicomen slough that the chum runs were much better this yr. They are a very important part of the ecosystem and I hope they will continue to thrive.

[RalphH]

Gave this video a like! Bright silver with bars just visible are among the most attractive game fish IMO. Very strong and fun to catch. I have eaten chum both from the ocean and rivers. One I caught in Haida Gwaii was a bar of silver with a green back. I've chum to vary in flavor, some are a bit gamey, but usually are the mildest tasting of the 5 pacific salmon with no off flavours. Often we put them in an egg wash, dip them in seasoned bread crumbs and fry in a mic of butter and oil. A little wasabi paste on the side goes well.

BC anglers inherited a long prejudice against "dark" fish from the English anglers who came here both to live and as visitors. Even slightly dark coho and chinook were eschewed & not considered suitable table fair. Until the early 90s only those 2 species could be retained or even legally targeted in non-tidal water. I've never killed a dark chum - only ones that have a good silvery sheen to the flanks and a white belly though others have and say they are more than palatable

[CohoJake]

I would love to see more chum enhancement on the Chilliwack-Vedder, and on most other coastal streams. Saturate the upper river's off channel areas with fry and do eyed egg plants, with the goal being self sustaining future runs to the upper portions of the Chilliwack river.

Send out 5 million fed fry from the Chilliwack River hatchery every year.  The carcasses, eggs and fry produced will provide nutrients and food to resident fish and birds, angling opportunities, and a food source for gulls, eagles and bears. 

Really, these fish are the building blocks of coastal watersheds - so many other species depend on them surely we can better than we are in managing these fish.

If these were LATE chum that could be planted, then I agree with you.  What we don't want to happen is to have even more chum tempting a harvest in the Fraser during the interior coho and steelhead return peak, like what happened with the chum enhancement on the Chehalis/Harrison in the 1980s. 
Al

Also, didn't they already try this to large extent in the 1990s on the Chilliwack?  I seem to remember very large returns of hatchery enhanced chum runs at that time, then they stopped for some reason.

[Hike_and_fish]

I still think retention needs to drop to 1 per day. Or maybe 1 female and 1 male. Man you go to a place like the Stave and see maybe 6 guide boats with on average 3 clients per boat plus the guide and they all retain 24 females in one morning every day. Thats just the boats that I see. Then you add all the people on shore that retain female Chum. Theres a lot of angry bucks in the river fighting over a handful of females every day.

[RalphH]

If these were LATE chum that could be planted, then I agree with you.  What we don't want to happen is to have even more chum tempting a harvest in the Fraser during the interior coho and steelhead return peak, like what happened with the chum enhancement on the Chehalis/Harrison in the 1980s. 
Al

Also, didn't they already try this to large extent in the 1990s on the Chilliwack?  I seem to remember very large returns of hatchery enhanced chum runs at that time, then they stopped for some reason.

I read a scientific review on Fraser chum stocks put out in the 90s and one thing that surprised me was that prior to the SEP the late component of the run (Nov- Dec) was the largest segment. The SEP deliberately sought to enhance the early component (Late Sep Oct) because the weather was better for ocean harvest. It also seems to me that when chum returns crashed some 10 to 15 years ago it was that late component that declined first and most dramatically.

[wildmanyeah]

As long as the ifs window stays o place chum will do really well. Commercial was forced the fish the last 15% of the return and did not get even close to what they were allocated.

As a results thousands more of our local chum made it back To the spawninggrounds.

To bad this won’t last there is a big push from first nations and commercial to get back to the status quo.

even tho First Nations have a shorter 27 day window apparently few of them fished during it as DFO put on as a condition of licence that they could not fish at night and must attend their nets. Apparently a lot of there fishers have full time jobs and would set nets in the evening, go to bed and go to work then check them after work. As a result not many fished in the earlier part of the run when these conditions were in place.

[Dave]

If these were LATE chum that could be planted, then I agree with you.  What we don't want to happen is to have even more chum tempting a harvest in the Fraser during the interior coho and steelhead return peak, like what happened with the chum enhancement on the Chehalis/Harrison in the 1980s. 
Al

Also, didn't they already try this to large extent in the 1990s on the Chilliwack?  I seem to remember very large returns of hatchery enhanced chum runs at that time, then they stopped for some reason.

In my dream scenario the up river enhancement would be earlier timed fish, early September into October.  The released fed fry from the hatchery would be later timed fish.  As the mouth of the Chilliwack (Vedder) is downstream of the usual beach seining sites on the Fraser, increased  chum numbers would have no bearing on that wasteful fishery, and, if this was done with the cooperation and partnership of FN, could supplant that fishery entirely by moving the harvest from the Fraser to the lower Vedder.
I don't know why chum production at the CRH was cut back but it seems shortsighted now.

[Cyanescens]

Wouldnt that significantly impact Rec coho fishing?

[Dave]

Wouldnt that significantly impact Rec coho fishing?

Not if was done in a cooperative partnership with all clients.

[wildmanyeah]

Wouldnt that significantly impact Rec coho fishing?

accepting gillnets in the vedder is going to be part of the solution to avoiding stocks of concern in the fraser river.  like it or hate it seems like it's just a matter of time really unless things dramatically change in the Fraser.

From what I heard is the only reason there were not in this fall is because of disagreement among first nations on how to do it.

[Rodney]

Wouldnt that significantly impact Rec coho fishing?

Sumas First Nation is looking at potential FSC fisheries in the river next fall. Depending on how it is done and where it is done, it will impact the recreational fisheries on chinook, coho and chum salmon. To protect some of the more vulnerable stocks on the Fraser and eliminate mixed stock fisheries, there's going to be some sharing in terminal fisheries.

[spoiler]

unfortunately the result of this video was 20-25 people fishing that run above the train bridge. which in it's self is fine but for some reason the mob mentality brings out some questionable fishing methods and breaking of regulations. I saw people keeping snagged fish and although some were short-floating jigs there were a number of people fishing long leaders for flossing.

[RalphH]

unfortunately the result of this video was 20-25 people fishing that run above the train bridge. which in it's self is fine but for some reason the mob mentality brings out some questionable fishing methods and breaking of regulations. I saw people keeping snagged fish and although some were short-floating jigs there were a number of people fishing long leaders for flossing.

yeah, no fooling. If that sort of thing follows publicity and protecting our right to fish I sometimes wonder how much that right is worth. Maybe we should be making it harder for that sort of 'angler' to actually go fishing than making it easier for them to go and to find fish. I don't know how that would be done but reading and seeing this is really disappointing.

FWIW my comments follow seeing some discussion on another board about people poaching fish and even snagging them to do on waters are catch and release only.

I've also made a modest contribution to the go fund page to finance a  campaign to the public right to fish but sometimes 'anglers' are their own worst enemy in more ways than they realize.

[wildmanyeah]

sometimes 'anglers' are their own worst enemy in more ways than they realize.

I was in a fly fishing club in high school. The kids in the club would never be seen hanging out together in the hallways way to diverse of a crowd. I learned to tie the gills monster an attractive pattern that's worked well trolled around when nothing else seemed to work.

anyways your statement from a while back is correct the only thing fishermen have in common is fishing.  If we could ever come together and bring this diversity together we could be very strong public fishery advocates.  However, from my experience that's pretty impossible for every person that has one idea there will be someone else that says why its a horrible idea. The end result is plenty of inaction. Than there is the fact that for 95% of people angling is nothing more than a hobby that ranks petty far down the list of priorities. You could close the vedder river to fishing and for a week you would have 100's of people pissed on social media but weeks later there would probably be only like 5 old dudes that cared that it got shut down and everyone else would move on to the next hobby in their life.

[spoiler]

Wildman,
what was the name of the fly fishing club?