Cowichan River

Exactly my point winephart - the Cowichan is not exactly the poster child for a "wild" system in any sense of the word. Why try and fool oursleves that it is? FYI - I've personally caught more than a few hatchery steelhead above Skutz falls over the years.

The Cowichan is, however, a river with great potential and it just happens to be close to the 2nd largest population center in BC. Wouldn't it be nice if we looked at the opportunity to increase angling opportunities on the river once in a while rather than restrict them? The Cowichan needs friends and supporters more than anything else - anglers who enjoy the river are typically the best friends it can have, at least in my experience.

CP
 
Cut Plug, I agree with you whole heartedly. The Cowichan is a wonderful river but it has been used and abused. In a perfect world, we would never have had a hatchery on the river because we wouldn't have needed one.

The river would have been managed efectively and there would not have been watershed degredation by logging and over developement. Global warming wouldn't have happened and yours truly would be 6ft 4in and have a full head of hair. Unfortunately that isn't so.

The Cowichan gets a great deal of angling pressure and unfortunately Steelhead have no value with DFO as they are not a commercial fish. The province pays lip service to the value of steelhead at best. The only people that seem to value them are recreational fishermen.

Unfortunately we spend more time argueing with each other about the most politically correct method of angling, streamside etiquette and the dynamics and value of wild fish ****-ism. While we try to settle these meaningless arguments our fish are being managed to extinction.

Why don't we stop our squabbles and throw our effort ant support into sustaining and enhancing the resource we have. Get involved , make donations to fish enhancement projects. Find out what the Cowichan round table is all about. Rant and rave at your MP and your MLA. Hold them accountable for what happens on the river.
 
Right on Winephart!

I wish I had more faith in the harvest component of the round table process, but the stewardship and water use components seem to be working well. The more voices that get heard by all levels of gov't supporting redcreational angling, the more action we are going to see. As I said, I beleive what the Cowichan really needs is friends (advocates). I'll continue to do my part, I can guarantee you that.

CP
 
LOL fish ****-ism... I love it!

Some great points made.

There is all kinds of research out there that clearly outlines the problems with hatchery augmentation. Do a web search on wild vs. hatchery and you will find all of the information you will need to come to your own conclusions.

The point I was trying to make with the Cowichan is that the steelhead are still considered to be a mostly wild population. The run timing is spread out and there are still distinct runs - like the giants of December and the 4-6 lbers of March-April. The fish, for the most part, are spread out throughout the river and still act like wild steelhead. Rivers with a lot of hatchery influence, like the Stamp, tend to have fish that are all relatively the same size (with a few exceptions of course) that tend to beeline it straight to the hatchery. I don't want the Cowichan to be another Stamp. I would rather see money and effort put into other projects that will help in the long term. Habitat rehabilitation, more regulations on commercial fishing, more enforcement on our rivers, etc.

For what it's worth... :)
 
Christy and Co are NOT going to spend money on fish. The previous hatchery program had very poor returns. The last time I checked the winter brood numbers on the stamp and cowie were comparable. On the stamp an anglers catch is approximately 90% clipped and 10% unclipped the cowichan on the other hand was the opposite. The govt wanted to cut or shift spending therefor the program was axed. It will be a tough sell to see the program reinstated.
The thing that bothers me is I am still paying the same over inflated price for a steelhead tag when most rivers around here are either closed or heavily restricted and funds directed at steelhead continue to decline. I guess subsidizing a handful of zoomers on the west coast is my annual good deed.
 
drifted sunday there is another tree across the river below sandy in the normal area. Next high water will blow it out but as of right now its just a 25ft push over the gravel.
 
I agree that Christy and Co . won't be in any hurry to trot out the check book tohelp Steelhead Anglers. I'm not sur where this idea that the Hatchery program comes from. The Creel survey was a sham. As far as anecdotal information goes, I hit tons of hatchery fish during the time the program was running. Even the last 2 years habve produce good hatchery numbers for me. I think we are programed to accept the provinces stats without question.

I agree that It will be a tough sell to see the program reinstated. But with an election coming down the road may be we should start to ***** and get potential candidates to take a position on why we should be expected to continue paying the same over inflated price for a steelhead tag when most rivers around here are either closed or heavily restricted and funds directed at steelhead continue to decline.
 
winephart said:
I agree that Christy and Co . won't be in any hurry to trot out the check book tohelp Steelhead Anglers. I'm not sur where this idea that the Hatchery program comes from. The Creel survey was a sham. As far as anecdotal information goes, I hit tons of hatchery fish during the time the program was running. Even the last 2 years habve produce good hatchery numbers for me. I think we are programed to accept the provinces stats without question.

I agree that It will be a tough sell to see the program reinstated. But with an election coming down the road may be we should start to ***** and get potential candidates to take a position on why we should be expected to continue paying the same over inflated price for a steelhead tag when most rivers around here are either closed or heavily restricted and funds directed at steelhead continue to decline.
Click to expand...

I was not talking about the stats from the creel survey. I was talking about experiences based on my catch and a handful of others whose numbers I trust. Stamp, mostly hatchery with a few wilds Cowie, mostly wild with a few hatchery

Regardless, once MELP or MOE or DFO make a change they seldom look back or revist a decision to see if it was a good one or not.
 
Hawks continue to lose, Canucks continue to win, caught onefish : )

The infilling continues. Have fished the Cowie since the mid 70's and the water ( fishing spots ) from Stoltz to Vimy has degraded to the poorest I have seen. Very few locations that actually look good. Yes there are places to fish but they are not pretty.
 
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Went for a drift on wednesday in Isl Outfitters new drift boat, Only 2 to the boat of a possible 6 and the guide was fishing too. Lots of fun .
 
if u want to see a real boot with fungus check out the rambling lunchbucket on facebook yuck just let it go to spawn???????
 
I'm not sure he really deserves this... looks like a big fish to me and it will probably be one hell of a memory for the guy who reeled it in.
 
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Went fishing on the lower Cowi yeasterday. One to the beach,one lost. Another guy I talked to had released 2 as well.Seems like there's
some fresh fish moving in right now.
 
Ya real nice if your job includes dragging fungus covered dark spawning steelies up for hero shots ?whether caught on gear or fly He might wanna find a new job??????????? imao
 
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Pretty sure you're the one bringing attention to the picture, he posted it on his own facebook page. Anyways, I really only said something because I find all the trash talk pretty painful to read through...
 
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