Fished the Fraser in BC for sockeye this weekend. It was, to say the least, interesting. I fished for only an hour or so on Saturday, but spend 4 or 5 hours at it Sunday.

The place: Island 22, just north of Chilliwack. The water is Big. Really Big. And fast.

The method: Flossing. All flossing, all the time. All the locals had 10 foot poles, and 2 or 3 ounces of lead, followed by a leader from seven to ten feet. Some were using small corkies or spin-'n-glos above the hook with a bit of yarn, others were just using yarn. It went like this: chuck your lead out as far into the river as possible, set the hook three or four times a cast.

The locals: for the most part, extremely nice and courteous. It was fairly crowded, but there was always a sport or two open for the entreprenuerial, social angler. Everybody was pretty much respectful, and let their neighbors play and land fish without disturbance. That said, everybody seemed to let their drift last far too long. And they held their rods so high, it was difficult to cast upstream over their lines as is usually done in combat zones. I spent as much time waiting for the guy two spots up to reel in as I did actually fishing. This place had less of a "party atmosphere" than other combat fisheries I've experienced. It was definately a meat fishery: get your two, and get out of there.

The fish: beautiful and plentiful. The skilled flossers were hooking fish regularly. I had a hard time getting too excited about it all, and had a bum reel that didn't cast very far, so I only caught one fish. It didn't fight as hard as most other sockeye I've caught.

I'd prefer not to turn this thread into a debate about the ethics of flossing -- that's been done to death on these boards. But I'd be happy to answer any other questions.

We can't deabate flossing? Then I have nothing to say. Good day to you.

Just kidding. :p

Seriously, it sounds like it would still be a nice trip. After reading the STS article, I've made a vow to go in the next few years. As fisherman we don't have to love fishing for all types of fish, all the time, but it's always fun to learn new techniques and explore the new areas.

Thanks for the report.

Did it take much of a boat to get upstream. I have a little 14 foot sled and would probably take it up there with me. But want to be safe.

I was up in Chiliwack this weekend for the Sockeye opener too. We launched at Island 22 and went down to Grassy Bar and fished there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 3/0 is correct about the floss fest, but when in Rome......

There were literally thousands of fish in the river and a no-brainer to catch. 3 of us for 3 days hooked over 100 sockeye and 5 Spring Chinook. No need to set the hook 3 or 4 times per drift, just wait for the rod tip to dip and... fish-on! We didn't have 1 fish hooked anywhere other then in the mouth. (or should I say...on the mouth?)

We met and talked to alot of locals and even hooked them up with the right set ups several times. Many times we even handed off rods to those who just couldn't seem to hook into a fish. It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to next years trip already.

If you haven't already made it up there this year, you missed it, the Fraser River closes to the taking of Sockeye today.

The really funny thing to see were the boats up there. People would be coming down the river in everything from big Bayliners to little bitty car toppers. Our running joke was waiting for someone to come down on a 104 qt cooler with an 8 horse tied to it...but one thing I did notice, all of our Canadian brothers were smart enough to have the life jackets on while on the river.

Craven--if you want to see the 8hrs on the cooler, you need to go to Fish Creek near Anchorage, AK. During the sockeye dip netting season.

I don't know how the water is running this time of year, but last October, 3 ran from Island 22 to the mouth of the Harrison in a 15' Smokercraft with a 15 hp Merc with 3 people in the boat.

Years ago, about six miles out from Westport, came up on a guy sitting on a aluminum lawn chair, bolted down to a 4X8 sheet of plywood, tied to four innertubes and with a little outboard behind him. Don't know how he got out there, can't believe he crossed the bar on that.

Be ready for this fishery to close midnite this thursday. There are too many early returning late run fish and fisheries and ocean canada is closing the saltwater and freshwater fisheries down to all non-native fishing on thursday night, so floss while the flossing is hot.

The most interesting thing I saw was two guys on a jet-ski playing a large chinook. Its a pretty neat fishery, but it makes me sad to think that, at one time, our Columbia had more fish and bigger fish. I always have more reverence for the outdoors when I visit a place like Chilliwack that is just awash in fiesty salmon.

rln,

Does that mean NO fishing in the Fraser at all? What about springs? This is bad news. I had plans to head up this weekend.

Right now it means no fishing for sockeye but if too many sockeye are being caught while people are fishing chinooks it may close to chinook fishing also or they may close certian areas down

Thanks rln,

The story of my life. A day late and a dollar short. We had plans to camp on one of the islands and fish for springs, while maybe inadvertantly C&Ring a few socks. (Very carefully of course) Thanks for the info. At least hopefully the crowds should disperse a little.

Mark, there will be lots of places to fish for Springs...if they close certain stretches of river there is still miles of fishable water for springers and C@R socks. Also the crowds will thin out.

Fraser river will stay open for one more day (aug.9) and late in the day Fisheries and Oceans Canada will annouce if the river will stay open for this coming weekend.