Fishing - Everything Fishing!

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by troutman

Yes that river is C&R only, and all Bull Trout must be released province-wide.

I would welcome C&R for all rivers and streams in ES1. The fish population thrives, and you get much bigger fish.

I can see both sides of that, and part of me supports lower limits in those situations. I know I don't need to be taking home 5 fish in a day, ever--and my worry with catch and release is that the fish may be injured more often than we think. I don't know anything about bull trout (or freshwater fishing in general to be honest) but I do know that the mortality rate for many ocean fish on catch and release situations is way higher than you'd think. That's especially true for bottom fish due to the "fish bends" but it is also true for many salmonids that just aren't as hardy as we think they are.

I haven't fished in fresh water since I was a kid in Iceland, but when I fish in the ocean my view is to stay within your limit, catch only what you intend to eat, and then stop when you reach your limit to avoid injuring more fish.

Like I said, I am completely ignorant when it comes to freshwater trout in that regard--I suspect we agree that the management policies should be designed first and foremost to protect sustainable fish populations in the water.

The other (more hypocritical, I suppose) side of that is that when I go fishing I usually want to eat what I catch.

[Tron_fdc]

Borrowed a rod, had one fly (leech pattern) and nailed 3 of these in 4 casts before I lost the fly in a bush.



I too will follow Troutmans lead and say it was "somewhere south of Calgary"

[Tron_fdc]

#2

Tried to get my kid to reel this one in but he was more concerned with throwing sticks in the water than catching massive rainbows.....

[troutman]

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[foshizzle11]

Hey guys,
so we are heading out to Kelowna and are looking to fish Okanagan Lake. We will have a power boat and down riggers to use. Just wondering if anyone has any tips for us. We have done some research fro some locations but I have never fished a lake this big before, so not sure what to expect. Or this deep!

Any suggestions for lures, or technique? We are planning on trolling and would love to catch ourselves a Kokanee or two, but a large rainbow would be great too.

We bought a few rapala minnows, rainbow and kokanee fry looking ones. Any other suggestions?

Thanks guys.

[foshizzle11]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

I can see both sides of that, and part of me supports lower limits in those situations. I know I don't need to be taking home 5 fish in a day, ever--and my worry with catch and release is that the fish may be injured more often than we think. I don't know anything about bull trout (or freshwater fishing in general to be honest) but I do know that the mortality rate for many ocean fish on catch and release situations is way higher than you'd think. That's especially true for bottom fish due to the "fish bends" but it is also true for many salmonids that just aren't as hardy as we think they are.

I haven't fished in fresh water since I was a kid in Iceland, but when I fish in the ocean my view is to stay within your limit, catch only what you intend to eat, and then stop when you reach your limit to avoid injuring more fish.

Like I said, I am completely ignorant when it comes to freshwater trout in that regard--I suspect we agree that the management policies should be designed first and foremost to protect sustainable fish populations in the water.

The other (more hypocritical, I suppose) side of that is that when I go fishing I usually want to eat what I catch.

I don't ever salt water fish but I can speak a bit to the fresh water side of things. We do C&R all the time even when we can keep fish. We have been to numerous stocked ponds/lakes in Alberta and seen people keeping 8" trout and smaller just because they can, I don't agree with this much at all.

Just based on my own experience, I would guess that the bigger fish are less affected, especially when using small sized flies/hooks. If you have tight lines and set the hook right away, most of the time the fish is hooked in the mouth, on the lips. Much less likely to have an impact on the fish after release then say fishing with a minnow on a snell hook from the dock when the chances of swallowing the hook completely are increased significantly.

People do need to read about the best possible way to catch and release fish properly. Here is a place to start.

http://mywildalberta.com/Fishing/Saf...hHandling.aspx

A couple key things:

• Keep the fish in the water as long/much as possible while handling/removing the hook.

• Use barbless hooks, we do most of the time, especially fly fishing because I know I'll be releasing the fish.

• Don't pick up the fish by the gills, this is so bad for the fish and drives me nuts when I see people doing this when it is C&R only.

• If you can't get the hook out because it is far down the fishes throat or the barb is stuck, just cut the line, the hook will eventually just fall out, many people don't know this or think it is true. Again, I have learned from experience, I will always cut the line if I can't get the hook out within about 30 seconds.

Who knows what the actual mortality rate is for C&R but I have fished many lakes where it is C&R only and we don't see a bunch of dead fish floating or at the bottom of the lake, so I know it works. Yes you will have issues sometimes and kill the fish because of mishandling the fish, been there and done that but I have learned from my mistakes.

How many on here have caught fish that still have someone else's hook in its lip or mouth? I have. How many of us have caught larger fish with scars from being hooked at one time or another and they have survived, I bet a lot of us. C&R works and protects our fisheries, if this practices stops working then they should just ban fishing in susceptible fisheries to save them.

Sorry for the rant.

[BOSSY]

Just got back from our yearly trip to the Skeena river for Chinooks - didn't do that great this year - only two in the low 30lbs... But my 15 year old son caught a 22lb Steelhead - what a fight! Awesome experience for him - Didn't even think to take pictures we were so excited - wanted to keep it in the water just took it out to weigh.

[Zulu29]

Going to Joe's Salmon Lodge near Bella Bella, BC with my dad tomorrow. Should be a great time, looking forward to slaying some tyees!

[Weitz]

Question for you fishing folks.

I don't fish often, maybe 1 once a year at the cabin, and deep sea if I go to the Oceans.

But this year and last year we have been getting a bunch of rather large fish wash up dead on our shore at the Cabin (Wabamun). Would these fish being dying of "old age" per se? Or would it be poor C&R techniques as there are a ton of fisherman on the lake?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by BOSSY

Just got back from our yearly trip to the Skeena river for Chinooks - didn't do that great this year - only two in the low 30lbs... But my 15 year old son caught a 22lb Steelhead - what a fight! Awesome experience for him - Didn't even think to take pictures we were so excited - wanted to keep it in the water just took it out to weigh.

Just curious, what did they charge for the licenses there? BC for non-residents has been ludicrous.

I just got back from an extended long weekend in Yukon and basically the fish are perfect for a guy like me! I don't think that they get fished much at all, and they're dumb. It's amazing. I was almost bored of catching fish one day...just hit after hit. Even if you pulled the fly out so they couldn't take it they would jump and take it in mid-air. Pretty amazing. Really to do it properly you need a boat as the rivers and lakes are enormous. Overall it's breathtaking scenery, and just incredibly beautiful.

[troutman]

What kind of fish Slava?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

Sorry for the rant.

No need - I appreciate your post a lot, and it's important stuff. I'm considering taking up freshwater fishing, and these are all things I need to consider and learn about. Your post is super useful.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by troutman

What kind of fish Slava?

Mostly Grayling and Rainbows. There were a couple small fish that I'm not sure what they are. Perhaps small little salmon in one case (looks like a little Coho) and then what might be a little Char. The Rainbows have a little different colouring up in one stream we fished as well. They're still trout we think based on them having spots on the tail and fins (not Char), but are darker and a little different than the Rainbows we see down here. The Grayling are big (by Grayling standards!) and just a beautiful fish.

If the fishing isn't enough you could sit and watch Eagles fight with Ravens, see the loons cruise by and listen to their iconic call or just plain keep your head on a swivel for the bears that couldn't be far away!

[rbochan]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

...How many on here have caught fish that still have someone else's hook in its lip or mouth? I have...

I caught a 40" Tiger Muskie over the weekend that had 3 other hooks in it's mouth/face besides mine. I spent a good minute or so getting all the hooks out of that critter. When the weather's hot and the water temp is so high (80+ F), I get right in the water with them to release them. After all the work I did to help it, it frikken bit my shin. Hard. I bled like a stuck pig.
No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.

[foshizzle11]

Rbochan, do you any pics of this said fish and your bite marks?

[rbochan]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

Rbochan, do you any pics of this said fish and your bite marks?

I have a pic of the fish (in the water), but I take no pleasure in photographing my own pain.

Spoiler!

[mrbanffgirl]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Question for you fishing folks.

I don't fish often, maybe 1 once a year at the cabin, and deep sea if I go to the Oceans.

But this year and last year we have been getting a bunch of rather large fish wash up dead on our shore at the Cabin (Wabamun). Would these fish being dying of "old age" per se? Or would it be poor C&R techniques as there are a ton of fisherman on the lake?

I grew up On Wabamun, and there are cycles of die off that happen regularly on that lake, BUT i was out fishing there a couple of weeks ago, and caught A LOT of small, and rather skinny hammer handles, and very few larger fish (which is weird compared to last few years)
What is interesting is the amount of walleye being caught. they have been stocking the hell out of that lake the last few years, and the walleye are in direct competition with the pike for food, and Pike don't (can't?) eat larger walleye. i am thinking that a lot of the large pike are getting suffer due to lack of food. However, C&R techniques out there are "grip it and rip it" from what i have seen, and just tossed back in.
Really to bad, because Wab was becoming a really good trophy lake!

[Weitz]

Ended up doing some fishing on Wabamun on saturday. Caught 3 pike and 3 walleye in about an hour of fishing. Not too bad!

[gasman]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

Hey guys,
so we are heading out to Kelowna and are looking to fish Okanagan Lake. We will have a power boat and down riggers to use. Just wondering if anyone has any tips for us. We have done some research fro some locations but I have never fished a lake this big before, so not sure what to expect. Or this deep!

Any suggestions for lures, or technique? We are planning on trolling and would love to catch ourselves a Kokanee or two, but a large rainbow would be great too.

We bought a few rapala minnows, rainbow and kokanee fry looking ones. Any other suggestions?

Thanks guys.

This might be too late, but I have done a ton of Kokanee fishing in the caribou, they are generally in 80-90ft water, swimming around 25-30ft. Best time is early morning or late evening. I was out two weeks ago and bite was over by 6:30am

Troll a 3-4" dodger with an apex with a piece of pink corn. we had good luck with pink, but different lakes, different colours. Keep your speed under 1.5mph

[Angelamc]

Privileged to float for a second time this season with Buzzcock and a great plus one (Joe!), the first float a couple of weeks back was on the slow side as The Bow has been a tad tricky lately but today made up for it in size!!! I got things going this morning with the biggest brown i`ve ever landed, and then Buzzcock killed it with a huge tank of a brown. There were other great fish and Buzzcock made a point of only landing the biggest fish all day and as always just awesome being on the water. Love The Bow river!!