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Cold, high water; still high ratio large.
Posted 14 July 2017, 1:26 pm NDT
Today is changeover day in camp, and with perfect weather our new group is ready to go on the water! Some of the guys departing and arriving today have been coming back to the Eagle for 30+ years.
Despite high and rising water all week, we had a good time here at camp. 146 fish were hooked over a 5 day period and still a high ratio of large, holding at 80%.
The water is cold! Ranging from 55F to 58F all week. The river has turned to fall today and we're hoping that trend continues as we have more than enough water to last the season.
We find ourselves struggling to conclude how many fish are going in by comparison to other years. We are hearing reports from some river around the province that indicate numbers are way down. Talks of going strictly catch and release. But our guests and guides are reporting a lot of fish moving through. Hard to hookup simply because the river is very high and cold and the salmon are taking advantage of the conditions and moving on. One thing that is noticeable is the high ratio of large salmon. We are seeing plenty of large fish and given the time of year we should be seeing a lot of grilse by now. Many of the grilse caught have been small, and we have been seeing that over the last few years. I personally think it has to do with lack of baitfish, in particular, caplin. Many of our important sea resources such as salmon, trout, char, cod, herring, and mackerel depend on baitfish, yet, while numbers of caplin and shrimp are way down, the very low economic value caplin fishery continues. I'm all for everybody getting fair opportunity at resources, but in the case of the caplin, it is too important to so many other high value species...it is time for DFO to stop that fishery.
We had an amateur photographer in camp last week from Norway. We think he could be making a career of it because he captured some great photos. So, with all the great fishing snaps, we're going to put those aside to show you this beauty sunrise photo from up towards the steady. Thanks, Fred. Great shot!!
Despite high and rising water all week, we had a good time here at camp. 146 fish were hooked over a 5 day period and still a high ratio of large, holding at 80%.
The water is cold! Ranging from 55F to 58F all week. The river has turned to fall today and we're hoping that trend continues as we have more than enough water to last the season.
We find ourselves struggling to conclude how many fish are going in by comparison to other years. We are hearing reports from some river around the province that indicate numbers are way down. Talks of going strictly catch and release. But our guests and guides are reporting a lot of fish moving through. Hard to hookup simply because the river is very high and cold and the salmon are taking advantage of the conditions and moving on. One thing that is noticeable is the high ratio of large salmon. We are seeing plenty of large fish and given the time of year we should be seeing a lot of grilse by now. Many of the grilse caught have been small, and we have been seeing that over the last few years. I personally think it has to do with lack of baitfish, in particular, caplin. Many of our important sea resources such as salmon, trout, char, cod, herring, and mackerel depend on baitfish, yet, while numbers of caplin and shrimp are way down, the very low economic value caplin fishery continues. I'm all for everybody getting fair opportunity at resources, but in the case of the caplin, it is too important to so many other high value species...it is time for DFO to stop that fishery.
We had an amateur photographer in camp last week from Norway. We think he could be making a career of it because he captured some great photos. So, with all the great fishing snaps, we're going to put those aside to show you this beauty sunrise photo from up towards the steady. Thanks, Fred. Great shot!!
Sunrise on Eagle River. Photo by Fred.
(larger version)
