The difference is intent. Guys out on the Fraser with LONG leaders and looking to 'snag' or 'floss'. Why else does the leader length grow? Because it makes it easier to get the line to sweep through the mouth.
Traditional bottom bouncing is using a short leader and in select river conditions. The intent is a bite because otherwise, they wont get a fish!
If BB'ing really was illegal - DFO would have said so and would have been writing quite a few tickets today.
DFO would/should be most happy to make this technique illegal along with triple hook snagging because they are both the same thing when it comes to intent, harvest management and
angler conduct. But we know it's not possible as this form of snagging is very sneaky. Those who hide behind the legal issue are only hiding from an inconvenient truth IMO. So instead, they're having to consider closing the river, CITING bottom bouncing (snagging) as the reason. I dont think Im better than anyone else who fishes. But if someone CHOOSES to snag fish, it's not my fault if it makes them feel that way about it. Take responsibility for your choices!
Again, purely my opinion, but I think it's pretty sad that anglers, especially those who consider themselves sportsmen, are unwilling to face the facts and basically say they'll wait for DFO to make it law even though they themselves admit the fish are not biting. If they're not biting what else can it be? So if it's snagging, why else are some guys bent out of shape about it? I doubt anyone here would like to watch a guy using the triple hook form of snagging, even if the guy was 'skilled' enough to hook it 'close enough' to the mouth. But the flossing kind of snagging is ok and surprise is expressed when someone objects and tries to explain that snagging of any kind is deadly to sport angling? I cant say this is just my opinion enough, but I just cant understand this mentality that spawns the good old saying "If someone jumped off a cliff you would too?"
Oh yea, back to the selective ideal. Likely the biggest reason guys are getting more chinooks than sockeye now isnt nothing to do with selectiveness. Right now, there are more chinook than sockeye in the system. Of course more guys will hook chinook, but this is nothing more than the laws of probability at work. I came to this conclusion from looking at the test fishing numbers.
http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fos2_Internet/Testfish/rptdtfdparm.cfm?fsub_id=242. This shows that early in the season chinooks
generally outnumber sockeye until well into August (in 2006). I think also that they use 8" mesh which would miss some sockeye but the ratio would remain similar throughout the season. I know some sockeye runs have a higher % of larger fish later in the season but probably not enough to sway the numbers that much.
I do agree with river closures needed. Conservation is #1. Too bad the nets will continue to run.
In regards to sport angling, this form of snagging needs to be addressed but not as much for conservation concerns (although they're here and will grow) but for what it means for rec anglers.