Yes steelhawk you are right ,it used to be really good at the mouth ,i grew up fishing there and have seen the fishing go from what you and i remeber to not so good,but it seems in the last few years the fishing has been slowly getting better.but still nothing like it used to be.
I think this is partly due to the fact that all the hatchery rivers seem to have less coho stocking now, causing much reduced coho opportunity. The Cap used to be so loaded with coho that every incoming tide meant limits for fishermen, and in upper Cap, coho came through in waves with people lining up the rapids for them. The Vedder and Chehalis are having much less coho now. It was reported that the hatchery cut 600K coho smolt stocking at the Vedder. If some one thinks this is a good season for coho there, it is really nothing like 10-15 years before. I remember walking the upper river runs back then, and could see patches of bluish/greyish shades shifting in the curents and they are large coho schools holding in the run. Where are they now?
The other factor is probably due to the late timing of the opening to lower river bar fishing opportunity. People used to do well all through September in lower Fraser bars. With an October opening now, the main run of most rivers may have already gone passed the lower river, leaving only stragglers and small schools for bar fishers. Didn't the river remain close to bar fishing until Oct 15 a few years back? Gosh, most coho should clear the lower river by then.
Reduced fishing success for fishermen probably caused reduced interest in fishing (although the die-hards will persiist) for the public at large, and that may contribute to the ever decreasing sales of fishing licenses. I guess some of us wouldn't mind it at all, as often one delights in the fact that he is fishing a spot w/o another soul in sight.
Author
Topic: Lower fraser barfishing October 5th, 2007 (Read 5464 times)