Really interesting. South of the border in WA I catch all mine trolling coon shrimp/pink hoochies behind a dodger. Others plunk coon shrimp behind a spin and glow.
This particular opening, we are not allowed to use bait. I'm sure these fish will bite certain things, but the visibility in this river is less than a foot and the current is fast and steady. I'm not a fan of flossing (not for ethical reasons, but because it's boring) , but it seems the best way to catch these particular fish.
@@kashfiqbal bait is allowed here, it's just that flossing seems to be the most effective. I'm pretty sure that if enough effort went into it, we could figure out a way to make them bite. The certainly bite in the tributaries and I often get one on roe in the Vedder. In the Fraser they are strictly migrating though and don't seem to stop and rest.
In Sweden where I have fished a few times they use a similiar method, they call it "spin fly". Instead of the bouncing betty thing they use cylindrical weights in several sizes depending on current that are several inches long, these bounce the bottom and on a trailing leader much like yours, they attach an actual Salmon fly, of more or less any pattern. I have been told that they foul hook a fair few fish but its a method which gets a lure on the bottom in the large fast rivers that typify, Swedens Baltic coast.
So will you feel the fish bite and set the hook? Or do you wait for your drift to swing towards shore before you set the hook? Thanks again for helping us petr
The fish basically catch themselves. There is really very little "art" to it, which is why so many of the purists turn their nose up at this fishery. The main trick is to get the leader floating sideways, which happens as the weight makes an arc toward shore.
@@brennanyu8790 Yup, cast straight out, tighten up the line and let it bounce in an arc toward shore. Many places are snaggy, so count on losing some gear.
Google maps is your friend. Honestly, shore access is pretty limited due to railways and First Nation Land along the river. Gill rd and Island 22 are usually decent for shore access, but a jet boat is best.
No there are not, but if the leader is longer than your rod, it becomes difficult to cast. Personally I think there should be a leaded length limit of 2 feet, but the DFO doesn't seem to care.
This is so much helpful for guys like me !! Thank you so much for helping with tips it will be my first time sockeye fishing. What tide should one target? Incoming or outgoing / low or high? I was thinking outgoing high to low tide since you want that action of swiping the river?
The fish use the high tide to move up river. So you want to be fishing the high tide. The timing of it varies depending on where you are on the river. In chilliwack the high tide is 4 to 5 hours after the Point Atkinson high tide.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 sorry to bother you with questions - suppose I am on the south side of the river and water flows from left to right during high tide same as the fish, how does one floss in that case, since your setup is also flowing in that direction, happened to me in lower fraser
@@petrhermanadventures9509 So I found the answer, I went to gill bar yesterday and river was flowing in one direction all day, this is not the case in lower fraser when there is high tide, the river flows upward, maybe that is the reason why lower fraser is tidal and upper fraser non-tidal, the middle ground could be mission hence the border, it all makes sense now
creates drag to straighten out the leader. There is a world of difference between snagging and flossing, though as I explained in the video, flossing holding or staging fish in a tributary will result in predominantly snagged fish and should never be done.
I don't expect to change your mind on this. People are set in their ways. IMO there is nothing better than a hard float down on a bit of well cured roe. I have seen flossers on the Vedder do some terrible damage to fish, and most throw in that hard hook set at the end for good measure. That sir is snagging. As for the ethics of enticing the fish to bite or not, it's all 1000 times better than stringing nets across the river. I accept that people fish in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons and as long as they treat the fish with respect, I'm ok with that.
@Fraser Valley Trekking your right snagging isnt necessarily flossing but flossing IS always snagging. Cuz youre not getting a fish to willingly accept the hook henceforth you are snagging. Doesnt matter if you're ripping the line or not its just glorified snagging cuz its in the mouth
@@petrhermanadventures9509 that hardly seems fair. The amount of benefits being native gets you is disgusting. One land one law we conquered them and they need to accept it
@@petrhermanadventures9509 thank you for the info Petr. Would you be so kind as to tell me what the last day is for the token 10 day period? or has it already passed?
@@jordanlockhart7316 no need to be ignorant Jordan. The English empire colonized (or conquered) many regions of the world and for the most part it was done so in a brutal and genocidal fashion. The fact that we give them these benefits speaks volumes to the guilt of what we did in our past history. Even these so called benefits will never make up for what was done or taken from these original peoples of North America.
@@bubbanads Sept 18 is the last day for the Fraser sockeye opening. Hope you enjoy the 10 days of fishing the natives are allowing us to have after they’ve taken all the fish and done their traditional ceremonial sales
Such great content as always Peter, nice surprise to know the Fraser is open for 10 days, I wonder if close to the Vedder mouth is worth going or better to be close to hope? Never fished for sockeye. Is there a regulation on it or all Fraser is accesible and allowed to be fished for sockeye. Thanks so much.
The river is open from ocean to Hope, but the tidal boundary is at the Mission bridge. So below mission you need a salt water license. No retention of any other salmon species. The notices are on the DFO site.
The Fraser is a big river and deceptively fast and powerful. There are places where it's safe, but also some where it's dangerous. I regularly kayak white water, so it was not a problem.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 iv been talking to guys who paddle board the Fraser said just stay away from Harrison confluence do you have any tips on spots to avoid
I hear bottom bouncing bait is pretty popular in Washington state. Locally that would cost you a lot of lost gear because most of the river is bouldery. Might have been a summer run steelhead, rather than an early one.
Thankyou..nice to see..I lived and fished there..bottom bouncing the only way to get a salmon there..rarely fowl hook..Geeze Loiuse! Not like we had gikk nets strewn from shore to shore. Stand up Sport fisher !
There is a healthy run of salmon in the Capilano, but it's a dangerous river to fish. Stop in to Pacific Angler and they will point you in the right direction.
You dont get my point the fish does! Go fish the Fraser and see..I used to fish poatch fush up from Alexander bridge..i uesd small spin glow and yarn ..shorter lead..it sure felt like they bit it..and it was on..That a nice bit of B.C. big like! Cheers..from north Ontario.
Flossing can be done with any length of leader, but you're right Sockeye do bite at times. I catch a few every year on beads, while targeting summer chinooks. It's more that the fish are not concentrated very much in the lower fraser.
Good information here. So many “fisherman” on their high horses about flossing. Unless you have a status card it’s the only way to catch sockeye on the Fraser.
Yeah, I've been getting a fair bit of grief over this one. But I knew that would happen going into it and I did it anyway. Ethics is a funny thing, some of these guys think nothing of hooking 60 salmon in a day, while I consider that cruelty to wild creatures, yet they complain about someone flossing 2 sockeye for the BBQ.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 exactly. Someone doing catch and release for steelhead are still killing fish whether they like it or not. Sockeye on the Fraser is a food harvest, nothing more.
Works even better with a weighted trebble :) I am actually planning a video that explains everything that is wrong with flossing. Not making the fish bite is not a moral problem as far as I'm concerned, but foul hooking them with heavy gear absolutely is a terrible thing to do.
I really hope this doesn’t give anybody ideas for vedder river salmon season we already have enough snaggers on stave and vedder it’s disgusting. I really don’t think this should be promoted as a floss only fishery just gives these pos an out for snagging since it’s “sockeye” “ I guess it’s ok”
That's exactly why I started my video with that. I probably also should have mentioned not dragging salmon up on the beach as is commonly done with Sockeye.
To me the important part of ethics is harming the fish the least possible amount in the process of catching them. There happens to be very little bycatch or incidental damage in this fishery. Honestly if the government let us, I'd be doing the dip net fishing like the first nations do in the canyon. Doesn't even tire the fish out if you need to release one. I don't floss because I think it's boring, not because of some preconceived notion that you must make the fish bite to be ethical.
again, amazing footage, thanks for sharing and as well for the wonderful work you do cleaning up the river(s)
I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the comment.
appreciate your video! Very educational and I have always wanted to know what the gear setup is for doing this. Very helpful!!
Glad it was helpful!
Hey great informative video, have heard a lot about flossing recently and was wondering what exactly it was. This was perfect
Just please don't practice it on the small tributaries like the Vedder. The salmon bite readily, so there is no need for it.
Really interesting. South of the border in WA I catch all mine trolling coon shrimp/pink hoochies behind a dodger. Others plunk coon shrimp behind a spin and glow.
This particular opening, we are not allowed to use bait. I'm sure these fish will bite certain things, but the visibility in this river is less than a foot and the current is fast and steady. I'm not a fan of flossing (not for ethical reasons, but because it's boring) , but it seems the best way to catch these particular fish.
@@petrhermanadventures9509It sucks that they don't allow bait for sockeye fisheries
@@kashfiqbal bait is allowed here, it's just that flossing seems to be the most effective. I'm pretty sure that if enough effort went into it, we could figure out a way to make them bite. The certainly bite in the tributaries and I often get one on roe in the Vedder. In the Fraser they are strictly migrating though and don't seem to stop and rest.
I was on the river on Friday morning in a wind storm. Looks like a different day for you, calm waters no wind. Where were you?
Yes it was nice, just hot. I was up around Jesperson.
In Sweden where I have fished a few times they use a similiar method, they call it "spin fly". Instead of the bouncing betty thing they use cylindrical weights in several sizes depending on current that are several inches long, these bounce the bottom and on a trailing leader much like yours, they attach an actual Salmon fly, of more or less any pattern. I have been told that they foul hook a fair few fish but its a method which gets a lure on the bottom in the large fast rivers that typify, Swedens Baltic coast.
Yup, also used in Alaska a lot. The fishing community here is divided on this method, many hate it because no effort is made to get the fish to bite.
So will you feel the fish bite and set the hook? Or do you wait for your drift to swing towards shore before you set the hook?
Thanks again for helping us petr
The fish basically catch themselves. There is really very little "art" to it, which is why so many of the purists turn their nose up at this fishery. The main trick is to get the leader floating sideways, which happens as the weight makes an arc toward shore.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 i see, so we don't free drift the setup down the river it is just swung in?
@@brennanyu8790 Yup, cast straight out, tighten up the line and let it bounce in an arc toward shore. Many places are snaggy, so count on losing some gear.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 thanks again Petr!
right on Peter - full-on media production!
Thanks for the visit.
Excellent video Petr👍
Glad you enjoyed it
did you catch anything seems very few and far between for the fish now
nope.
caught one today, but didn't see anyone else get anything, so still slow.
Thank you for the video. Any where you suggest trying? It's my first time targeting Sockeye.
Google maps is your friend. Honestly, shore access is pretty limited due to railways and First Nation Land along the river. Gill rd and Island 22 are usually decent for shore access, but a jet boat is best.
Are there any regulations around length of leader used for flossing?
No there are not, but if the leader is longer than your rod, it becomes difficult to cast. Personally I think there should be a leaded length limit of 2 feet, but the DFO doesn't seem to care.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 Agreed. Thanks!
This is so much helpful for guys like me !! Thank you so much for helping with tips it will be my first time sockeye fishing. What tide should one target? Incoming or outgoing / low or high? I was thinking outgoing high to low tide since you want that action of swiping the river?
The fish use the high tide to move up river. So you want to be fishing the high tide. The timing of it varies depending on where you are on the river. In chilliwack the high tide is 4 to 5 hours after the Point Atkinson high tide.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 sorry to bother you with questions - suppose I am on the south side of the river and water flows from left to right during high tide same as the fish, how does one floss in that case, since your setup is also flowing in that direction, happened to me in lower fraser
@@josephphronesis9554 I guess in that case it's not possible to floss. I really have no clue about fishing the tidal portion.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 so the non tidal portion always have flow in one direction? Just like vedder? Thanks for the reply though
@@petrhermanadventures9509 So I found the answer, I went to gill bar yesterday and river was flowing in one direction all day, this is not the case in lower fraser when there is high tide, the river flows upward, maybe that is the reason why lower fraser is tidal and upper fraser non-tidal, the middle ground could be mission hence the border, it all makes sense now
What’s the point in tying the wool on if your just snagging them anyway
creates drag to straighten out the leader. There is a world of difference between snagging and flossing, though as I explained in the video, flossing holding or staging fish in a tributary will result in predominantly snagged fish and should never be done.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 dont lie to yourself. Snagging is flossing... they arent biting that. All you said in the video is just excuses.
I don't expect to change your mind on this. People are set in their ways. IMO there is nothing better than a hard float down on a bit of well cured roe. I have seen flossers on the Vedder do some terrible damage to fish, and most throw in that hard hook set at the end for good measure. That sir is snagging. As for the ethics of enticing the fish to bite or not, it's all 1000 times better than stringing nets across the river. I accept that people fish in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons and as long as they treat the fish with respect, I'm ok with that.
@Fraser Valley Trekking your right snagging isnt necessarily flossing but flossing IS always snagging. Cuz youre not getting a fish to willingly accept the hook henceforth you are snagging. Doesnt matter if you're ripping the line or not its just glorified snagging cuz its in the mouth
@Fraser Valley Trekking also people that floss tend to foul hook a lot
I thought there was a ban on recreational fishing for sockeye on the fraser this year?
We have a token 10 day opening for the late summer run. The First Nations netted around 2 million fish, the rest of us are allotted about 15 000.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 that hardly seems fair. The amount of benefits being native gets you is disgusting. One land one law we conquered them and they need to accept it
@@petrhermanadventures9509 thank you for the info Petr. Would you be so kind as to tell me what the last day is for the token 10 day period? or has it already passed?
@@jordanlockhart7316 no need to be ignorant Jordan. The English empire colonized (or conquered) many regions of the world and for the most part it was done so in a brutal and genocidal fashion. The fact that we give them these benefits speaks volumes to the guilt of what we did in our past history. Even these so called benefits will never make up for what was done or taken from these original peoples of North America.
@@bubbanads Sept 18 is the last day for the Fraser sockeye opening. Hope you enjoy the 10 days of fishing the natives are allowing us to have after they’ve taken all the fish and done their traditional ceremonial sales
Such great content as always Peter, nice surprise to know the Fraser is open for 10 days, I wonder if close to the Vedder mouth is worth going or better to be close to hope? Never fished for sockeye. Is there a regulation on it or all Fraser is accesible and allowed to be fished for sockeye. Thanks so much.
The river is open from ocean to Hope, but the tidal boundary is at the Mission bridge. So below mission you need a salt water license. No retention of any other salmon species. The notices are on the DFO site.
Are there spots that are near Vancouver?
The river is open all the way to the ocean, but I'm not familiar with that stretch and how to fish it.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 Do you think I could try this technique around Vancouver?
@@silascheng6004 I really don't know. You need a fair bit of current to make it work well.
no
Notice your kuack did you kyak the river is it safe
The Fraser is a big river and deceptively fast and powerful. There are places where it's safe, but also some where it's dangerous. I regularly kayak white water, so it was not a problem.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 iv been talking to guys who paddle board the Fraser said just stay away from Harrison confluence do you have any tips on spots to avoid
@@Walker82kg I've only been out once. Launched at Jesperson. The river changes every year.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 so you never have trouble yourself in your yak then
@@Walker82kg Nope. Try the old Jesperson Boat launch. I see people launching open canoes there too.
I been having fun bottom bouncing skein lately. Hit an early steelhead doin it
I hear bottom bouncing bait is pretty popular in Washington state. Locally that would cost you a lot of lost gear because most of the river is bouldery. Might have been a summer run steelhead, rather than an early one.
Thankyou..nice to see..I lived and fished there..bottom bouncing the only way to get a salmon there..rarely fowl hook..Geeze Loiuse! Not like we had gikk nets strewn from shore to shore. Stand up Sport fisher !
You bet
Does anyone fish around Vancouver guys I’m Irish and desperately wanting to give the salmon fishing a go here!
There is a healthy run of salmon in the Capilano, but it's a dangerous river to fish. Stop in to Pacific Angler and they will point you in the right direction.
You dont get my point the fish does! Go fish the Fraser and see..I used to fish poatch fush up from Alexander bridge..i uesd small spin glow and yarn ..shorter lead..it sure felt like they bit it..and it was on..That a nice bit of B.C. big like! Cheers..from north Ontario.
Flossing can be done with any length of leader, but you're right Sockeye do bite at times. I catch a few every year on beads, while targeting summer chinooks. It's more that the fish are not concentrated very much in the lower fraser.
Good information here. So many “fisherman” on their high horses about flossing. Unless you have a status card it’s the only way to catch sockeye on the Fraser.
Yeah, I've been getting a fair bit of grief over this one. But I knew that would happen going into it and I did it anyway. Ethics is a funny thing, some of these guys think nothing of hooking 60 salmon in a day, while I consider that cruelty to wild creatures, yet they complain about someone flossing 2 sockeye for the BBQ.
@@petrhermanadventures9509 exactly. Someone doing catch and release for steelhead are still killing fish whether they like it or not. Sockeye on the Fraser is a food harvest, nothing more.
Great video Pete never heard of this strategy before of hooking fish without them biting. Going to try this strategy in the canal this season for coho
😂😂😂
Works even better with a weighted trebble :) I am actually planning a video that explains everything that is wrong with flossing. Not making the fish bite is not a moral problem as far as I'm concerned, but foul hooking them with heavy gear absolutely is a terrible thing to do.
thanks petr!
You're very welcome.
Fishing holding fish is definitely when problems come up.
Yes. I have some great footage of schools of holding coho and chinook and whey they're resting, they hardly open their mouths at all.
Hello Petr, my fishy friend.
LOL.
I really hope this doesn’t give anybody ideas for vedder river salmon season we already have enough snaggers on stave and vedder it’s disgusting. I really don’t think this should be promoted as a floss only fishery just gives these pos an out for snagging since it’s “sockeye” “ I guess it’s ok”
That's exactly why I started my video with that. I probably also should have mentioned not dragging salmon up on the beach as is commonly done with Sockeye.
damn i thought you were an ethical fisherman👎🏻they ain’t even biting that
To me the important part of ethics is harming the fish the least possible amount in the process of catching them. There happens to be very little bycatch or incidental damage in this fishery. Honestly if the government let us, I'd be doing the dip net fishing like the first nations do in the canyon. Doesn't even tire the fish out if you need to release one. I don't floss because I think it's boring, not because of some preconceived notion that you must make the fish bite to be ethical.
pքɾօʍօʂʍ