Salmon snaggers

Went down to fish some local holes which were filled with some big salmon. Was using my float rod, and was only catching little yearling trout (which was still good, they're great looking little fish). Was by myself for about an hour, then two kids came down with nothing but a giant treble hook. In five casts, he hit four big salmon, and lost all of them. I told him that that wasn't fishing and he through on a giant williams wobbler instead. Then a buddy of mine showed up, followed by a family of five or six. I left for work but came back a couple of hours later. He told me that the family was just throwing a treble and snagging in hopes of getting row. He said he wasn't going to let them keep anything they snagged to which they got very threatening and then at the end, the guy said he had a native card in his back pocket and could do whatever he wanted. It sucks being at a small hole, and watching these d-bags trying to snag fish after fish. Anyway, just felt like venting. Great day to be out though.

You just described the reasons I don't fish for salmon in the fall anymore. As fun as it CAN be, I'd rather catch a 10" perch if I can do it in a nicer environment.

yup, that's kind of what i was thinking when i left.

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Originally Posted by fitzy

yup, that's kind of what i was thinking when i left.

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Yes, man, Great Lakes salmon fishery it is kind of disappointing. I am from another country and I pretty much fly fish only nowadays. I was really excited first time I came to Toronto about fishing for Salmon in Lake O tributaries and all that stuff until I see the CIRCUS that this fishery actually is. I caught a few Salmon here using row imitations but I am never actually really sure that these fish actually bite it: I was nymphing rigs. Take off the split shot and NADA. I have reports from Cohos and Kings beeing caught at BC while swinguing a fly but I never caught one while swinguing a fly here in Ontario (I mean, weightless flies). I don't like the idea of pissing them off while they are in their nets, even if they are a stocked fishery, that's the only way how I see people catching them here while "swinguing" a streamer. that's not fishing. I caught many Steelhead while swinguing, that's a fishery. Lake run Browns, that's also a good fishery. But Salmon...I wish I could see more reports of Salmon being caught on the swing here. Real swing, blind casting for them. A fish that doesn't bite a swinguing fly for me is quite poor in terms of sport fishing...Sorry, I am also just venting. In two weeks I am going to Amazon to fish for a fish who really likes flies...wild fish.

thats 1 of the main reasons I stopped fishing the creeks, as much as I loved it. I just couldnt watch those people (with kids no less) blantly snagging anything that came their way. my little guy (7 years old) would love to catch a salmon in the river but im scared for what he will see. such a shame.

best thing to do is tell them it is illigal and such, some people get into direct arguments which is not what you want to do.

A picture is worth a thousand words !!

Hookset and I fished a part of the Credit last week.....no one around in this area...it was great!!!
I stopped by Erindale Park afterwards and left in less than Half an hour.....ofcourse I voiced
my thoughts to a father "teaching" his kid how to fish illegally.
Will not go back there.... ever.....
Disgusting!!!!

FSHN 247
Jay

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Originally Posted by Screwbs

Happens every year fitz. I don't fish the rivers around here for that very reason. Same reason I avoid port credit/bronte like the plague.

I fish the piers which have less snaggers but still they are present. Not much you can do. Ministry should be out handing thousands of dollars worth of fines on a daily basis but they arn't.

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with all these stories u would think the ministry would stake out this cash cow of a place.

was down at bronte on the weekend and seen alot of it people using line you can down rig with allways kills me.Me and the wife love going down and catching the big stuff using no more then 10lbs main and 4lbs leader ...think other then the snagging is the %^$^ing pigs that cant clean up after there selfs.We did are part filled a garbage bag full and a shopping bag full of beer cans thanks for the free picture of ginuess.

I Can't understand why the Ministry doesn't just make every Lake Huron trib a Fish Sanctuary come the fall.
Then maybe we would see numbers increase out there.

Oakzer

well I mean if we don't fish for the fish in the great lakes why are they there? lol

I will not fish the Eastern tribs anymore either. it's a mess and there are not enough CO's out there to just sit on a river every day.

A buddy of mine and i used to fish the maitland for years it was relatively decent outing but the last few years we did go snagger central now my buddy is a big lad and on more than one occasion i watched him grab a slob with a snagged fish and pitch the hole lot back into the river funniest thing you ever saw , some of them actually apoligized and went about there bussiness others pushed it until the cell phone comes out and a MNR call is made giveing them the description of the person location and usually what they where driveing if we felt inclined to follow them to the parking lot ,lol
Sad thing is i cant take my daughter down to see them for fear of what she would see and then try to explain whats wrong about what there doing .It just bites
GE

go to the credit on missisauga road(idk) to see salmon its a sanctuary in the one area and there are lots of fish in the shallows

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Originally Posted by fishinguypat

go to the credit on missisauga road(idk) to see salmon its a sanctuary in the one area and there are lots of fish in the shallows

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LOL - i see what you're trying to do here..

All them trolls are gonna be lined up shoulder to shoulder XD

Call 222-TIPS and report them. The cops will show. It work at the Humber River (at the Old Mill).

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Originally Posted by Oakzer

I Can't understand why the Ministry doesn't just make every Lake Huron trib a Fish Sanctuary come the fall.
Then maybe we would see numbers increase out there.

Oakzer

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This is an interesting point. So many (if not all) other fish species are protected during their spawning periods, so why not Salmon.
Obviously this would put a pretty big damper on it for guys like me that fish the rivers, but I think that you are right, the fish populations would likely increase significantly.

Pacific salmon are considered a put and take fishery. The general perception of the pacifics is that they don't spawn successfully in any great numbers in our rivers and streams. I do know that there has been a joint project with the United states to get a better definitive answer on spawning success by stocking every salmon in the lake with it's adipose fin clipped. this has been going on for 4 years now, so this is the first year mature fish are returning. In theory any fish that has it's adipose fin is natural and any clipped fish is stocked.

I'd rather deal with losers and morons than not be able to or give up on fishing. If you stay away then you let them and their ignorance/arrogance win. You'd be surprised how fast they run away or fall in line when you bust out your phone and start filming their exploits.

me and my buddies used to start going up to the maitland,bayfield and niner around mid september but just got sick of the morons and snaggers. Now we wait until late october and even into mid november to go. By then the cold weather has left most of the idiots home and thats when the big bows start moving in except you have to know what you are doing to catch them so the snaggers usually pack it in.

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Originally Posted by bow slayer

me and my buddies used to start going up to the maitland,bayfield and niner around mid september but just got sick of the morons and snaggers. Now we wait until late october and even into mid november to go. By then the cold weather has left most of the idiots home and thats when the big bows start moving in except you have to know what you are doing to catch them so the snaggers usually pack it in.

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EXACTLY!!!!!!!! The gong show is almost over boys...

BD

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Originally Posted by dabam

This is an interesting point. So many (if not all) other fish species are protected during their spawning periods, so why not Salmon.
Obviously this would put a pretty big damper on it for guys like me that fish the rivers, but I think that you are right, the fish populations would likely increase significantly.

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I'd support a rotating fish sanctuary on the Lake O eastern tribs. Maybe make every 2nd or 3rd creek a no fishing zone and then the next year rotate it to the next creek. Give the salmon a chance and see what happens when they're given the opportunity to spawn.

They don't f&^&* bite, anyway (at least my flies LOL) As I said here before, all Salmon that I caught on Lake O tribs were in shallow water using weighted flies (at least I caught them by the mouth). I've never seen a Pacific Lake O Salmon take a weightless fly and I think most of this Salmon are flossed in the rivers. I don't know if you guys share this feeling. I don't go for Salmon anymore, I go for browns and steelies.

i agree guys,after rigging all summer then casting cleo's at night aug. to sept. i don't bother with the rivers and creeks much, let them do their thing (spawning) in the past people that have been snagging have had their lines cut! they didnt like that too much! it did lead to confrontations, but you cant stop even a small percent of them their back the next night, then there is the legal snagging, lining the fish! any good floater or bottom bouncer can tell the differance between a hit and when the salmon hits the line, snaggers can ruin it for all! even now there are still a few spots where you can hit them on cleo.s at night and plugs during the day, there is absolutely no need for snagging.

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Originally Posted by Huggybear

I'd support a rotating fish sanctuary on the Lake O eastern tribs. Maybe make every 2nd or 3rd creek a no fishing zone and then the next year rotate it to the next creek. Give the salmon a chance and see what happens when they're given the opportunity to spawn.

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Like that idea.They could even go a few years at a time on a rotating basis.MMW numbers would increase from this.Another thing is the government could put more money into stocking chinooks,browns,and bows.Stop wasting money on Atlantics.Thats my opinion.

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No such thing as "legal snagging". Lining a fish is flossing which is ILLEGAL

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I think we already had this debate on another thread. Although in my opinion highly unethical, flossing is technically not illegal. In no way am I condoning it, I'm just saying.

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Stop wasting money on Atlantics.Thats my opinion.

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I agree that the return on Atlantic Salmon is very poor, however I don't think the program is a total waste of money. Not all of the money is spent on simply stocking the fish. Much of it is spent on stream rehabilitation, ensuring that these rivers can support a self sestaining population of Atlantics. All fish species benefit from stream rehab. Would there be as much money put into the rivers if we didn't have the Atlantic Salmon program? I doubt it.

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Originally Posted by fishfearme

I think we already had this debate on another thread. Although in my opinion highly unethical, flossing is technically not illegal. In no way am I condoning it, I'm just saying.



I agree that the return on Atlantic Salmon is very poor, however I don't think the program is a total waste of money. Not all of the money is spent on simply stocking the fish. Much of it is spent on stream rehabilitation, ensuring that these rivers can support a self sestaining population of Atlantics. All fish species benefit from stream rehab. Would there be as much money put into the rivers if we didn't have the Atlantic Salmon program? I doubt it.

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I would love to see the stocking on the Canadian side the same as American side for Chinooks,bows, and browns.Probably wont happen.Even double what they stock now would be nice.

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I would love to see the stocking on the Canadian side the same as American side for Chinooks,bows, and browns.Probably wont happen.Even double what they stock now would be nice.

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I don't think stocking fish is always the answer. If you're simply looking for a put and take fishery, then yes stocking more fish would be a great idea. I believe in sustaining a natural population of fish, and in order to do this we need to spend money on the rivers, creating a habitat that will hold these natural fish. Please don't take me the wrong way, but I don't think stocking is the only answer.

Georgian Bay has great runs of naturally reproducing fish, and I would rather catch one of these than ten clipped fish.

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Originally Posted by fishfearme

I don't think stocking fish is always the answer. If you're simply looking for a put and take fishery, then yes stocking more fish would be a great idea. I believe in sustaining a natural population of fish, and in order to do this we need to spend money on the rivers, creating a habitat that will hold these natural fish. Please don't take me the wrong way, but I don't think stocking is the only answer.

Georgian Bay has great runs of naturally reproducing fish, and I would rather catch one of these than ten clipped fish.

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It would be nice to have higher populations period.Even if that takes more stocking. Then in the future there is a better chance of sustaining natural population.
Agreed that stocking is not the only answer but it sure would help.Another idea is make creeks like Bronte a fish sanctuary every other year.I bet that would create a significant increase in population if every other year the fish were able to spawn with no interference.

I have never fished up that way for steelhead.Would love to,I heard fish populations have decreased significantly up there??I guess that depends on who you ask.

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I have never fished up that way for steelhead.Would love to,I heard fish populations have decreased significantly up there??I guess that depends on who you ask.

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It truely is a great fishery, you really should check it out sometime. I can tell you that I've been fishing it since I could walk and have yet to see a decrease in fish significant enough for me to gripe about. LOL. Sure there are years where there seem to be less fish, but thats to be expected and happens in every stream; just a different year class.

The salmon population did take a big hit a while ago with the absence of alewives, but in my experience over the last couple of years the population seems to be on the rebound.

i use a wooly bugger or roe that works never snag i usually tell people i am calling ministry they leave

i have caught salmon on the fly watched him look at the fly and grab it with his teeth , so if people don,t think salmon spawn why do they go go up rivers to only one spot to spawn if they weren,t born there ministry only puts most of thier fish in a most river mouths , and if you see something you don,t like report it thats what i do its so bad now people see me coming they all smarten up they know i don,t put up with no bull

i think staying away really doesn,t help the salmon much , i think the more of us honest fishing people are out there the better chance the salmon have someone to fight for their rights they need us bronte as cleaned up a lot sense i been going there the people i hate the most are the ones how take the roe and leave the fish to route i take some roe but put the fish back with some roe still in it so it can still spawn

i been going quite sometime my self the salmon run seems like it getting smaller still lots of fish and more fish are spawning now they seem to be getting smarter coming up in smaller groups maybe 50 or 100 before you might see 500 at once , more people catching and keeping and not just catching for roe , i would like to see a dawn to dust rule let the fish have a break that goes for rainbow and browns in the creeks and rivers

^ You probably should have started a new thread , instead of resurrecting a 4 year old thread to have a conversation with yourself. Not trying to be rude, but you had enough info to start a new thread.

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Originally Posted by FishinScuba

^ You probably should have started a new thread , instead of resurrecting a 4 year old thread to have a conversation with yourself. Not trying to be rude, but you had enough info to start a new thread.

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Yep it does say 2011......bring back some memories .

Did the same thing with all the "Brook Trout Threads" and then asks
for info on where to go fish for them......

FSHN 247
Jay