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[winter steel]

     I have to admit that every year, I enjoy the entertainment on various web pages over the whole sockeye fishery. I personally choose not to partake in the fishery as I really don't see a lot of skilled involved in having a fish run into your line, but to those who wish to have their meat or enjoy the tapping of the betty on the bottom, to each there own and enjoy when given the opportunity. That is where I belive part of the problem lies. We as a sporting community have forgotten that not that long ago (ten years I think) the sockeye fishery was completely catch and release. When the FN and Commercial guys were fighting over the fish, the sporties were sticking up for the silent salmon and asking for tighter conservation measures and restrictions on netting on the Fraser.
     In hindsight, (I've never been wrong using this ) I wish the sport fishery was never created for sockeye as its only led to bickering (everywhere), extensive poaching, limited opportunities, the shut down of an industry (extenuating circumstances contributed as well). Not to mentionflossing as a proven method to catch fish, overcrowding, assaults, break ins, abuse of fish, dissention amongst the sportfishing community and at times a complete disregard for the salmon and their environment. However, the people I feel sorry for the most are the bar fishermen who once enjoyed a peaceful recreation that now have been crowded out of there favorite spring holes to accomodate the other "sport anlglers" or have been forced to fish exclusive bars that are only accessible by boat and have fellow bar anglers staking claims. 
     For those of you that are whining about "well I pay for my license to catch my fish", why don't you wait till its open before you buy your license? For those that argue about paying taxes and that gives you the right to kill a fish I can't even justify that with a response as all Canadians (I know Fn are not included) pay taxes that go to fund various things that we have nothing to do with. Those of you that enjoy the sockeye sport industry, quit complaining about how its not fair, FN this and FN that, commercial openings and what not blah.. blah.. blah....Life is not fair, if it was we could all afford sage rods and islander reels and take trips up to the Charlottes to fly fish for chinook. Be thankful (for the abundance of salmon) and take full advantage of openings when they occur, and if they don't save yourself a few bucks in gas money, gear or a licnese fee and take the wife or girlfriend out so that when there are fish to catch, she (or he, have to be politically correct you know  ) will let you go.
     Gooey, I have always told you that very little good (other than some meat for fishermen) has come as a result of the creation of the sockeye fishery on the Fraser  and you have taken some heat on these threads because of it. Yeah, at times, he gets excited and passionate and yes, maybe a little out of line, but we all get emotional over topics that we care about and at times we all lose our cool. Besides he's type A and you should see him at our card games . Gooey, wait till you see the chrome fish bug pumper and I are posing with, that will really get you steamed .
     To the sportsmen out there, don't lose sight of why you took up the sport in the first place, if its to kill, do it legally and when given the opportunity, be thankful for it. In England 90% (and other parts of Europe) of the rivers are private and you wouldn't even have access to them unless your willing to pay in excess of 300 pound sterling (per rod da). If its for sport, appreciate every aspect of it from the beauty of nature to the cold beers after a long day on the river. Enjoy whats left of the summer, because I'm praying for the rains tight lines.

[crack a dawn]

Enjoyed your post.

[winter steel]

Thanks, crack a dawn.

[allwaysfishin]

very refreshing, thanks, I needed that  , now it's off to uculet to play with the ho's and hali's

[The Gilly]

Two thumbs up.

[scruffy]

well said w/s 

[Fish Bug]

W/S, disregard all the many problems with sport fishing, especially Sockeye fishing.
You are missing the major point that we became second citizen in the recreational fishing and hunting.
Mark my word in the near future we will not be allow any fishing and hunting, all the resources will be allocated to FN, for their pleasure and destruction.
Go and see the FN fishing on the river and see haw many half dad fish they throw overboard,  W/S tell me hum is destroying our resources.

[summersteel]

Get your fly rod ready WS, they're coming in.   BP

[winter steel]

     Fish Bug, what do you mean by second citizen , the only time sportfishermen complain about being "second class" is during the sockeye season when they are told not to fish. During the fall, winter and spring we don't say boo. Why, its because we can fish.
     Disregard the problems, are you kidding me? Flossing has become a major problem on all our streams, not to mention poaching and a general degradation of river etiquette. You simply can't just disregard the problems associated with the sockeye fishery. As far as resources are concerned, I don't know about you, but I had perhaps one of my best coho seasons ever, both in size of fish and numbers as well as an amazing summer chinook season.  The resource depends more on environmental factors and survival rates, than catching just the adults when they return. If I won't have the opportunity to fish for sockeye this summer in order to save a few fish for the future, so be it, I'll live .
     In terms of dead salmon being thrown over board, I'm sure its no different than the 10% of Sporties who ruin it for the other 90%. You get people from all walks of life who abuse various resources. If you think the FN have an impact on a salmon run, a 48 hr opening on the Fraser for the commercial nets is devastating, not only killing fish, but wiping out runs. I do sympathize with the commercial fishermen who rely on the fish for their livelihood, and it would be difficult to watch FN nets pull out fish while their nets and boats are idle. I'm not sure there is an easy answer for that situation.
     Hey Fish Bug, if you really want an answer to who is destroying the resource all you have to do is look in the mirror (and I don't mean you), its mankind, through encroachment, overharvesting, stream degradation, pollution, global warming and the list can go on and on. We are also the ones who can save it, take the CN spill on the Cheakumus for example. Eighty five percent of all life was killed from a toxic spill. Yet the entire community, FN included,  have contributed in one way or another to help bring back that river over time and if we are not allowed to fish or hunt in the future its because of our own doing.

[pepsitrev]

great post enjoyed reading it very much

[lowlight]

What is a gooey?

[summersteel]

LOL,   fishfreak good one!

[Gooey]

Conservation is a serious issue, I dont think anyone can "debate" that.  Unfortunately, the fraser fishery brings out the worst in a lot of different people and with the way the season has gone, there are a lot of people who are on edge.

I started off the season on edge because the numbers of socs early on were very low.  In that situation, conservation should be everyone's priority and IMHO conservation wasnt a concern for many fishers.  Now that the fish seem to be coming in, in strong numbers, I am disappointed that DFO hasnt given us a crack at what would be a tiny part of the over all run but once again with the late run showing up, conservation is an issue again. 

WS is right, the socs are getting left behind in the dust.  When we couldnt access them we didnt care half as much as we do now.  The sad things is, the reason we care now seems to be more about us not getting "our fare share" than concern for the resource...that saddens me.

[redtide]

a very good mind opening post W/S. I however do not like to see waste. I don't like to hear sockeye dumped in a bush because they spoliled in the hot sun and couldn't be sold. I also don't like to see crying by natives that they need the fish for food and then turn around and sell them as soon as possible. i don't like the idea of throwing away pink salmon to float downstream because they were in the same nets as sockeye. i also don't like the idea of a certain group saying to others that that is our land and you must leave. i also don't like the idea of that certain group ramming our DFO officers because they can't seem to remove themselves from their 1800's lifestyle. i also don't like the idea of a race based fishery. Would it also have killed this lame duck ministry known as DFO to open the sockeye fishery for 1 week to sporties with a limit of 1 per day. that would have been suffice for the majority. I also see no reason for the commercial fleet to be in the fraser in the first place. they should be in the open ocean like they do on alaska.....who take a good number of bc fish regularly in their nets also. WHew....sorry guys ..had to blow some steam.

[winter steel]

Now your talking Gooey , next Friday, don't forget. Pecan, can't agree with you more, unfortunately so many of those issues cross between provincial and federal boundries that my head spins just thinking about it. The problem lies in the fact the Pacific Ocean (and its fish) is monitered by the central government, when really it should be decentralized and a provincial affair. However, the problem is always funding and unfortunately, the province without transfer payments could not afford to do the D.F.O.'s job of controlling our waters and the government refuses to relinquish control for fear of cost overruns to protect our waters. Even though we have shown a surplus in our cauffers and could fund such a project. Anyway, one could probably write a book on this issue, tight lines.