Steelhead Proposed Regulations for VI

[Fish-Rite]

Leech i agree they need somewhere too spawn without being baited or fly flossed off there redds!!Why is the Upper cowie open for a select few too fly fish or even pathetic as it guide up there?

 

[Fish-Rite]

Leech i agree they need somewhere too spawn without being baited or fly flossed off there redds!!Why is the Upper cowie open for a select few too fly fish or even pathetic as it guide up there?

 

[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?

 

[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?

 

[Vince914]

chromesweetchrome
you need the help another quality post (?)

on a different note 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

 

[Vince914]

chromesweetchrome
you need the help another quality post (?)

on a different note 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

 

[Summer Steel]

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

 

[Summer Steel]

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

 

[Summer Steel]

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.

 

[Summer Steel]

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.

 

[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.

One must remember that Steelhead can and will spawn in all sections of a river. Some considerations must be made for protecting the low river spawners found on most steelhead streams, they are normally late run fish that are in and out quickly.

When it comes to spawning steelhead "ethics" are everything, most skilled steelheaders know exactly where fish like to spawn and unfortunately some like to target them and even more unfortunate is a guide who chooses to abuse this for pleasing a customer/s.

As for jets on your rivers, certainly a cap will be needed on guide numbers or you will have a situation like the Cowlitz in Washington, where you could actually high five guys in boats whipping by.

With our huge population increase and resulting interest in steelheading, us anglers need to lobby MOE for more more hatchery planted streams with fishable numbers of Steelhead. Anything else will continue to see more guys, less water, flared tempers, less enjoyment, resulting in less participants, less people giving a F%$#, and ultimately the demise of this species.

We have numerous systems on both Van isle and the LML that are perfectly suited for large scale Steelhead fisheries. We have a fish perfectly suited for sportfishing, with a long return time, great biting habits and the "mystique" that attracts anglers.

What part of multi million dollar opportunity is MOE not seeing, its time for them to wake the F#%K up.

Guides, tackle stores and the non "eco-****" fishing orgs must lead the way if this is to happen.

Otherwise we can just continue to battle like losers on the internet and watch Steelhead fishing get worse and worse.

 

[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.

One must remember that Steelhead can and will spawn in all sections of a river. Some considerations must be made for protecting the low river spawners found on most steelhead streams, they are normally late run fish that are in and out quickly.

When it comes to spawning steelhead "ethics" are everything, most skilled steelheaders know exactly where fish like to spawn and unfortunately some like to target them and even more unfortunate is a guide who chooses to abuse this for pleasing a customer/s.

As for jets on your rivers, certainly a cap will be needed on guide numbers or you will have a situation like the Cowlitz in Washington, where you could actually high five guys in boats whipping by.

With our huge population increase and resulting interest in steelheading, us anglers need to lobby MOE for more more hatchery planted streams with fishable numbers of Steelhead. Anything else will continue to see more guys, less water, flared tempers, less enjoyment, resulting in less participants, less people giving a F%$#, and ultimately the demise of this species.

We have numerous systems on both Van isle and the LML that are perfectly suited for large scale Steelhead fisheries. We have a fish perfectly suited for sportfishing, with a long return time, great biting habits and the "mystique" that attracts anglers.

What part of multi million dollar opportunity is MOE not seeing, its time for them to wake the F#%K up.

Guides, tackle stores and the non "eco-****" fishing orgs must lead the way if this is to happen.

Otherwise we can just continue to battle like losers on the internet and watch Steelhead fishing get worse and worse.

 

[steeliehead]

Some April Chrome from today[

][/img][

][/img]

 

[Blackleech]

Great post Bent Rods, and beautiful steelhead Steeliehead.

I've often wondered about the amazing potential of the upper Sooke river for steelhead. Anyone ever been up above between the Potholes and Leechtown? Miles and miles of beautiful steelhead habitat that to my knowledge only contains a stunted race of resident cutthroat trout and maybe the odd rainbow. Seems to me if MOE built a fish ladder to assist fish in getting over the potholes we could have a hatchery steelhead paradise. But wait a minute, using our license fees to plant pinks in Cowichan Bay makes way more sense (?!)

 

[Summer Steel]

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??

 

[steeliehead]

Same fish, and I agree with you there is a lot of spawning water from GCL to Ash confluence, including Robertson Creek itself. I think most people were regarding the Cowichan as not having a closed sanctuary. Which is realy hard to believe. If you look at the regulations almost every watershed on Vancouver Island has some sort of spawning sanctuary. Why the Cowi does not is a wonder being it so accesible for so many people. Hopefully it will close next season, once again, as it used to be before it was made fly-only.

 

[Fish-Rite]

That question of the Cow is continually asked by many different anglers!It's funny these elitist guys and the survey guy at the cow all pretend that they care oohhh so much about the steelhead and this and that but WHY DO THEY GUIDE AND FISH OFF REDDS? in the upper river?Oh wait its the victoria guys in driftboats using bait causing there demise???Or so they tell everyone!

 

[traveller]

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 (?!)

Don't know where you got the info that the Pink Net Pens in Cowichan Bay were funded by freshwater licence fees, but it just isn't correct. Money came from one time start up grants from the Pacific Salmon Foundation and the Oceans Divison of MOE. The rest was from numbers of business people in Duncan, and Island Outfitters in Victoria. We had a sign on the pen with all the funding sources listed.