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[burnaby]

Went Fraser sockeye fishing yesterday. Walked in, asked nicely to squeeze into a space, offer to leave if it became a problem, gentlemen there was nice and let me in. Had a nice discussion with him, made another friend. After he left the space was vacant. As I was landing my fish a new group came in and immediately offered to help me with the fish. Chatted with them for a while. Fishing was quiet so I left my gear bag behind to walk to another spot. Came back 1/2 hour later with sockeye in hand. Fellow who moved into my old spot upon seeing me immediately asked if I wanted my spot back. I told him no thanks, I'm done, grab my other fish, moved to his left to get out of his way to clean the fish.  Grab my gear (I can leave it unattended for hours with no concern of theft), said good luck to everyone and left. Overall another enjoyable Fraser sock trip.

Only thing I can generalize is It doesn't what the sports is, always some great people, always some aHoles. When you find yourself surrounded by the latter it is time to move.

And NO, I was no where near PEG!

[iRobertO]

Went Fraser sockeye fishing yesterday. Walked in, asked nicely to squeeze into a space, offer to leave if it became a problem, gentlemen there was nice and let me in. Had a nice discussion with him, made another friend. After he left the space was vacant. As I was landing my fish a new group came in and immediately offered to help me with the fish. Chatted with them for a while. Fishing was quiet so I left my gear bag behind to walk to another spot. Came back 1/2 hour later with sockeye in hand. Fellow who moved into my old spot upon seeing me immediately asked if I wanted my spot back. I told him no thanks, I'm done, grab my other fish, moved to his left to get out of his way to clean the fish.  Grab my gear (I can leave it unattended for hours with no concern of theft), said good luck to everyone and left. Overall another enjoyable Fraser sock trip.

Only thing I can generalize is It doesn't what the sports is, always some great people, always some aHoles. When you find yourself surrounded by the latter it is time to move.

And NO, I was no where near PEG!

What you've described here is what I experience the majority of the time.

[samw]

Is it more ethical when a sockeye bound for your table bites your hook or you floss it? It is definitely more "sporting" when a sockey bites a spin and glow rather than it being flossed.....  Should we exchange the word ethical with the word sporting? No one likes being labeled as unethical! Especially if they are doing something that is legal.

I am not 100% convinced that flossing is either ethical or unethical. I am 100% convinced that a "holier than thou" attitude will not answer the question and instead just divides the fishing community.

I don't see ethics involved for me.  There is a common goal which is to hook a fish in the mouth as a recreation.  In basketball, the slam dunk is a higher percentage shot but getting to the hoop is risky as you can foul a defender as you charge in.  Taking an outside shot is less risky to get a foul but is a lower percentage shot.  Some people think the outside shot is prettier and requires more skill.  Others think that the power slam dunk requires more athleticism and is more impressive and brutal.  In tennis/volleyball, when you are in a position to win a point with either a drop shot/tip or a smash/spike, some people think a smash/spike is better and others prefer a dropshot/tip (I always go for the smash).  Different people have different preferences on what they like to do.  Flossing and lure/bait fishing are both ways to hook a fish for recreation for me and I have not yet evolved as a fisherperson to a point where the choice is an ethical decision.

Now if I entered a fishing tournament where the rules are to catch as many fish as possible by getting them to bite and then I am able to get away with cheating and win the tournament by flossing fish, then that would be unethical.

[alwaysfishn]

Well written! And very logical analysis.

[Gooey]

Ok so here's a question...who here thinks its OK to floss a steelhead on the vedder?  Or a coho or white spring for that matter?

Alwaysfishn I am really curious to hear what you have to say to this question? 

My guess is that most people here are NOT OK with flossing a steelhead, coho, etc, etc.  So to those poeple I would also like to know why its not OK to floss a steelhead and how its different than flossing sockeye.

[alwaysfishn]

Ok so here's a question...who here thinks its OK to floss a steelhead on the vedder?  Or a coho or white spring for that matter?

Alwaysfishn I am really curious to hear what you have to say to this question?  

My guess is that most people here are NOT OK with flossing a steelhead, coho, etc, etc.  So to those poeple I would also like to know why its not OK to floss a steelhead and how its different than flossing sockeye.

Of course it's not ok to try and floss a steelhead, spring or coho in the Vedder!

As far as how it's different from flossing sockeye, I'm not going to go there.

Sockeye season is over and the flossing debate is also over for me. If you really are interested in the answer to your question, re-read the posts in this thread and I'm certain you'll find the answer...  

For the life of me Gooey I can't understand or appreciate how you can floss sockeye yourself, and yet have such a persistent argument against it. Folks like Chris that have totally given up flossing, I can appreciate.  

[Gooey]

#1 - I went out 4 times this year...its is a fishery I have virtually lost all interest in.

#2 - "Sockeye season is over and the flossing debate is also over for me"...well then why did you post at 739am this morning in response to Samw's post?

#3 - (and this is the one I love) .... "Of course it's not ok to try and floss a steelhead" but you wont quantify why....probably because it would equate to an admission that sockeye don't bite and that they are in fact being snagged.

My buddy was out fishing the vedder on sunday...he saw fish rising and proceeded to try and get a bite out of the fish.  3 guys walk in with betties and long leaders and floss the crap out of the hole.  He didnt get anything, they "hooked" 3 fish.  They propapbly changed his luck in that hole as we all know what a hail storm of betties can do to fish sitting in a run.  I think that sucks...period.  

I am not against flossing a sockeye or two, my position is that flossing sockeye needs to be managed seperately from a sports fishing lisence or a normal salmon tag.  Examples like the one above are more and more common.  I saw a beak flossers at the alison pools this summer that told me reds don't bite, only flossers are getting them...thats just BS but the sockeye fishery is changing the face of fresh water salmon fishing and creating an acceptance of snagging.


Yes sockeye is done for the season...all that means is a change in scenery for all those flossers.

[burnaby]

So how did you overcome that overwhelming guilt each time you went?
And how did you repent upon returning home?
And G.. forbid did you actually keep a snagged/immorally/unethically/illegally hook on the outside of the mouth 

#1 - I went out 4 times this year...its is a fishery I have virtually lost all interest in.
...

[Gooey]

I repent by snorkelling the cap and pulling yards and yards of line and leaders and bouncing betties that all those flossing beaks snap off in there each year...usualy do it 2-3 times a season.

Like I said, I do think there is space for a sockeye floss fishery...we just need to separate it from what we call "sport" fishing.

[burnaby]

You're a good sport for cleaning out the river, hats off to that. 

Also gonna agree there's not much sports in the oh too easy to catch socks this year. Maybe we can call it "entertainment" fishing cause it sure was amusing watching all the newbies.

Now comes the tedious canning job. 

I repent by snorkelling the cap and pulling yards and yards of line and leaders and bouncing betties that all those flossing beaks snap off in there each year...usualy do it 2-3 times a season.

Like I said, I do think there is space for a sockeye floss fishery...we just need to separate it from what we call "sport" fishing.

[shakespug]

Why not just make flossing out-right a summary offence?
At least we as citizens can call upon the RCMP for support.