i just got a call from my buddy and the good news is the section we were fishing was road blocked after i left around 215pm and the CO's and rcmp did a sweep of the whole area after everyone 'thought' they left the first time. they busted all these clowns, confiscated a few vehicles and tons of gear...i am very glad to hear this.
turns out they have undercover fishermen on the river during the fall and they have video surveillance in popular areas...
If confirmed, that's the best fishing-related news I've heard in a long time. The disrespect for the resource had become rampant and it was time for the Province to step up. I myself have seen a lot more CO presence everywhere on the Vedder. A had COs come down on two clowns after I called them in for going over their limit. Each guy had at least half a dozen fish each in the bushes (all salmon!) and they were still fishing. How greedy is that? When I called them on that, they just told me to mind my own business and keep walking. Walk I did, but not without reporting them. For the record, they were Caucasians, with no foreign accent whatsoever.
The other day COs even confiscated all the snagging gear from FN snaggers at the reserve. I learned that day that Indians are actually NOT allowed to use treble hooks and snag fish. They must angle just like any one of us when they use a rod and a reel. Their right is to fish without a license and/or tags. I had mistakenly believed that they could legally snag fish.
Anyway, nice to see more enforcement out there...long time overdue.