Steelhead Proposed Regulations for VI

Don't know if you guys have seen this, but I was searching the web for April 1 closures when I came across this very interesting document:

http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/vir/fsh/R1_Regulations_Proposals_2007.pdf

Looks like the upper Cow will be closed after all in 08/09 from the weir to the 70.2 trestle from Dec 1 to April 15. I personally think this is a great idea. Apparently there are more boats and guide operations fishing this area than ever before because the lower river has been so unproductive the last few years.

Another area that has been pounded relentlessly by drift boats in the last few years, according to the document, is the upper Gold between the Much confluence and the townsite - apparently this area used to be less accessible for boats? Without this closure winter steelhead in the Gold have no refuge and are pounded for the duration of their stay in fresh water. Again, a good idea IMO.

In fact, the general theme of this document seems to be that boats are bad for steelhead - something many of us have been saying for years and years. The difference in modern steelheading is that everyone owns a pontoon or drift boat or sled and by most accounts it has gotten out of control.
 
Great News!:D I guess the letters have finally paid off and MOE have been pressured by B.C Driftfishers and others to close this sanctuary!:D Next comes the Flyfishing only Ban, Know of a few "guides" that won't like this decition!;)
 
If there's one constant with every guide on every river it's that they are using some type of boat or floatation device. IMO this is the factor that puts the most pressure on the fish and leaves the steelhead with no refuge from angling. There are a few guys that are on EI and don't even guide that are also on the water pounding fish and drinking lucky every day. Cutting back on rod days would be a good start however.

Thanks for the input C.R. Angler, you obviously know the areas in question very well. I was not aware that there were guiding operations abusing spawning fish on the Gold, although I've heard it happens regularly on the Cowichan. I absolutely agree with you about limiting the number of rod days, anyone who fished the Cowie in February this year between Stoltz and Vimy will agree that it has become a free-for-all.

I would also agree that some of these proposals seem kind of strange. Closing the Gold above the Heber for this long seems redundant - don't most of the summer steelhead go into the Heber system which is already closed at this time anyways? what do you think of the no fishing from a boat from the Falls to the Bucket on the Stamp?

I will edit my first post and include the correct link to this 'outdated' document [8D]
 
Guy some good info here.....Ive heard and will be researching more here as time permits that the ministry boys in nanaimo are making decisions based on so called "beseiged with complaints" from various user groups.When researched these decisions are made after some flawed biased surveys and 5 or 6 letters probably from the same guys.What's happening here is private fishing clubs (fly fishing only) and elitists factions are forming.If you havent noticed the areas open to actually catch a steelhead have been reduced every year into smaller and smaller areas.Crowding???I guess so if theres less areas too fish!That's unless you're working for the ministry you can fish where you want and use what you want!

No anglers slammed as many fish this year on the stamp as the ministry guys hucking bait for steelhead brood fishing!!Why not have brood stock days where everyone fishing can use bait and get this done for free instead of hearing sometime down the road that the program is cut due too no funding!!A section of river should be either open or closed based on conservation needs not fly only or bait ban!Open or closed for everyone too fish not some elitist!Spin,drift,spoon,spinner or fly have at er!!!
 
quote:No anglers slammed as many fish this year on the stamp as the ministry guys hucking bait for steelhead brood fishing!!

Fishrite I bet you I could keep a really close pace not using bait as the Min Boys Hucking bait

quote:Why not have brood stock days where everyone fishing can use bait and get this done for free instead of hearing sometime down the road that the program is cut due too no funding!!

Good idea!! good question? [8D] I hope you write a letter to the MEO on this and not just complain
 
It's a shame that stocking has been so seriously curtailed. If there were fish in the Englishman, Campbell, the Qualicums, etc., there would be some alternatives. Didn't want to pollute the genetic stock on rivers that had been marginalized long ago and years of enhancement had already erased the notion of pure genes. The result: everyone fishing the obvious three...and we all kick the S H I T out of these fish, guides, boaters and bankies. Don't blame each other, blame the Gov't. Just what has been done with our license dollars?
 
Well said ww cowboy!!!When those rivers you named were closed to steelhead fishing in the late 90's was it also coinciding with the hatchery cutthroat program stocking major numbers of smolt eaters into these rivers??Who was responsible for this?Ever wondered why the hatchery pens at the big q are full of big fat cutts???MMMMM them fry and smolts taste so good??Don't think the government wants steelhead or steelhead fishing at all!
 
I fished the upper cow everyday in feb 05 except weekends (yup, ei). The only boat I would see is Kenzie. I only landed 1 steelhead, mostly browns. There were lots of stoneflies around so first cast at every pool was usually a hit. I'm pretty sure all I used were heavy golden stone patterns that another more experienced fly fisher gave me one day. An older gent by the name of Owen was the only other regular bank fisherman up there.
 
As said before, the crowded portion of the Cowie was Stoltz to Vimy which is the primary staging area for the Cowichan steelhead. Above 70.2 trestle is the primary spawning area, some of the only decent spawning habitat left on the Cowichan due to the silting of the gravel beds below the slides. I think this is why they want to close it. Just out of curiosity, is Kenzie the producer of "Cowichan Chrome" on youtube?
 
Well respected????
This guy just started fishing the cowie maybe 5-6 years ago. I rememeber Nick learning to drift in his new hyde, not really a guide is he?
The You Tube video is Nick and Luke-two seasonal Langara guides.
Man nothing like flossing spawning steelies, they should not feel proud of that !!
Cowie out
 
Lets leave the personal naming of people out of this!!These are good guys as far as i know!!Sent several letters to the ministry regarding reg changes and crap going on at the cow with zero response too date!!What a shocker we've got going on here!!
 
I can't think of a river on the island that's big enough for drift boats let alone jet sleds...Sure the occasional one as in yester year, but it's simply not sustainable for a bunch of boats. Do yourselves and the steelies a favor and lobby to get them off the VI flows. These guys will ruin it for everyone...! My opinion.
 
C.&R. angler
My name is Ken Myers. I am a guide on the Stamp river the one that runs the little Grey Zodiac.
You come across to have resentment to guiding and boats in your last posts. I think you need some enlightenment about guide boats in the area.
You may not know but the people in the guide boats are mostly like you B.C. residents. Although they have payed for an expensive annual s/h license these guided anglers usually only fish one or two days per year and it’s in the guide boat. Many guided anglers aren’t very skilled or [because of age] physically able to hike the slippery trails to the productive fishing holes. In fact the guides “level the playing field” so to speak for these commonly amiture anglers when trying to compete with a river full of well skilled, aggressive, some times grumpy anglers who stand in the dark at the best holes. You may not have noticed that it is not the guide in the boat doing the fishing it’s the guest that fishes. The guide drives the boat. Without a guide many of these guided people would never even buy a license or experience s/h fishing. I know that all this guide pressure does take from your personal experience but have you ever thought how your presense effects the other anglers around you? Some may think that guide boats ruin it for everyone? What do you all think the people in the boats feel when there's shore anglers in every stinking hole? Maybe the shore guys are ruining it for the rest of us??? Many of the shore anglers that I know invite me and my guests to SHARE their pool and then enjoy watching the newbe in my boat catch their first fish.
I know there is a bit of crowding nowadays but this is due to the unessary closures of the east side rivers.
If you think that C&R angling is hurting the stocks then you may need to expand your knowledge of fish habitat by fishing more of the rivers in this province. Good habitat is the key to life in a river. One of the hottest rivers this year was the Vedder. Like those fish haven’t been pounded over the years. There is countless rivers in this province that should be packed full of fish because the fishing pressure is nonexistent but this is not the case. The heaviest fished rivers on the coast still have the highest fish counts.
C.&.R angler can you answer a few questions for me? Who are you? Have you ever been in a guide boat? How many days per year do you fish S/H? How many fish do you sore-lip per season? How do you feel your impact on the S/H stocks compares to the average guided anglers impact? Do you plan on restricting your own rod days proportionatly to the limit of guided angler rod days?
I think you should know that there are many freshwater and saltwater guides that are working hard to lobby the Govt. to preserve and hopefully improve angling opportunities for EVERYONE. Unless you are of First Nation status you may want to collaborate with these guides to help protect your angling interests for the future.
 
RoeBag & Cowieslabslayer,

There is no need to call names and slander Nick. I personally knows him very well and fishes with him many times and he is awesome fisherman who does contributed many hours helping the hatchery and other fishery causes. It's just not cool to make fun of someone behind an aliases and who does not know him personally :( It's not how long some one fishes to determine their skill level and I believed he is a much much better guide and a better person than majority of other guides out there.

Hyde-N-Seek.
 
Ken you're breaking my heart... you ask C.R. Angler how many days he fishes and how many fish he sore-lips. Let's not forget that you exploit the steelhead for money! Nobody is going to feel sorry for you guys, and yes for the most part you and the other guides ruin the experience for the rest of us NON-PROFITEERING anglers. And what C.R says about ethics going out the window is absolutely accurate - on both the Cowichan and the Stamp it is now commonplace for guides to stop and fish water that bankies have claimed. This is why people are upset.
 
BL
Those fish aren’t there just for able bodied shore anglers. Did you consider that the 100 regular B.C. resident shore anglers are ruining it for the 500 annual B.C. resident boat anglers on this river? Why with hundreds of miles of non boatable rivers on V.I. do you think that guides should not fish in boats on the few boatable areas? Aren’t you being a little greedy? When you say ruining it for the rest of us who does us consist of? You aren’t conceiving the fact that the customers in charter boats are B.C. residents they want the boat service and they out number the regular shore anglers. When you say us, well your us is the minority. It is a fact that we ALL exploit those fish for pleasure. You’ll never guilt me out of employing myself assisting anglers to access the fish that are put there for them to catch. Although you may have staked your claim on some shore spots you like everybody else in this world is going to have to share the few spots that M.O.E. has squeezed US all in to.
The point that I’m trying to get across is that anglers should learn to get along and share the resource. As much as everybody can’t stand each other while competing for fish you just don’t here of guides trying to stop the rest of you from enjoying your fun.
 
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