I know some people may not agree with me, but its time to close retention of pinks on the Vedder for the year. We've had a good kick at the can with the Fraser and most of the pinks in the system now are too far gone to be considered "smokers". In my opinion, it should have been closed by the 15th of Sept. No, its not a conservation concern with respect to pinks, its a conservation concern with respect to other salmon. The DFO shows concern for threatened interior coho stocks by instituting bait bans on the fraser rightfully so) yet allows this gong show to perpetuate on the Vedder. Yesterday I saw another Cultus Lake sockeye dead in a pool caught by an angler thinking that it was a hatchery coho and yes I let him know what he did wrong (didn't have my phone with me to call it in).
In other rivers, we close off spawning channels and areas where spawing fish are stacked but in the Vedder, where pinks are spawning everywhere, its a free for all.
In the absence of increased enforcement on the river, this would be the only solution in my opinion.