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[Dave]

You don’t fish for steelhead but you are making claims about steelhead run timing? You just never quit do you?

Since when do you have to be an angler to have concerns about wild Vedder River steelhead? The way things are shaping up this could be a very poor year for wild returns ... apart from the fish being held for broodstock the only way we will have a slight measure of this is by the counts buck and I do later this spring.

Let's say just for arguments sake the hatchery is unable to come up with 70 wild fish ... would the Province advocate for using hatchery fish for broodstock?  would anglers accept this?

[chris gadsden]

Since when do you have to be an angler to have concerns about wild Vedder River steelhead? The way things are shaping up this could be a very poor year for wild returns ... apart from the fish being held for broodstock the only way we will have a slight measure of this is by the counts buck and I do later this spring.

Let's say just for arguments sake the hatchery is unable to come up with 70 wild fish ... would the Province advocate for using hatchery fish for broodstock?  would anglers accept this?

Lets try to keep on topic for this thread, river blown out this am, I donot thing it will improve for the weekend, maybe others will give an update later today.

[buck]

Avid Angler

What have you done for STHD concervation the last few years.? Dave has spent many hours of his own time and money counting spawning steelhead for the last 10 years. I don’t suppose you have done anything at all to conserve declining populations other than critasize those that have. Dave also has fished steelhead on the Chilliwack / Vedder for close to 50 years so does have some valuable local knowledge about run and spawning timing.

[avid angler]

I never criticized anyone about anything except wildmanyeah who constantly makes comments and assumptions with zero first hand experience. This season has been below average for sure but definitely not the worst on record. The clay has made for difficult conditions but I personally know a bunch of guys who are hooking up every time out. The whole broodstock program could use some new blood. The old fisherman who experienced easier times are struggling to adapt to the new days of pressured smart steelhead and are using poor returns as an excuse because they can’t fathom that they aren’t catching anything any more on their pro cured prawns and burnt roe bags fished 5 feet off shore.

[mikeyman]

You know the river is in bad shape and fishing has been tuff when people chirp on an interweb forum about who fishes or not. Lmfao. Go out and fish. Report back how it went. Or dont. Great this year seems fishing pressure is way lower than prev years.

[RalphH]

Let's say just for arguments sake the hatchery is unable to come up with 70 wild fish ... would the Province advocate for using hatchery fish for broodstock?  would anglers accept this?

Best I know Provincial Policy is wild fish only for steelhead broodstock so I doubt they would 'advocate' for it. Some anglers - perhaps a good number would I however would not.

[avid angler]

I agree. If they are unable to catch the brood then just deal with less hatcheries to catch on that cycle.

[Dave]

I agree. If they are unable to catch the brood then just deal with less hatcheries to catch on that cycle.

X2  Just hope the remaining fish that are captured are not taken from the closed to fishing area, including those by hatchery staff.  It's probably just me but I have always thought once they have made it past the gauntlet of anglers they should be left alone to spawn naturally.

[Rodney]

Broodstock target should be determined by the abundance of wilds. Good year, more broods, bad year, less broods. Angling (in this case, retention) opportunities should not be at the expense of wild stocks.

[greyghost]

Is there any information out there on clipped fish that get caught in the closed section when brood is collected up there? Just curious as some of us know that these fish tend to wander around!

[Wiseguy]

The whole broodstock program could use some new blood. The old fisherman who experienced easier times are struggling to adapt to the new days of pressured smart steelhead and are using poor returns as an excuse because they can’t fathom that they aren’t catching anything any more on their pro cured prawns and burnt roe bags fished 5 feet off shore.

LOL! No such thing as pressured smart steelhead! You can't catch what isn't there! The old guys are retired and have tons of time to fish the river. Young guys have to work on weekdays.This yr has seen very limited pressure so far.

[avid angler]

Spoken like someone that catches 10 fish a season and thinks there the man. The old guys don’t catch anything because they just aren’t that good any more.

[stsfisher]

LOTS of time for Broodstock, I think the panic button should be put away for awhile fellas, It is only February 3rd today.

[bigsnag]

There is still time for brood stock.

Oops, somebody beat me to it

[fishingwithjohn]

"It is remarkable that many men will go with eagerness to Walden Pond in the winter to fish for pickerel and yet not seem to care for the landscape. Of course it cannot be merely for the pickerel they may catch; there is some adventure in it; but any love of nature which they may feel is certainly very slight and indefinite. They call it going a-fishing, and so indeed it is, though perchance, their natures know better. Now I go a-fishing and a-hunting every day, but omit the fish and the game, which are the least important part. I have learned to do without them. They were indispensable only as long as I was a boy. I am encouraged when I see a dozen villagers drawn to Walden Pond to spend a day in fishing through the ice, and suspect that I have more fellows than I knew, but I am disappointed and surprised to find that they lay so much stress on the fish which they catch or fail to catch, and on nothing else, as if there were nothing else to be caught."

- Thoreau’s Journal, January 26, 1853


I'd like to think the 'old guys' just know better by now...