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[Rodney]

http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/xnet/content/fns/index.cfm?pg=view_notice&lang=en&DOC_ID=78410&ID=recreational

Fraser River - Tidal Waters

Effective May 1, 2005, you may retain four chinook per day, only one of which
may be greater than 50 cm in both tidal waters of the Fraser River.

Fraser River  Non-tidal Waters

Effective May 1, 2005, you may retain four chinook per day, only one of which
may be greater than 50 cm in the non-tidal waters of the Fraser River from the
Mission Bridge upstream to the Alexandra Bridge.

Anglers are requested to use selective fishing methods when fishing for
Chinook.  This will be especially important from mid-June to mid-July when
Early Stuart sockeye salmon will be present in the Fraser River.  The Fraser
River sockeye retention fishery is expected to commence in mid to late July.   
A fishery notice will announce the sockeye opening.

Anglers are reminded that barbless hooks are required when fishing in the
Fraser River and that it is prohibited to willfully hook a salmon in any part
of its body other than its mouth.

For further information on salmon fishing opportunities, please call our salmon
information line at 604-666-8266.
           
Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0237
Sent April 27, 2005 at 0901
 

[Rodney]

From the last discussion with DFO, there are great concerns on the return number of the Early Stewart Run from mid June to mid July. Instead of having the entire river closed, DFO is suggesting anglers to use methods that will selectively target chinook salmon and avoid any by-catch of early Stewart sockeye. This means, barfishing with a large spin-n-glow, or spoon casting at creek mouths, etc are the best methods to use to achieve this.

[pepsitrev]

  oh an openning sounds good but selective methods  ::)guess i will trey barfishing this year.

[Gooey]

Come on Rodney...don't be shy, go ahead and say it...YES, SELECTIVE METHODS EXCLUDE BOTTOM BOUNCING!!!!

[Rieber]

Boy, that's going to be tough on those who use driftnets. Ya right.

[Gooey]

And whats with this BS: "and that it is prohibited to willfully hook a salmon in any part
of its body other than its mouth"

Is that the DFO's verbage.  If it is then the way it reads, I can go to some pool on the chehalis this fall with a hook tied on above a weight and as long as I snag a fish "in its mouth" then I am not breaking any rules?!?  You see, the flip side of that staement is: that I am allowed to willfully hook fish (asl long as its) in the mouth.

DFO needs to lay down the law, why relase these statements that are so flimsy and ultimately counter productive to the regulations they set?

[Rodney]

I was saving that comment for you. What am I going to do with 200 bouncing betties that I plan to sell this summer then?

Actually I only have one bouncing betty in my house, found it two summers ago on the Vedder while fishing for red springs. It was in the car until last Christmas when I finally got sick of hearing it rolling across the mat everytime I make a turn.

For those of you who are interested in why this is simply a request and not a total ban of bottom bouncing:

The Sportfishing advisory board had a brief discussion with regional DFO managers about this around a month ago. While many of us would like to see a strictly barfishing fishery during sockeye closure, the reality is that current enforcement is simply unable to satisfy such a regulation change. There are also other complications. There are more than one way to effectively fish for chinook salmon in the Fraser. What about fishing with plugs? bait? spincasting? etc. If the regulation notice becomes too lengthy, people either get confused, forget, or simply ignore it.

The compromise is to make it a request, with reasoning behind the request and hopefully majority of the angling community would understand why selective methods should be used. Most people don't like to be told how they should fish, but if DFO includes anglers to come up with directions that may improve the fishery, then it may just work. Work with them, instead of against them, send your suggestions in if you are not pleased with what you are seeing.

[winter steel]

Hey Gooey, word on the street is that DFO put in the "selective method" piece in the regs after they heard about your tough beats this steelhead season!  Koz

[Gooey]

How many fishermen will actually honour a "request".  probably not very many. 

Don't get me wrong, rod, I go out and floss the sockeye (right koz ), hell I make and sell Bouncing Betties...I have already sold 600 in the last week! 

Simple fact of the matter is the I adimantly feel that flossing should be left strictly to the sockeye (meat) fishery on the fraser.  I think most people agree here that flossing steelhead and even coho or other salmon species on the vedder or chehalis etc is pretty lame/unethical.  DFO is responsible for setting the regulations and I find it kinda pathetic that they want to protect the earlier stuarts and their best effort is "Anglers are requested to use selective fishing methods when fishing for Chinook" ...we all know that not many people are going to actually listen to that.

If they really want to protect the early stuarts then ban flossing during their migration or at least put a gear requirement like no leaders over 3 feet length!

"requesting" anglers use selective methods is no more effective than "requesting" the native fishers not to poach or use drift nets.  DFO needs to take a much more assertive position with everyone!

[Fish Assassin]

Is DFO going to "request" that Indians refrain from setting drift nets 24/7 ? Somehow I doubt it .

[Rodney]

I understand that frustration as I feel it too. If I have it my way, the Fraser would be barfishing only when retention of sockeye is closed, BUT it's not my river..... My idea has been suggested in the past, but it was not so popular, as many perceive it as limiting sportfishing opportunities. Limiting what you ask, everyone can just switch to barfishing right? The problem seems to be barfishing is apparently not everyone's favorite cup of tea, some do not find it enjoyable to sit for hours for one bite.

I've passed your concern on the willfully issue on last night, will forward over any responses if I do receive any.

These concerns should always be sent to DFO. I usually forward over relevant feedbacks from here. The regional sportfishing advisory board I belong to do not make up the regulations, we can only make suggestions to DFO, who is actually regulating the fishery. Our intention is to bridge the gap between rec anglers and the fishery management, so that regulations given satisfy both the resource and the user group.

[Gooey]

Wow Rod, you're a lot more than just another pretty face

 I know that often people like myself don't know the proper channels to go through and have our voices heard...thank you for conveying the groups thoughts from the board here to the appropriate people.

[chris gadsden]

No easy answers on this one as everyone has their personal opinions on this as do I. As most readers of this forum know I do not take part in the the BB type of fishing and of course the bottom bouncing issue has been beat to death on all fishing forums.

Unfortunatley this has lead to some hard feelings among a lot of our fellow anglers. One thing that one has to watch is sometimes I believe FOC likes the divide and conquer method of attack. As a side issue I just wish FOC would deal with the illegal net fishing on the Fraser and other BC rivers first as they will threaten our fish stocks in most cases long before the recreational fishery does.

Back to the topic.

How are we and FOC are going to settle this?  Unfortunatly I do not have that answer and I do not think anyone else really has either. For example you make a regulation that says only fishing with a stationary weight when the sockeye are closed. Well then as Rodney mentioned that would rule out float fishing for springs that I like to do at creek mouths as well any type of spin casting at locations such as the mouth of the Vedder River(Sumas).

Then what happens when the pinks arrive and sockeye are closed? Only fishing with a fixed weight again?

No spin casting, float fishing, fly-fishing and the list goes on.
 I also feel leader lenght will not work as I am sure some anglers will figure out a slip weight method if they have not already done so.

One final comment, I wish to thank Rodney,Lew, Frank, Nick and many others who all have lots of experience on fishing issues who give up countless hours sitting on the SFAC board and many other boards working for us, the recreational angler dealing with these difficult issues. It is not a easy task and it is easy to be critical as I can be at time but at least they are standing up and being counted and doing the best they can.

We should all appreciate their efforts, I know I do.

Thanks Guys.

[roeman]

The best thing DFO could do: only for the fraser and only for sockeye is to let people get two fish with a rod and reel however they want to get them, snag in the butt or in the mouth, BUT after you have killed or released two fish ALL fishing for that person stops for the day..
I am guilty as are other for flossing fish for five or six hours when I first started bouncing the fraser. Now for me, the only thing sockeye are good for is sturgeon food, and that I just pick up off the banks.

[Randog]

Well said Chris, and kudos to you as well my friend. I know that you spend many hours on "The Battle Field" fighting for our rightds to angle our waters. Hats off to you Chris.