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[Every Day]

Buck I would tend to agree.
I wonder if the gov would ever consider stopping hatchery production of white springs, chum, and pinks and put more money towards coho.
I'm not sure but I think that the Vedder now has MORE than enough white springs and chum and even pinks spawning naturally, how many even come to the hatchery?
Why have the numbers of coho smolts been so reduced, is it just because of gov funding or are other reasons involved?

[troutbreath]

1986 on the vedder was great. They released lots of hatchery Coho for expo that year.

Raising the price for license/ limiting the amount of time seniors fish on the Vedder would go a long way to improving fishing there.

[bbronswyk2000]

Buck I would tend to agree.
I wonder if the gov would ever consider stopping hatchery production of white springs, chum, and pinks and put more money towards coho.
I'm not sure but I think that the Vedder now has MORE than enough white springs and chum and even pinks spawning naturally, how many even come to the hatchery?
Why have the numbers of coho smolts been so reduced, is it just because of gov funding or are other reasons involved?

Chum and pinks have a greater ocean survival rate than coho and thats the reason they release more of them. We need these fish to put nutrients back into the rivers so stopping the hatchery enhancement is not a good idea.

[chris gadsden]

Chum and pinks have a greater ocean survival rate than coho and thats the reason they release more of them. We need these fish to put nutrients back into the rivers so stopping the hatchery enhancement is not a good idea.

Plenty of nutrients this year.

[Rybar]

I think it was 94-95 when the jack springs/springs showed in any numbers......ruining the good coho fishing...

I rember killing 4 does by 20 min after 7am.....starting at 7 am... more than once !

Interesting, I did not know this was so recent.

[Frankey]

These Spring,Chum and Pink runs that seem to dominate the Chilliwack river now bringing wth them the hordes of unethical anglers we see now was never an issue when the Cohos were the only species we fished in the fall.Fall Coho fishing was our bread and butter here in the valley and on the Fraser, just a diiferent way back then and i miss it terribly.

[UFC]

yes it is disappointing to see the deterioration in coho on the Vedder, but I think we should be glad that the other species are around in good numbers so that there still are a lot of fish to catch. It's not just the Vedder coho that are reduced, it's most rivers in the Lower Fraser system that have seen a similar reduction in this same period (some rivers more/less than others). I think it has more to do with Ocean survival than river enhancement of different species. I used to fish the chuck every year in Campbell river and there were lots of coho. Then all of a sudden the Strait of Georgia coho seemed to disappear. I think you'll find a good correlation with the reduced Vedder returns and the Strait of Georgia overall. I'm not sure if they have pinpointed why this reduction has taken place, but reduced herring in the straight, overfishing and (potentially) fish farms are all likely contributors. 
In certain local rivers, one still has a chance to catch as many coho now as then though. Either that or I've just learned how to fish better .

[buck]

Everyday

One of the reasons for the production cuts to coho is to try and protect wild coho populations. Wild smolts have to compete with the millions of hatchery smolts that are much larger. All these fish tend to enter the chuck at the same time which put the wild component at a disadvantage. Production cuts have also been made to chum and chinook. Pink returns are from wild production and have not been enhanced. White chinook returns remain strong even with the reduction in release numbers. Coho should follow chinook as they seem to have found a good area to feed. Good luck with your studies.

[buck]

Coho crazy
 
We have been monitoring wild coho stocks on the Chilliwack for the last 28 years and have a pretty good idea of their numbers. At this point in time we have five indicator streams that we use for stock strength and check for the presence of hatchery fish. ( Depot, Post, 14 Mile, Ryder, and Salwein ) The upper Chilliwack ( top end of Chilliwack Lake ) still has a run of wild coho but their numbers are
unknown. One would have to be flowen in by chopper, dropped off and spend the day walking downstream to the lake to get a count.. Depot has a small run of wild coho and Post a very health run. The other three have a mixture a wild and hatchery fish. Every year during our trap sorts we get a number of wild fish diverting into the hatchery and we take these fish and spawn them with our hatchery stock.
Chum returns over the years have been up and down and only a small % of the returns have been of hatchery origin. Wild production on some years has been very strong. When we take our brood stock we spread our egg takes as late as possible. Are the late run chums hatchery or wild ? Could be a mix.
As for a meat fishery I think you hit it right on the head. I'm totally disgusted with the ongoing snagging and the total disregard for our salmon. However, in saying that ,there are a lot of excellent anglers
who care about the resource and with a little time and effort can still get away from the mobs and enjoy some enjoyable fishing.

[Frankey]

Very interesting read Buck.How long have you worked with the Hatchery? Are these Pink runs enhanced? And have the coho been reduced as to how many you put back in the system as smolts?

[adriaticum]

Yes we never heard of flossing in those days. I donot think we even had dental floss in those days.

Frankey do you think pink retention should not be open for retention in non tidal waters?

That should get the discussion going and most likely should be on a seperate thread.

I believe this would be bad.
If you don't allow the hordes who believe spawning pinks are a delicacy to take their carcasses, they will start fishing for the good stuff.
This way beaks can have their carcasses and we can have you know what... 

[firstlight]

Frankey thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Those were good times out on Bowmans Yota.
I remember racing Ken and Dave to the spot many a morning but id allways win because id put in at wing dam and they had to wait for the gate at Dewdney.
Thats when they had the big fiberglass Aqua something.
They and there buddys were some of the first Jets out there and before that Freds 17 foot PrinceCraft was like the Queen Mary of the river.
I look back fondly on those days and all the fun we had out there.
However the Sockeye fishery ruined all that.
Good times indeed.