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[Rodney]

Despite of the salmon fishing closure in the Non-tidal Fraser River starting on August 20th, one should not be disappointed as the Tidal Fraser River is still open for salmon fishing and the arrival of pink salmon is almost here. In fact, some are already here. Scattered schools have moved with the incoming tides already, based on personal encounters last week.

Below is a graph provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the runtime of each pink run in the last 20 years. If you neglect the different in run sizes, it is apparent that their arrival time is almost identical to each other. The run usually starts to pick up around September 1st, peaks between September 15th and 25th, and tails off into early October.



If the same trend continues, we should see some excellent pink salmon fishing in the Tidal Fraser next weekend, especially with the expected strong incoming tide in the evenings.

In the spirit of this fantastic fishing opportunity, I've put together an article for those who maybe interested. The article is based on my own personal pink salmon fishing experience so your technique may differ to mine.

Read the article: Spincasting for Tidal Fraser Pink Salmon

It's important to know that during this time, there is a slim possibility that you will encounter a wild coho salmon. When this occurs, please make sure you release it carefully. In the next little while, I will have another article that outlines the differences between pink and coho salmon for better identification. In the meantime, the following articles maybe be useful.

• Differences between Chinook Salmon and Coho Salmon
• Fish Profile: Pink Salmon
• Fish Profile: Coho Salmon

Other species that are required to be released include bull trout, cutthroat trout, steelhead, and of course, sockeye salmon. The daily quota for pink salmon is four fish. You need a tidal sportfishing license to fish in the Tidal Fraser River, as well as a salmon stamp if you intend to keep fish. Only a single barbless hook can be used on your lure. Violations can be phoned in at 604-607-4186 or 1-800-465-4336. The Steveston officers patrol regularly by boats and cars. I saw them five times in the last four days, and was checked once.



Enjoy.

[rln]

excellent timing for this info Rod. There is also a great map of the Fraser available at most tackle shops for about $10.00 that shows places to access the lower river on both the north and south arms. It should heat up any time in the lower river. Last cycle I saw large schools of fish appearing by the Alex Fraser Bridge on August 23 so maybe later this week there will be decent chances at fish.

[Moe]

Great article,  I'm still confused about the single hook thing, in the 2007-2009 Tidal waters guide on page 10 it reads that "Both single and treble barbless hooks are acceptable" the Fraser river supplement says that single hooks are required but only when using a bar rig in the Fraser. I couldn't find anything else that states single hooks must be used or treble hooks can not be used in the tidal portion of the Fraser river. Can anyone clarify this and where I can find this info out.
Thanks

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

I love the fraser river pink salmon fishery! IN 05 I went out 21 times

[Rodney]

Great article,  I'm still confused about the single hook thing, in the 2007-2009 Tidal waters guide on page 10 it reads that "Both single and treble barbless hooks are acceptable" the Fraser river supplement says that single hooks are required but only when using a bar rig in the Fraser. I couldn't find anything else that states single hooks must be used or treble hooks can not be used in the tidal portion of the Fraser river. Can anyone clarify this and where I can find this info out.
Thanks

Hi Moe (sounds like I'm in an episode of The Simpsons), you're correct. I just went through the guide as well as the online material, the information given can be perceived that you should use two single point hooks on a bar rig but treble hook is allowed when you only have one hook on your line (ie. fishing with a lure). Let me fire an email out to my contacts and clarify that, I will return with information when given. In the meantime, it is best to use a single point hook on your lure because if you get checked by a DFO officer with a treble hook, you will be fined. It maybe disputed successfully based on the information given, but it's not worth the hassle.

Personally, I find that landing a fish on a single point hook is also much easier than on a treble hook because the hook gap is much larger on a single point.

[Moe]

Yes, don't need the hassel over a single vs treble and will continue to use singles as last pink season had great success at Sapperton Landing in New Westminster with single hooks on a red and white spoon.
When Changing the hooks does the pointy end go up or down on the concave of the lure.
Thanks again

[dspot]

Thanks for the info Rodney. I've been out a few times this past week on the lower Fraser fishing with some spoons (saw a few others out as well), but didn't get much other than a pikeminnow. On Saturday night my girlfriend asked me to teach her how to cast, so we went out half an hour before sunset. Within 5 minutes, I hear her scream that she's got something. At first I thought it was a snag, but then I saw her rod tip shake and knew that she had a fish on. I helped her try to get the fish in and got a pretty good look at it when it was 10' from the shore -- a good sized Pink. Unfortunately, the fish then started to thrash around more violently and managed to free itself of the hook. We didn't manage anything else the rest of the night, but needless to say that she now wants to go back out when the Pinks are coming in bigger numbers  .

[Fish Assassin]

When Changing the hooks does the pointy end go up or down on the concave of the lure.
Thanks again

Concave side

[Ed]

Hey Rodney nice fishes! did you catch them at Garry's Point Park? the pictures you have almost look like the ones on your old fishing trip pictures.

[Rodney]

Those fish were caught on September 12th, 2005, when the season was peaking. They were not caught at Garry Point Park.

[BwiBwi]

Caught 1 this morning, however it's SMALL!!! Only 17".  For a moment I thought it was a pikeminnow.

[Xgolfman]

Ahhh..the old Rodney has returned to us....yea!!!

[Sinaran]

Thanks a lot Rod, for all the valuable information.    kudos !

btw, remember the tasmania devil that we talked about last time?   

[Rodney]

btw, remember the tasmania devil that we talked about last time?   

I will try to remember that, have to dig them out.

Water clarity is improving fast, much better compared to last week.

Test fisheries in Areas 12 and 13 (Johnstone Strait) both recorded large catches (5000+) fish today so in a couple of days from now, we should see a bump of schools showing up during the incoming tide.

[Geff_t]

I have already seen more today then the previous days. Tried my luck with the fly