Tag Archive for: Fishing Trip

2011 Commercial salmon fishing season was promising

The radio begins to crackle seconds after the Marlin arrives at the outskirts of the salmon fishing fleet about three miles from the coast of Stinson Beach.
“Fish and Game is here. Fish and Game on scene,” say the disembodied voices, as Lt. Andy Roberts and his crew from the state Department of Fish and Game smile at each other, happy to have a job to do.
It’s nearing the end of the first commercial salmon fishing season in three years. The ocean is crammed with trollers piloted by seasoned fisherman hoping to score a final catch, under the watchful eye of state officials making sure they do so legally. It’s been a “so-so” year, they all agree, but one that brings hope that salmon fishing in California has returned for good.
“It’s just nice to be fishing here again,” said Capt. Greg Ambiel, 43, as fish and game warden Ryan Thiem dug through Ambiel’s catch measuring the salmon’s size. Ambiel was among a dozen salmon boats on the unusually calm Pacific Ocean on Sept. 30. “Most of us guys have barely squeaked by.”
By the end of August, the most recent totals available, commercial fishermen in California had spent a combined 5,105 days fishing salmon since the season opened in May, catching more than 68,900 Chinook salmon along the state coast. While the commercial season ended Friday, recreational fishermen can continue catching salmon until the end of the month.
The 2-year-long hiatus, sparked by an alarmingly low salmon count
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in 2009, cost the state more than $255 million in economic activity and roughly 2,263 jobs. It also resulted in $170 million in aid from the federal government that was sent mostly to fishermen who were prevented from making a living due to the ban.
But this year, the gloom was behind the fishermen as they once again took to the ocean in search of the West Coast’s iconic fish.
Both fisherman and state officials said that while the 2011 catch was low compared to other full seasons, the price paid for salmon was on average higher, due to the two-year-long ban. Reports from the coast had fishermen selling salmon anywhere from $4 to $8 per pound, depending on the day it was caught.
Biologists from the Pacific Fishery Management Council had predicted that more than 739,000 salmon would be found off the coast this year, and more than 377,000 headed up the Sacramento River to spawn. The forecast was triple the number from last year and convinced biologists that the fishery could reopen to commercial and recreational anglers.
In 2009, a mere 39,000 Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon were thought to have returned to the Sacramento River Basin, an all-time low that prompted the closure of the commercial fishing season.
“It’s not uncommon to see sharp turnarounds both positive and negative, but we were surprised in 2009 when it got so low,” said Chuck Tracy, salmon staff officer for the Pacific Fishery Management Council, a group that works with the state to monitor fisheries.
The decision this year to open the commercial salmon season was welcome news to the hundreds of fishermen in California who had been forced to either dock their boats or try their luck at another, less profitable fishery.
“It means we can do the thing that punches our ticket,” said David Bitts, president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “Not only will we be able to make a living, we will be doing something that gets us all excited.”
That excitement could be seen on the ocean recently, when even a visit from state game wardens didn’t appear to dampen the spirits of many fishermen. Most welcomed the wardens with pleasant greetings and were happy to show off their catch and talk, again, about fishing salmon.
Wardens patrolled the salmon fleet on a small patrol dinghy launched from the Marlin. The wardens, Thiem and Ian Bearry, inspect the fishermen’s gear and measure the size of their catch — ensuring that “short” salmon, also known as jacks, are not kept on board.
Under regulations meant to ensure the salmon fishery would continue to grow, the Department of Fish and Game has regulated the size of fish that can be kept and how those fish could be caught.
For commercial fishermen, any Chinook salmon larger than 27 inches are fair game, while recreational fisherman can keep Chinook salmon larger than 24 inches. Coho salmon caught off the California coast must be thrown back.
In addition, all fishermen are banned from using barbed hooks.
The owner of the Sachiko of Sacramento saw firsthand how strict the wardens of fish and game are.
The boat’s captain, who refused to speak to a reporter, was cited for having a salmon that was ¼-inch short of the 27-inch limit. The maximum fine for such a violation is six months jail and a $1,000 fine, but Roberts said the maximum penalty is rarely used.
“The size regulation is there for a reason,” Roberts said. “He didn’t plant the salmon; he is just out there taking them. We have to set a limit and if it’s close we can’t let them go. If we did, where would it end?”
Fishermen interviewed Sept. 30 said that while this year’s catch was modest, they saw many smaller salmon that they hope will grow to regulation size by the 2012 fishing season.
“We’ll continue to starve this year but next year we’ll finally make some money,” Ambiel said.
Capt. Wilson Quick of the Sun Ra said he had caught dozens of “short” salmon, also know as jacks, that he was forced to release.
“There’s a lot of jacks and that’s a really good sign,” Quick said with a smile.
While Tracy could not say with certainty that the salmon have returned for good, he thinks the anecdotes he has heard from fisherman about this year’s catch reveal a promising trend.
“Things look reasonably good for the near term at least,” Tracy said. “They should be here for the long-term.”
Bitts, for one, hopes so.
“I would say that most of us are pretty eager for next year to see if the promise this year is fulfilled,” he said. “When we see a lot of short fish like we saw this year, it gives me a lot of hope that we haven’t screwed it up yet.”
By the numbers
$255 million
Amount of economic activity lost when Fish and Game officials suspended salmon fishing in 2009.
2,263
Number of jobs lost during that two-year period.
739,000
Estimated number of salmon experts expect to be swimming in off the California coast.
68,900
Number of fish hauled in by fishermen since the fishing season began in May.

By the numbers
$255 million
Amount of economic activity lost when Fish and Game officials suspended salmon fishing in 2009.
2,263
Approximate number of jobs lost during that two-year period.
739,000
Number of salmon experts expect to be swimming off state coast.
68,900
Number of fish hauled in since the fishing season began in May.

ONLINE: To view a slideshow
of California Department of Fish and Game wardens conducting offshore patrols, go to
www.mercurynews.com/extra.

Fishing Trip to Tierra Del Fuego January 2011

Tierra Del Fuego is definitely an interesting place. The culture is sheep farming and this is all you will see while traveling the large expanse of dusty gravel roads. Even though it can turn to rain at any time, the constant wind gusts keep the ground mostly dry and that is definitely the case with the roads. After about 5 hours traveling we came to a very large estancia. In South America a farm is called an estancia which literally means a place to stay or a ranch. Because the land is so dry and the soil barren, the only possible livelihood is sheep. There are cows in the central and northern areas, but mostly sheep in southern Chile. The estancias are much larger than ranches or farms in North America because of the low sustainability per acre. The estancia we stayed on was many hectares and is navigated by vehicles and by horseback. Gauchos are South American cowboys who tend the farms. They live by very primitive means often without power and modern comforts. We stayed in a place that had limited hot water, heated only by the woodstove in the kitchen.

Fishing opportunities are quite vast in this area. The key is knowing where to go. Just because there is water somewhere does not mean there are fish. And sometimes there trout in the most unlikely places. We fished one very small lake which most would call a pond. You could wade most of it and it was only about .5 of a mile long. To my surprise, it was filled with mostly large trout. The first brown trout I caught was 4.5lbs. We roasted it on the fire for lunch. After lunch one of my fishing buddies headed out to the same spot I was at and started hooking one fish after another. By the time I got there he was finally landing one after losing a few. I immediately hooked into a large trout about 7-8 lbs that jumped and really gave a good fight. After releasing him, all 5 of us fished for another couple hours and hooked a few more trout. All the trout seen and hooked were quite large. This seemed to be a strange phenomenon considering the amount of water for them to live in.

During the trip we also fished Lago Blanco and Rio Blanco which are large bodies of water. I was a little disappointed with the results; however, there is apparently some good fishing on Lago Blanco in other locations, just not where we fished at the south end of the lake. During the trip we fished the Rio Grande in a few different parts. The goal was catching sea trout which are sea run brown trout. Among 5 of us, we caught 5 sea trout, none bigger than 8 lbs. We were there at the end of January, however the best time is either October or March. Next time I go, I will go in these months! All in all, it fueled my passion for fly fishing which previously was quite limited. I had mostly fished salmon in the river by the fly, but fly fishing trout can be quite and art. I plan on returning to Chile sometime, this time a little better prepared for what I can expect. For all nature lovers it can be quite a romantic place with a wide expanse of thinly vegetated land and a few different species of animals including the most common guanaco which roams freely in many places.

Fishing Serrano River in Chile Jan 2011

As some of you know, I took a Southen Hemiphere fishing trip in January. I was invited by my one of my guiding friends in Sweden who holds the record for the largest salmon caught around Stockholm. The idea was to try fishing some new areas that hadn’t had much traffic fishing. We started off in Punta Arenas which is at the southern end of Chile. Except for the city of about 100,000, the rest of the area is sparsely populated. I was a little surprised when I arrived how poor the area was. I found out that people in South America make about one third to one half what people in Canada and the US do.

The first part of the trip we went fishing for Chinook in the rivers. It is not really my favorite thing to do, but as Chinook are recent settlers down it this part of the world, I thought I would give it a try. There were lots of fish, but also lots of fisherman. There was a catch and release rule in effect, but this doesn’t mean much to the locals when there is no enforcement. So we were the only ones doing catch and release! There seemed to be some pretty good numbers of Chinook in this area. We fished the Serrano River which was about a 5 hour drive on both paved and gravel roads. You will have to get used to traveling on gravel roads if coming to Chile. It doesn’t mean less traffic, just potholes and bumps!

The first afternoon we got there, there were only a few people there and I caught 3 Chinook on spoons after getting tired of seeing fish being caught on spoons and not getting anything on the fly. One of the guys managed to get one on a fly, but there wasn’t too much happening. The next couple days were very slow and we ended up leaving in hopes of getting some brown trout in the Tierra Del Fuego area. This is a really a big island that Chile and Argentina share. I am not entirely sure of the history, but apparently there was some agreement that Chile couldn’t have land on the east side of the peninsula.

Kenai closed to king salmon fishing for rest of month

Catch and release, other waterways not off the hook

By MIKE CAMPBELL
mcampbell@adn.com

Published: June 4th, 2010

Facing a disastrous return, state biologists will close king salmon fishing on the Kenai River, the state’s most important sport fishing stream, while imposing restrictions on nearby waterways.

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, all sportfishing for Kenai kings — including catch and release — will end for the rest of the month.

Meanwhile, no naturally-produced kings — fish with their adipose fin intact — can be harvested from the smaller Kasilof River in June. The river sees both hatchery produced and natural fish.

And farther south on the Kenai Peninsula, bait will be banned on Deep Creek as well as the Anchor and Ninilchik rivers, while a bigger swath of Cook Inlet at the mouth of the Anchor will be off-limits.

“It’s a real big part of the community,” Tom Vania, regional management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said of the Kenai. “The Valley went through this last year, and those choices are never easy. But our responsibility is first and foremost to the resource.”

This season’s Kenai run has started so poorly that biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game fear it may fall well short of the minimum number of fish they seek to perpetuate healthy runs — 5,300 kings.

But even strong parent years offer no guarantee the offspring will return strong. The parents of these Kenai kings spawned four, five and six years ago, all years with strong returns.

“The department projects a total run of about 3,800 fish, indicating that with additional harvest it is likely the … escapement goal will not be achieved,” said area management biologist Robert Begich in the emergency order.

Through Wednesday, only 739 kings have been counted swimming past the fish-counting sonar at river mile 8.6. No more than 75 fish have been counted any day since sonar operations began May 16.

Only 15 swam by Wednesday.

Stretching 82 miles from Kenai Lake to Cook Inlet, the Kenai River supports the largest sport fishery in the state, from huge king salmon to chunky rainbow trout to colorful Dolly Varden and acrobatic silver salmon. Kings occupy the top rung, and many of the 400-plus Kenai River guides registered with the state chase the largest salmon this time of year.

King fishing will close downstream from the outlet of Skilak Lake for the remainder of June.

From July 1-14, it will be closed upstream from the Soldotna Bridge to the outlet of Skilak Lake and in the Moose River from its confluence with the Kenai River upstream to the northernmost edge of the Sterling Highway Bridge.

Ricky Gease, executive director of the Kenai Sportfishing Association, said “we applaud the department” for acting, but voiced qualms about how it was carried out.

Fish and Game should have first moved to catch and release rather than making the jump from fully open to shut.

“The department should always use that tool (catch and release),” he said. “You might have had another week to collect data.”

This year’s return is the worst since at least 2002, when the early run also was closed early. But there are some differences — that closure came about a week later and the minimum escapement goal was higher, about 7,200 fish; today it’s 5,300 fish.

That run finished with 6,185 fish upstream.

Although Fish and Game’s preseason outlook called for a below-average run, this year’s Kenai return is the lowest ever at this date, Vania said. When a series of big tides this week that normally pushes a slug of fish into the river failed to do so, biologists acted.

“We would have loved to have taken a step-down measure,” Vania said. “But the counts just went the wrong way. We’re kind of forced to just close.”

Nobody knows exactly why king returns have sputtered, though Vania and other biologists say that because the problem is widespread there is a problem at sea rather than in individual rivers.

Other troubled rivers include:

• The Deshka, where only nine kings have passed the river’s fish-counting weir in the last six days — and just 76 all season. Typically, the Deshka doesn’t peak until mid-June, so biologists are hoping that the fish are merely late. Before the season, they forecast a return of 31,000 kings — well above the river’s minimum escapement goal of 13,000 fish. The Deshka return has come up short the last two years.

• The Chuitna, Lewis and Theodore rivers on the west side of Cook Inlet, which were all closed by biologists this spring after failing to meet their escapement goals for years.

• Kodiak’s Karluk and Ayakulik rivers, where disastrous returns forced biologists to either ban king fishing or resort to catch-and-release only. Both rivers are seeing returns down about 90 percent from what they were during the middle of the decade.

The Kenai closure will pinch the more that 400 guides licensed to work the Kenai River as well as a variety of other businesses. The sportfishing association has estimated that Upper Cook Inlet recreational salmon fishing produces $104 million in income, and the Kenai River is a chunk of that.

“Not just the guides, but the stores in the area, the restaurants, the hotels, the taxidermists, the gas stations,” noted UAA economics professor Gunnar Knapp. “A whole variety of people — starting with the guide.”

Some king salmon anglers will fish elsewhere on the Peninsula or make other recreation plans.

“It will all depend on how long it lasts,” Michelle Glaves, executive director of the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, said of the closure. “If somebody has a trip planned, guides will take their clients elsewhere to fish.”

That should make the June 11 reopening of the upper Kenai River and the Russian River to red salmon and trout anglers especially anticipated this year.

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.

http://www.adn.com/2010/06/03/1306549/kenai-king-fishing-closes-on-saturday.html

Salmon Fishing Report April 13,2010

Salmon fishing is ridiculous around the Ucluelet area these past few months and I am sure fishing will pick up in areas along Vancouver Island and on the north Coast of BC and Alaska once the fishing lodges open. I have to say that salmon fishing this year continues to just blow us away Read more