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[BigFisher]

Man those "Worm Suckin Chronies" were just slaying them....lol.   Too bad it took us half the day to figure out that was the ticket, I can only see twice as many in the boat next year.

[chris gadsden]

Man those "Worm Suckin Chronies" were just slaying them....lol.   Too bad it took us half the day to figure out that was the ticket, I can only see twice as many in the boat next year.

You will break the bank then.

[NiceFish]

Tip your chronies with a chunk of boiled hot dog wiener

[Every Day]

You will break the bank then.

Only 700 fish caught, we didn't break the bank this year 
Besides, we made it so 220+ babies would never get to reproduce, better then all those big spawners   

[Dave]

Wow! this is fast becoming technical fishing!  Love it.
Can see the future ...TV shows, big name fishers (hope April is one all showing up at the derby, trying to beat EveryDay's record.  Picture Gierach casting cane off a main beach wharf

Seriously though, this is becoming a major fishing event, at least to BC standards - maybe some bigger name sponsers should be looking at that.

[Every Day]

It'll be broken next year. Hopefully by one of my buddies.
Can almost guarantee we will be weighing in more little 3-4 inchers next year than this year, had a late start at 7:30.
Imagine what we could have done if we were out since 4 and had gotten our methods down from the start of the day 
Already looking forward to it 

[chris gadsden]

Only 700 fish caught, we didn't break the bank this year 
Besides, we made it so 220+ babies would never get to reproduce, better then all those big spawners   

762 fish my boy, read the story.

[buck]

 Chris

 The emphases has shifted from catching the larger pike minnow to catching the smaller juveniles due to the $2.00 per fish rule and the prize for the most fish caught. Not one tagged fish was caught,
due in most part to the areas being fished. The whole point of the derby was to try and eliminate as many of the larger fish as possible. Maybe you should think about dropping the most fish category,
the $2.00/ fish ( which would save $) and go to the most weight caught. This would encourage people to fish for the larger fish. I understand next year you will not be receiving the same $ from some of the sponsors. How about $ 2.00/fish for kids only and most weight by adult category.

[chris gadsden]

Chris

 The emphases has shifted from catching the larger pike minnow to catching the smaller juveniles due to the $2.00 per fish rule and the prize for the most fish caught. Not one tagged fish was caught,
due in most part to the areas being fished. The whole point of the derby was to try and eliminate as many of the larger fish as possible. Maybe you should think about dropping the most fish category,
the $2.00/ fish ( which would save $) and go to the most weight caught. This would encourage people to fish for the larger fish. I understand next year you will not be receiving the same $ from some of the sponsors. How about $ 2.00/fish for kids only and most weight by adult category.

Thanks for the input, I had printed out your concerns and will take them to the FVSS meeting next week. Anyone else with ideas please make note of them on this thread.

[Every Day]

The whole point of the derby was to try and eliminate as many of the larger fish as possible.

Hey Peter I am curious about something..
Why is the point to eliminate the larger ones that have spawned at least once if not more, rather than eliminate the smaller ones before they have a chance to spawn?
Those huge ones have spawned multiple times, and the larger the fish the more eggs they carry.
Maybe drop the $2 a fish, but not the most fish category as I still think it's better to eliminate the smaller guys than the big ones.

[BigFisher]

Drop the most fish category? Excuse me but this whole derby is to help eliminate these invasive species which are hurting our weak cultus sockeye run.

From what I saw in the derby, those who did get big fish, got few. Those who got average sized fish and smaller did better with numbers. Maybe the bigger ones are smarter, harder to get at, or just less of them? So if you eliminate the most fish category, everyone will focus on the larger fish, which in return will yeild alot less dead pikeminnow. Which if I am correct means there will be more pikeminnow out there ready to feed on juvenile sockeye.

Why not do a combined weight category instead? That way people bringing in lunker can compete with people racking up numbers.

[Rodney]

Drop the most fish category? Excuse me but this whole derby is to help eliminate these invasive species which are hurting our weak cultus sockeye run.

1. Northern pikeminnow is not an invasive species, it is native to Cultus Lake, just like many other watersheds in British Columbia.

2. The purpose of the derby is not to eliminate the population of northern pikeminnow completely, but to control the population so Cultus Lake sockeye salmon population can rebound.

3. The state of Cultus Lake sockeye salmon population is the result of human related activities, ie. commercial harvest. Since it's harder to eliminate the growing population of human in the Lower Mainland, we prefer to lay blame on a species that has direct conflict with us when it comes to consuming salmon.

Personally, I'd like to see a fact sheet containing information such as the above plus fish IDs handed out to derby participants.

[Dave]

Excuse me but this whole derby is to help eliminate these invasive species which are hurting our weak Cultus sockeye run.

Some good points Big Fisher but NPM are not an invasive species, at least not in Cultus.  Predators on sockeye yes, but so are the coho, cutthroat and char.  My feeling on this issue is unless the eradication program continues indefinitely (which it won't due to funding issues), these smaller juvenile NPM will eventually fill the niche left by the removal of the larger, older fish, meaning we will be back to square one.
To keep this sockeye population viable, through the NPM population control and a hatchery program, is costing about $250k annually.  I cannot see that kind of money being available much longer.

[buck]

 ED
      Adult pike minnow are the ones that are consuming large numbers of sockeye smolts, not the 4-5 inch juveniles that we were targeting on derby day. As you mentioned the larger adults have thousands of eggs and eliminating them from the spawning cycle in effect eliminates future juveniles from the system. One reason few larger adults were caught was the fact that the majority of anglers were fishing in water that was only 7-8 feet deep. Targeting juvenile fish. The larger adults are for the most part in the deeper water and have become more difficult to catch due to the removal effort the last few years. It was interesting that not one tagged fish was caught even though 100 were tagged over a two month period. I'm sure there can be some compromise on the rules , but as Chris has said, you will break the bank. If everyone figures out how to catch all the juveniles there wont be enough money to cover the cost. There was mention that some of the sponsors would not be  able to provide
as much funding next year due to budget cuts.

[Every Day]

I see what you mean Buck.

I worked on the pikeminnow boat last year.
As you said the bigger ones tend to stay in water 15-20 feet deep unless spawning where they come right up against shore.
I think another reason not many larger ones were caught is that they seem to only be active in warm sunny conditions.
Last year we couldn't even net fish at the beginning of the year because it was cold and they were down deep.

Also the pikeminnow (we found anyways) hardly moved at all. The same school would be in the same spots year after year.
The big ones have their areas (which I might have to target next year), and the little ones have their areas.
I can almost guarantee that those tagged fish were most likely within a 500 m radius of where they were tagged. Someone finds out where they are into a lot of money.

As said before. I would be fine with taking away the $2 a fish. I still however say leave the most fish category.
I think it would be a good thing with even 5 people trying to win that category and targeting juveniles taking out 100+ fish each.
As Dave said, the smaller ones will just fill the void of the bigger ones. We already noticed last year fish becoming mature at a SMALLER size.
The more you take out the bigger ones and leave the smaller ones, the more nature corrects itself and fills the gap.

I also think that it would be better to pay out for lots of smaller fish rather than pay a potential of $500 bucks for one tagged fish.
Even if we get 250 fish, we are only costing the same amount as 1 tagged fish and took out 249 more than the guy that got the (possibly) tagged one.