As predicted, this weeks and weekends Fraser River sockeye fishing opportunities will depend on the Commercial and First Nation Fishery. The Sunday-Monday-Tuesday commercial fishery was a full on fishery with lots of commercial boats on the water. The curious thing is that they pulled their nets by 08:00 on Tuesday morning instead of leaving them in till noon. This may have been because they reached their allotted quota for the day. This is good news for sports fisherman, as it allowed another 4 hours of fish to start filling the river so today the fishery upriver may not be as slim as it would have been.
The test fishery up river was very good for August 26th so some fish had escaped before the fishery started and the trend of fish entering the river from salt water is going up!
However there is another 12 Hour fishery starting t 08:00 on Wed. August 27th which will put another big dent in the up river fishery. This will undoubtedly be followed by a First Nations Only fishery on Thursday August 28th so the Friday and early Saturday up river sport fishery will likely be sluggish. If there are no other commercial openings other than a First Nation food and ceremonial fishery, then Sunday and Monday of the Labour Day Weekend will look good as the trend of fish entering the river is still increasing. This also bodes well for the saltwater sport fishery in the banana off the mouth of the Fraser.
Chinook numbers are also very strong so both tidal and upriver sport fisheries should do well as lots of springs were caught on the gravel bars near Chilliwack on Monday and Tuesday.
Will do another update this evening.
Update #1: There will be a First Nation Commercial fishing opportunity from 18:00 hours Friday August 29, 2014 to 12:00 hours Tuesday September 2, 2014 on the entire length of the Harrison River from the Harrison Lake outlet downstream to the Railway Bridge. If you are boating in that area, respect the nets and the fishermen and have a safe time for all parties involved. So other commercial openings are likely over the coming long weekend.
Update #2: The estimate of the number of summer run sockeye has been lowered from 7,000,000 to 6,000,000 fish but the total number making it up the Fraser River is good as fish condition has been good even with the warm river waters.
Update #3: The Squamish River was still running very high and milky. The trout were hard to find but still out there. The little guys were super aggressive since the bigger fish have trouble finding them in the murky water.
And by the way, look for an upcoming report "Death by 35 inch Spring". It's a fish story you will likely be chatting about for a while.
Tight lines and Book a trip!
However there is another 12 Hour fishery starting t 08:00 on Wed. August 27th which will put another big dent in the up river fishery. This will undoubtedly be followed by a First Nations Only fishery on Thursday August 28th so the Friday and early Saturday up river sport fishery will likely be sluggish. If there are no other commercial openings other than a First Nation food and ceremonial fishery, then Sunday and Monday of the Labour Day Weekend will look good as the trend of fish entering the river is still increasing. This also bodes well for the saltwater sport fishery in the banana off the mouth of the Fraser.
Chinook numbers are also very strong so both tidal and upriver sport fisheries should do well as lots of springs were caught on the gravel bars near Chilliwack on Monday and Tuesday.
Will do another update this evening.
Update #1: There will be a First Nation Commercial fishing opportunity from 18:00 hours Friday August 29, 2014 to 12:00 hours Tuesday September 2, 2014 on the entire length of the Harrison River from the Harrison Lake outlet downstream to the Railway Bridge. If you are boating in that area, respect the nets and the fishermen and have a safe time for all parties involved. So other commercial openings are likely over the coming long weekend.
Update #2: The estimate of the number of summer run sockeye has been lowered from 7,000,000 to 6,000,000 fish but the total number making it up the Fraser River is good as fish condition has been good even with the warm river waters.
Update #3: The Squamish River was still running very high and milky. The trout were hard to find but still out there. The little guys were super aggressive since the bigger fish have trouble finding them in the murky water.
And by the way, look for an upcoming report "Death by 35 inch Spring". It's a fish story you will likely be chatting about for a while.
Tight lines and Book a trip!
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