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[Tylsie]

I am always amazed at the way fisherman throw each under the bus. Some say cast bait out floating off the bottom or under a float. Ok, lets discuss that.

Roe: nope, can't use that as it is a common salmon bait.
Shrimp or Prawns: I have read numerous articles about how to rig this up to target salmon is estuaries and river mouths (IE: Steveston) to target salmon, so that is known to catch salmon.
Power bait: well I guess that would work, but then again I have never caught any fish on it, including stocked trout or pike minnows so I never use it.

Spinners and Spoons: I have targeted salmon at Gary Point and similar areas where there is large variety of species and the by-catch is about equal, if not tipping in favour of Pikeminnow, sculpin, and other. If a person takes a walk down at Gary Point during the Bullhead Derby you will see several people casting these as well as just using bait. Why, because the work.

I have seen people catch sturgeon on Bar rigs designed for chinook. Does that mean every person who uses such a set up needs to purchase a Sturgeon Tag? It is up the fisher to go to areas that fish will limit the by-catch. It seems to me Hrenya did just that. As long as there are salmon in the Fraser it doesn't matter what you use there is the chance you will catch one. The only way to stop it is to close the river entirely and no one wants that. 

   

[hrenya]

if ill ever catch salmon in the bay at garry point on my ultra light spinning gear - I probably will be the first one to do so , from what I`ve heard from oldtimers fishing for salmon in Richmond , which is why I chose that specific spot to fish with spoon for pikes . I guess only Rod understood what I meant .

p.s. got few pikes on sturgeon rig , and few of buds too . #6-7 hook with ooligan were used .

[DanL]

thanks , im not trying to argue . I just want to figure it out not by "I think you can or I think you cant" . Too bad DFO office on Steveston closes at 4pm , I`ll try to make it next week and get more clear info .

I would be interested to know what they say, since I don’t know that anyone is going to be able to give you a straight answer. There’s no list of lures and techniques that will only attract pikeminnow and bulls but not salmon, it’s up to the fisheries officers interpretation and presumably they have wide discretion in how they enforce. If you run into one who’s having a bad day, or maybe he’s not that familiar with the subtleties of that fishery, they can make your life difficult, but to be fair all the one’s I’ve encountered have been very reasonable.

It sounds like you’ve done all you can to ensure to don’t target salmon during the closure so go for it!

[Sandman]

Once again, I spoke to the DFO OFFICE and asked the question over a week ago.  I was told that as long as you use gear used to target other species (ie: hrenya's trout rod with 4 pound test) then you are  fine.  I specifically asked about my fly rod as I use my 6 weight for both trout and for small salmon species (pinks, coho, even sockeye in the Harrison), and I was told that I would be fine as it was used to target trout and there would little chance of hooking a sockeye  Where hrenya's ran into trouble was the size of the spoon's hook (similar to if I tied on a big zonker for Chinook and claimed to be targeting pike minnow (yes, I have caught big pike minnow on them, just like I have caught bullheads on my big spoons, but I used those flies to target springs and consider the pike minnow a by catch).  I think hrenya's gear was acceptable, which is why he wasn't ticketed, but the choice of spoon was what made the officer think twice.  At the end of the day, the closure of all salmon was not to stop the by catch of pink salmon while casting for pike minnow any way.  It was to stop the by catch of sockeye while fishing for other salmon.  If they hassle you for casting small spoons on a 4 pound trout rod, then they are just jerking you around.  There is no danger to sockeye with that rod. It's why they did not close the whole river down, so we can continue to fish for other species.