Tag Archives: Mamquam river

Squamish River Chum Retention Opportunity

November 10, 2009
Category(s):
RECREATIONAL - Salmon


Fishery Notice - Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Subject: FN0923-RECREATIONAL - Salmon - Region 2 - Squamish River Chum Retention Opportunity

Returns of chum salmon to the Squamish River in 2009 are sufficient to provide
a retention opportunity on the Squamish River.

Effective 00:01 hours November 11, 2009 until 23:59 hours November 29, 2009 in
the mainstem of the Squamish River downstream of the powerline crossing located
approximately one and a half (1.5) kilometres upstream of the Cheakamus River
you may retain:

- one (1) chum per day.

You may also retain one (1) hatchery marked coho per day on the mainstem
Squamish River downstream of the powerline crossing until December 31, 2009.

The Cheakamus River and Mamquam River as well as all tributaries to the
Squamish River downstream of the powerline crossing remain closed to the
retention of chum. The opportunities on the Cheakamus and Mamquam Rivers remain
at:

- one (1) hatchery marked coho per day.

V.O.# 2009-430

Anglers are reminded that a hatchery marked coho means a coho salmon that has a
healed scar in place of the adipose fin.

Anglers are reminded that the use of bait is not permitted on the Squamish
River and tributaries and that single, barbless hooks are required when fishing
for salmon and when angling in all streams of Region 2.

For more information regarding salmon fisheries please contact the Squamish DFO
office at 604-892-3230, or call our salmon information line at 604-666-2828.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is very concerned about illegal fishing activity
and asks for assistance from the general public in reporting activities of this
nature or any contravention of the Fisheries Act and Regulations. Anyone with
information can call the 24-hour toll-free Observe, Record, Report line at 1-
800-465-4336.


Fisheries and Oceans Canada Operations Center - FN0923
Sent November 10, 2009 at 14:40
Visit us on the Web at http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
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Squamish River Steelhead Survey

November 9, 2009
It has been rumoured and pretty much verified that the Ministry of Environment (MoE) is taking the funding away from managing steelhead in the Lower Mainland. There will remain a steelhead biologist on staff, however, none of the time that this person spends will be on enhancing or managing steelhead. That would mean that all of us that purchase a steelhead tag, hoping that the money goes back into the area are in for a shock! None of the money will go into the Squamish River watershed with this change.

In an effort to gain momentum on increasing the Steelhead productivity in the Squamish system I am interested in getting some feedback on the readerships steelhead experiences on the Squamish River.

If and only if you spend time on the Squamish River Watershed - including the Mamquam, Squamish, Cheakamus, Elaho, and Ashlu Rivers specifically targeting Steelhead, please take the time to fill out the Survey. The results will be brought to the attention of our various local stakeholder groups to which I attend meetings of. If you have comments, please include them on the survey as well.

Click Here to take survey

The survey is anonymous by the way unless you put your name down!


Tight lines!

Clint
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Squamish Salmon Return 2009 – Coho and Chum Salmon

October 13, 2009
Squamish Coho Salmon

Mountain peaks are white once more with the onset of the Fall weather this week and the salmon are here. The Squamish, Mamquam and Cheakamus rivers are all running low and clear, however, within a few days we should see an increase in flow. When the weather stays below zero up in the mountains, the rivers generally stay in good shape for fly fishing. In fact, a bit of colour wouldn't hurt right now not to mention that the additional flow will draw in more of those feisty chum salmon hanging out in the Howe Sound.

Wild Squamish River Coho


Coho have been coming in regularly with seals having fun hunting them down throughout the lower part of the Squamish river below the Cheakamus confluence. Targeting these coho on the fly with the low water requires smaller flies and perseverance. Look for slower water with signs of happy fish! Happy fish are the ones that jump out and give you a wave with their pectoral fin every 15 minutes or so. If you don't see any, move faster through that section of water! keep your leaders short and your retrieves fairly steady...stay above the fish. If you are hitting the bottom your are not fishing your fly fast enough!

As far as targeting chum this early, they tend not to be very aggressive until there are a lot of fish in the system or there is more water. Stay with smaller flies in the skinnier water conditions and use purple, chartreuse and orange with some flash.

Good luck out there and see you on the water!



Clint' Secret Coho Fly This fly was tied on a Knapek Size 8 Streamer Hook - Great Hooks!

-Tight lines,

Clint
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Spring Wrap Up

June 18, 2009
Spring Wrap Up
Spring 2009 has been a time of volunteering and reconnaissance. Volunteering with the Squamish Streamkeepers at the Meighan Creek fish fence once a week counting coho smolts heading to sea was great. On one occasion I had my 5 year old son and my 7 year old daughter come along to see what is was all about. I could see the excitement in their eyes when we were climbing down to the trap to see what bounty was inside the box. Fortunately there were a few coho smolts for us to count and release. The smolts were dubbed "Rainbow" and "Goldy" by the kids just before being released back into Meighan creek to continue their journey to the ocean. Good luck Rainbow and Goldy....see you in a few years!


Meighan Creek Fish Fence - Squamish BC (Brackendale)

Catching steelhead on the Cheakamus River for telemetry studies proved interesting as well. Watching how the fish were tagged and transponders inserted was very exciting and educational. The information that will be gained from this will be extremely valuable.

Stump Lake, Edith Lake, Brohm Lake, and Cat Lake all produced some nice rainbow and cutthroat trout fishing this spring. Of the lakes in the Squamish area, Brohm lake and Cat lake are probably some of the easiest to access with kids and produce the best on most occasions. Remember that with kids it is more important to find fish to tug on the line as they generally lose interest very quickly....unlike us die hards! For fly fishers, try leech patterns in the #12 to #8 sizes in black, brown, orange (for tannin lakes like Edith and Stump), and green especially when fish are feeding on daphnia and copepods. Finally, remember that it is best to go to these lakes on weekdays rather than weekends as most lakes are very busy with swimmers and other fishers on the weekends.

VFG Guide Ryan Treneer with a nice Edith Lake rainbow!

Rainbow Food! An assortment of Daphnia, Copepods, Glassworms, and Chironomids....that trout was eating well! - Ryan Treneer Photo

Using worms or powerbait is a sure way to get your kids into fish, however, be prepared to take home what you hook regardless of size. The surface temperatures of the lakes in Squamish right now are in the high 60's and low 70's due to the hot weather we received in late May and early June. Temperatures greater than 65F are lethal to trout if they spend any length of time there. A fight on the end of the line for even a short period will surely mean their demise. Make sure wherever you are fishing that you have read the current regulations regarding use of bait and catch and release: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/regulations/#Synopsis There is no fishing with bait in rivers or streams in our area! If it is moving water there is a bait ban and barbless hooks are manditory.


Future Guides in Training!

Looking Ahead
Summer solstice is upon us. Not much snow pack remains up in the Coastal Mountain range meaning we should be back on the rivers within a few weeks. Salmon should be returning to the river in mid to late July with the peak of the return occuring mid to late August. July and August should prove to be great months for dry fly fishing on the Birkenhead River, north of Whistler and the Upper Cheakamus and Mamquam rivers in the Sea to Sky corridor.


Upper Squamish Snow Pack June 11th, 2009 - Mount Cayley

The Chilko river is expecting a fantastic sockeye return of approximately 4,175,000 sockeye according to DFO estimates. Fishing in mid to late August through September 15th should be fantastic for both rainbows and bull trout with egg patterns. Mid July through August is the best time to go for the stonefly hatch! Dry fly fishing for wild rainbows is spectacular especially on the Chilko!

Chilcotin Mountains with Chilko Lake in the Distance June 11, 2009

We look forward to a great Summer of fly fishing in the Squamish area on Beautiful BC! And if it weren't beautiful enough, you could always take a flight into the Chilcotins!

Tight lines!

Clint


Flying in the Coast and Chilcotin Mountains June 11th, 2009



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Upper Squamish River Conditions – Dec 20, 2008

December 20, 2008
Frozen Sidechannel

Wow! Has it been cold. The average daily temperatures have been well below the freezing point in Squamish for over a week. Itching to get out, I decided to take the family on a winter outing to the Upper Squamish River to look at bald eagles and river conditions. Knowing the kids would get hungry I packed us a small snack and the ever-so-needed thermos of hot chocolate. We bundled the kids up and packed them and the two dogs into the Jeep. Minus 9 read the thermometer when we pulled out of the driveway.Winter Hike

The kids had a blast pulling the toboggan and looking for eagles in the trees while we walked along a piece of the river with our two dogs.  Our final count was 4 eagles, quite a few less than I have seen in the past. 

The dogs sure enjoyed searching out the dead salmon carcasses that litter the forest floor. We realized, once they got into the truck and warmed up, that it may not have been a good idea to let them play with the dead fish ....yich.
River Conditions: The river was frozen in a lot of places with ice flows all over the place. I have not seen the river quite so icy.  Squamish is usually fairly mild even in the winter and rarely do the temperatures stay cold enough to freeze  the river to the extent I saw today. Unfortunately I also observed high and dry frozen areas where I had observed salmon spawning this past fall.  These conditions will surely result in the demise of the eggs in those areas.   

Below are a few shots of the Squamish River from the road taken today (Dec 20, 2008).  As you can see there is a lot of ice.  The weather report also suggests that we may receive up to 20cm of snow overnight which means that the road will become too snowy for safe truck travel.  If the temperatures do not increase to above zero for a significant amount of time, we will not be back up the road until spring. Thank goodness we have the Cheakamus and Mamquam rivers as options throughout the winter as well as some lower reaches of the Squamish.

Merry Christmas and see you on the water when it is warmer! Brrrrr.

Tight lines,

Clint

Bridge to Ashlu RiverPearing into the still water of a side channel we noticed some dead chum carcasses on the river bottom.  The water was very clear and very cold.

Clear River Channel with Dead chum salmon - they're white

Icicles Hooray!

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FN0826-Salmon: Region 2 – Non-Tidal – Cheakamus, Mamquam, Squamish Rivers – Zero Retention of Chum

October 29, 2008
Effective 00:01 October 30, 2008 until further notice, the daily limit for chum
salmon is zero (0) per day in the Mamquam River, Cheakamus River and Squamish
River (including tributaries).

The Squamish-Lillooet Sport Fishing Advisory Committee (SLSFAC) and Department
of Fisheries and Oceans staff have noted low returns of chum salmon to these
systems to date. The SLSFAC recommended that the retention of chum be set to
zero.

Current Salmon Retention opportunities include:

Until December 31, 2008 you can retain one (1) hatchery marked coho in:
the Cheakamus River,
the Mamquam River
the Squamish River downstream of boundary signs at the powerline crossing
approximately 1.5 km upstream of the confluence with the Cheakamus River.

Until December 31, 2008 you can retain two (2) chinook per day, none over 55 cm
in:
the Mamquam River (downstream of the BC rail Bridge to the confluence with the
Squamish River) and
the Squamish River downstream of boundary signs at the powerline crossing
approximately 1.5 km upstream of the confluence with the Cheakamus River).

Variation Order No. 2008-447


Notes:

The aggregate daily limit for all species of Pacific Salmon (other than
kokanee) from tidal and non-tidal waters combined is four (4).

Barbless hooks are required when fishing for salmon in tidal and non-tidal
waters of British Columbia. This includes all species of fish in the Fraser
River.

The term "hatchery marked" means a fish that has a healed scar in place of the
adipose fin.

Sport anglers are encouraged to participate in the voluntary Salmon Sport Head
Recovery program by labelling and submitting heads from adipose fin-clipped
chinook and coho salmon. Recovery of coded-wire tags provides critical
information for coast-wide stock assessment. Contact the Salmon Sport Head
Recovery Program at (866) 483-9994 for further information.

Did you witness suspicious fishing activity or a violation? If so, please call
the Fisheries and Ocean Canada 24-hour toll free Observe, Record, Report line
at (800) 465-4336.

For the 24 hour recorded opening and closure line, call toll free at (866) 431-
FISH. The telephone number of the Squamish DFO office is 604-892-3230.


FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Call your local Fisheries & Oceans Canada office.





Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0839
Sent October 31, 2008 at 1330
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