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I moved down here last yr. (for a better job with more money and less taxes) and I have been warned by others who've moved here from BC that parking in your usual spots, now sporting WA 'tourist' plates, will get you possibly: 1) hassled by DFO (definitely get it from Can Customs) 2) broken into in Vancouver (well, that's always a risk anyway) 3) your vehicle vandalized (the usual brainless 'Yankee go home' garbage) 4) cut-off, and frequently fingered on the roads (I'm used to this, I used to ride a bike around Vancouver) 5) misdirected/lied to about decent spots, conditions, road directions etc. generally the kind of juvenile behavior we would spank our kids for. Please tell me this is not true, or is just exaggerated.
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Oh, Man, what timing for this discussion. Just today at Island 22, I showed up at first light. I parked my truck and met my friend and took off to grassy bar in his boat. When we were boating in, I noticed my vehicle was sandwiched in between 2 trucks. I started grumbling about the headaches about to begin when I noticed both trucks had Washington plates. Well, I didn't need to grumble too long. Not only was the dumb @$$ stupid enough to sandwhich me in. He left his truck unlocked, so all I had to do was get in, and back it down towards the water and then weave out. I know Canadians don't have as much crime as the U.S.A. , but Island 22 isn't a church parking lot either. Things get stolen out of unlocked vehicles in Canada too. Not trying to offend Yankies in this comment, Geoff.
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Geoff, I am in the same situation as you. I moved down to Bellingham 4 1/2 yrs ago and fish every weekend in the interior. I have not come across anything that was any different than with my B.C. plates. The idiots are around no matter where you are from. In fact, I was broken into twice in 1 year in Tsawwassen and 1 this year in the interior and have not had any trouble down here so go figure!!
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Geoff, Grassy bar has changed alot, as well as the much of the lower Fraser. We took a depth sounder out around grassy bar, and it turns out that most of that area has filled up with gravel. Most of the area is only 3 to 6 feet deep with no drop off till you get way out. There is only on deep slot right down the middle from just below Island 22 to just below grassy. And what that has done, is sent 90% of the Sockeye and Springs up this slot and has making casting to these fish almost impossible. There have still been some good days, but in general the upper river above peg leg has been way better all summer. Chinook in the lower Fraser(below the Harrison) had one of its worst season this year. In previous years, a good day on Grassy Bar would give up 100-250 fish per day. A good day this year was about 30-50. I heard some days while Ferry Island was giving up 300 fish per day, that Grassy was only giving up 25 to 40. And these stats are on days when the Commercial fishing was not an issue. It was only 2 years ago and before that, that Grassy and Ferry Island would go neck and neck every day in which would give up more fish. Sorry for the bad news but I really think that the dredging closer on the river was a mistake. I know rivers change year after year, but dredging could have kept the lower bars in better shape.
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I think that dredging the river just to improve fishing on some of the bars is a rather short-sighted idea, Rob. I have been to presentations by both the provincial and federal fisheries biologists and they are both VERY concerned about future dredging of gravel bars in the Fraser. Gravel recruitment into the fraser is alot less than you think (less than 0.1% annually) and although the surrounding municipalities are all for a new dredging program (only because its cheaper than raising the set-back dykes by 0.6m), it will cause havoc amongst the species that call the gravel bars home (both temporary and permanent) Recent studies by DFO have shown that the gravel reach bars are used by a large number of fish species, and that chinook fry and smolts use these areas alot more than was previously believed. Please note that each year for the past 4, the chinook returns have been increasing. DFO believes alot of this is due to the moratorium on gravel dredging. If we were to just start dredging out the channels now all that progress would be lost. The Fraser is still the premier chinook river on the West Coast.
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I agree with you 100%, Finaddict. I just don't like the fact that the lower Fraser is filling up with gravel, making the fishing more difficult. But if the Dredging closure is better for overall survival of salmon, then I'm all for it. I didn't realize that the salmon biologists believe that the dredging closure is responsible for the chinook runs increasing in size
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Yeah it was kind of a surprise to the biologists as well. I don't think they believe it is the primary factor, but it is definately contributing to the increased survival of chinook to smolt stage. I think that (surprise, surprise), the biggest factor is reduced commercial pressure in all areas.
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