Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing-related Issues & News => Topic started by: circle c on September 04, 2008, 08:54:02 PM
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Has anyone seen where they are taking gravel at this time and in recent weeks? Are these decent places to try for coho in the later weeks?
Thanks, Tj
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As a matter of fact I have ;D
(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg25/fishing_in_summer/IMG_0607.jpg)
(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg25/fishing_in_summer/IMG_0608.jpg)
(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg25/fishing_in_summer/IMG_0610.jpg)
This is down below the crossing.... There are also a few down at Lickman. These may not be very good at all this year for coho however because, unlike previous years, they have not dug trenches into these backwashes so nothing can get in or out of them. They may come back to dig places for water to enter and exit biut I highly doubt it.
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There is one at Webster, access via the gravel pit parking lot from the Vedder River Campground is denied. The whole pit is filled with a big mountain of gravel right now.
There is another one just downstream from the railway bridge.
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there is also one at browne rd.
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Should never be allowed as all it is, is a gravel grab just like on the Fraser River. One day when we stop the distruction of fish habitat on the Fraser we must tackle this too. Just think of the fish that come into these ponds and say "hey this looks like a nice place to raise a family". After they have laid there precious eggs the water level comes up with the Fall rains, the rising water caves in the sides of these destructive ponds and the eggs are lost being covered with many feet of gravel.
Also all this loosing of gravel cause the gravel to move around more than it should covering other spawning beds as well.
If it would not be for the Chilliwack River Hatchery the river would soon be devoid of fish and of course there would be little or no fishing opportunity.
Once again it is big business and some political parties that push for this every two years.
I donot know how those that allow this to happen and should be in charge of protecting fish habitat sleep at night, I know I could not but once again it seems money is more important than anything else, to some. :'( :-[ :o :( >:(
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Can be good for fishing a lure or fly fishing properly but some people in the past just use these areas as snagging grounds.
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Chris I do not think that we will have problems with fish staging or for that matter even getting into these things this year. The gravel company no longer seems to be digging those trenches leading in and out of them anymore. The one down by Lickman has a small one but only like a foot deep at most so I dont think fish will be swimming in there, one can only hope I guess ::)
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I hope you are correct but once the water level comes up water will flow in and out and the fish tend to hold in these deep holes.
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Thanks for the replies and photos everyone.
Tj
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Stupid question here but why are they digging up the gravel?
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$
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Preparation for flood of the century on October 5th. Everybody should stay home that day, the fishing will be terrible.
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Preparation for flood of the century on October 5th. Everybody should stay home that day, the fishing will be terrible.
;D They say that every year.... it always come either a month early or a month late. I would say count on it to be in 8 days and don't come out fishing after that (as of course the river will be totally unfishable) ;D
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I can't believe this is allowed along a stream especailly one where anadramous fish travel through. Where I live you must install a barrier if you are building along a waterway and you cannot even push rocks off the road into the river. they must be picked up and hauled away.
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I had a look at the pond near Vedder Bridge just yesterday afternoon. They have made a shallow opening at both ends so there is some flow in and out of the pond. Although I can't see it staying neat and tidy for long as the 'walls' are sure to collapse down a bit with the next floods or any slight pressure.
The environmental experts really need to be in on this from start to finish, to see the true effects on the fish and their spawnings. I hope they are, as I just can't see any news from this being good at the moment.
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in another reply by coho cody, he was bang on, i was fishing saturday and around 10 am, a whole crap load of debris was floating down then all of a sudden it turned chalky, didnt know at the time what had cause it but an excavator was right in the water below the abutment(crossing area). He was digging with his bucket directly in the flow, that is complete BS and should not be allowed and a DFO rep should be on site every hour those guys are digging to monitor that and shut that OP down , they stirred enough silt up to put the fishing out for an hour
Cam, can you or get your contacts to phone FOC and lodge a complaint on this as I was away for 12 days on the Island anf now catching fish on the Thompson ::) ::) on my way to the Senior Games, thanks. I hope someone got or gets photo's of this.
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I have pics of the digging and will make sure to bring my camera for the next time they open up a pit because they are doing (finishing) a big one right across from peach road when I went there today (might be hard though as water is chalky already with the clay slide up top). There seem to be a lot more this year (of the pits). There is one just below the crossing on the back, now one right across from peach. There is one right across from lickman road on the backside and they have lickman road closed right now as they are diggin one on the dike side. They also are starting one down by the train bridge as that area is closed and also have naother one on the backside just below the train bridge. Not sure about how many others are up higher or down lower that I don't know about, but so far I know of 6 which is more than I have ever seen before ::)
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I have pics of the digging and will make sure to bring my camera for the next time they open up a pit because they are doing (finishing) a big one right across from peach road when I went there today (might be hard though as water is chalky already with the clay slide up top). There seem to be a lot more this year (of the pits). There is one just below the crossing on the back, now one right across from peach. There is one right across from lickman road on the backside and they have lickman road closed right now as they are diggin one on the dike side. They also are starting one down by the train bridge as that area is closed and also have naother one on the backside just below the train bridge. Not sure about how many others are up higher or down lower that I don't know about, but so far I know of 6 which is more than I have ever seen before ::)
Thanks, try and get as many pictures as you can and especially if you see them digging in the water. This is just unacceptable at this time of year especially when there is fish in the river. If I was not away I would try to deal with it through the papers and other avenues. :-\ ???
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Just been to Vedder Bridge this afternoon and these pics show the water flow 'trickling' into the pond and the outflow:
Inflow. (http://i35.tinypic.com/s5uzpf.jpg)
Outflow. (http://i35.tinypic.com/280pk4o.jpg)
Just wondered why there's hundreds of seagulls about.
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WOW wait till the fall rains come, whole new river for steelhead in the winter for sure down there.
Yea! That is one good thing that can come out of these ugly gravel extractions due to the greed of man - new spots and almost a new lower river to explore for steelheading, which is all about exploring and hunting for deadly spots. ;D
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" Caught my Steelhead at the Extraction Hole " will be the buzz phrase this year ;)
Probably it will end up with a worse reputation than the Keith Wilson bridge. :-\
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Just wondered why there's hundreds of seagulls about.
The seagulls are always around there, they started hanging out there a few years ago...
Cheers,
Nicole
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They also are starting one down by the train bridge as that area is closed and also have naother one on the backside just below the train bridge. Not sure about how many others are up higher or down lower that I don't know about, but so far I know of 6 which is more than I have ever seen before ::)
Last time they did this, there were 12 in total... Sounds like they are in the usual spots... Anyone know if the hopedale access road blocked off right now? I havent been down there in months...
Cheers,
Nicole
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Just been to Vedder Bridge this afternoon and these pics show the water flow 'trickling' into the pond and the outflow:
Inflow. (http://i35.tinypic.com/s5uzpf.jpg)
Outflow. (http://i35.tinypic.com/280pk4o.jpg)
Just wondered why there's hundreds of seagulls about.
They come down from the Bailly land fill and drink water after their morning breakfast. One year there was several floating dead and dying past me. I called the CO's and they did a check on them and the autopsy showedout they had some poison in with their last breakfast ever.
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Many thanks for the info. I intially thought they were there for the salmon eggs but the timing's a bit out isn't it.
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Many thanks for the info. I intially thought they were there for the salmon eggs but the timing's a bit out isn't it.
that's exactly what I was thinking, thankfully I was wrong ;)
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From what I've been reading here, all those gravel extractions are below the Vedder Crossing bridge. In all my years of fishing the Chedder system I've pretty much (repeat - pretty much) only seen Chum and Pinks spawn in that part of the river in the Fall. I'm in no way attempting to justify the digging, but I don't see redd loss as being a big factor. We as rec fisher cause far more damage to redds by stomping into this river, than the few that may be lost in these new pools.
God seems to yearly bring along a blowout right after the Chum finish spawning which cleans the bulk of the rotting carcasses out of the system. That's when these holes will resettle and in most cases fill back in. Many of these digs are totally filled in after the first pre-winter blowout - before steelhead arrive in any numbers. I've seen these holes become above-water bars again after the early November blowout. I believe the steelhead which spawn in the lower river are usually the Feb, Mar, April returnees. River's re-established by then.
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By the way... just in case you didn't know, chum are pretty much the basis of the whole river eco system. They die, the river loses TONS of nutrients, all the other salmon go bye bye, either that or we need to start fertilizing the river, which won't happen because the gov doesn't seem to care about the most fished river in B.C >:( . Im in no way trying to burn you, but I don't like the puddles at all, they are not only bad for the fish, but also for fisherman. If you fall into one of these with your waders on your pretty much dead unless a friend is nearby (assuming you are wearing waders which most people are at this time of year). The sides give out easily and once in, the sides just slide everytime you try to gain footing (we have tried in summer while swimming).
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MORTY
These large gravel pits are a disaster waiting to happen for fall chum. Once chum start to spawn they target these areas as the gravel has been already turned over, very clean and
easy to spawn in. Once the fall rains arrive these pits colapse , are washed out or filled in by new gravel. This process over time has led to the loss of a very important portion of
the Chilliwack river chum population. Prior to large scale gravel removal the chums spawning in the lower river was substantial. Gravel extraction began after the large flood that
over topped the inside dikes in 1975.
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My point is still:
We as rec fishers cause far more damage to redds by stomping into this river,
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Hmm, have you tried making dishes out of near mature roe? It actually doesn't crack easy. Besides why do you walk across redds?