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[VictorBai]

I haven't had any luck in the Vedder for the past 4 weeks and I really want to feel tight line again. There has been so much rain in the past few days so I don't expect the water clarity in the Vedder to get any better soon. When I was reading the weekly fishing report from Pacific Angler, it mentions that Stave River Dam can hold water in situations like this so the water clarity should be better than the Vedder.

I haven't been to Stave river this season after the announcement of low Chum escapement. Now I am conflicted. On one hand, I know there are a lot of Chum in Stave this time of the year and I don't want to by-catch them. On the other hand, I've seen recently posts in social media that people are catching late season Coho there and I really want to land some Coho. Water clarity could be a critical factor of my success. I could avoid floating jigs but would that be enough?

This is my first year fishing so I would like to hear what you experienced anglers would do in such situation.

[Phronesis]

I am not an experienced angler, but from what I have seen is that there is always that possibility of by-catching chum, but can be minimized like what you mentioned, not using jigs and avoid areas where you see a lot of chum - its easy to spot the old ones hanging close to the shore

[milo]

I'm glad to see a new angler already being torn by an ethics question. It shows that you are intelligent and that you care about the resource. 

To help you make your decision, here are some facts:

- Whenever there's fishing, there's a risk of bycatch.

- Bycatch, by its very nature, contributes to a fishery's decline to a certain extent, even if the fish is released, for not every fish survives an encounter with an angler. Therefore, bycatch is a mechanism for overfishing.

- Coho gear is generally lighter than that used to target chum and springs, so playing an accidentally hooked chum with coho gear likely puts unnecessary strain on the fish, the same fish whose wellbeing is creating your moral dilemma.

- The Stave river, this time of year, is mostly populated by pre-spawning and spawning chum, with a few coho in the mix.

- Everything coho like, chum like, too, so targetting coho efficiently on the Stave this time of year without producing chum bycatch is impossible, regardless of the water you fish and the method you use. (the same holds true for other systems, but your question relates to the Stave specifically).

- Ethical anglers stop fishing when the risk of bycatch of a species at risk is high.

Taking all the above facts into consideration, what do you think?
Is it ethical to target coho on the Stave this time of year only to satisfy your yearning for a tight line?

Good luck with making your decision; it's hard to deal with these dilemmas when you crave a fish at the end of your line so much.

[Blood_Orange]

The Stave is a gong show this time of year with all sorts of unethical fishing practices going on. I used to go and often left feeling angry and frustrated with the snagging, crowding, mishandling of fish, and people keeping unkeepable fish. Personally, I feel that the most ethical choice is to stay away but YMMV.

[Wiseguy]

I caught a beautiful chrome hatchery coho today. There are other systems not the Vedder or the Stave that have late season fresh chrome coho to catch. I will not mention these systems on this public forum. Get to know your local tackle store for more information.

[leadbelly]

I learned long ago not to tell the tackle shop anything lol
There is a strong contingent, as of monday, fishing the obvious holding and spawning areas near the parking lot and not at all caring what is snagged or trying to spawn or spawned out. Otherwise the chum are pretty thin and the water is super high so the trick is finding coho more than avoiding chum.

[VictorBai]

@Phronesis @milo @Blood_Orange @Wiseguy @leadbelly

Thank you all for your insights. It is nice to hear from someone who have been fishing in this area for a while.

With all these inputs, I think the guilt I feel by C&R a Chum would ruin the joy I got from a hatchery Coho. No to mention the chance of catching a hatchery Coho isn't very promising.

In addition to the opening of Non-Tidal Fraser River from the 15th, I've decided not to go to Stave River for the rest of this season.

Good luck fishing everyone!

[canucksfan233]

Fished vedder and it wasn't bad today. Good water clarity and decent water level, but that might change with the rain. Had a bite after 15 minutes that I missed but not bad for the afternoon. I had my chance so.

[VictorBai]

Fished vedder and it wasn't bad today. Good water clarity and decent water level, but that might change with the rain. Had a bite after 15 minutes that I missed but not bad for the afternoon. I had my chance so.

I am going to the Vedder today. Hopefully can see some actions.

Finger crossed!

[RalphH]

Is it ethical to go shopping because there may be shoplifters in the stores?

Yes it is ethical to fish the Stave if you can put up with the any crowding and ignore the unethical behavior (if any)of other anglers.

If people stop doing a variety of things because they might see others behaving unethically we'd soon all be socially paralyzed and not leave our homes. Don't overthink this stuff.

[Blood_Orange]

Yes it is ethical to fish the Stave if you can put up with the any crowding and ignore the unethical behavior (if any)of other anglers.

I'm terrible at that

Edit: Good luck fishing Victor! Let us know how you did.

[RalphH]

FWIW I haven't fished the Stave in the fall in a long time. I think I've gone 2 times since chum were opened in non-tidal water close to 30 years ago. The first time I went to the Hydro Park and was shocked to find  a crowd of people snagging and retaining spawning fish from the little spawning channel just up from the toilet bowl. They have since closed that. I went another time test if circle hooks reduced inadvertent snagging. After fishing an hour, having encountered 2 incidences of foul hooked fish which quickly shed the hook, I decided that was enough testing & went elsewhere.

[VictorBai]

Edit: Good luck fishing Victor! Let us know how you did.

Another day at the Vedder with no bite. I started at Vedder Park and fished along the trail to Peach Park. At around 14:30 it started to rain so I called it a day. There were a few other anglers but haven't seen anyone hooked any fish. The water clarity was pretty good. This could be my last fishing trip to the Vedder this year. After 5 weeks without any fish I think I've got a pretty clear sign.

Dropped by Fred's and got some cured roe before going home. Preparing myself for the tidal Fraser next weekend. Hopefully I can have better luck there.

What stunned me at Peach Park today was the gravel and river flow completed changed since my last vist around 2 weeks ago. My little favourite spot was gone. Amazed by the power of nature.

[Blood_Orange]

Yeah, sometimes there will be a tangled mountain of dead trees in one spot and then the next spring it's all gone. The river's got some crazy power!

[leadbelly]

Watched them net about 200 coho today at the Stave back pool behind the toilet bowl.
This pool has allot of folks fishing on spawning chum and very stale coho