sockeye fishing in port alberni

[Big Green Machine]

Seems like Deja vu, all over again, but this year, its not the DFOs fault the weather is prompting the fish to head for home, thats just how anadromous fish are programmed and it favors the FN , sports, and the few guides fishing the tidal portion of the river. By the way, jigging for the Socks in the tidal portion of the Somass is legal and the DFO can only enforce their regs as stated. Can
Of worms there for sure, let's hope for some warm weather, lower river levels and some well timed commercial openings that will favor us Sporties come the first two weeks of July.

 

[rook 2]

are you sure that the way they were jigging for fish is legal??? the way that they were doing it was letting there lines sink in the water then they pull it like hell to try and hook one,then they do it again and again,,dosn't seem right to me,,,but like i said before i am only 3 years fishing and learning all of the time

 

[rook 2]

masterbaiter,don't let me spoil your trip,,i know that they just recently had 2 days already for the commercial guys to rape the inlet,,and again on this comming monday,,,pretty sad for us straight shooter guys,,,i think that i will go to renfrew this comming weekend to get me some big chinook and dungy"s

 

[springnut]

The limit is two per day at the dam and yes there are people who come and go multiple times per day. The jigging is apparently ground upon by the dam I have my doubts that there is any enforcement at all. Maybe they should open up a bit more of the river to prevent the shat show that it is.

 

[harper44]

The technique i believe you are describing is called "flossing" and although somewhat controversial it is perfectly legal as long as you are using legal gear. Fact is that Sockeye do not feed in the river during their migration and so anglers have to place a bait (usually just a piece of wool for color) right at the nose of the fish in order to get a strike. because the fish is not feeding and will not swallow the "bait" the key to this method is setting the hook hard and without hesitation. The technique requires a fair bit of skill and lots of practice to become efficient. As for people dumping their catch and going back for more, that is textbook poaching and those individuals should be reported to DFO. Now I can't say that the anglers in the river that you speak of are actually using the technique I described or some other illegal jigging technique but the fact is weather its in the river or the ocean, those people bending the rules are all over. How many times in a sockeye season do you see a guy single handing with 4+ rods on the downriggers. How many boats have you seen or been on with barbed hooks in their salmon rigs. Simply not enough funds to ramp up DFO enforcement and what a PITA it would be to be boarded every trip out....

The slow bite we are all crying about here (i'm talking sockeye as this is a sockeye thread) has absolutely nothing to do with the DFO and everything to do with mother nature. Don't let the commercial openings steer you off of spending your hard earned dollars in the beautiful city of Alberni, this is a very abundant and fast moving fishery. Having the commies net a bunch of fish before they all school up probably isn't a bad idea. Some of the hottest sockeye fishing in my experience has been during seine openings (coincidentally or not). Wait for the water levels in the river to drop and temps to warm up and we will all be buying bigger freezers in no time.

Tight lines everyone.

Cheers,

are you sure that the way they were jigging for fish is legal??? the way that they were doing it was letting there lines sink in the water then they pull it like hell to try and hook one,then they do it again and again,,dosn't seem right to me,,,but like i said before i am only 3 years fishing and learning all of the time

 

[Harbicht]

Just got home fished hard since Thursday between 4 guys 2 sockeye 4 springs drove to pill point today sounder was loaded with fish lots being caught at 10 mile today on radio good luck boys

 

[Blackmax]

PA fish are on the mainland now and selling for $15 each.You can place an order and they bring them to your door.

 

[lorneparker1]

Other forums are saying people are catching them. Also talked to a fella 30mins ago that boated there 8 this morning in less then an hour. Guess you just gotta go and find out!!

 

[fish stalker]

Masterbaiter Id be into buying your spot possibily if you decided not to come give me a pm.

I thought flossing was what you described with wool and weight but as fish sit in water or even moving threw there mouth is opening and closing and those guys hope there line cross threw the fishes mouth then 'floss' and hook it in the mouth so it might look like it bit but it didnt. What Rook decided sounded more like snagging. Im new too Rook and came across a ton of this last year. Its horrible to watch and guys are usually assholes.

 

[Halilogger]

Flossing is nothing like the jigging description that was given.

 

[springnut]

Harper what rook 2 and I were referring to was the jigging with a "woss wobbler" a barbed treble hook and 12 ounces of lead. Entirely different from flossing.

 

[sir-vivor]

PA fish are on the mainland now and selling for $15 each.You can place an order and they bring them to your door.

Can't afford the price of one after spending $366 for a ferry ride. Maybe next year I'll have to tighten the belt and consider using my funds for gas out front and Sorry Bob and PA won't see my money next year ....

 

[the rook]

its rook2 not rook!!!!

 

[bentrod69]

Hey guy, I'm headed to P/A thursday and never really fished up there, I would like to get into some sockeye, but springs would be my main target. How far do I need to go up the canal before I can get into some?

 

[Degree of Freedom]

Hey guy, I'm headed to P/A thursday and never really fished up there, I would like to get into some sockeye, but springs would be my main target. How far do I need to go up the canal before I can get into some?

sockeye...China Creek (8 miles)
springs...all the way (30 miles)

 

[Islandgirl]

One of the locals and an excellent fisherman was out this am.
As of about 9 am he did not have even one sockeye in the boat.

The water in the canal is cold 53 F and the river is 51 F
The fish are not schooling and shooting right up the river where they are running into a maze of nets.

 

[fish stalker]

Anyone know long the seiner opening is for?

 

[the fog ducker]

SOMASS SOCKEYE BULLETIN # 2 – 2012 Date: June 22, 2012
Somass Sockeye Stock Assessment Update
Pre-season forecast:
Somass (Great Central and Sproat) 700,000 (range: 500,000 to 1,000,000);
Henderson Lake sockeye outlook ~ 25,000
Escapement to June 20: ~ 45,500 (8900 Great Central, 37,600 Sproat Lake)
Test Fishery: June 18-19: Estimate 25K inside 10-mile Point; 25K outside
Expected Somass Stock Composition: 47% Great Central, 53% Sproat Sockeye
Expected Somass Age Composition: 36%, 51%, and 13% for age 42, 52, 53 / 63 adults, respectively.
To date the overall age composition is 23% (42), 72% (52), 1% (53), 3% (63). Concern for low numbers of 4 year olds.
First in-season reforecast: June 28 (Preliminary Review June 21)
Catch Estimate: ~ 117,400 adults
Port Alberni Tsu-ma-uss Economic Opportunity fishery – 73,400
Maanulth First Nations Domestic harvest - 6700
Commercial Gillnet – 32,000
Recreational – 4,300
Henderson sockeye in the catch is estimated at 116 fish
NEXT WEEK'S FISHING PLANS:
First Nations
Tsu-ma-uss (Hupacasath , Tseshaht)-The First Nations have reduced fishing effort due to high catch rate.
Gill-nets - Sunday noon to Monday night 8 pm; 32 hours.
Communal Drag Seine - Papermill Dam Thursday to Sunday 6 am to 2 pm.
Maa-nulth - The harvest plan includes contracting of designated Area D Gill-netters to harvest sockeye. These vessels will be displaying Maa-nulth identification flags.
Commercial
Area D Gillnet - fishery will open 14 hours from 6 am. to 8 pm Tuesday June 26th in the same areas as the June 19th fishery, from the Bamfield line to the Pocahontas line.
Area B Seine – fishery will open 48 hours from Monday June 25th 10:00 hrs to Wednesday June 27th 10:00 hrs. There will be a closed area for seines as agreed to by the Area 23 harvest committee. This area is subject to adjustment by the committee, depending on sockeye abundance in-season. The initial seine closed area will be bounded in the north by a line from Dunsmuir Point to the pilings north of China Creek and, in the south by a line drawn from Hocking Point easterly to the opposite shore to the Pocahontas line.
Recreational
Fishing continues at 4 per day in Alberni Inlet except for the tidal portions of Somass River which is to 2 per day with no night fishing.
For more information please contact the DFO office in Port Alberni at 250 720-4440

 

[IronNoggin]

[h=4]Fishery Notice[/h]
Category(s):	COMMERCIAL - Salmon: Seine
Subject:	FN0522-COMMERCIAL - Salmon: Seine - Area B - Area 23 - Alberni Inlet Sockeye - Opening
The involvement of the Area B seine fleet in the Alberni Inlet sockeye fishery is dependent on the Area B Seine Harvest Committee developing and implementing a fishing plan that limits the harvests of sockeye to weekly target allocations. This fishing opportunity is possible due to the cooperation between Fisheries Management staff and the Area B Harvest Committee to actively manage this weekly fishing plan. As a result, Area B vessel masters and vessels must be designated by their representative Working Group body and subsequently by the Area B Harvest Committee to participate in this fishery. This fishery will not proceed should undesignated seine vessels attend or attempt to participate in this fishery. The target catch for this opening is 40,000 sockeye. The 2012 pre-season forecast for Somass sockeye is 700,000. Commercial allocation at this run-size is 265,895. Seine allocation is 60% or 102,870. Gill net catch to date is approximately 32,000. There has been no seine catch to date. Run-size review and re-forecast will take place June 28. Area 23 - Alberni Inlet Seines open from 10:00 hours Monday, June 25 to 10:00 hours Wednesday June 27, 2012 or until the target catch is reached, whichever occurs first, in the following areas: - In that portion of Subarea 23-1 bounded in the north by a line from Polly Point to Stamp Point and in the south by a line from Dunsmuir Point light to a point located at 49Ú09.660 North, 124Ú47.720 West on the west side of Alberni Inlet north of China Creek; and - In that portion of Subarea 23-2 southerly of a line from the Light at Hocking Point then drawn easterly 90 degrees true to a point on the opposite shore located at 49Ú05.260 North and 124Ú49.158 West. Minimum bunt mesh size is 70 mm. The target species is sockeye, incidentally caught Coho may be retained. Pink, Chum, Chinook and Steelhead may not be retained. All catch must be brailed and the use of power skiffs is approved. Variation Order No. 2012-SAL-23-SN-01 Notes: For 2012 there are mandatory logbooks and dockside monitoring for all sockeye seine openings in Alberni Inlet. Please contact JO Thomas and Associates to arrange for dockside monitoring at - 1-866-930-4000 and phone 1-877-280-3474 to obtain a Logbook. Fishermen must hail their catch to a service provider within 24 hours of the closure of the fishery. A large recreational fleet is expected to be fishing in and near the areas open to seine fishing. Vessel masters are requested to avoid fishing near concentrations of recreational vessels and to travel at slow speed to minimize wake height when transiting through the recreational fishery. DFO Port Alberni may request catch updates by radio. Please advise Test-fishing vessel Nita Maria of catch if requested. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Mike Spence, Resource Manager, Port Alberni (250) 720 4440

 

[Olde School]

Sunday 7-9pm, Narrows to CC not a sniff although met 2 guys who had limited at Franklin in the same period.
Only a few boats out. Sounder blank.
Monday 430-730am, Franklin to Lonetree, 3.254bazillion boats headed to Nahmint, we stuck it out on our planned tack and listened to the VHF. A few reports of fish, but not the radio mayhem I'd expect. Sounder again blank and not a sniff.
Cleaning table at Clutesi was empty...

This sockeye season so far is one where I don't even want to think about the fuel:fish ratio!
I keep looking at the river gear in the garage and wonder about responding to the dam invites I'm getting.
Not quite ready to go there yet.

On the upside - after a year of fighting dad's plotter we have it sorted. Many other details on his new rig are coming together now; he is ready for action!

Curous to read how the seiners and gillnetters do; hope like heck that sox show for the long weekend coming up!
Lots of people travelling from outside PA, would be nice to reward their efforts.

FNs were doing well from the mill to Clutesi.