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Daniels: New chinook regulations don’t mean there’s no fishing!

For the past number of months there were a number of informational meetings around Vancouver Island. DFO had issued a published report and they were looking for feedback about the regulations on chinook for this season.
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New regulations prevent anglers from keeping any chinook they catch through July 15. Photo by Don Daniels/Campbell River Mirror

For the past number of months there were a number of informational meetings around Vancouver Island. DFO had issued a published report and they were looking for feedback about the regulations on chinook for this season.

They also had an option list of any changes to closures and retention limits for the upcoming salmon fishing season. The date for the annual tidal water fishing license renewal was April 1 and there was no indication of any news coming from fisheries regarding any changes… but that news did came out last week.

Around Campbell River, when fishing is good news spreads line wildfire, so the bad news of zero retention for chinook spread like wildfire with extra gas poured on.

There are some people that will go fishing for chinooks but until July 15 it’s catch and release only. After that it’s limit of one per day until Aug. 30 then a limit of two until the end of the year.

The annual limit of 30 is down to 10. In area 13, around Campbell River, other fish to target are coho salmon, ling cod and bottom fish, the regulations for which are posted online.

Since the beginning of time when recreational sport fishing started in Campbell River, big fish have attracted big money and of all the species of salmon available in Campbell River the chinooks get the main attention. There are people who have lived in Campbell River for years and who live here for the fishing. The salmon fishing derby in Campbell River was scheduled for early June but is now put on hold until next year.

There are fishing guides that earn a living by taking clients out fishing and the main fishing season for them has been cut short some guides lost 200 hours of fishing time and that means a loss of money.

There were people waiting to see if there would be any changes to regulations and they have a choice now to cancel or rebook a fishing trip. Some guides will move on until July 15 to contract their services to other fishing resorts outside area 13. In some cases some guides have clients that keep coming back to experience salmon fishing. With no chinook retention until July 15 it brings a new meaning to catch and release fishing and already some of the guides are getting large nets to release chinook.

Switching from tidal water to non-tidal fishing, the recent rain has river levels up and fishable but the snow melt and rain will change fishing conditions on a day-to-day basis. There are people who still don’t realize that trout fishing the local rivers is catch and release, but everything is listed in the freshwater fishing regulations booklet.

For anyone interested, I have a fly tying session for beginners this Sunday.

It’s free to attend and runs from 1 until 3 p.m. at the Campbell River Library.

This year I have met new people who have moved to Campbell and they enjoy learning the basics then learning on their own to get some fly patterns in the box and get out fishing. I will have some new materials to play with and you will take some patterns home.

For those of you who already know what you’re doing, here is a fly pattern to try out: Use a number 6, 8 or 10 size hook and for the tail, tie in some red hen hackle, for the body use peacock hurl. For the head spin some deer hair then trim.

This fly has worked wonders in Northern B.C., so why not try it out here, too?