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Sporting

20 (29%)

Harvest for any species of salmon

5 (7.2%)

Snagging

19 (27.5%)

Harvest but only for Sockeye

17 (24.6%)

Dont care I'll do what ever is in the regs that gives me the best chance to catch a fish regardless if it bites or not.

8 (11.6%)

Total Members Voted: 66

[MADFISH]

Hey Chris,
spot closure or complete salmon closure? I don't believe they really want to do this. This whole fishery thing is money driven. I don't think the FOC is blind enough to ignore the money our flossers have generated over the years. We'll see what happens next.

and Liketofish, I love your point. "Well fed Canadians". Try live in China, you starve is you are selective.

[Rodney]

[liketofish]

It does not take a rocket scientist to observe that during the pink run in the Vedder. Flyfishermen targeting coho repeatedly snag into pinks in the body parts.

It's fairly easy to avoid the pinks while fishing coho, I didn't snag one single pink last opening...

But I know how to avoid the foul hooking by fishing certain water types, others don't.

Cheers,
Nicole

There you go Nicole. You were one of those laughing at Steelhawk as superfisherman with a badge because he stated he rarely hook into sockeye by the way he fish. Now you are saying the same thing to yourself, I am a superfisherwoman by rarely hooking Pinks. The truth is,  Pinks were snagged left and right in the whole river for the entire Pink season. So Steelhawk said he can be selective by the way he fish and he was scorned and jeered, and now you are saying you can be selective on Pinks but people including me still hold high respect for you. Some people only see what they do as the right thing to do. That is called self-righteousness in my book. This applies to all those posters who claim he/she bb for sockeye and not spring, then turn around to attack those bb for both, even though the latter group hardly hooks into sockeyes currently.

By the way, even if others are ripping while they fish, they are nevertheless float fishing. If nothing can be done to stop them from ripping while float fishing, then float fishing should be stopped, in the same light you think bottom bouncing should be stopped now even though most people do not hook a sockeye. So if a few sockeyes are caught & released, you think the entire bb should be stopped, then why not apply the same argument to float fishing. There, more fish are fouled hooked and snagged than any other methods. Actually the sight-fishers are the ones doing minimal damage because they only target selected fish, but even that practice of sight fishing has been under attack. Go figure.

[stlhd4ever]

It does not take a rocket scientist to observe that during the pink run in the Vedder. Flyfishermen targeting coho repeatedly snag into pinks in the body parts. Float fishing not snagging fish? Common, go over Tamahi during Oct/Nov. Poor fish snagged on fins, belly, eyes what have u and have to fight heavy currents. Those scenes make PETA a viable org. Congrats. You obviously have achieved sainthood in fishing by never snagging into a fish unintentionally. 

Even short floating snags fish in places of high concentration. Try to short float for a coho among the chum schools in Chehalis. So should we shut all these methods down? Cheer. 

Many of the so called float fishers are simply lining the fish in Tamihi Rapids, I've seen it. Lining is another more polite term for flossing.

And there is not one single method that could be used to get through the carpet of chums late season on the chehalis below the hatchery without snagging chum...

That was a poor example in my opinion, it's not possible to even fish for the one coho that may exist... Trust me I've tried.

Cheers,
Nicole

It's easy just use a circle type hook . The fish has to bite to get hooked with these babies
I think that the major problem here is that everything you read about how to consistently catch fish, they talk about constantly being on the bottom, your offering HAS to be on the bottom. Well how do you do that? BB or long lining with a float. If people would realize that within a foot or 2 is much better, not only for presentation but for spooking fish and snagging also. Fish will move for a properly presented bait or lure

[Nicole]

Now you are saying the same thing to yourself, I am a superfisherwoman by rarely hooking Pinks. The truth is,  Pinks were snagged left and right in the whole river for the entire Pink season.

Well I'm fishing totally stagnant water and stripping for the coho using coho patterns, that's how I avoid the pinks... I don't fish current at all.

The odd one does find the fly though, and what you catch is what bites.

Try doing that with flossing, it's not possible.

Cheers,
Nicole

[Nicole]

It's easy just use a circle type hook . The fish has to bite to get hooked with these babies
I think that the major problem here is that everything you read about how to consistently catch fish, they talk about constantly being on the bottom, your offering HAS to be on the bottom. Well how do you do that? BB or long lining with a float. If people would realize that within a foot or 2 is much better, not only for presentation but for spooking fish and snagging also. Fish will move for a properly presented bait or lure

I want to try that circle hook this year... I hope it works!

I agree with the better line control with a shorter leader... Even in the cap right now I'm using 12 inches of 8 lb flouro.

Cheers,
Nicole

[Geff_t]

Now you are saying the same thing to yourself, I am a superfisherwoman by rarely hooking Pinks. The truth is,  Pinks were snagged left and right in the whole river for the entire Pink season.

Well I'm fishing totally stagnant water and stripping for the coho using coho patterns, that's how I avoid the pinks... I don't fish current at all.

The odd one does find the fly though, and what you catch is what bites.

Try doing that with flossing, it's not possible.

Cheers,
Nicole

Well said Nicole.

I never foul hooked a single chum last year doing the same thing.

[stlhd4ever]

They work pretty good when huge numbers are packed together. Hard to set the hook sometimes

[2:40]

Id like to join Nicole and others and indicate that I did not snag a pink or chum using short floating methods. I can count on one hand the amount of foul hookings in my lifetime using SELECTIVE angling techniques. In the Chehalis, I fish outside the chum because that's where the coho are. I also fish ABOVE the fish as they look UP and will move if they want to bite. When I retrieve I keep it on top and since Im not fishing 4 feet of water with 10 feet of float, it's pretty easy to avoid them.

The 'float fishermen' mentioned here are the 'Rippers' who set the hook several times a drift. These 'Rippers' are yet another thing we can thank the Fraser Snaggery for. They are common everywhere but seem to love the Keith Wilson Bridge and Tamihi Rapids.

Dont get them mixed up with selective angling.

Steelhead4ever, good points.

LiketoFish however, weak points  (in my opinion). We're talking about OUR kind of fishing here. Not what happens elsewhere.  All are unique and in our case, SNAGGING is illegal for a very good reason. Keep up this mentality and we can watch our angling opportunities disappear along with the fish.

[2:40]

Steelhawk, sorry to 'come after' you again. 

You keep tooting this "it's legal" horn and call guys and gals like me brain washed. Or you for some reason bring in biting sockeye in clear water using bb (which I can only assume means with a 20' leader...?)

I had several points that have not been touched yet except with this repetative 'legal' statement that's sort of getting kind of lame to me. Or there's always the Nets or that somebody in Africa uses a spear, equally troubling. Where's the brainwashing?   

Im curious your thoughts on why snagging is defined in the regs as such. Why is it, and Im talking about the enforceable snagging here, illegal and possibly for what reasons?

[Steelhawk]

I will let Freak debate you instead. 

I wish to pursue my fishing in peace. If my comments trouble you, I apologize. Many bbers feel the same troubling with the constant name calling, labelling and general  trashing done to them too. I do respect you for your care for fish stock. Just want to point out that your energy is better spent on the group which can do real damage.

I am done with debating on fishing ethics. Ethics is a moral issue and universal in nature. Theft, robbery, murder etc. are crimes everywhere it happens. If you declare that what happen elsewhere doesn't apply and that DFO's considering flossing as a legally acceptable method is not a valid point, then what is the point to debate on ethics?

I am off to fishing. Relax, I will fish very selectively and I will not catch any sockeye, even in sockeye water. I reported this a few years ago, that I took a green rod fishing near end of July. It was a mistake because he did hook into 10 socs while I target spring and did not hook any socs. I motioned we moved to more springy water to avoid the socs and instruct him where to cast. We both ended up with springs and not a soc. This trip gives me the feeling that with proper presentation, socs can be avoided. But greener rods may not be able to do that. So, I think the river should be closed to All fishermen from 3rd week of July until sockeye opens. Like me, I am sure many bbers like BS, Rieber, Fly Guy. FishFreak etc. care about fish stocks just like many bar fishers. We can do much better if we are a united group. 

[Arnie]

Hi Steelhawk,

I note that you keep going back to the topic of flossing for springs....how you rarely hook sockeye....and how you avoid the sockeye, while flossing in a targeted manner for springs. While it would be good that you could in theory, avoid these endangered sockeye while they are in the river, I think it may be possible that you are actually missing the bigger picture. When the flossing phenomenon began, it was an answer to the difficult question of how to hook "sockeye". Spoons didn't seem to work, bar fishing didn't work 98.999% of the time, and so somebody developed the technique of dragging the line through the fishes mouth and thus hooking a fish that otherwise would very rarely be caught simply because it did not bite. Flossing was born You are correct that once in a while a sockeye is hooked inside the mouth while flossing, I've seen it as well, however my guess would be that it could be called a fluke.....either the rare instance that one bit?? or simply a lucky drift that "threaded the needle" so to speak. Either way, the reality is that most people at that time did not go out of their way to floss for springs in fact it was almost unheard of. Springs were simply a by-catch of flossing for sockeye and if they happened to be "in the mouth", then lots of guys would keep them, however I remember seeing quite a few springs snagged in various parts of the body as well and though a few were kept most were released. The point is it's only in the last few years that flossing has been carried over to fishing for springs, a fish that does willingly and aggressively bite. This entire floss fishery for springs is an example of the negative impact flossing in and of itself, has had on sport fishing in general. Prior to the acceptance of flossing for sockeye as a legitimate fishery, I don't think too many sport fisherman that I know of would have been caught dead flossing springs in the Fraser. You either bar fished, spoon fished, or float fished some other system. Somehow a portion of the sport fishing community, has become de-sensitized to what flossing really is and how it started out, and given themselves(with a little help from a poorly written, in need of an overhaul freshwater synopsis) a loophole in which to legitimize a questionable method for catching fish. A side note as well in regards to comparing methods used elsewhere..... I've got to agree with 2:40, it's a completely moot point. Let's keep the discussion in and about BC.

Cheers,

Arnie

[firstlight]

Excellent post Arnie.

[TrophyHunter]

I am one of the people that still believe that alot of the fish that are caught using a BB rig indeed do bite the presentation !! On the Thompson during Steelhead season the most popular way of fishing is BB !! these fish are not flossed , people just use this method because it is a big system and you need to get you're hook down deep in the flow .... I BB for both Sockeye and Spring last year and 99% of the fish caught by Myself and my fellow fishermen were hooked INSIDE the mouth, alot of them were hooked in the top of the mouth, this fact alone makes me believe that many of the fish that are caught using this method actualy DO bite the presentation, the fact that BB is frowned upon is pretty sad when it is a legitimate method of fishing that goes back before using floats to fish was even thought of !!
TH

[2:40]

I am one of the people that still believe that alot of the fish that are caught using a BB rig indeed do bite the presentation !!

On the Thompson during Steelhead season the most popular way of fishing is BB !! these fish are not flossed , people just use this method because it is a big system and you need to get you're hook down deep in the flow

Major difference here Rick. The water's CLEAR, the leaders are SHORT and the fish BITE. The water guys are fishing now in the Fraser is DIRTY, the leaders are LONG and the fish DONT or CANT bite a tiny corkie and green wool whipping by. One other difference is the intention in the Thompson is for a bite, in the Fraser, it's to get a snag. How long is your leader Rick? If they do bite,  are you using a short leader and targeting such a bite??

.... I BB for both Sockeye and Spring last year and 99% of the fish caught by Myself and my fellow fishermen were hooked INSIDE the mouth, alot of them were hooked in the top of the mouth, this fact alone makes me believe that many of the fish that are caught using this method actualy DO bite the presentation, the fact that BB is frowned upon is pretty sad when it is a legitimate method of fishing that goes back before using floats to fish was even thought of !!
TH

I used a bare hook for a test when snagging sockeye and chinook and once in a while, Id get one hook-up that looked pretty convincing. Or maybe they're just biting a black hook in 6" of vis?