492 replies to this topic

[AllseeingEye]

This irks me to no end as it does many others who live close to the Cowichan River or especially those who fish or make their living guiding on the river, which is designated as a Canadian heritage ecosystem; its under tremendous pressure as it is for a variety of reasons including a shifting climate, fish stocks are falling dramatically in many sections of the system and all that sunscreen and tanning lotion from rafters is seriously degrading the river by killing off bug hatches etc. And I can't begin to count the number of plastic water bottles, beer cans etc we have pulled out of the Cowichan on our fishing trips.

 

IMO if they insist on continuing to permit rafting on the Cowichan it should not be allowed beyond a certain point on the upper reaches of the system.

 

https://www.timescol...injured-5524987

[AllseeingEye]

Gotta love it when a (very!) last minute plan comes together; we're going to hit the Nile Creek estuary Wednesday morning - in the very AM, aiming to have flies in the salt chuck by 5 bells, meaning rise n shine by 3am since we're starting out of Duncan.

 

I always especially look forward to fishing a spot I've never tried before which is odd in this case because we've driven by the area dozens of times and Nile Creek is not only immensely popular among the island's east coast fishing folk its also dead easy accessible, which becomes more important the older and creakier your body becomes. Going to use light gear just to amp up the fun-o-meter, in the 6-7 weight range for the rods, which will be awfully interesting if I can tempt a good size salmon to take a fly.

[Mike K.]

Have you ever fished the rivers feeding into the Alice and Victoria lake system?

[AllseeingEye]

Have you ever fished the rivers feeding into the Alice and Victoria lake system? 

 

I've fished in, around and all over the Squamish (Alice Lake) area, including the Cheakamus, Lillooet, Squamish and Elaho river systems, its actually one of my personal favorite regions on the coast to fish. We've had great luck on the Cheakamus and Lillooet Rivers especially. At Alice Lake we dropped in the belly boats and floated that system. TONS of fish in all of them. If you know what you're doing....

[Mike K.]

I didn’t know there was an Alice Lake there.

I mean Alice and Victoria lakes on the north Island

[AllseeingEye]

Heh....no I haven't: 'clearly' - I had no idea there was an Alice Lake on the island! Closest we've come to that area is making our way off the logging road mains through the forests of the Eve and Salmon Rivers respectively, which are in the high country north west of Sayward. As well as the Conuma River and its tributaries which are closer to Tahsis....

[Mike K.]

Ok, thanks ASE. I’m heading up that way and am compiling leads.

[AllseeingEye]

Leads for business, camping, or.....fishing? You'll get no fishing intel from me!

 

But I will say for anyone who cares or fishes in or around Campbell River that right now the main fish in the system from the confluence of the Quinsam/Campbell Rivers down to the estuary are sea-run cutthroat trout which we encountered and caught with much abundance yesterday directly below the Detwiler/Logging Rd bridge. 2022 is not anticipated to be a huge pink salmon year - very large runs generally alternate with lesser years with up to 75% fewer returning salmon - and 2022 definitely falls into the latter category; its a bit early for the pinks just now but two of us did manage to tie into a few early pinkies in a deep pool near the Hwy 19 bridge.

 

On our way back down island we also dropped lines at Nile Creek, the Oyster River - access to that sucker is available but you need to check your GPS and study your angling map books - and the Little Qualicum River. Water levels in all of the systems were uncharacteristically high for July but as well all know we've had no real heat and an abundance of rain. We couldn't recall the last time we've seen water levels so high at this time of year, but the good news is theoretically it means improved fishing as the fish don't have to school in salt chuck estuaries waiting for rivers to rise and cool down, and can more easily move into those fresh water systems.

[Mike K.]

Ok, very good ASE.

I was just curious if you knew of any cool spots up around those lakes.

I was at the Nitinaht over the weekend and it seemed quite low for so much rain. Or maybe I confused the water levels with where they’d be in May or June when I’d usually venture out that way.

[AllseeingEye]

Sorry Mike the closest lake to that area where we've fished is the Great Central Lake, beyond that on the island we mostly exclusively fish the rivers,,,,,

[Victoria Watcher]

Seattle Times, like most left media, never misses an opportunity to put a negative spin on any news.



Salmon runs shatter records as peak season shows no sign of slowing

Previous records of sockeye salmon have been shattered by this year's run, which is putting stress on processors and shippers trying to get the fish to market.

[Nparker]

I thought climate change, over-harvesting and fish farming had killed all the wild salmon. What happened?

[LJ]

My sister-in-law caught a 28 pound spring on Monday.

[Nparker]

Maybe the rising ocean levels are giving the salmon more room to swim. 🤣

[Mike K.]

The ultra low tides might have something to do with it.

[AllseeingEye]

Consider the strong forecast return for sockeye and pink salmon come roughly two years after the closure of two open-net Atlantic salmon farms in the area, which had long been targeted by open-net opponents. I think in part you're seeing this year a strong correlation as a consequence, especially as the very strong pink returns in particular theoretically should have been much weaker.

 

Also fish stocks and their numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt as Canada - frankly - does not do a great job funding either the DFO or Fisheries and Oceans Canada, so "forecast" numbers vary wildly and need to be taken with a large grain of salt as they are in part, " best guesswork" as much as science. The Fisheries Department for example foresees a large sockeye run to the Fraser River this summer, but returns of Chinook, coho and chum to the northern and Central Coast rivers and streams are expected to be low.

 

The forecast range for Fraser River sockeye in 2022 is 2.3 million to 41.7 million, with a median forecast of 9.7 million fish: do note however the median forecast in fact means there is a 50 per cent chance returns will come in below that level so a certain amount of these models involve being blindfolded, throwing a dart and praying it lands where you hope it will....... 

Edited by AllseeingEye, 21 August 2022 - 10:56 PM.

[lanforod]

41m would be unreal.

[Mike K.]

ASE, have you ever fished the Artlish and Tahsish/Kwois inlet?

[AllseeingEye]

Yup we were on the Conuma River both in 2019 and in 2020 camping for a week, strayed into Tahsis one day for a change of pace and fished the estuary so close enough. Big fish in there....!

[Mike K.]

Yeah!

Some -really- big fish. We had humpback whales hanging with us all day. They come in with the tide then leave once it begins to flow out. They hang right by the shore, like just feet away from the beach.