Originally posted by Blackleech
Sorry Fish-Rite, that was a miscommunication. What I meant was, in an area that is OPEN to fishing for steelhead, do you think there should be some areas that are inaccessible to anglers ie. slots or pockets in the middle of a river? My point was that because of motorized boats we are able to fish EVERY INCH of the river. Do you think this is a good thing?
Hi BL,
I think you have to consider each river according to its fish population & % of wild/hatchery fish. Since the Stamp is the first or second largest put & take fishery in the province, ( Vedder? ) then I don't really think mid river closures are necessary. Remember, the hatchery fish are put there for anglers to catch & keep. They don't really serve a whole lot of other purpose. They are not the most proficient spawners, but the ones that are successful do contribute a few "wild" fish for the future. The vast area upriver of the Ash is already closed to protect the "wild" spawners, so I don't see a problem with keeping as much of the lower river open as possible. You will note I refer to "wild" fish in quotations. This is because I don't really believe there are any truly wild fish left in the Stamp. RCH has been turning out so many hatchery fish for so many years now, that the odds of any steelhead not having at least one clipped parent in its lineage is very slim at best. Maybe a few of the summer runs are still pure, but I doubt it.
This also helps to spread out the crowds a little bit, but you are always going to have those less skilled anglers who will crowd into a hole just because they know the fish are crowded in there & it just might be their only chance to hook anything. It is these guys who tend to be the biggest whiners about everything under the sun. They will complain about everything & blame every one else to explain away their lack of success. By closing popular holding water to fishing, you will just push all these whiners into already other overcrowded holes & get even more confrontations. As long as the Stamp has decent returns of fish, you are always going to have overcrowding issues. MOE could easily solve this problem by re-stocking some of the ECVI streams to spread out the pressure a bit so that at least people would have some more options. Sure, some of these rivers are open now, but the chances for success are low at best, and a lot of people simply just don't want to use their few days off on a river when they know that they probably aren't going to catch anything.
We are all slowly being squeezed into fewer & fewer rivers to chase fewer & fewer fish. The more areas we close, the worse it will get. That is why I believe hatchery enhanced rivers like the Stamp should remain as open as possible.All wild rivers like the Gold should have refuges for the fish where they can rest unmolested until they spawn & head back out. Just my 2 cents,
SS
Originally posted by Blackleech
Sorry Fish-Rite, that was a miscommunication. What I meant was, in an area that is OPEN to fishing for steelhead, do you think there should be some areas that are inaccessible to anglers ie. slots or pockets in the middle of a river? My point was that because of motorized boats we are able to fish EVERY INCH of the river. Do you think this is a good thing?
Hi BL,
I think you have to consider each river according to its fish population & % of wild/hatchery fish. Since the Stamp is the first or second largest put & take fishery in the province, ( Vedder? ) then I don't really think mid river closures are necessary. Remember, the hatchery fish are put there for anglers to catch & keep. They don't really serve a whole lot of other purpose. They are not the most proficient spawners, but the ones that are successful do contribute a few "wild" fish for the future. The vast area upriver of the Ash is already closed to protect the "wild" spawners, so I don't see a problem with keeping as much of the lower river open as possible. You will note I refer to "wild" fish in quotations. This is because I don't really believe there are any truly wild fish left in the Stamp. RCH has been turning out so many hatchery fish for so many years now, that the odds of any steelhead not having at least one clipped parent in its lineage is very slim at best. Maybe a few of the summer runs are still pure, but I doubt it.
This also helps to spread out the crowds a little bit, but you are always going to have those less skilled anglers who will crowd into a hole just because they know the fish are crowded in there & it just might be their only chance to hook anything. It is these guys who tend to be the biggest whiners about everything under the sun. They will complain about everything & blame every one else to explain away their lack of success. By closing popular holding water to fishing, you will just push all these whiners into already other overcrowded holes & get even more confrontations. As long as the Stamp has decent returns of fish, you are always going to have overcrowding issues. MOE could easily solve this problem by re-stocking some of the ECVI streams to spread out the pressure a bit so that at least people would have some more options. Sure, some of these rivers are open now, but the chances for success are low at best, and a lot of people simply just don't want to use their few days off on a river when they know that they probably aren't going to catch anything.
We are all slowly being squeezed into fewer & fewer rivers to chase fewer & fewer fish. The more areas we close, the worse it will get. That is why I believe hatchery enhanced rivers like the Stamp should remain as open as possible.All wild rivers like the Gold should have refuges for the fish where they can rest unmolested until they spawn & head back out. Just my 2 cents,
SS
Originally posted by Vince914
I agree with blackleech on the impacts boats and anglers have on fish we need some kind of protected relief area perferably one with great spawning potential/habitat
They already have one. The whole river above the Ash to the GCL dam is closed for four months to protect "wild" spawning steelhead. Hatchery fish don't need any protecting. They are put there for one reason only, to provide a harvest for sportsfishermen. No one should have a problem with catching, releasing, or bonking hatchery fish. That IS their purpose for being.
Originally posted by Vince914
I agree with blackleech on the impacts boats and anglers have on fish we need some kind of protected relief area perferably one with great spawning potential/habitat
They already have one. The whole river above the Ash to the GCL dam is closed for four months to protect "wild" spawning steelhead. Hatchery fish don't need any protecting. They are put there for one reason only, to provide a harvest for sportsfishermen. No one should have a problem with catching, releasing, or bonking hatchery fish. That IS their purpose for being.
Originally posted by Bent Rods Guiding
Just out of curiosity how VAST is the area above the Ash, As I recall having only jetted it twice, it was rather small and had only some good spawning waters.
You are probably thinking about the section from the hatchery down to the Ash. While deeper & slower moving water permeates this section, there are some nice areas for steelies to spawn. The main spawning area is above the lake at RCH. From the lake up to the big rapids has some of the most productive spawning habitat around. Then, from the big rapids up to the dam at GCL, is pristine spawning water. The area below the island is usually filled with dozens & dozens of spawning steelhead. I would definitely recommend the hike down from the dam just to check it out. It is also worth a stop at the lake at RCH right where the creek dumps into the lake by the boat launch. Might not see much at first, but toss a few old single eggs in the main flow & watch the show!! Last week, there had to be 40-50 steelies sitting out front there, & a few right biggies too!![8D] It is good to see quite a few fish have made it to the sanctuary this year. Hopefully, with the first of the new 75/25 winter/summer percentage enhancement returns due this winter, the upcoming winter season should be a fair bit better than the last.
Shouldn't forget, there is also some excellent spawning areas from the Ash down to the park. Although, this area is open to fishing year round, it doesn't receive anywhere near the pressure the rest of the river does. For the most part, the fish remain unmolested through this section as well.
BTW, steeliehead, NICE FISH!! [^] I can't tell from the pics, same fish or two different ones??
quote:Originally posted by Blackleech
Great post Bent Rods, and beautiful steelhead Steeliehead.
But wait a minute, using our license fees to plant pinks in Cowichan Bay makes way more sense (?!)