Thompson River Stories: Share Yours!

[Wiseguy]

Camping out at ( Cal woods park if I remember correctly ) beside the grease hole. Drinking beers in the log cabin pub. Fishing the graveyard / hotel /cribbing / grease hole / mouth of the Nicola etc was the best of times. It was truly special catching giant sized steelhead. My biggest fish was an estimated 20 pd buck at the cribbing run on a spoon. It hit like a freight train and fought like a raped ape. Many fond memories. Still can’t believe it’s gone.

 

[Derby]

I remember the first trip i ever took to the Thompson river and being young had heard that the river was a little slick to wade Well of course paying no heed to what was said decided I would wade the tail out of the Grease hole( named correctly of course) in my miner waders no belt... lol my buddies should have filmed it Next trip I had a pair of cleats

 

[Derby]

Out working in the yard today and that fall smell was in the air and my first thought was Thompson River

 

[Bryan Allen]

Out working in the yard today and that fall smell was in the air and my first thought was Thompson River

I think of the Thompson every now and then. But it is so damn depressing thinking of the tragedy that continues today.

 

[Derby]

Stellar return estimate of less than 19 Steelhead for the Thompson. At least it’s substantially greater than the Chilcotin which is less than 9

 

[Samnjoe]

That jet fuel spill won't help

 

[Derby]

The big flood 3 years ago either

 

[Sharphooks]

19 steelhead?….I’ve been watching the Albion counts…..I got so tired of seeing the zeros I stopped checking a few weeks ago…..

Meanwhile, I see the same writing on the same wall for the Skeena.

I’ve fished the Skeena system every year since 1976. The only year I missed was Covid.

I went up there this year and had a first-time experience for me: I got skunked. Never saw a fish. Never hooked a fish…biological desert, at least where I was fishing. One beat up coho for 7 days hard fishing

So what is the same writing on the same wall that killed the THomson steelhead I refer to?

A completely oblivious uncaring DFO office in Rupert that doesn’t even attempt to make the FN in-river gill-netters report the steelhead bycatch in their nets from chasing sockeye. It’s the wild Wild West with the in-river gill nets in the Skeena, just like the FN drift nets in the Fraser. The DFO gives them a complete white-card to cork off the Fraser with their nets right in the peak of the THompson steelhead migration window. All that for a beat-up chum

And the whole Food, Sustenance and Ceremonial concept is being blatantly abused. The “C” for ceremonial is now a “C” for commerce.
The FN don’t even make an attempt to hide it anymore because DFO turns a complete blind eye….there is ZERO compliance and ZERO effort to even make an attempt to control the commerce part which of course gives the FN all the incentive to use bigger boats, more nets, and more effort during the sockeye returns which of course occur smack-dab in the middle of the July/August/September steelhead returns

Stay tuned for the gurgling sound as the Skeena steelhead runs swirl down the same drain as the THompson steelhead, compliments of your DFO

 

[onefish]

DFO has made some attempts in the past to curb FN and have had their knuckles rapped pretty severely by our left leaning court system. Because of this, it appears they have given up. The pendulum has not finished swinging, stay tuned for more bad news.

 

[Sharphooks]

DFO has made some attempts in the past to curb FN and have had their knuckles rapped pretty severely by our left leaning court system. Because of this, it appears they have given up. The pendulum has not finished swinging, stay tuned for more bad news.

I’m on the outside looking in but I can gather that a lot of DFO’s actions with regards to FN compliance or non-compliance are driven by marching orders from Ottawa.

One of my customers told me some scary stories of how FSC sockeye deliveries were handled (and abused) this past summer from the salt chuck, harvested by FN seiners etc., delivered to shore facilities then parceled off to outside commercial interests with zero paperwork requirements to DFO

I see the same thing up in Region VI in Skeena country—- sockeye and steelhead harvested for “FSC” purposes, then loaded into totes and sold to tourists and restaurants out of gas station parking lots along Hwy 16

Zero accountability. I suppose if you’re a zealous DFO guy in Rupert who wants to do the right thing and fight the good fight for prudent resource conservation, it wouldn’t take long to realize you’re pissing into a very strong wind blowing in from the East and you might as well just grin and bare it for job security