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[Randog]

So I thought I’d spend a few hours yesterday afternoon targeting Pinks on the Squamish River. I was looking forward to a change of scenery from the Fraser Valley. When I arrived at the Squamish I found the water clarity to be that of the Fraser with only 1 – 1 ½ ft. of visibility, not optimum so I headed over to the Mamquam river to check things out. So after gearing up and a quick jaunt to the rivers edge I was quite glad to see lot’s of Pinks jumping everywhere, however, my happiness turned to anger as I watched the atrocities unfold before me. I could not believe my eyes when I saw how these so called “fishermen”   where snagging these spawning Pinks right off their redds in less than 18” of water. My immediate attention was drawn to the far side of the river to see a “Spey Fisher” that couldn’t roll cast if his life depended on it, was overhand casting his sink tip Spey line into the spawning redds and dragging his hook across the backs of the fish and giving a sharp yank as he snagged male fish on every retrieve, played the fish to exhaustion then proceeded to pull the fish up on shore and let it flop around on the rocks and sand while he placed his valued spey rod upright against some trees then returned to the sand encrusted fish, placed his knee on the fish while he removed his fly then proceeded to give the fish a “love tap” back into the river with his wading boot. I watched this guy and his “lack luster” release technique for several fish, and then I had to move further downstream as I could feel my blood beginning to boil.
 As I walked downstream towards the mouth of the river I came across an elderly gentleman I would guess in his early seventies, wearing black rubber gum boots and he too was a “fly fisher” using an old fiberglass fly rod, he was playing a fish which I watched for at least 15 minuets  when he pulled his fish way up on the beach he discovered it was snagged in the tail, he had almost the same release technique as the” spey guy” only difference was the old fly fisher grabbed the fish by the tail and “chucked” it back in the water! I watched this old guy perform the same snag and release method on three more fish and after he release the third fish I walked by him shaking my head in disgust and within ear shot said one word out loud “PATHETIC”.
 The one that really got me fumed was a fellow in his early twenties who showed up with his trout rod and coffee grinder set up, tackle box and backpack. This guy walked right over and into to the spawning bed and started tossing out a big huge spoon and was snagging fish on every cast while he stood in the middle of the spawning beds. The first fish he snagged was a big humped back male which he pulled up on the sand and rocks and let it flop around while he proceeded to rummage through his back pack to find his camera, when he returned to the fish lying on the beach, he reached down and grabs the fish through the gills and was trying to focus his camera for the “shot of a life time” and proceeded to drop the fish on the rocks, fumbles with his camera for a little bit longer then picks up the fish by the gills again, holds the fish out at arms length, gets the shot then throws the fish back in the river and it floats dead downstream!
  I witnessed at least 10 more of these acts of mayhem and just plain could not believe that people actually believe these practices are acceptable. I don’t want to play “River Sheriff”, especially when I fuming mad, but where is all the enforcement? Needless to say I didn’t have an enjoyable afternoon.

[redside1]

it's due to efforts like you watched that there is now a push by the local SFAB in squamish to get the mamquam closed to all fishing when the pinks return. Sad really that it has come to this .

[gman]

Yes, I have seen similar scenes at this spot over the years. 

It is my experience that whenever salmon are thick and easy to catch (pinks or chums on the mamquam, chums and whites on the Vedder, or Sockeye on the Fraser) you get these sort of "bumble shows" as you describe them.

Note that you described two guys "fly fishing" and one guy "spinning". Hard to blame this stuff on BBing or the Sockeye fishery.

[Cynixinc]

Having no salmon river experience I've often wondered what the fair/sporting approach is to fishing a river that is chock full of spawning salmon is.  Are there pockets of active fish among the spawning beds, or is there a general rule to move up or down stream?  Or should you skip the river section entirely, move to another body of water? 

I stick to trout fishing, but I talk to friends who salmon fish and tend to just chuck a line out when they see a bunch of activity - I will pass along any advice.

[Rodney]

Having no salmon river experience I've often wondered what the fair/sporting approach is to fishing a river that is chock full of spawning salmon is.  Are there pockets of active fish among the spawning beds, or is there a general rule to move up or down stream?  Or should you skip the river section entirely, move to another body of water? 

In areas that are opened to fishing, there are no rules that control whether you can fish a section where fish are spawning or not. Due to this, it is very difficult to enforce the violations that Randog witnessed. Our coastal streams do have area closures where most of the salmon are spawning (eg. very upstream of the Chilliwack River, etc), but some fish could be found spawning in sections where new fish are moving in. It really comes down to being informed and personal choices. If an angler encounters numerous catches of spawning fish, then it is best to move to another area to prevent further harrassment. If an angler is finding him or herself foul hooking fish too often, then it maybe a good idea to adjust the techniques.

There should be additional regulations implemented on catch and release systems, where fish can not be out of the water for more than 5 seconds at a time. I believe in the State of Washington, the law on keeping fish in the water is even more strict then this suggestion. Currently, proper catch and release is simply a recommendation. Until it is defined properly, people will continue dragging fish to shore, causing unnecessary deaths, and enforcement officers would not be able to do much about it.

Randog's observations are the reason that I have not been back to that section of the river for a few years now.

[chris gadsden]

This is why we are trying to deal with this issue Randog.

Unfortunately it is all part and parcel of the way a lot of people want to capture a fish these days. Sorry that you had to experience this on your day on the flow, not a pleasant experience. Like Rodney this is one reason I have been going to river systems where they donot and cannot work the water this way.

Thanks for the info as well as it will be used in further meeting we are having shortly.

[Fish Assassin]

It's really unfortunate but these occurrences are becoming more common every year.

[Randog]

I know it's been suggested in the past, but maybe it's high time that an introductory to fishing course is put in place. I know this wont alleviate all of the problems, but it may be a good starting point.

Basic Rules:

1 - Please don't fish over the spawning beds, let the fish do "their thing"
2 - Please don't walk on the spawning beds as this will crush any deposited eggs left by the fish.
3 - If you snag a few fish in the back, tail etc... Move to another spot or change your technique.
4 - Please keep all fish in the water while releasing them, they don't like being left on the shore so sand can get in their gills.

[limit time]

So I thought I’d spend a few hours yesterday afternoon targeting Pinks on the Squamish River. I was looking forward to a change of scenery from the Fraser Valley. When I arrived at the Squamish I found the water clarity to be that of the Fraser with only 1 – 1 ½ ft. of visibility, not optimum so I headed over to the Mamquam river to check things out. So after gearing up and a quick jaunt to the rivers edge I was quite glad to see lot’s of Pinks jumping everywhere, however, my happiness turned to anger as I watched the atrocities unfold before me. I could not believe my eyes when I saw how these so called “fishermen”   where snagging these spawning Pinks right off their redds in less than 18” of water. My immediate attention was drawn to the far side of the river to see a “Spey Fisher” that couldn’t roll cast if his life depended on it, was overhand casting his sink tip Spey line into the spawning redds and dragging his hook across the backs of the fish and giving a sharp yank as he snagged male fish on every retrieve, played the fish to exhaustion then proceeded to pull the fish up on shore and let it flop around on the rocks and sand while he placed his valued spey rod upright against some trees then returned to the sand encrusted fish, placed his knee on the fish while he removed his fly then proceeded to give the fish a “love tap” back into the river with his wading boot. I watched this guy and his “lack luster” release technique for several fish, and then I had to move further downstream as I could feel my blood beginning to boil.
 As I walked downstream towards the mouth of the river I came across an elderly gentleman I would guess in his early seventies, wearing black rubber gum boots and he too was a “fly fisher” using an old fiberglass fly rod, he was playing a fish which I watched for at least 15 minuets  when he pulled his fish way up on the beach he discovered it was snagged in the tail, he had almost the same release technique as the” spey guy” only difference was the old fly fisher grabbed the fish by the tail and “chucked” it back in the water! I watched this old guy perform the same snag and release method on three more fish and after he release the third fish I walked by him shaking my head in disgust and within ear shot said one word out loud “PATHETIC”.
 The one that really got me fumed was a fellow in his early twenties who showed up with his trout rod and coffee grinder set up, tackle box and backpack. This guy walked right over and into to the spawning bed and started tossing out a big huge spoon and was snagging fish on every cast while he stood in the middle of the spawning beds. The first fish he snagged was a big humped back male which he pulled up on the sand and rocks and let it flop around while he proceeded to rummage through his back pack to find his camera, when he returned to the fish lying on the beach, he reached down and grabs the fish through the gills and was trying to focus his camera for the “shot of a life time” and proceeded to drop the fish on the rocks, fumbles with his camera for a little bit longer then picks up the fish by the gills again, holds the fish out at arms length, gets the shot then throws the fish back in the river and it floats dead downstream!
  I witnessed at least 10 more of these acts of mayhem and just plain could not believe that people actually believe these practices are acceptable. I don’t want to play “River Sheriff”, especially when I fuming mad, but where is all the enforcement? Needless to say I didn’t have an enjoyable afternoon.



you know what we should start doing is filming people doing this, then posting the videos, then maybe people will see this and change there ways    kinda like big brother is watching

[Xgolfman]

I saw that "spey" guy a couple weeks ago, not a clue what he was doing and gives every true spey fisherman a bad name...

But YOU do need to say something...You don't have to do it in anger if that isn't your approach but you can't bitch if you don't say anything either...
I've seen guys fly fishing drag um up on the beach and release them the same as you describe...I have yelled out, "This is a no rention fishery, Release the fish in the water or you'll kill them".... This normally gets other guys around yelling the same thing...Most of the time the guys have no idea of what they are doing and the next one you'll see them get them in close but release them in the water...
If you don't make an effort to say something IMHO you have no grounds to bitch...

[troutbreath]

Same old, same old. Ban all types of fishing if you want but it would be just as easy to fine the losers for not releasing fish properly and trying to snag, as in snagery fish by fly fishing. So much for the debate on bottom bouncing when you can snag with a fly or anything. I would like to see just how: "This is why we are trying to deal with this issue Randog." looks when reality sets in. People should also try to stop stomping through spawning grounds. Fishing, like shooting fish in a barrel in my opinion.

[BladeKid]

I also vitnessed 2 "fishermen" intentionally snagging spawning fish in a foot of water as I was leaving. Pathetic!

[Old Black Dog]

What you are all talking about is "ETHICS"

Have none of you read the Code of Conduct in the Sports Fishing Regulations??

This has been addressed, however as driving some people "DO NOT" follow the law.

I guarantee that the great majority of people reading this "HAVE EXCEEDED THE SPEED LIMIT IN THE LAST WEEK".

So, lets close down the roads to driving???
Does the word hypocrite mean anyting to you?

Having a few special interest groups say that they are upset with a few people so lets close the rivers, is just plain ignorant.

You will never ever get all to do it right, just as driving.
You have to lead by example.

[nosey]

There would be no point in putting speed limits on the highway without having traffic cops to enforce them and there isn't much point in having fish and game regulations when our governments keep cutting back on the amount of conservation officers. You can't just close the highways because too many people are speeding and you shouldn't be able to just close waters because too many people are breaking the regs. We need governments that will make firm commitments to managing our resources not just to making tax cuts that they claim will have no effects on the services they provide the people. Please let your MLA's and MP's know that you consider the managing of our fish and game a sacred trust handed to them to manage and hand down to the governments that follow them intact and improved. Fishermen and hunters actually show a profit for this province and this country and letting budgetary restraints affect conservation, rehabilitation, and enforcement of our fish and wildlife resources is just short term thinking and cheap vote buying. There are laws against deliberately snagging fish and it should be up to the discretion of the conservation officer to enforce them, if you witness someone using any method to snag fish after fish then he is deliberately snagging, it's that simple. If you can't get a conservation officer to enforce the law try calling the RCMP they are also empowered to enforce fish and game laws and they might cut through the red tape by just reporting what they see.

[Ed]

Honestly the impact that sport fishermen do is minor compared to the damage done by the commercial fishery. I'm sure our North Atlantic Cod industry in the east coast were not closed due to sport fishing but instead it was due to the government's neglect to the issue and favoring the economic benefits (employment) over the environmental losses. Honestly how many sport fishermen do you think it will take to outfish or snag  1 commercial fishing boat using nets? Honestly i dont think that in my lifetime i can fish/snag or eat as many fish that is caught on 1 commercial fishing boat.

However I do see why people are angry at the fishermen who snag the fishes when they have already reached their spawning point. Seriouesly the fish that make it that far already beat many odds of getting caught by commercial fishing boats/FN fishing nets. But in order to make a large impact the government will need to step in to enforce laws (size of nets so smaller, growing fish do not get caught unintentionally). During my last year in university I did a case study on the Atlantic Cod industry and learned that the government's main object was to maintain employment in their fishery industry. It will be very sad, if our governemnt does not act until the fishery is under serious threat especially after one of our other flourishing fisheries were shut down. To me it's one thing that the government makes a new mistake and another if they are making the same mistake. In the case of BC we have other sources of income including our forestry(not saying that it is good to clearcut), tourism, and etc.