Stamp Springs

[IronNoggin]

A Plea of sorts here Folks:

The Stamp Springs are in SERIOUS</u> trouble! At this point, there are less than 1,500 counted into the system. That number is CRITICALLY low! Scary in fact!

And while we all hope beyond hope there will be some miraculous late surge, all indications suggest that ain't likely to happen.

And yes, The Dino has left retention of the few that remain open for the recreational community in the river, this is being done for purely political</u> reasons! They well understand the dire condition the run is in, and are running as hard as they can to cover their asses in this regard. By leaving the bonking of springs open, they can now point directly at us and state that we were very much part of the problem!

Time for us to wake up and realize we are being played!</u> Time for us to recognize that should we kill any more, we are directly contributing to the problem beyond what we already have. Time for us to Man-Up and say: Just Don't Do It! And time for us to spread the word that even if The Dino cannot admit to his grevious mistake, that we can see the error of this foolish opening, and that we care enough to leave them alone! Time for us to honor the fish that we claim to respect and admire so much, and allow the few that do remain to carry their loads to the spawning gravels as they should!

I've been chatting up a LOT of folks on the flow these days. The vast majority have NO</u> idea of just how bad things are regarding the springs, and I have seen many large dead spawners lying on the beach as a consequence. Most I have chatted to express regret over killing the ones they have once they do understand. My plea to you all is to Please leave them be, and to help get the word out to others to do the same!

Nog - Very Worried we are witnessing the demise of this once Great Run! [V]

 

[highlights]

I beleive I will take a break from the flow this year considering low numbers everywhere.

HL

 

[IronNoggin]

I am not</u> suggesting everyone stay away! There are quite a lot of coho, they are in Great shape and a LOT of fun to tangle with. Just suggesting if you happen to tag one of the few springs in the river, please consider letting it go...

Cheers,
Nog

 

[ChromeSweetChrome]

Nog is right, there is no reason why people shouldnt be allowed to fish. Just try to stay away from the springs if possible. Coho are way better eaters anyways. If you see people keeping springs, take it upon yourself to educate them on how much trouble the springs are in this year. Alot of people just dont realize how bad it really is...

 

[fishspoon]

me as a Stamp River newbie at the Bucket earlier today...a few coho salmon jumpin' in the pools..jawlocked!!! ...wandered 1 to 5 km on water shallows near the big rocks....extremely low water. tried using spinners, corkie with wool....nice weather though. saw a coho salmon millin' right in front of my feet! how cool is that!

saw a few dead rotten springs and cohos on the bottom. warm water I think.

 

[godeep]

Numbers so far into the river down and the reason you are not having DFO push the panic button is these fish are hatchery fish coming from Robertson Creek. Remember in 2000 we only had 7000 fish return and 4 years later we were still okay. They are getting to the conclusion that the natural spawning fish in the river are not contributing to the returns. They know this from the mass marking of the ear bone. From there data they are not seeing many Stamp fish that are not marked.
On Saturday we had a big push of springs into the river when they open the dam at elsie lake. As the water dropped they stopped coming into the river. It looked like at the bridge it was mostly springs jumping when I stopped there last night. Remember last year at this very same time there was also a big panic and final return was 62,000 fish.
I think that seiners in the inlet BS and I am all for no commercial fishing before labor day.
Save water and release it the day after the derby to get all of early fish into the river and then let the Commercials & FN fill there boots. The Springs in October are impossible to net and they would fill in any short falls that the river may have.
What we have created in the inlet just isn't working and we are giving away so many dollars to the community by destroying the sport fishery prior to the derby. By netting after the derby we are giving up maybe 25 cents a pound in the net fishery. A small price to pay when we are talking millions on the other side.
FN are having to fish outside for Coho (Polly's out this week and Lone tree out last week) to avoid Chinook the last couple of weeks. They are catching fish but nothing compared what they would be catching if they fished in the mouth of the river. Again, dollars lost to the community. All of these fishery's create jobs and money in the community and we should be maximizing the potential from these fish. Remember when there were 400-500 boats a day fishing prior to the derby. This year it was 85. That is a shame.
It is time rethink what is happening in the Alberni Inlet and time for community leaders to start flying there political flags to get this back on track. Round table meetings are not getting the job done.

 

[Steely]

1836 SPRINGS and Counting

Latest data from Somass River Escapement Bulletin
Observations to Sept 20, 2009

OBSERVATIONS:
Stamp falls counting facility has been operational since Sept 3. During the past 5 days chinook adult numbers have ranged from 65 to 176. Coho adults have ranged from 1471 to 2071 and Sockeye adults
have ranged from 723 to 1571.




Total escapement to Sept 20 is ~~~1,836 Chinook~~~~, 22,374 Coho and 184,139 Sockeye. Sockeye escapement to Sproat Lake is estimated at 144,742 adults up to Sept 8. No additional data is available at present.

Stamp Falls counting operation has been closed for short periods during equipment repairs but otherwise has been fully operational.

River flows are relatively low for this time of year. River temperature is still 16-17C.
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[cliffjumper]

The problem would be completely solved by putting a few more of those "legal" nets at the mouth of the river, and a mile upstream in that fantastic, deep holding pool in "mostly-inaccessible" water.
They only put, what is it?.. 10-12 nets in that pool stretching right across?

Then, you'd never need to count the fish... Problem solved.

 

[Steely]

Latest OBSERVATIONS: ONLY 2568 Springs counted
During the past 7 days at Stamp Falls Chinook adult numbers have ranged from 56 to 142. Coho adults have ranged from 1391 to 2136 and Sockeye adults have ranged from 16 to 242.
Total escapement to Sept 27 is 2,568 Chinook, 34,785 Coho and 184,770 Sockeye.
Sockeye escapement to Sproat Lake is estimated at 144,742 adults up to Sept 8. No additional data is available at present.
Stamp Falls counting operation has been fully operational.
River flows are still relatively low for this time of year. It should be noted that more chinook migrated on
days of slightly higher flows. River temperature is still relatively warm at 16C.

 

[ChromeSweetChrome]

Looks like the springs are FINALLY going to be closed to retention as of tonight or tommorrow. Too bad for the newbs that feel the need to take home black chunks of meat.

 

[StampriverSam]

I have yet to see the reg changes,not that I would kill Springs but would like to see for my self. So if anyone knows where they are please tell me.

 

[IronNoggin]

quote:Originally posted by StampriverSam

I have yet to see the reg changes,not that I would kill Springs but would like to see for my self. So if anyone knows where they are please tell me.

No closure, NO announcements. WTF?? [V]

Seriously Wondering...
Nog

 

[Whaler]

quote:No closure, NO announcements. WTF??

Problem what problem???. Think about it ~~~ Just less eggs to look after so budget $$$ gets saved ?!!! We are in a recession so every penny helps

 

[ChromeSweetChrome]

Ya and having no fish to catch will bring TONS of tourists to our waters for fishing vacations.... Are the guys at DFO away golfing in mexico or somthing?? Close retention NOW you idiots!

 

[searun]

Hey, when they are all gone DFO doesn't have to spend any money on enforcement, habitat improvement, hatcheries and most of all they don't have to referee all the fighting between the friggin user groups....pure bliss. How else do they pay down the deficit? You couldn't do a better job managing for extinction, so there must be something to it.

Searun

 

[fishspoon]

few factors for DFO's failing to take care of Stamp River chinooks:

-insufficient funds for Hatchery fish production
-prefers commmerical sector as a powerful sector
-inexperienced DFO staff
-ignore sportsfishing sector as last priority
-high paying DFO staff from Ottawa ordering Alberni DFO to net everything up.

 

[Steely]

4200 and counting

Somass River Escapement Bulletin
Observations to Oct 4, 2009

OBSERVATIONS:
During the past 7 days at Stamp Falls Chinook adult numbers have ranged from 192 to 264. Coho adults have ranged from 1376 to 2212 and Sockeye adults have ranged from 3 to 24. Total escapement to Sept 27 is 4,187 Chinook, 47,208 Coho and 184,862 Sockeye. Sockeye escapement to Sproat Lake is estimated at 144,742 adults up to Sept 8. Additional data is available but requires some vetting.
Stamp Falls counting operation has been fully operational.
River flows are still relatively low for this time of year and are dropping slowly. It should be noted that more chinook migrated on days of slightly higher flows. River temperature is dropping and is now 14C.

 

[highlights]

Good that the water temp is going down!

 

[fishspoon]

fished at the bucket....the coho salmon runs are thinning out...slow and spotty.

 

[ChromeSweetChrome]

Ya, its pretty slow now. Most of the fish are dark too.