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Eliminate hatchery and make it strictly C&R

4 (4.3%)

Declare it classified waters and make people pay 50-100$ a year if they want to fish it.

15 (16.3%)

Limit daily retention to one salmon (any species), with a ten fish a year maximum, making it mandatory to stop fishing after you bonk your fish.

27 (29.3%)

More area closures (Similar to Boundary Hole)

3 (3.3%)

Leader restriction (3 feet maximum) strictly enforced!

34 (37%)

Other (please explain)

9 (9.8%)

Total Members Voted: 91

[bbronswyk2000]

Making a hatchery enhanced river into classified river?  What for?  That's a waste of hatchery funding.

Exactly. The only way this works is on a wild system. The fish are there for all to enjoy. If you want solitude fish other tributaries of the fraser.

[maverick]

Make of it what you want for your day on the Vedder. If you don't want to watch people snag fish then don't go to the places where the snagging occurs. With all of the crap that takes place on the river it is still possible to go there on any given day and still catch a few fish however you want to choose to catch them. Leave the policing of the regulations to the people who are paid to enforce them.

I don't see what classifying a hatchery river is going to accomplish or imposing a leader length restriction or changing the retention numbers. The Vedder has a strong number of returning hatchery fish so let some one take a few home if they choose, if that number continues to be limited then there will be an increase in poaching as people will still try to get the fish they want for their table and it may spill over to a system that can't afford to lose any fish. As for leader length restriction it will take up additional time for CO officers and spread them even thinner then they are as they will have to spend more time with each person checked. Classifying the river or limiting the rentention sound like moves to get people off of the river, why? The Vedder can and does sustain the pressure, and as people have said it takes it off of rivers that don't need it. If the crowds bother you then park and go for a walk. Their are several areas that a person can walk to on the Vedder and spend the day by yourself catching fish all day.

[milo]

Make of it what you want for your day on the Vedder. If you don't want to watch people snag fish then don't go to the places where the snagging occurs. With all of the crap that takes place on the river it is still possible to go there on any given day and still catch a few fish however you want to choose to catch them. Leave the policing of the regulations to the people who are paid to enforce them.

While I agree with most of your points, I strongly disagree with the part I have highlighted in your quote.
Those paid to enforce the regulations need all the help they can get from the common citizen. This holds true in all walks of life - fishing included.
The laws are changed when there is continual popular clamor for them to be changed.

[maverick]

Milo, when I am fishing the Vedder I have come from Alberta and don't feel it is up to me to stop people from fishing illegally, on some parts of the river it would consume your entire day to try. Such confrontations typically end badly and leave a sour taste in ones mouth and since I am on a trip I don't bother. That is not to say that I have not been approached by several novice fisherman on the river over the years who have asked how it is possible to catch so many fish, and I have taken a moment to show them how to rig and fish a short float or talk about the run. I have even been approached and accused of snagging once by an individual until I had him wade out to the rock I was standing on and showed him the slot I was fishing where the coho went thru then paused breifly behind a rock before turning to go between two other rocks. He thought I was snagging because every once in a while I would jerk my line out of the water. I showed him how every so often a chinook would go thru and I was jerking the line away from the fish before I got a hit since I didn't want to fight a chinook. I also showed him that a coho will open and close his mouth on yarn and even open his mouth again and shake his head until the hook comes out and you won't necessarily feel it but you can see it. He apologized for his comment and I gave him the slot to fish.

I have approached people on the Bow River and a few of the lakes in Alberta when they were obviously fishing illegally and asked them to stop. Maybe it is a home water thing and you are quicker to act when it is your home waters and not a guest. I don't know.

[milo]

Milo, when I am fishing the Vedder I have come from Alberta and don't feel it is up to me to stop people from fishing illegally, on some parts of the river it would consume your entire day to try. Such confrontations typically end badly and leave a sour taste in ones mouth and since I am on a trip I don't bother. That is not to say that I have not been approached by several novice fisherman on the river over the years who have asked how it is possible to catch so many fish, and I have taken a moment to show them how to rig and fish a short float or talk about the run. I have even been approached and accused of snagging once by an individual until I had him wade out to the rock I was standing on and showed him the slot I was fishing where the coho went thru then paused breifly behind a rock before turning to go between two other rocks. He thought I was snagging because every once in a while I would jerk my line out of the water. I showed him how every so often a chinook would go thru and I was jerking the line away from the fish before I got a hit since I didn't want to fight a chinook. I also showed him that a coho will open and close his mouth on yarn and even open his mouth again and shake his head until the hook comes out and you won't necessarily feel it but you can see it. He apologized for his comment and I gave him the slot to fish.

That is fascinating.
Can I fish with you this weekend?
I am serious.

[wolverine]

 Maverick, paint a big red X on that rock so I can find it! Seriously though, I've been fishing the Vedder since the mid 70's and have seen a lot of change. Both in the river itself and in the people who fish it. Change is inevitable and some of the changes have been positive, some negative. There are a lot more people enjoying the river now and often use methods that a lot of people don't like or appreciate. The government has done what they are going to do and that's pretty much all they will do. A few folks are very blatent snaggers and just grip it and rip it. They are the ones who need to be moved out of all fisheries entirely. I don't really care about leader length, distance between float and sinker as different runs, lines, wts, and lures all require different techniques. What I do dislike is fishermen giving the line a hopeful rip at the end of every drift. Because that's a plain attempt to pull the hook into a fish. We all floss more fish than we think. The way fish stack up in holes and runs isn't in neat rows, all next to the bottom, and stationary. Fish move constantly throughout the water column and are constantly opening and closing their mouths. In my younger, and cheaper, days I used to scuba the holes and salvage gear. The only fish that I ever say that remained motionless on the bottom were the old spawned out fish that were living out the last hours and days of their lives. I know that a lot of you live and breathe short floating, but it still can floss regardless of intent or whats on the hook. I predominantly fly fish anymore and nymph under an indicator rather than swing streamers. I dislike foul hooking fish as it's tough on the arms dragging fish in sideways. After all of the above verbage my take on the situation is to get rid of the grip it and rip it guys. Leader lengths are really tough to enforce as it's nearly as easy to deliberately floss with a 1 ft leader as a 10 ft one. As far as confronting others on the flow, I think that it's a bad, unsafe idea as who knows what the temperament and physical nature is of the person. Far better to leave this to those with a gun and badge.   

[BigFisher]

2 fish per day. (allows for meat fishers to go home quicker)
limit leader restriction 1 1/2 - 2 feet.
Dont restrict people to the point where the gong show will move to other quiet systems.
Have some sort of Testing before recieving a fishing license, Iv seen 3 dead cultus sockeye in the last 2 weeks.
Something needs to be done to fix that god damn clay bank.

[ffonly]

Regulating leader length, barbs, retention quotas etc all comes down to enforcement. Without a greater presence of CO's on the Vedder the same practices will continue. Without penalties there is little incentive for people to be responsible. This transcends fishing into other problems brought up in previous posts, litter, illegal camping and breakin's. Again, this is an enforcement issue. Under funded and under staffed the RCMP view the Vedder as a low priority yet when it comes time for traffic enforcement they seem to find time to park at the bottom of the hill at Ways field or by the trailer park near "on the way" store??? City council, local MP's, who's going to listen. Uh oh here I go getting political on a fishing forum... this is the only arena that these battles are typically fought in. If change is going to occur and the Vedder is going to be protected these are the people to do it. There is a local election for councilors, make them aware, make it an issue, make them fight for the change.
Peace

[troutbreath]

Anytime you catch a fish and some bozo is watching, they will stand right on your my friend and start casting. This attracts more bozo's who join in until it's a full blown circus. Always been that way and always will. They even go for the lowest common denominator in catching technique.

"Misery loves company"