Sunday 30 June 2019

Fishing got even better ! It's a long story.


Fishing got even better .  But it is a long story that I have procrastinated writing about .  Here I'll try to keep it fairly short .  

 Fishing has been terrific this year  !   There appears to be an abundance of chinooks around .
  It is ironic that this season is especially good for chinooks , while at the same time there are more new restrictions on them .  There will be no retention of chinooks until July 15 .  After July 15 it will be the same as last year , and more to keep after Aug 30. 

  The reason is that the regulations are meant to protect some weak stocks ,  but boy , other stocks must be doing very well at the same time .   Some chinook types rear for a whole year in fresh water , living like little trout , before going to sea . The ones that come from the dry country of the upper interior of BC are having a hard time with low and warm water in summer , and forest fires, and pine beetles killing forests , etc. . Then the First Nations in those areas have first priority to harvest some of the returning adults .  

 The stocks of concern migrate early in spring/summer , so this year we are restricted to catch and release fishing in this area until July 15 .  Actually they hardly come this way on the inside route , and, in previous years , sport anglers caught less than 1 % of those fish .  The stocks at most risk migrate primarily off-shore .  It appears ironic that the more rare a fish is , the less likely we are to catch one , the more likely we are to have fishing restrictions.  As Chair of the Campbell River and District Fishing Guides Association , I have been following this pretty closely and we made our submissions.  Sport Fishing Institute ( SFI ) and the Sport Fishing Advisory Board ( SFAB ) presented the facts thoroughly, with disappointing results .  Sport fishing is not the problem , and this strategy isn't the best answer , but  here we are , and there is a lot to enjoy still .

The news to the public has been very poor and misleading , with a negative general message that there is some kind of issue with salmon .  Many people would be very surprised to hear that experienced anglers and guides  are describing chinook fishing this year as one of the best in decades .  Yes , really .

Spring / early summer, until July 15 .  We are fishing catch and release for chinooks until July 15 .  You can keep a coho if it is hatchery marked , and a lingcod is a delicious bonus for the table.  Fewer people are fishing in this period but those who are are enjoying this fishing very much .

July 15 to Aug 29 ,  , the regulations will be like last year ;  one chinook per person per day .  As usual , the possession limit is the equivalent of two days catch .

Aug 29 and after , 2 chinooks per person per day , 4 in possession .

Releasing a chinook is still a great thrill , and handling it carefully and seeing it swim away in good shape is a wonderful feeling .  In addition , we are taking tissue samples for DNA which will tell which river systems the fish are from .  We are supporting science by collecting necessary data .

Come on over for lovely salmon fishing .  It will be great fun for all , and fishing will be in a manner that is appreciative and respectful of the salmon stocks. 





Saturday 29 June 2019

That is a day trip !


 This is a day trip !!  Fly from Vancouver for 5 hours fishing and catch the next flight back again ! 

 Nao was in Vancouver for business and fitted this in .  My part was filling in for Eiji , who had this all lined up .  ( AG Fish Enterprises ) . I met Nao at the taxi , picked up lunches from the floating Snack Shack , and off we went. 
  Fishing was terrific , as it has been this year . Nao caught and released several chinook salmon, and also caught a hatchery coho , which Masumi boxed for flight . 
 After a few hours of fishing , Nao asked if we ever see whales , and just that minute a couple of humpback whales appeared . 



Ahoy , Eiji 





   

Saturday 22 June 2019

Just Kevin


 Kevin came out fishing , just himself , while his wife stayed back at the Bed and Breakfast . It was a beautiful morning for lots of action .  All hands are full fishing two lines,  and especially so with a couple of  double headers .  




Monday 17 June 2019

family from Germany


 This family from Germany is exploring around western Canada and , of course , that has to include some salmon fishing .  The salmon certainly showed up to entertain everyone .  Lots of fishing action to share .  And other challenges for the kids ,too , like blowing lots of bubbles , and watching where you are going when you are steering . 







Wednesday 12 June 2019

who's counting ?


 Maurice and Elizabeth graded this trip as great as any they've had .  And Maurice has been coming for , well , let's say, lots of decades . We did it all the comfy way , starting each of the two days at 8 am after breakfast at the hotel .  We came in for lunch at a floating restaurant ,  and then a short afternoon fish nearby . The weather was calm, and it got hot by mid-day. 


 We're taking tissue samples for DNA , and keeping those on a blotter paper card .  But Maurice remembers even better , he keeps track , and counts the one we lost the sample for .  All the salmon were released , and one lingcod went home for meals .  Catch and release is the order of the day ,  The count for the two days was 18 salmon sampled , just two of which were undersize ( less than 24 1/2  inches ) , one wild coho , and the lingcod.  None of the fish were weighed, but the largest was 37 1/2 inches ( 95 cm ) in length .
 

                                                                                                            

 On day two , after lunch, we motored several minutes extra to go out to where we could see boats watching some Orcas .  We are required to keep a distance . These are the mammal eating kind , not the fish eaters. We went out to them , but later they came to us , right where we had been fishing , so we fished along, and then away , riding the tide toward the dock , to end a fine trip. 




Thursday 6 June 2019

June in the back country


 June is my favourite month .  Chinooks are all around,  all over the neighbourhood in northern Georgia Strait and the mainland inlets in dependable numbers . The world feels alive ahead of the busier mid-summer tourists. There are some some nice big ones in the mix .  Here are some photos from the mainland side , guiding for a luxury lodge .