This can result in some relaxing bar rig fishing on the gravel bars of the Fraser River. This is where you pound a rod holder into the gravel, attach a bar rig swivel and spin-n-glo spinner and 18 to 24 ounce weight and cast out into 8 to 15 feet deep water and then attach a bell or some flourescent surveyors tape to the top of your rod.
Then you sit back in a nice lawn chair and wait for that rod to start pulsing with a chinook or coho at the end of the line. If you are prone to napping in the warm sunshine, then best to attach a bell to the rod.
The white springs can often reach 40 lbs or higher which results in some fierce reel ripping battles and races down the gravel bar to try and prevent your line from running out of backing.
The Harrison river already has the sockeye in the river and with chum and springs and coho on the way, it should be real fun. The Vedder river will start to come into its own in about a month with its own runs of Chinook, coho and white spring salmon.
The commercial saltwater fleet has had its Sockeye Salmon quota upgraded to a total available catch of 5,600,000 fish and the troll fishery is permitted an increase to 4,000 fish per licence and the seine fishery is increased to 16,000 fish per licence. The total up the Fraser River has hit 3,429,000 and the Summer Run estimate is 7,000,000 (this does not include the early summer run at 1,015,000 and late summer run currently just starting at 351,000 fish. So an estimate of 12,000,000 to 24,000,000 total sockeye run is still realistic but wouldn't push it too far past the 12,000,000 total run size just yet. When the Adams River run enters Georgia Strait and the Fraser River (the peak is usually the first week of September) we will get a sense of what the total run size will be.
Given the run size one could expect they would increase the sport catch to 4 per day as was done in the Skeena, however my money is on increased first Nation and Commercial fisheries getting more and longer opportunities. So, up river, Saturday, Sunday and Monday should be good to great, Wednesday and Thursday will be a crap shoot for bottom bouncers.
If the weather holds good the tidal fishery off the Fraser Banana should be good as run sizes on the inside passage (Johnstone Strait) are still above normal and the the runs coming in from around southern Vancouver Island have been improving. Check out the links on the Home Page to the Environment Canada Weather forecasts for local and marine areas.
Have a great day and book a trip.