Salmo,

I experienced the Fraser fishery for the first time a week and a half ago. I've also been fishing Alaska every June for the last 8 years. I've participated in the Kenai and Kasilof sockeye fisheries. It is my opinion that up there, the majority of these fish really are being "lined". As you said, they travel close to the shore, and the technique involves "flipping" a short cast, keeping the rod tip low, and giving a sharp jerk at the end of a short drift, as demonstrated in Bob's movie.

The Fraser fishery however is quite different. It employs the use of an extremely long leader (up to 10' from what I witnessed), a 1/0 hook with a small corky and a tuft of yarn, and at least 2 oz. of weight (everyone was using Bouncing Betties). The idea is to cast as far as possible out into the river (it's REALLY wide in most places), and let your gear roll SLOWLY along the bottom (hence the need for so much weight). It's a version of drift fishing, but not in the classic sense. For me, using so much weight eliminated the whole "feel" aspect of drifting. When a fish was hooked, the rod would just bend over.

The wierdest part was the fact that almost every fish was hooked INSIDE THE MOUTH! I think I may have foul-hooked 1 or 2 but that's it. If we examine the mechanics of it, it seems like it would be VERY difficult to guide the leader through the small mouth of a 5 or 6 lb. sockeye with 100' of line out in a deep, fast-flowing river! In the Kenai fishery, you're only using about 10' of line, and just enough lead to sink the leader about 1' deep in about 2' of water. It's fairly easy to see where the leader is sliding through the fish's open mouth, coupled with the fact that most of them were hooked from the OUTSIDE of the jaw, in.

I'm no expert on fishing sockeyes in the Fraser, but I do consider myself a very experienced fisherman. I have fished for a myriad of species, using just about every known technique, but I would be hard-pressed to state definitively that the so-called "Fraser flossfest" was really just that.

On a side note, I can definitely see where the main value of this fishery is to put meat in the freezer. My intent was to mainly C&R, but these sockeye seemed to fight about as well as Lake Washington fish. I think the combination of warmer water temperature, and the heavier gear needed, kept the fish from fighting as well as sockeye usually do. On the Kenai, those reds will put most other salmonids to shame with their speed, and pound-for-pound pulling ability.

I'm not sure if I'll be fishing the Fraser next year or not, I guess it all depends on how hungry for the best tasting salmon that swims I get.