Ramstrong’s great Canadian adventure.

[Ramstrong]

Well I have recently returned from a week in Canada. The sockeye run is in the Fraser bigtime. I was only able to fish 2 days with Rippenlips but had no problem getting my retention limit of 4 fish to bring back to the states. We fished with Greg of STS guide service on Tuesday and with The Beek (who is a riot) last Wednesday.

STS is a great guide service, it took about 15 minutes for Greg to get us dialed into the fishery and it was solid catching from there. I highly recommend them if you don’t have time to burn to figure things out. Rippenlips also put a 19.5 # Chinook on the bank Tuesday after an extended fight.

I had a slow start on Wednesday. I was 0 for 6 to start the day before landing my first fish. The Beek was giving me all kinds of grief. But once I got rolling I did Well. We attempted to use some of our southern tactics (Kwikfish/Spinners) but had a hard time getting the anchor to stick. This fall we’re going to have another on the river demonstration on another river that the anchor should hold in no problem. I was able to finish the trip on a good note catching a fish on my last cast. This is definitely something I’m thinking of making into an annual trip.

Sockeye season is open for at least two more days. Anyone with the time available, I recommend you take the 6 hr drive from Portland and stock up on a fish that rates right below springer on my tasty salmon list.

[ 08-13-2002, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Ramstrong ]

[skein]

An interesting thing about this year's Fraser run is the timing. Seems the sockeye are moving into the river very early, and may not be mature enough to have a successful spawn before they expire. Some biologists up there think the entire run may be in jeopardy.

I'm curious. Did STS mention anything about that when you were up there? Is this about the time of year they usually fish it? I ask because obviously they fish it a lot and might have a feel for what's happening. I only got my info from the newspapers up there who quoted an un-named biologist - pretty shaky ground.

Glad you had a good time.

Skein

[Ramstrong]

Actually Skein,
The run of concern is the Late summer stock. I believe they are Adams river fish. They are normally one of the largest components of the Sockeye run.

The concern is that they have been entering the river early. They normally arrive in September. The temperatures up river are not conducive to salmon migration and there has been high prespawn mortality. The Late summer fish are currently holding off the mouth of the Fraser and haven't entered the river yet, Last I heard. Once in the river, the season will shutdown. Impact on this stock is being minimalized due to the high mortality associated with the early migration. No one knows why the fish have been entering early.

The run we were fishing was the summer stock. Over a million have already entered the river and they are on time and healthy. It's looking like the earliest the season will close now is Friday night.

Here's the most recent fishery notice.
http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fnsreports/BrowseNotices_Detail.cfm?ID=4170

[Grant Scheele]

Ryan, do you have any pictures?

[skein]

Thanks, Ram, for the clarification. I was pretty sure I didn't have the whole story straight - my fault more than the reporter, who did a pretty good job of echoing what you just said.

Musta been hard to leave....

Skein

[Ramstrong]

Grant,

The Pics are in the Camera still. I'll post when developed and scanned. I really need to get an el cheepo digital camera don't I. I love the upper fraser valley, It's just gorgeous there and they have a ton of fish.

It's looking like I'll be taking two annual trips up there now. One in August and one in October. Fish all day until your arms hurt.

Skein,
It actually wasn't that hard leaving. I didn't want to catch and release too much because of the mortality associated with warmer water. I did keep fights down to a minimum. A sockeye is really no match for 65# mainline and 25# leader :wink: I came back with my retention limit of 4 fish. Now if I lived closer and had a way of getting my fish home. I'd have loved doing more damage to the population. :grin:

[foxer]

I'm heading up to the Thompson on labor day..Will there be any fish in the Fraser to catch, or will it be closed? Know anything about the lower Thompson ?

[Ramstrong]

foxer,

It would be a huge fluke if the Fraser is open in September. Normally it's closed from the Sockeye closure right into the middle of October to protect Coho.

As far as the Thompson itself, I've never fished there. I've opted for the big #'s on some of the other lower mainland streams. The guy's at www.coastangler.com (http://www.coastangler.com) should be able to answer your questions though.

[CATCH AND EAT]

Good job there floppy hat. :grin: Glad to see ya caught a fish or two up there. It is beautiful country. :cool:

[Ramstrong]

Just Thought I'd bring this back up. Season's been extened through Sunday. If anyone has the time this weekend. I've heard the river has really been producing lately.