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Ghost21
Guest
Anyone seen or caught any of these so called pinks that are coming to Cow. Bay ???
If they are gonna show it should be any day now. The pinks arrived at Campbell River/Quinsam over a week ago and are as thick as cord wood in there now. I hear that the Nanaimo pinks are back too in the past few days.
So following that roll out down ECVI we should see them in Cow Bay any day if they survived from 18 months in the ocean.
Gov
God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton
So following that roll out down ECVI we should see them in Cow Bay any day if they survived from 18 months in the ocean.
Gov
God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton
The Cowichan Bay net pen pinks are here! 
Yup, there has been a few rumours going round the past week but now a reliable source shared with me that four were landed by one boat fishing in special open area of the bay today. So go out and catch a few for fun.
A really good news story. A chance to get new folks to try out angling and even catch'em from the shore. Many thanks to Paul Rickard and Kim Zak for all their hard work and time to get this net pen project off the ground!
Also heard the pink smolts were in great shape when they left the pen this year as well, so next year the fishing should be even better.
Gov
God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton
Yup, there has been a few rumours going round the past week but now a reliable source shared with me that four were landed by one boat fishing in special open area of the bay today. So go out and catch a few for fun.
A really good news story. A chance to get new folks to try out angling and even catch'em from the shore. Many thanks to Paul Rickard and Kim Zak for all their hard work and time to get this net pen project off the ground!
Also heard the pink smolts were in great shape when they left the pen this year as well, so next year the fishing should be even better.
Gov
God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton
Hey Smiley66:
The project is a success and is now providing the opportunity that was originally planned for. Right now there are pinks in Cow Bay and the narrows too. Anglers are catching them. I saw a picture yesterday of a pink caught in the bay by a local flyfisher wading from shore.
This pink net pen project gives the public a chance to try pink salmon fishing without having to get out in a boat on the water. This project is part of a larger program to revitalize the once huge recreational fisheries of the Georgia Strait. All the risks and benefits were carefully considered first before it was allowed to commence. This Cow Bay volunteer pink salmon pen program received DFO science, BC MoE, Wild Salmon Policy Transplant Committee and Cowichan Tribes approval before it was given the green light to start.</u> As I just wrote - all the risks and benefits were carefully considered.
The Campbell River and Nanaimo pink net pen projects have run for more years and are having great success providing some fabulous angling opportunities for novice anglers and specialists alike. They receive strong community support as well. Deep Bay and Gibsons are receiving pink net pens too this year.
As you know there is a special open fishing area for pinks along the shore of Cow Bay marked by buoys where anglers can fish from shore or near shore in float tubes or small boats. This may be where your concern is with Cowichan Chinook being caught while pink fishing.
In the special fishing area there is no directed fishing for chinook allowed, as by regulation chinook can not be retained. Just as there is no fishing in the rest of the bay this is designed to avoid Cowichan chinook as their numbers have been so low in past years. There is also a very very slim likehood of hooking a chinook in that special open area as I am informed that the chinook do not normally mill around there in that location but choose other areas of the bay. Plus the fishing tackle used to catch pinks is unlikely to entice chinook who are more prone to lock jaw before spawning. Finally many knowledgeable reputable anglers out there will act as stewards/guardians "advising" idiots of their errant ways if they are attempting to spoil this opportunity for the rest of us. And yes it should be enforced by DFO C&P. While no one can guarantee there will be zero chinook hook ups, it is really unlikely and if it does occur that chinook must be released anyway.
Everything we do in life will always have detractors making their opinion heard. But we are, thank heavens, in a free society and free to make our opinons heard. Doesn't mean what those detractors say is true or well founded.
There is much work being done to approve and introduce another a pink salmon net pen project for the Sidney waterfront. It would be real nice to catch a salmon off the huge crabbing pier in Sidney some day.
Hope this answers what I picked up as your honorable concern for the Cowichan River's revered chinook and at the same time offers a little greater incite.
Gov
God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton
The project is a success and is now providing the opportunity that was originally planned for. Right now there are pinks in Cow Bay and the narrows too. Anglers are catching them. I saw a picture yesterday of a pink caught in the bay by a local flyfisher wading from shore.
This pink net pen project gives the public a chance to try pink salmon fishing without having to get out in a boat on the water. This project is part of a larger program to revitalize the once huge recreational fisheries of the Georgia Strait. All the risks and benefits were carefully considered first before it was allowed to commence. This Cow Bay volunteer pink salmon pen program received DFO science, BC MoE, Wild Salmon Policy Transplant Committee and Cowichan Tribes approval before it was given the green light to start.</u> As I just wrote - all the risks and benefits were carefully considered.
The Campbell River and Nanaimo pink net pen projects have run for more years and are having great success providing some fabulous angling opportunities for novice anglers and specialists alike. They receive strong community support as well. Deep Bay and Gibsons are receiving pink net pens too this year.
As you know there is a special open fishing area for pinks along the shore of Cow Bay marked by buoys where anglers can fish from shore or near shore in float tubes or small boats. This may be where your concern is with Cowichan Chinook being caught while pink fishing.
In the special fishing area there is no directed fishing for chinook allowed, as by regulation chinook can not be retained. Just as there is no fishing in the rest of the bay this is designed to avoid Cowichan chinook as their numbers have been so low in past years. There is also a very very slim likehood of hooking a chinook in that special open area as I am informed that the chinook do not normally mill around there in that location but choose other areas of the bay. Plus the fishing tackle used to catch pinks is unlikely to entice chinook who are more prone to lock jaw before spawning. Finally many knowledgeable reputable anglers out there will act as stewards/guardians "advising" idiots of their errant ways if they are attempting to spoil this opportunity for the rest of us. And yes it should be enforced by DFO C&P. While no one can guarantee there will be zero chinook hook ups, it is really unlikely and if it does occur that chinook must be released anyway.
Everything we do in life will always have detractors making their opinion heard. But we are, thank heavens, in a free society and free to make our opinons heard. Doesn't mean what those detractors say is true or well founded.
There is much work being done to approve and introduce another a pink salmon net pen project for the Sidney waterfront. It would be real nice to catch a salmon off the huge crabbing pier in Sidney some day.
Hope this answers what I picked up as your honorable concern for the Cowichan River's revered chinook and at the same time offers a little greater incite.
Gov
God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton
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Gooey Bob
Guest
Yes, pinks are definitely being hooked in the bay, right around the launch ramp, and I hear from a highly reliable first hand report that another school is in the narrows as well.
Excellent news and it appears that the project is indeed a success.
I'd suggest that the potential negative impact of this fishery on Cowichan Chinook is virtually nonexistant as the fishery is focussed on a side of the bay that no one ever traditionally caught springs in on sport gear back when you could fish, at least in my admittedly limited experience. We always used to fish, and also see the focus iof fishing effort on the Genoa Bay, Separation Point side, not the Cherry Point\town side of the bay. I guess time will tell and I'm confident that if any number of Chinook are incidentally hooked, the fishery will be shut down very quickly.
For me, I'll make sure I have a go at it, and applaud the efforts of those hard working volunteers who have created an easy access, sustainable, inclusive fishery for the locals of the Cowichan Valley where nothing existed before - hats off to you guys!!
Gooey
Gooey
Excellent news and it appears that the project is indeed a success.
I'd suggest that the potential negative impact of this fishery on Cowichan Chinook is virtually nonexistant as the fishery is focussed on a side of the bay that no one ever traditionally caught springs in on sport gear back when you could fish, at least in my admittedly limited experience. We always used to fish, and also see the focus iof fishing effort on the Genoa Bay, Separation Point side, not the Cherry Point\town side of the bay. I guess time will tell and I'm confident that if any number of Chinook are incidentally hooked, the fishery will be shut down very quickly.
For me, I'll make sure I have a go at it, and applaud the efforts of those hard working volunteers who have created an easy access, sustainable, inclusive fishery for the locals of the Cowichan Valley where nothing existed before - hats off to you guys!!
Gooey
Gooey
twinwinds
Active Member
I wish the DFO would do more to restore/enhance the local streams on the Saanich peninsula.I see no reason why there cant be a long term sustainable/viable fishery on coho and some chinook returning to these small systems for years to come.
I have been pressured by DFO in regards to putting a net pen in Sidney area and i refuse to have any part of it!
This is just a Band aid fix to boost the local sport fishery which is wrong. Dont get my wrong I am not against sport fishing at all, I get out whenever i can manage to get out and love to catch a few fish.
I want to look long term and so there are fish around for my little guys......which i believe is enhancing native stocks not introducing new ones? I have spend countless hours over the last few years restoring Sandhill Creek to the best of my ability and i think i am finally getting somewhere. In Sept i will be removing A huge culvert which is one of the biggest hurdles for returning fish in this system,It may of taken me years and many studies to get it done but i feel i have accomplished something. Maybe one day soon we will have a healthy population of Coho and Trout back in Sandhill.....
My two bits....
cheers
I have been pressured by DFO in regards to putting a net pen in Sidney area and i refuse to have any part of it!
This is just a Band aid fix to boost the local sport fishery which is wrong. Dont get my wrong I am not against sport fishing at all, I get out whenever i can manage to get out and love to catch a few fish.
I want to look long term and so there are fish around for my little guys......which i believe is enhancing native stocks not introducing new ones? I have spend countless hours over the last few years restoring Sandhill Creek to the best of my ability and i think i am finally getting somewhere. In Sept i will be removing A huge culvert which is one of the biggest hurdles for returning fish in this system,It may of taken me years and many studies to get it done but i feel i have accomplished something. Maybe one day soon we will have a healthy population of Coho and Trout back in Sandhill.....
My two bits....
cheers
scott craven
Well-Known Member
question for you all,
If these pinks are not caught do they simply die in the ocean ?
Do the net pens get replenished every year with new smolts which are released when big enough ?
If these pinks are not caught do they simply die in the ocean ?
Do the net pens get replenished every year with new smolts which are released when big enough ?
K
kngfsh7
Guest
Twinwinds, I agree with you completely. It wasn't too long ago that there was a vibrant coho and chinook fishery in lower georgia strait (and still is in certain times and places). Perhaps the introduction of easily angled net pen fish will raise awareness among anglers, and may result in the protection of small stream habitat from the impacts of logging and urban development (but I doubt it). One has to wonder how dfo can still countenance commerical krill and herring fisheries in georgia strait, given the current state of fish stocks (not to mention open net pen salmon feedlots). Of course, if you listen to dfo scientists they will tell you it all comes down to salinity.
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Gooey Bob
Guest
It sure would be great to see the restoration of healthy runs in Sandhill Creek. I'm also 100% confident that the Cutthroat and Coho Smolts will totally appreciate the pink fry buffet awaiting them when the net pen gets emptied!
These things can all work together, they need not be mutually exclusive. And one other thing, it has always been the intent, and to the best of my knowledge is the current practice, that the pink sea pen program is almost totally volunteer and community funded. The impact on DFO resources in SEP and other areas is minimal - its not an excuse for DFO to ignore habitat or other enhancement opportunities.
Gooey
These things can all work together, they need not be mutually exclusive. And one other thing, it has always been the intent, and to the best of my knowledge is the current practice, that the pink sea pen program is almost totally volunteer and community funded. The impact on DFO resources in SEP and other areas is minimal - its not an excuse for DFO to ignore habitat or other enhancement opportunities.
Gooey
H
HOOTEY
Guest
having just read all of the above,,,why isnt the KOKISILA RIVER used to get back its steelhead and introduce the pinks or another salmoid to that system???
