Rivers Inlet Sportsman's Club News
There has been lots of chat this spring about the record runs of salmon that are predicted to return to the salmon rearing rivers of the Pacific North West this summer. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) recently upgraded their predictions on salmon runs for 2014. DFO are saying that this salmon fishing season we could see the best returns in modern history so anticipation is running high for another record year!
The recent record catch reports from the waters of Northern BC and other locals where there is an early run of chinook (king/spring) salmon seem to support this. Hatchery records of chinook salmon intercepted in Alaska and BC’s northern waters indicate that the bulk of our Rivers Inlet salmon head north during their lifecycle. In the spring these salmon head south to their birth rivers in BC, WA, OR and as far as CA. So good fishing up north means good fishing for us in a few weeks when our Rivers Inlet salmon and the salmon headed to the hundreds of rivers of the Pacific Northwest pass right by our lodge on their way home.
Another interesting fact garnered from the wire coded tags that are located in the heads of hatchery fish is that fish from the greatest variety of rivers are caught in Rivers Inlet. Not the most hatchery fish as we are isolated and there aren’t many anglers so not many hatchery fish heads are recovered. The widest cross-section of rivers are represented in our hatchery salmon catch data. What this means is that we are on the “Salmon Migration Highway” and that is why our fishing in Rivers Inlet is so consistent. If there is a lull in the waves of fish returning to their birth waters in Rivers Inlet, you would never know it. There are so many other fish going by our doorstep to hundreds of rivers along the west coast that the action is often non-stop all summer long.
The whole concept of who “owns” these migrating fish and how much each stakeholder in the US and Canada gets to harvest has been a topic of debate and discussion for years. The Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) was formed in 1985 to manage the allocation of these fish so that commercial, aboriginal and sport anglers in both countries get their fair share of this valuable resource. The future of wild salmon stocks in Rivers Inlet has never been brighter as a result of these management policies and the success of enhancement programs through our lodge funded private hatchery.
We look forward to many great years of fishing for future generations.