Thompson River Sockeye Opening

RevyFisher

Active Member
Does anyone recall what the timing has been in the past when they've opened the Thompson for sockeye? It's opening for springs and wondering if the sockeye opening on year's when it's opened align or whether it's later into September.
 
DFO answered my question today with this new notice. Looks like they're opening sockeye with the opening for the 1 over 50 cm chinook which is what i was wondering if they'd do. Hope to hear how people make out Friday. Thinking of holding off one more week but...

Thompson River:

Effective 00:01 hours Friday, August 22, 2014, until further notice in the
waters of the Thompson River (Region 3) from the outlet of Kamloops Lake
downstream to fishing boundary signs located just downstream of Gold Pan
Provincial Park except closed in the three locations listed below, you may
retain:

Two (2) sockeye per day
Four (4) chinook per day, Only one over 50 cm.

Description of three closed areas:

1) Deadman - from the fishing boundary signs approximately 1 km downstream of
the Hwy No. 1 Bridge at Savona to the CN rail bridge approximately 500 m
downstream of the confluence with Deadman Creek.

2) Juniper -from the fishing boundary signs approximately 1.5 km downstream
from Juniper Beach park downstream approximately 4 km to the fishing boundary
signs located at 50°46.893' N and 121°08.110' W.

3) Ashcroft - from the fishing boundary sign at the up stream side of the
mouth of the Bonaparte River to Hwy 97C bridge in Ashcroft.
 
If you're willing to drive 30-45 minutes west of Kamloops to floss a couple of sockeye seems like a no-brainer to head to Hope where the fish are fresh. Only 1hr 45min from Kamloops to Hope and the fish in the Lower River haven't swam an extra 300+km through Hells Gate, Scuzzy Rapids, etc, etc, burning off all their fat and oil. I have 14 from Grassy Bar in my freezer and a batch ready to smoke. Have flossed them on the thompson with the fly rod in 2010 and they're fine for the smoker but no comparison to the quality of sockeye harvested in the Chilliwack to Hope stretch. Bulk of the run is still to come so Lower Fraser likely to be open through first week of September at least.

Ukee
 
Thanks Ukee. I use to do the drive to the Fraser when i lived in Kelowna but now living in Revelstoke i have to draw the line somewhere. lol

I spent two weeks in Sooke earlier this month so got some nice bright salmon in the freezer already. It's more about the sport of fishing and besides the Thompson has very little to no pressure on it other than a couple spots so it's a much more pleasant experience than the Fraser.
 
DFO answered my question today with this new notice. Looks like they're opening sockeye with the opening for the 1 over 50 cm chinook which is what i was wondering if they'd do. Hope to hear how people make out Friday. Thinking of holding off one more week but...

Thompson River:

Effective 00:01 hours Friday, August 22, 2014, until further notice in the
waters of the Thompson River (Region 3) from the outlet of Kamloops Lake
downstream to fishing boundary signs located just downstream of Gold Pan
Provincial Park except closed in the three locations listed below, you may
retain:

Two (2) sockeye per day
Four (4) chinook per day, Only one over 50 cm.
To a maximum of 4 salmon/day, not a total of 6.
Description of three closed areas:

1) Deadman - from the fishing boundary signs approximately 1 km downstream of
the Hwy No. 1 Bridge at Savona to the CN rail bridge approximately 500 m
downstream of the confluence with Deadman Creek.

2) Juniper -from the fishing boundary signs approximately 1.5 km downstream
from Juniper Beach park downstream approximately 4 km to the fishing boundary
signs located at 50°46.893' N and 121°08.110' W.

3) Ashcroft - from the fishing boundary sign at the up stream side of the
mouth of the Bonaparte River to Hwy 97C bridge in Ashcroft.
 
If you're willing to drive 30-45 minutes west of Kamloops to floss a couple of sockeye seems like a no-brainer to head to Hope where the fish are fresh. Only 1hr 45min from Kamloops to Hope and the fish in the Lower River haven't swam an extra 300+km through Hells Gate, Scuzzy Rapids, etc, etc, burning off all their fat and oil. I have 14 from Grassy Bar in my freezer and a batch ready to smoke. Have flossed them on the thompson with the fly rod in 2010 and they're fine for the smoker but no comparison to the quality of sockeye harvested in the Chilliwack to Hope stretch. Bulk of the run is still to come so Lower Fraser likely to be open through first week of September at least.

Ukee
Yes and many, many anglers are here from the interior of B.C and elsewhere in the province. Not to mention the ones flooding in from south of the border...
 
When there's huge numbers like this year I'm with those who feel it should be 4/day instead of 2/day. There'll always be fish hogs but most of us have a set number of fish we can use. If it were 4/day I would have been done in 4 trips. I've made 5 (wife got her limit on two of those to make the 14) and have one or two more trips planned. May not halve the pressure on the river on any given day but would certainly thin it out substantially. In any case, if you have a river boat there are still lots of good places you can get to with good fishing and light crowds. My spot is only 15km from my in-laws, 5-min from the launch, rarely anyone within 30ft of you and 2-hours to get two guy's limits of sockeye is a slow day. No better fish than silver bright Fraser Sockeye so fresh the sealice haven't yet dropped off!!

Ukee
 
Oops, sorry for the hijack, this is the Thompson thread …. with only 2-4% of the Sox in the Albion test being Late-run fish - i.e. Adams/Shuswap, it'll be a week or two early for good flossing on the Thompson. Having said that, the chinook jack fishery should be ready to take off. Haven't heard any reports or been out myself, but good jack fishing is usually now through mid September on the big T.

Ukee
 
Thompson River Sockeye fishery

Oops, sorry for the hijack, this is the Thompson thread …. with only 2-4% of the Sox in the Albion test being Late-run fish - i.e. Adams/Shuswap, it'll be a week or two early for good flossing on the Thompson. Having said that, the chinook jack fishery should be ready to take off. Haven't heard any reports or been out myself, but good jack fishing is usually now through mid September on the big T.

Ukee

Just so you guys know the Sockeye that run up the Thompson River are biters so no flossing necessary.
Years ago when we able to keep Adult Springs in the canyon area we caught tons of Sockeye whenever we used Ghost Shrimp which was also the prime bait for big Springs.
we learned to avoid the weeks when the bulk of the Adams run came through as it too hard to keep the Sockeye long enough to catch a Spring.
The problem nowadays is everyone wants to press the easy button to catch fish which has caused this flossing (snagging) epidemic to spill over into systems other than the Fraser.
 
Just so you guys know the Sockeye that run up the Thompson River are biters so no flossing necessary.
Years ago when we able to keep Adult Springs in the canyon area we caught tons of Sockeye whenever we used Ghost Shrimp which was also the prime bait for big Springs.
we learned to avoid the weeks when the bulk of the Adams run came through as it too hard to keep the Sockeye long enough to catch a Spring.
The problem nowadays is everyone wants to press the easy button to catch fish which has caused this flossing (snagging) epidemic to spill over into systems other than the Fraser.

Well, the Sockeye that run up the Thompson are the same fish that are being flossed in the Fraser and the reason why they don't need to be flossed on the T is the water clarity is so much better, the fish see the lure and strike out of agression. They would do this too in the Fraser if they could see two feet. And there are lots of instances of fishing striking on the Fraser, and really more so in the Harriosn and Vedder. A lot of the people that only go fishing once a year are just complacent to harvest a fish in the quickest and most effective way.

Some of the folks on the T get all high and mighty when they float fish for Sockeye when the reality is they are just flossing using a float as opposed to a bouncing bettie weight. I agree though, it's spreading to other systems and other fish.
 
What could help reduce the flossing and spread of flossing is if there were posts and/or info out there on other means of fishing. People do as people see. On another forum someone asked about fishing the Thompson and purposely mentioned floating roe for jacks on the Canyon section below Gold Pan and adult springs upriver of that to Martel. The regs do get really confusing going between the BC freshwater regs to find out about open/close area's, bait ban stretches of river and then dfo for which species and size which vary all the way down the river. I've been fishing all my life and have the regs figured out for the T BUT for someone who fishes occasionally I can see why you get clusters of packed people fishing shoulder to shoulder as they see how they're flossing, catching fish and know that they must be allowed to fish there. I'm not sure how you encourage people to fish the entire river, spread out and use other effective methods besides flossing when you consider all the above.
 
Yes, good point, seems to me that those using Bettie's will be spending most of their time on the bank re-tying snag after snag, instead of fishing anyways. Some pretty big rocks in most locations compared to sand and small gravel on the Fraser.
 
bait fishing for Sockeye

What could help reduce the flossing and spread of flossing is if there were posts and/or info out there on other means of fishing. People do as people see. On another forum someone asked about fishing the Thompson and purposely mentioned floating roe for jacks on the Canyon section below Gold Pan and adult springs upriver of that to Martel. The regs do get really confusing going between the BC freshwater regs to find out about open/close area's, bait ban stretches of river and then dfo for which species and size which vary all the way down the river. I've been fishing all my life and have the regs figured out for the T BUT for someone who fishes occasionally I can see why you get clusters of packed people fishing shoulder to shoulder as they see how they're flossing, catching fish and know that they must be allowed to fish there. I'm not sure how you encourage people to fish the entire river, spread out and use other effective methods besides flossing when you consider all the above.
Revy Fisher,
you are right there's not a lot of info on other means of fishing and maybe it's time for guys like me to share some tips so that people can catch fish that actually bite!
I live on the banks of the Vedder River and have fished it since 1966. I have seen a lot and learned a lot.
Here's what I know about Sockeye in freshwater. If the water is clean enough they will bite on Ghost Shrimp, pieces of prawn tail, pro-cured krill, Marabou jigs and even roe & lures.
the best luck I have had over the years is using a float with an 18-20" leader with the above-mentioned baits in fairly small sizes. The other important thing is to fish relatively shallow.
Sockeye as well as other salmon usually hold mid-water so it's better to fish shallower than deeper. If you are fishing a run or pool that is 6-8' deep your float should be set so that your bait is drifted at about 4' deep.
fish are typically looking forward or up, rarely down and will rise up to grab the bait. The takes can be quite subtle, sometimes your float will slowly sink like you are hung up but when you are fishing shallow and nowhere near the bottom it's likely a fish. Sometimes they peck at it like little trout and only when you tighten up slightly and feel the weight you realize it's a Sockeye.
 
The sockeye is a meat fishery. Let people catch their fish, floss or float etc if it is legal. I agree, what happens on Fraser should stay ther though and not transfer to Vedder, etc. people know how to fish, they also know what is the easiest, but I feel it is DFO's job to make sure people are fishing legally, too many people telling people that their way is the right way... Not convinced though that sockeye bite! You will say yes they do, but studies have shown that they do not. Maybe they get pissed and go after something, I don't know though....
 
The sockeye is a meat fishery. Let people catch their fish, floss or float etc if it is legal. I agree, what happens on Fraser should stay ther though and not transfer to Vedder, etc. people know how to fish, they also know what is the easiest, but I feel it is DFO's job to make sure people are fishing legally, too many people telling people that their way is the right way... Not convinced though that sockeye bite! You will say yes they do, but studies have shown that they do not. Maybe they get pissed and go after something, I don't know though....

What studies can you show they don't bite? A link would be helpful.

Never heard of any, but first hand experience says they do. In clear waters like the Harrison and Vedder and a Stamp they will attack. Caught some on the fly in the Stamp. Clearly not flossed although they fall victim to that as well.
 
Revy Fisher,
you are right there's not a lot of info on other means of fishing and maybe it's time for guys like me to share some tips so that people can catch fish that actually bite!
I live on the banks of the Vedder River and have fished it since 1966. I have seen a lot and learned a lot.
Here's what I know about Sockeye in freshwater. If the water is clean enough they will bite on Ghost Shrimp, pieces of prawn tail, pro-cured krill, Marabou jigs and even roe & lures.
the best luck I have had over the years is using a float with an 18-20" leader with the above-mentioned baits in fairly small sizes. The other important thing is to fish relatively shallow.
Sockeye as well as other salmon usually hold mid-water so it's better to fish shallower than deeper. If you are fishing a run or pool that is 6-8' deep your float should be set so that your bait is drifted at about 4' deep.
fish are typically looking forward or up, rarely down and will rise up to grab the bait. The takes can be quite subtle, sometimes your float will slowly sink like you are hung up but when you are fishing shallow and nowhere near the bottom it's likely a fish. Sometimes they peck at it like little trout and only when you tighten up slightly and feel the weight you realize it's a Sockeye.

Great info!
 
Should see the increase to 4 sox/day for the Lillooet and Thompson River sockeye fisheries/flosseries by Monday, if not sooner.

Ukee
 
Sockeye bite!

The sockeye is a meat fishery. Let people catch their fish, floss or float etc if it is legal. I agree, what happens on Fraser should stay ther though and not transfer to Vedder, etc. people know how to fish, they also know what is the easiest, but I feel it is DFO's job to make sure people are fishing legally, too many people telling people that their way is the right way... Not convinced though that sockeye bite! You will say yes they do, but studies have shown that they do not. Maybe they get pissed and go after something, I don't know though....

Hi Merritboy1,
Trust me, Sockeye do bite it freshwater.
I have had 25 fish mornings on the Thompson and the Vedder, fishing in fairly slow water with shortened up gear so I know they weren't flossed. I have also caught Sockeye in the Harrison float fishing with krill and on retrieved flies.
Many years ago commercial fisherman thought that Sockeye didn't bite in saltwater but through a lot of experimenting they figured it out.
Check out the saltwater reports and see what's going on at the mouth of the Fraser. people are hammering the crap out of the Sockeye there.
 
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