Flyfish Fanatic

Well, The Sockeye Salmon fishing has opened for sportsfishers as of last Sunday Morning. People have been waiting to hear if it would open this year due to the fact that the forcasted numbers of the return have been VERY LOW to date.

The DFO of BC has decided to allow the Sportsfishing community to have an opening, And with the low numbers that have been forcast, I have NO IDEA why they would do this.

The total estimate of Sockeye that are expected to return is 1,810,000 and the numbers show that 50% are on their way as of now. A Estimated amount of fish  is around 500,000 fish.

Now, with the total numbers of fish returning at 1,810,000, I have to wonder why the Government has even thought about any sort of opening. Just a few years back (2005) the etimated return was around 10,000,000 fish, and the government was hesitant then, so why this opening with 1,810,000???

Well, as of today, the government has finally come to its senses and has closed the fishery as of Wednesday at  21:00 hours. Why the short opening? With a 3 day opening you have to wonder if they did it just to sell more licenses and Salmon tags. I agree with the closure 100%, but why even open it with the low projected numbers?

I have not and will not partake in the Sockeye fishery because of personal convictions. A few reasons form this are;

-Low projected numbers

-WAY to many people (Up to 100,00 People) on the River at once

-Unethical way of fishing

_Unethical practices of some fishermen.

I have seen so many unethical practices on the Fraser river over the years, and it makes me sick to see. I have seen SOOOO many people just drag the fish onto the rocks, find that it is slightly colored, or a bit smaller then the one the want, so they just kick them back. Studies of Sockeye Salmon has shown that these fish have a very high mortality rate (40%-70%), even when handled well. As I am a Flyfisher, I can’t see whey anyone would want to catch a fish by “Snagging” it. If you don’t know what I am talking about, here it is;

Sockeye Salmon VERY RARELY bite once into fresh water. All they have in mind is to get to that spawning area. So to catch them, (Most) fishermen resort to what we call bottom bouncing or Flossing. Whit this style, the fisherman puts on a small round weight and then a piece of leader for 2-10′ long with a hook with a small bit of colored wool on it. They cast it up river and allow it to “bounce” on the rocks. As Sockeye sit to rest along the bottom with their mouths open, the line will go thru their mouths and eventually gets to the hook and “Snags” them.

I personally can’t see the “Sport” in this, and this is why many people refer to the Sockeye openings as a “Meat” Fishery. Most people are there for the meat, and don’t care about the sport of it. Now, I will say that I have seen more and more people trying different methods to catch the Sockeye, but their success is nothing compared to the Flossers, but good on them for trying a more ethical way.

I am Glad to see that the Government has come to it’s senses and closed the fishery, and I hope it stays that way. we have decimated ALL of our Salmon runs in the Fraser river, and they need a break. I say, Close the River and ALL Trib’s for 4-8 years to ALL fishing. This will allow the fish to at least regain some numbers, and then, reopen and manage it better. I know this will not happen because of the pressure that the Government feels from Natives, Commercial, and Sports fishers, but it needs to be do IMO.

Tight Lines & Fun Times

Rick Passek “The Flyfish Fanatic™”

Trackback URI | Comments RSS