Sooke and Cowichan River salmon returns
- Thread starter 2xeagle16
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tigerprawn
Active Member
Sooke chinook were under 100 fish 50000 chum and over 5000 coho to the watershed.
fish stalker
Active Member
50,000 chum!? I was wondering, why do you think they put so much effort into chum? I mean you wouldnt want a species to become extinct or anything but hatcheries sure seem to make alot of chum fry. I was wondering if it has something to do with fishfarms? I have heard how they make fish meal to make the feed for them. Is this why they are making so many chum?
Rum Buddies
Well-Known Member
and they leave the river early, so I think they have a higher rate of survival.
Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
And the carcasses are one of the best stream and lake fertilizers you can get.
Karma-Kazi
Active Member
I dont think they hatch Chums in the Sooke. Anyone confirm that?
-KK
-KK
Englishman
Well-Known Member
KK you are correct. Fish stalker, the Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society raises only Chinook and Coho. Those chum run up the Sooke river and spawn all by themselves just as nature intended! As far as I know there are no hatcheries raising chum in BC although I could be wrong about that.
Chum have very low commercial value and until recently most recreational fisherman did not target them, probably due to their pale looking flesh. However due to declining stocks of other salmon species more anglers are fishing for them, especially in Johnstone Strait. The do fight very hard, and they taste great smoked!!
Englishman you are wrong 
The Nitnat was primarily a Chum producing hatchery that added Chinook as an afterthought. They have pumped out I believe up to 20 million Chum in a year. They were produced for the commercial fishery...you probably have had Ikura in the sushi restaurants...that is Chum roe. The Charters Centre has a licence to take 3 of each species...they were going to take 3 coho and 3 chum. Chum are the easiest to rear...they spawn anywhere and like it was said before they leave the river quickly.
The Nitnat was primarily a Chum producing hatchery that added Chinook as an afterthought. They have pumped out I believe up to 20 million Chum in a year. They were produced for the commercial fishery...you probably have had Ikura in the sushi restaurants...that is Chum roe. The Charters Centre has a licence to take 3 of each species...they were going to take 3 coho and 3 chum. Chum are the easiest to rear...they spawn anywhere and like it was said before they leave the river quickly.
Englishman
Well-Known Member
I stand corrected Profisher. I did not know that. Are they the only hatchery rearing Chum on the Island? I know Sooke Salmon Society do not raise any, and you guys are only just getting going on Charters Creek on a fairly small scale. All those Chum in the Sooke river now are there naturally!!
Saxe Point
Well-Known Member
Fly-caught chum in a river are a tremendous challenge and one of the best fishing experiences around. Many argue, with justification in my experience, that chum are pound for pound the strongest of the Pacific salmon. On a fly rod in a river current, they are extraordinary - far tougher to land than most springs under 40 lbs in the ocean. Fly only and catch and release only keeps the crowds down on the Sooke River.
Rolly you are rite,nitinat raises up to 40 mill if they get them for the commerical fleet,also goldstream does about 200,000 for the school programs ,and when we get a excess we put them in craigflower as fry as they do good as adults returning they do a great job creating spawning beds as they cant jump falls like coho .
fshnfnatic
Well-Known Member
Tell me about it,H5. Had a 20+ lber. snap my HMX in half the other day. Just an increadibly powerfull fish! In hind sight
I just should of let him spool me.
I just should of let him spool me.
100 Chinook in the Sooke river this year eh? I landed about a 8 lb spring out of there this year.
I would love to say that Chum are the hardest fighting fish... But i cant say my experience with them was really all that intense... i was landing 8-16 lbers on trout sized fly gear in the sooke and nanaimo Rivers...Found them easier to land then Coho lb for lb, even the larger ones.. But that could be because they were not as fresh. Can't say i have caught any in the ocean.
I would love to say that Chum are the hardest fighting fish... But i cant say my experience with them was really all that intense... i was landing 8-16 lbers on trout sized fly gear in the sooke and nanaimo Rivers...Found them easier to land then Coho lb for lb, even the larger ones.. But that could be because they were not as fresh. Can't say i have caught any in the ocean.
Degree of Freedom
Active Member
http://pacgis01.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Docum...ReleaseReports/ReleaseReport.aspx?IDValue=100
Big and Little Qualicum also produce chum
Big and Little Qualicum also produce chum
Saxe Point
Well-Known Member
If you were landing 8-16 lbers on trout sized (5/6 weight) gear you must be fishing the spawned out fish. Chums in the Sooke when I was fishing there a few weeks ago were averaging 12-18 lbs and couldn't be reasonably landed on less than 8 weight gear. But we don't fish the spawned out fish that are expiring. Nor do we play fish to exhaustion with undersized gear, which we feel is far too hard on the fish, who need to survive to spawn.
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