Whats New?
Most
of our major website changes have been made, particularly in the photo
galleries. If you haven't had a chance to visit our site and view the
photos, it is well worth seeing. The sturgeon photo gallery has some
excellent pictures that highlight what makes sturgeon fishing so popular.
We have a number of new openings available in some excellent sturgeon and
salmon fishing periods - most notably October. If you are thinking of taking
a trip to experience either one of these fish, or to do both, it is not too
late to book. Many anglers enjoy the opportunity to fish sturgeon, chinooks,
coho and chum (you can fish for all of these on the same day!) during
October so we expect these dates to book quickly.
Current Conditions
After a very cool April, the weather is finally warming up and the Fraser is
rising. Debris in the river is still low, but there are times when a raft of
debris does break loose - just keep an eye out. In mid April we had a storm
move through and a very cold front that dropped the Fraser water
temperatures in half. We are now back to normal temperatures and the result
is improved sturgeon fishing.
Steelhead
Most steelhead waters are closed now, with the exception of the Vedder
river. The Vedder is open to fly fishing only from the Vedder Crossing
bridge to the Sumas confluence from May 1 - 31. The entire Vedder river is
then closed for the month of June. Water conditions are very good right now,
and there are still good bright fish to be had.
Trout
With the Fraser river rising and coloring up, your best chances for trout
are the Harrison, Pitt and Lillooet rivers. There is no shortage of chum and
pink fry migrating out of these systems, and the cutthroat trout and dolly
varden are feeding heavily on salmon fry. Look for jumping fry and the boils
of the predators below - this will key you in to where the fish are and
definitely reduce the numbers of casts in big water to find the fish.
Accurate fly patterns can be essential as the fish are seeing a lot of fry
now, but it never hurts to experiment with something a little different -
perhaps a larger size or even a pattern that is barely a close resemblance
(rolled minnows) might stand out in the crowd and produce a fish.
Sturgeon
With the weather playing a big role in the scheme of things, sturgeon
fishing was sporadic through March and up to the third week of April. High
winds, not to mention numerous hail storms and the odd blizzard, coupled
with very low water conditions made sturgeon fishing chaotic and difficult.
With improving weather and warming river temperatures, we began to see the
fish turn on. On some occasions, hooking 30 fish offered chaotic fishing on
the opposite (and great!) end of the scale. Most of the fish were in the 3
to 5 1/2 foot range, with several fish in the 6 to 7 1/2 foot range showing
up.
A healthy looking 7 foot 1 inch sturgeon taken in April by Ray Hewitt. Son
Wayne (L) assists for the photo. Photo courtesy of Ray Hewitt.
Eulachons were definitely the bait of choice. We experimented with a number
of eulachon sources, and after all was said and done, any eulachon seemed
good enough for the hungry sturgeon. On occasion, we were simply using
pieces and even bagging small chunks of eulachons to find the sturgeon were
only too eager to have a go. Eulachons should be the main choice in the
sturgeon's diet through the month of May.
Overall, the vast majority of the sturgeon look really healthy from the long
winter we experienced this year. Also, plenty of small fish in the 24 - 30
inch range bode well for the future of Fraser river sturgeon and indicates
the existence of a viable mature, and spawning population of fish, excellent
water conditions and suitable habitat for rearing juveniles.
Salmon
Typically, recreational anglers are able to retain chinook salmon starting
May 1. However, this year, we are looking at a June 15 opening.
On the bright side of things, Fraser river anglers will enjoy an excellent
mid to late summer run of chinooks which will coincide with much better
angling conditions.
Sockeye runs look dismal for 2008. The brood year for these fish suffered in
numbers as well, attributed to ocean survival, and over 1 million missing
fish in 2004. I can understand missing a few - its a big river! But one
million fish?
Don't expect a sockeye fishery to take place, and maybe for the future of
sport fishing, this might not be a bad thing. Anglers really have to examine
how important having the opportunity to fish is to them, and what methods
they use. You can take one issue to be certain - flossing fish will not be
tolerated by the DFO. When we look back to 2007, sport anglers were closed
down to ALL salmon fishing due to poor compliance by anglers using the
flossing method. This occurred in mid August, just when the water cleared up
and there were excellent numbers of chinooks in the river. I hope this does
not happen again and that anglers will really remind themselves that it is
better to have the opportunity to bar fish for chinooks than have no salmon
fishing at all. Bar fishing might not require as much participation as
casting and hoping for a fish to swim into your line as flossing does, but
realistically, I'd rather catch a fish that bit, than snag one. Bar fishing
still requires knowledge and skill - you have to think about where the fish
are and find the right lines, but requires a little more patience. My past
experiences with bar fishing amongst the flossers shows me that bar fishing
does catch more chinooks - its all about targeting fish! Best part of all,
you won't be catching any sockeye and you will do these great little fish a
favor by letting them all move upriver and improving the escapement. Forget
about the other users on the river, we have to do our part, and that's where
it all starts.
Regulations really need to be enacted and enforced that limit the methods
employed to catch sockeye to those times when anglers are permitted to
retain sockeye. The current problem associated with flossing ( flossing is a
nice term for snagging) is that the method is employed on many other
waterways in addition to the Fraser, on species that will bite if proper
angling techniques were used. And, if the fish (steelhead, coho or chinooks)
don't want to bite despite your best efforts on that day? Chalk that day up
to Mother Nature winning and enjoy the fact that you were able to
participate in one of the greatest outdoor pursuits, in beautiful
surroundings. We should always remember, angling is a privilege, and not a
right.
Our policy is quite simple in regards to the sockeye fishery - we simply do
not participate professionally nor personally for sockeye.
We hope you enjoyed this newsletter! Feel free to forward this to a
friend, and if they would like to receive our newsletter, just drop us a
note at
info@BCsturgeon.com
We wish you all the best in your fishing adventures!!
Marc and Maggie
