for those that come up to fish the Fraser for sockeye, Be ready for it to open mid july and close mid august this year. Just talked to the guy at DFO that makes the seasons and he said it will open sometime in early to mid july as soon as there are enough fish in the system. For the last number of years it has opened in very late july or early august. He also said that the season will be about 4 weeks long if the endangered cultus lake sockeye don't show up early.

Thanks rln.

Thanks so much for the update--- each year I saw I'll go and never do it.

You know for me, camping on a secluded river bar, enjoying the weather and scenery of the Fraser is more the reason I go than the actual fishing for the sox.

The occasional 30+ spring does keep things interesting too!

The sunrise and sunset on that river are breath taking

I feel warm all over.

I told you to stay away from the Yukon

Thanks RLN for the info!

I go every year and despite the crowds, it is a great time. Learned some new spots last year and did well. Knee deep wearing sandals, no shirt, sunglasses, cigar, and cold Kokanee, and oh yeah, an occasional fish!

Hey 4salt, save some of those 30# springs for me. Surecatch, are you in?

OK, since this obviously isn't a zipperlip fishery. How about you experts sharing some spots and techniques?

Spots....almost any bar from the mouth of the vedder upstream to Hope. The technique is the best....2-4oz lead ball, #1-3/0 barbless hook, small bit of yarn or #10 corky and the longest possible leader you can cast. No biters here just a good old flossin' show. There are really no secret spots, you just have to move around until you find an uncrowded bar to fish from.Limit is 2 sockeye and 1 chinook a day, 2 days possesion when you drive home.

When you get bored of catching the bait,then try fishing for some sturgeon,they love any part of a sock or spring your willing to donate.They can be found in the same basic areas as the salmon spots Rln mentioned.
BENT RODS

When you get bored of catching the bait,then try fishing for some sturgeon,they love any part of a sock or spring your willing to donate.They can be found in the same basic areas as the salmon spots Rln mentioned.
BENT RODS

How are the river levels looking up there this year? From what I hear the red's can be effected by too warm of water and by looking at the local rivers there won't be allot of water by the end of July. I heard that there is a bacteria in the Frasier that will kill the red's when the water hits a certain temp. I hope it won't happen. I really need to hit this fishery. Sockeye are deamons on the rod!

Is there any explanation as to why they would open the fishery in early to mid July? Most past years I have been up there, Sockeye are real hard to come by until the end of July to beginning of August. Also, it seems that the the early and late run of Sockeye are the ones that cant be fished on super heavy because they are depleted. We mostly get to fish on the mid-summer run which is the most abundant. Why would they open up the river early to fish on the early fish? Are they going to be really abundant this year? Not meaning to raise any issue or say that rln is wrong but these are questions that come to mind when I think about past fisheries with the Sockeye up there. I hope it works out and we get 4 weeks at them, that would be awesome! Even though the best fishing is in the mid to late August. Thanks

Is there any explanation as to why they would open the fishery in early to mid July? Most past years I have been up there, Sockeye are real hard to come by until the end of July to beginning of August. Also, it seems that the the early and late run of Sockeye are the ones that cant be fished on super heavy because they are depleted. We mostly get to fish on the mid-summer run which is the most abundant. Why would they open up the river early to fish on the early fish? Are they going to be really abundant this year? Not meaning to raise any issue or say that rln is wrong but these are questions that come to mind when I think about past fisheries with the Sockeye up there. I hope it works out and we get 4 weeks at them, that would be awesome! Even though the best fishing is in the mid to late August. Thanks

In the past, the season usually opened at the very end of july. This year DFO is worried about cultus lake sockeye that swim into the vedder in mid august, so they are going to restrict fishing on these fish and give the sporties a chance at earlier sockeye. DFO also expects the early summer sockeye to be stronger and are expecting to open the river earlier because of this. I was talking to the guys that make the decision last week before I posted this thread. It may not happen if the fish don't show up has expected, but DFO is planning for the river to open ealier than previous years and I thought I would let you all know about it.

The plan to open the river early to protect the Cultus run is kind of silly seeing as 95% of the fishing for socks is done above the mouth of the Vedder.I think they must have something else motivating them ,possibly there is another up river stock they are worried about or they are going to close the sporty's just to keep the commercials, native and otherwise from causing a row.With the low water and warm, dry weather being predicted I would hope they keep the aug 1 opening and shut it down early ,maybe aug 15.The real culprit of these decimated runs is never the sporty,s ,but the gauntlet of nets strewn across the river during a commercial opening .I know ,I have fished this river hard since day 1 of this fishery and anybody who has fished after a commercial opening knows that 12 -14 hours of pounding river is needed to get 1 or 2 fish .Why not just get some backbone and close down all fishing of the lower river when these endangered stocks are passing thru.
Hope to see some of the members from this site on the river.
BENT RODS

Tons of sockeye and Kings were caught at the Weigh Scale Bar the last time I was there, a few years back. But I heard that at one time they actually closed that sucker down due to too many problems with the crowds. Anybody know the status of that spot? Is a shore fishery so it gets even more people than one of the boat-accessible-only islands would get.

Expect about as much company as any spot in the Northwest....well almost.

here is the latest update from our department of fisheries......... sportfishing for fraser sockeye is anticipated to open on the 3rd weekend of july. This date may change as more information becomes available from test fisheries. So for those that like it, be ready in three weeks.