Golden Rods and Reels Fishing Blog

Meeting Cancelled

2012-02-29T19:47:00.002-08:00

Regular Meeting of the Golden Rods and Reels will be cancelled Tuesday March 6, 2012. Please join the Volunteers at the Victoria Seniors Fair at Perks Arena.

Feb 14 meeting summary

2012-02-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

Sunshine: No one sick.

Social: Potluck dinner here this Thursday at 5:00 pm.

Fresh water:

1. Ron was fishing at Matheson Lake and got one fish.

2. Frank and Robert fished Langford Lake to no avail.

3. Jim Macdonald fished Prospect Lake with a small black leech with a red head.

4. Some one at Elk Lake got one fish.

Salt water: Fishing is reputed to be good off the waterfront, as well as at Swirl Bay. Most are fishing at this time of year with bait.

The return of salmon to Goldstream is just about spot on the average although some good news in that coho returns continue to improve slightly. On the other hand although the chum numbers were not off the size of the fish seems to be down as well as the size of the eggs. In consequence the number in the hatchery of eggs being fertilized and surviving thru to hatching is down to about 50% of previous years. Tests show that eggs in the gravel above and below the spill are about the same so we know the spill has had little effect on this year’s survival rate in the wild.

Environment: No report

Hatchery: This is a quiet time of year. Feeding a few small fish. An opportunity to do some spring cleaning.

Other news: Sydney Anglers Derby is on April 27 to 28^th and they are asking for any volunteers who might help.

Other business: Note we have fishing books to loan out. Fill out a card if you take a book home. Any questions see Ron Duncan who as trophy co-coordinator is in charge of the library.

Dennis announced the Buttle Lake spring trip would be May 21^st to 25^th.

Cluxewe will be anywhere between July 25^th and Aug 17^th. Dennis will be there all during that period.

The fall Buttle Lake trip will be Sept 3^rd to 7^th.

Formal Motions: It was moved by Martin Brooks and passed that;

Name badges as per sample be purchased by the club at the cost quoted by the supplier “Showcase” $5.00 per badge plus $2.50 per magnetic clip, or $0.75 per pin clip, plus applicable tax. Badges will be ordered with magnetic clips unless the member requests a pin. Any member with a pacemaker should request his badge to be fitted with a pin instead of a magnet. Badges will be ordered for all active members including those spouses or partners who are paid members. Although the cost of the badges initially will be borne by the club some members have suggested they will be making sizable donations to help defray the costs. It is also noted that all members should be aware that a donation of $10.00 from any member receiving a badge although not mandatory would be greatly appreciated by the club. A donation box will be on the back desk.

Program: Isa and Robert showed pictures and talked about their trip to Israel this winter.

Feb 6, 2012 meeting minutes

2012-02-29T19:37:00.000-08:00

Sunshine: Bob Ladbury has moved to a 3-1/2 room apt in a house that is beside but is part of Amica. Services and meals are available at Amica next door and he has the use of a shop and the garden at the house.

Bill Carnes much better.

Social: February 16^th (Thursday) (That’s this Thursday) 5:00 pm. Pot-luck dinner here at silver threads

Fresh water: Jim Macdonald went chironimid fishing and caught one fish. We need another week or two for the temperature of the water to come up.

Salt water: John Edge went out of Pedder Bay to Swirl Bay. Caught a 10 lb fish on a mint julip which is a light green hoochie.

Clive out Friday at Fairfax fishing with herring with a green head and got two on but lost them. They changed to a J-79 and got one. They bounced the ball along the bottom and attracted and caught another three fish. The bite was on after the tide change going out.

Leslie while staying at Cabo on the Baja went fishing off the coast between San Jose and La Paz in a 22 ft fiberglass panga. She caught about 15 Bonito, plus a Dorado and a 40 and a 60 lb Tuna.

Awards: Dennis provided and finished then donated to the club an addition to the plaque which will soon be hung on the wall.

Hatchery: Picking a few eggs and feeding a few fish. Spring raking and clean up.

Other news: The gathering to honor Barry Proud’s life will be held at Barry’s house on Saturday at 1:30..

The proposed brochure and the name badge were circulated to the members present and the response was positive.

A proposal to syndicate a boat or two was proposed by myself and the response was weak. However I have not given up.

A sign-up sheet for volunteers to help with the seniors fair was circulated with good response. Anyone not here last week who would like to sign up please add your name to the list on the front desk at coffee.

Program: No program as there was an executive meeting.

January 24 meeting summary

2012-02-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

Sunshine: Bill Carnes had Angina and was in the hospital. It was reported that he was getting out to-day. Wynn told the story of visiting Bill in the hospital. I am sure all the members are hoping that Mary is relieved that her plants have been watered and that she is resting “comfortably”.

Social: Thursday February 16^th5:00 PM. There will be a Pot Luck at Silver Threads.

Fresh water: Dennis’ son out but reports that the fishing is not good. Members mention that Elk Lake seems dead. 17,000 fish being put in and very little out. It was suggested that some one could contact Susan Bryce who works for the CRD and would be our contact to the Elk Lake recreational use advisory group. Robert has been doing a study of the published quantities of fish being stocked in the various lakes by Gofish. The quantity per acre varies considerably. Robert will attempt to find out how the decisions on the correct quantity for any particular lake is arrived at and will report to the club.

Salt water: Fishing is reported to be fairly good although no one from the club has been out due to the weather. Some one caught 6 springs near Wayne Rock. Lots of herring have been sighted. Clive suggested we might put together a presentation on tides and tide tables and their effect on fishing success.

Hatchery: Picking eggs, Picking eggs, Picking eggs, Picking eggs,

Other news: The trophy plaque to hang on the wall is in progress.

Program: A presentation was given by a professor from U Vic who walked the famous pilgrimage to the Cathedral of St James in Spain with his daughter.

January 10 meeting

2012-02-29T19:32:00.001-08:00

Membership: 25 members

Sunshine: No one sick although Bill Carnes is reported to be having trouble getting up in the morning and is lacking energy.

Social: Valentine Pot Luck Dinner will be February 16^th.

Fresh water: Dennis Gedney’s son fished Elk Lake but the fishing was terrible.

Rumor has it that they are biting at Langford Lake on red worms.

Salt water: An 84 lb Chinook was caught at Haida Gwai.

Clive was fishing out of Saanich and caught some small salmon and also got 110 prawns.

Suggested fishing at Wray Creek for Cutthroat.

Brentwood Bay is good for prawn fishing but seals are out in force.

Leslie reported obtaining a contract to do the training for a Government contract

$200,000 was set aside almost 5 years ago to acquire training, boats and equipment For 5 Indian bands on lower Vancouver Island. This will include 6 boats, 2 prawning, 2 crabbing, and 2 Long lining. The contract is due to expire at the end of March and the money must be spent before then and precious little has been done so far. Good Luck Leslie.

The Sydney angler’s derby is in April and they are asking for volunteers.

Parts of an article in the local paper were read out explaining that a pilot project is underway to raise salmon in land facilities here in BC to show that it can compete economically with net pen ocean farming.

Hatchery: Relatively quiet – some eggs are eyeing up and can now be handled so are being picked, meaning the dead ones are being picked out and discarded.

Other news: Art Raven delivered a report on the last A.C.S. meeting.

Other business: Art Raven referred to letter from a professor who is asking for help in designing and delivering a short fly fishing and fly tying course to boy scouts 11 to 13 years old. Jim Macdonald will take the lead in putting this together and contacting the letter writer.

Fish Trophies that were not ready for the xmas dinner were handed out.

Program: No program as there was an executive meeting.

Chironomid fishing

2012-01-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

Tuesday January 31st Jim Macdonald will be holding a demonstration on Chironomid fishing. 10:15 at Silver Threads Hall 1728 Douglas Street.

October 18 meeting summary

2011-11-21T19:31:00.001-08:00

Membership: 23 members and ONE visitors.

Sunshine: Dave Cromack and Gordon Riddell down with the flu..

Social : The annual Goldstream hot dog and soup picnic will be on November 10.

Freshwater fishing: Robert McConnell got three trout at Elk Lake, with the biggest at 2.5 lbs. Ron Estey had been out for salmon in the Sooke River. The fish are early, the water is still low, and the fishing is good. He also tried the Stamp, but the water there was too high to fish. The Puntledge turned out to be a “gong show,” with crowds of fishermen most of whom were snagging and keeping chum salmon. Prospect and Durrance Lake are both producing trout. Ron and Robert both observed that they had caught trout recently while trolling or stripping much faster than normal.

Saltwater fishing: John Edge’s boat got three salmon out of Pedder Bay, none of them on Dennis Gedney’s Disco Den fly. Dennis replied that he had loaned one of the flies to his dentist, who caught nine salmon on the Disco Den and only one on his other rod, and refused to give the fly back to Dennis. Frank Szarcowicz and Robert McConnell got two coho and a feeder chinook at Becher Bay. Art Raven drew attention to the report that the ISA virus appears to have been confirmed in Georgia Strait sockeye, with infection from salmon farms the probable cause.

Environment: Terry Swean filed several reports, one of which observed that “fracking” by injecting water underground to force up gas from shale fields uses very large quantities of fresh water.

Hatchery: Forty thousand coho smolts will be clipped and tagged later this week, with assistance from Golden Rods & Reels volunteers. There are still very few mature fish moving up the river, with concern growing that this will turn out to be a very poor year for the Goldstream.

Program: Dennis Gedney conducted a demonstration and seminar on his approach to ale fishing for trout..

October 11 meeting summary

2011-11-21T19:30:00.002-08:00

Membership: 19 members and no visitors.

Sunshine: No reports of illness, except for Clive’s hangover.

Freshwater fishing: Gordon Riddell and Robert McConnell caught three trout, including a nice cutthroat, and lost or released more during a morning on Prospect Lake. Dennis Gedney said he’s probably going to hang up his rods for the winter, unless he succeeds in organizing a trip with friends to the Florida Keys for bonefish.

Saltwater fishing: Clive Lane reported that the Sooke area still has good numbers of coho, mostly wild, with a new limit of one wild coho and three hatchery fish per day. He also described doing brain surgery on Nitinat hatchery salmon – removing their ear-bones and examining them to determine which hatchery they had come from. He also caught a limit of chanterelles..

Miscellany: Bob Ladbury recalled an old BBC program which considered the question of whether houseflies land upside down on the ceiling by doing a loop or a barrel roll. High-speed photography at the Kodak labs found that the little critters do a roll. Mert Moriarty was upset that Canadian conservation groups have to ask Americans to boycott BC farmed salmon as a way of reducing the killing of seals and sea lions that are invading salmon net pens. This sparked a discussion that revealed little sympathy for seals.

Hatchery: Very few fish have been coming into the river. Low rainfall and water levels may be a cause, but concern is developing that contamination from last summer’s fuel spill may be keeping the fish from entering.

ACS: The James Bay Anglers sold 1,000 tickets to their mid-September derby, which was won with a 20-lb chinook The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is being asked to train and fund native catch monitors at Becher Bay, where there have been no DFO counts for the last five years, even though it is the busiest marina on the South Island. ..

Program: UVic historian Andrew Rippin made a well-appreciated presentation on Islam in today’s world.

October 4 meeting summary

2011-11-21T19:30:00.001-08:00

Membership: 30 members and one visitor.

Sunshine: Bill Carnes reported that the Thurbers are still vertical, Geoff Barnard blames his recent problems on interactions with his medications, and Bill’s son Paul shrugged off the effects of a recent operation to go fishing on his birthday.

Freshwater fishing: Winston Jackson recommends adopting metric measurements for our fish, observing that a 35-centimeter trout sounds much bigger than a 14-incher, one of which he caught during a slow day at Durrance Lake. Jim Macdonald said Prospect Lake has been hot, with 35-40 cm trout relatively close to the surface. Clive Lane caught five at Elk Lake, but they were crayfish. He found them to be delicious. Mike Lynas, fishing on Elk with Dennis Gedney, caught three trout; the largest was 2 lb 14 oz (that’s 1.3 kilos). Don Walker described his recent trip to the Yukon, where he saw chinook that had migrated 1,800 kilometres (1,118 miles) upstream to reach their spawning grounds. Barry Proud is no longer a member of the Elk Lake usage advisory board, which he’s told is refocusing – on what, he’s not sure.

Saltwater fishing: Robert McConnell and Frank Szarcowicz had a good morning at Becher Bay with four coho. Clive hooked five in the same area – all wild. Prawning in Saanich Inlet will be open in the last two weeks of October, November and September.

Program: Dennis is trying to organize a fishing seminar for the meeting of October 18, probably on shore fishing for trout.

Hatchery: The first fish of the year have been taken at the fence: Five chinook and four coho. Art Raven asked for volunteers to go out to the hatchery on the afternoon of Oct. 19 to help clip and tag 40,000 coho.

Program: Kevin Neish described his experience on last year’s flotilla to Gaza.

September 27 meeting minutes

2011-11-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

Membership: 22 members and two visitors.

Sunshine: Geoff Barnard is now feeling better.

Freshwater fishing: Robert McConnell caught a 2lb 8oz trout at Elk Lake, and lost another that smashed up the spinner he had rigged on a floating line in an effort to interest a bass.

Saltwater fishing: John Edge had a day’s fishing at Courtenay, and reports that Dennis Gedney’s hot Disco Den fly appeared to have cooled off: “It was a good day’s fishing but we didn’t catch anything.” Clive Lane observed that local salmon fishing has slowed, but there are still some fish around. Prawns are re-opening in Saanich Inlet..

Elections: Ray Wallis warned that he will be twisting arms in his role as nominating committee for the 2012 slate of officers.

ACS: Art Raven Described the highlights of the last meeting :
Esquimalt Anglers have installed a siphon pipe to move water from Pike Lake into Craigflower Creek, and the CRD has increased the flow from Thetis Lake; these two initiatives mean more habitat for coho fry in the creek.
Clover Point Anglers have weighed in 149 salmon this year, a significant increase over 2010. They have also donated $562 to the hatchery
Hatchery: There is good water flow at the fence, although no salmon yet. The rainy forecast for the coming week means that harvesting should start soon..

Program: Retired UVic professor Ed Ishiguro scared the pants off everybody with his description of the risks of new and potential infectious diseases.

September 20 meeting summary

2011-11-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Membership: 21 members and no visitors.

Sunshine: John Edge reported that Geoff Barnard is ailing.

Treasurer: Arlene Darlington reported a balance of $3,299.07, with $100.00 payable to the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society for the corn roast.

Social: Sandy Raven announced that the Halloween potluck dinner will be on October 20, and the Goldstream River soup-off and potluck on November 10.

Freshwater fishing: Nobody has been out. Dennis Gedney noted that a new sturgeon research centre is being created at the University of Vancouver Island in Nanaimo, and suggested that club might consider a project to support the venture.

Saltwater fishing: Robert McConnell reported that fishing has dropped off to almost zero at Becher Bay. Jim Macdonald said that coho and chum are schooling in Sooke Harbour.
Art Raven’s son and grandsons had great fishing for springs in the Nitinat River.

Awards: Sandy McElroy said the cutoff date for this year’s entries will be October 30.

ACS: Jim Macdonald read a letter from Wayne Zaccarelli to the mayor of Saanich regarding the proposed closure of boat access to Prospect Lake.

BCWF: Art Raven reported that the BCWF is having success with its new outdoor passport program, in which members ask landowners for access to their property in return for a pledge to treat the property with respect.

Hatchery: Mortality continues to be almost non-existent. The hatchery received a $5,000 donation from the Tsawout band as a result of their successful golf tournament, which some hatchery members helped organize.

September 13 meeting summary

2011-10-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Membership: 25 members and one visitor.

Sunshine: Bill Carnes reported that everybody seemed to be okay.

Social: Sandy Raven counted 60 members at the very successful corn roast, and also noted the Guinane’s Spenser Castle picnic on a lovely July afternoon. Coming up are the October 20 potluck dinner and the Goldstream River soup-off and potluck in November.

Freshwater fishing: Bill Carnes had a bloody encounter with a huge carp on Elk Lake; the carp got away, and Bill got three stitches in his hand.. The Buttle Lake trip was noted for good weather, lots of mosquitoes, plenty of small trout, happy happy hours, and Denis’ 32-inch TV in his camper. Dennis Gedney and Jim Macdonald had poor fishing at Cluxewe, compensated by great fishing when they hiked into the Keough River.

Saltwater fishing: Lesley Head had her first saltwater fishing experience with a Port Renfrew charter where she boated a dozen pinks up to many pounds. Some discussion followed as to how many pounds might be possible. Dennis Gedney reported that one of his disco lures proved irresistible to salmon in Alaska. John Guinane, fishing with Peter Psaila, caught a 20-lb chinook that weighed out at 16-lbs.

Success on Elk Lake

2011-10-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

on Tuesday October 18th you will learn everything you need to know about fishing on Elk Lake. Experienced fisherman Dennis Gedney plus other club members will give instruction and information needed for success. You will learn what the fishermen use and how they use it.

Demo's

2011-09-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

It has come to out attention that we do not have a lot to offer new members. To remedy this our Executive Team have come up with the idea of holding monthly information sessions. We hope to have our current members bring along their expertise, equipment and photos to instruct our members on fishing techniques and equipment requirements.

Good way to spend a sunny Saturday

2011-08-30T14:07:00.001-07:00

Out fishing in Saanich Inlet, enough prawns to give us a few meals. Nice haul of crab but only 2 keepers in the lot.

Bold experiment hopes to boost salmon population in B.C. waters

2011-04-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

VANCOUVER

Globe and Mail

James Costello, Mainstream Canada's sustainability officer, and Carol Schmitt, president of Omega Pacific Hatchery, inside the Chinook tank at the hatchery on the shores of Great Central Lake. (Grant Warkentin/ The Globe and Mail)

Carol Schmitt got up early for the move because she had a lot to pack – 48,500 live salmon to be exact.

Luckily she had rented a semi-trailer tanker truck the night before, sterilizing it so the fish could safely be transported from the Omega Pacific Hatchery, near Port Alberni, to the Sarita River, on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The fish – precious not only because Chinook are endangered in many places in British Columbia, but also because they are part of a bold experiment – had to be handled with care.

Unlike millions of salmon that are being released from Department of Fisheries and Oceans hatcheries in B.C. this spring, Ms. Schmitt’s fish have been held almost one year longer and grown more slowly, to mimic conditions in nature.

DFO releases Chinook from hatcheries at eight months of age. The fish are known as S-0s, because they are smolts, with less than one year in freshwater. Ms. Schmitt’s approach, perfected over decades growing salmon for B.C. salmon farms, is to keep the fish for 17 months, raising them in water as cold as the native stream from which their brood stock originated. And she restricts feed, so the fish mature more slowly. Those fish are known as S-1s and she believes such “stream type Chinook” are the key to the restoration of wild salmon populations in B.C.

“If you raise them in warmer water and feed them lots, as DFO does, they grow bigger and faster, but you trigger ‘smoltification’ too soon,” Ms. Schmitt said.

Smoltification is when young salmon undergo dramatic physiological changes, turning from fry into smolts, as they adapt for the move from freshwater to salt water.

DFO’s Chinook look ready when they are released, but their immune systems aren’t fully evolved, she said – and most will die from vibriosis, a bacterial disease that attacks fish in salt or brackish water.

“I feel 85 to 90 per cent of federal S-0s are dead within four to six months,” Ms. Schmitt said.

The statistics appear to bear that out, as DFO typically gets only about 1 per cent of its hatchery salmon back as adults. On the Sarita River, only 500 Chinook spawners returned last year – 0.1 per cent of the fish DFO had released as S-0s four years earlier.

Ms. Schmitt, with whom DFO is working on an experimental trial of S-1s on three Vancouver Island rivers, said she is expecting returns of up to 10 per cent.

“If you ship those fish out as S-0s you are accelerating the decline of the river,” she said. “If you release them as proper S-1s, you will get three to ten times as many fish back.”

Ms. Schmitt said in Alaska, releases of S-1 Chinook have resulted in returns as high as 22 per cent.

“Can you imagine what returns like that would mean in B.C.?” she asked. “That would be incredible. It’s pretty exciting stuff.”

With funding support from DFO and four fish farm companies (Mainstream Canada, Marine Harvest Canada, Creative Salmon and Grieg Seafood), Ms. Schmitt is doing trial releases this week of about 100,000 salmon in the Sarita, Phillips and Nahmint Rivers. The first release was Wednesday.

She said it has been tough to get to this point, because DFO has been resistant to change. “Getting DFO to allow us to participate in enhancement has and continues to be a challenge.”

DFO was unable to provide a spokesman to talk about the Omega project.

But Stewart Hawthorn, general manager of Grieg Seafood, said fish farms, which have been under attack for their environmental impact, are supporting the Chinook project for a simple reason: They want to see wild salmon flourish.

“British Columbians are passionate about our native salmon and our employees ... are no different,” he said.

Published on Wednesday, Apr. 06, 2011 9:06PM EDT

March 29 meeting Summary

2011-04-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

Membership: 26 members and no visitors.

Freshwater fishing: The Elk Lake Icebreaker fishout on March 23 attracted eight club boats and one fish, bur a good time was claimed by all. The hot dogs, sauerkraut, cookies and coffee were greatly appreciated, with thanks to Larry and Art for making that all happen. Jim Macdonald, who got the trout, recommended sticking close to Ray Wallis, who appeared to be attracting fish onto Jim’s line rather than his own. Jim also reported that sea-run cutthroat have begun to appear at the mouth of the Sooke Rover. Dennis Gedney, on a return trip to Elk Lake, got four fish, with the biggest weighing 1 lb 15 0z. He says the water is warming and hatches are starting to occur. Winston Jackson got two small trout in Durrance. Larry Anderson did very well in Durrance and Prospect Lake. The next fishout will be April 13 at Langford Lake.

Saltwater fishing: Mert Moriarty, out halibut fishing off Sooke with Clive Lane, set new records for deepwater crab fishing. Despite their lack of success with the halibut, Clive reported that the season is starting well, with a 231-pounder already on the leader board at Island Outfitters. Springs are being take around Sidney and in Saanich Inlet. A coho net pen is going in at Sidney in May – volunteers are needed to help feed the smolts while they’re penned. Larry Anderson reported that two net pens for chinook are planned in Port Renfrew later this spring..

Environment: Terry Swean presented a report on the tar sands.

Hatchery: 120,000 fry were ponded in the last week, mostly Nitinat Chinooks.

Sergeant-at Arms: Tie Tuesday was a fiscal success, with fines collected from many forgetful members.

PROGRAM: Wendy Gedney gave another fascinating presentation on her recent work in Africa, this time in Uganda.

March 22, Meeting Summary

2011-04-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Membership: 26 members and no visitors.

Sunshine: Sunshine boy Bill Carnes had no reports of illness.

Freshwater fishing: Dennis Gedney reported that the much-postponed Elk Lake Icebreaker fishout would take place on Wednesday, March 23; Dennis Junior fished Elk Lake on the weekend and got one fish. Don Walker saw fish on Elk but couldn’t catch. Sandy McElroy met up with a sonar mapping team on Elk Lake who said they’d seen a lot of fish out there somewhere. Fifteen people have signed on to the spring Buttle Lake trip.

Saltwater fishing: Clive Lane reported good fishing for winter springs and halibut out of Sidney. He’s still having trouble with his small motor; some found that amusing.

Environment: Terry Swean presented a report from the Land Conservancy.

New business: Jim Macdonald asked for volunteers to help with the Fishing for Fun event at the regional Cub Scout Wolf Howl jamboree at Camp Barnard on April 30. This will mark the transition of the program from our club to the West Coast Flyfishers. Jim was given a vote of thanks for his leadership in creating the program and making it a success.

Sergeant-at Arms: Tie Tuesday has been declared for March 29, with penalties for the unobservant.

March 15 Meeting Summary

2011-04-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

Freshwater fishing: Nobody out. Martin Brooks checked with Langford to find out why the aerator isn’t operating in Langford Lake. He was told it was a provincial decision and to contact someone there. He is still waiting for an answer. Icebreaker Derby now scheduled for March 23.

Saltwater fishing: Clive Lane has been beached by problems with his trolling motor. Biggest halibut in the Sooke Derby was 167 lbs. Peter Psaila is setting up one or two local halibut charters – estimated cost $140-150 each.

Jim Macdonald tabled a report from the Elk Lake Advisory Committee to be presented to the next ACS meeting.

PROGRAM: A talk was give by Dr. Rennie Warburton on the pros and cons of multiculturalism.

March 8 meeting summary

2011-04-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Membership: 22 members and no visitors.

Sunshine: Sunshine boy Bill Carnes had no reports of illness.

Freshwater fishing: Frank Szarkowicz picked up a fat little trout on Langford Lake, and Robert McConnell ate it with pleasure. Dennis Gedney was out on Elk Lake; he landed two small trout and lost a large one as he tried to get away from the rowing lanes. The club’s scheduled Elk Lake fishout was postponed a week in hopes of better weather.

Saltwater fishing: Clive Lane will take one of Dennis’ disco hootchies out for a sea test. Halibut season has opened and fish up to 100 lbs are being reported, with the biggest ones being landed off Jordan River. A slot size for springs has been put into effect, and it’s possible springs will become catch-and-release only, to protect the early Fraser run.

Environment: Terry Swean presented a variety of reports from environmental groups.

New business: Jim Macdonald appears to have been accepted as the Haig-Brown Club representative on the Elk Lake Advisory Committee. He presented the schedule of 2011 rowing events on the lake, and reported that the Rowing Club has received approval from Transport Canada to install a new string of nine buoys on the lake. These are intended to help rowers know which direction they should be going in.

PROGRAM: Nikki Wright of the Sea Change Marine Conservation Society described the work her group and others are doing to map and restore BC’s eel-grass beds.

March 1, Meeting summary

2011-04-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

Membership: 23 members and no visitors.

Sunshine: Sunshine boy Bill Carnes observed that: “Nobody gets sick in this place.”

Freshwater fishing: Nobody out fishing. Dennis Gedney warned that warm clothing might be needed for the March 9 icebreaker fishout. Twelve people have signed up for the Salmon Point crab fest; Dennis asked for expressions of interest.

Saltwater fishing: Clive Lane reported that his Oyster River adventures included facing down claim jumpers and cougars (which he finds tasty) and observing water ouzels.

Awards: Sandy McElroy proposed that the Seniors’ Expo booth offer a free first-year membership as a draw prize. Approved.

and facilities, become killing grounds for larger wildlife, particularly bears.

ACS: Art Raven reported TC letters to the editor on Elk Lake rowing accident and halibut allocation. Jim Macdonald is planning a broader distribution of minutes from the Elk Lake advisory committee minutes.

PROGRAM: Dr. Susan Crockford, UVic, explained why polar bears are well adapted to climate change.

Elk Lake Fish Out

2011-04-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

The sun came out for our first fish out of the year. No fish were caught but a good turnout of members to share in hot dogs and coffee after a cool morning on the water. see our Flickr site for more photos

Bluing to Brighten

2011-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

Everything old is new again. Published in the 1950's , fishermen use Bluing and water to soak herring to keep them bright. A recent TV fishing show did the same thing. I found a website Salmon University with a recipe using Mrs. Stewart Bluing (and other ingredients) to help preserve bait. This give the bait a blue tint that some fishermen swear by.

Meeting Summary December 14, 2010

2011-01-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

The meeting started by presenting John Edge with the trophy for the largest chinook of 2010

A thank you was given to Bill Carnes for getting the POINSETTIAS for our members who are under the weather at this time also thank you to those who brought bottles of wine to the Christmas dinner to be given out as door prizes. The draw for the presidents gift was won by Gordon Riddell .

There were 24 members present.

Social Sandy thanked all who came to the Christmas party, and distributed the items that were left at the hall. ( seniors moments ,no doubt. )

Freshwater fishing weather and water still pretty cool,Dennis tried , but no fish.

Saltwater fishing Clive will be trying for prawns before the season ends Dec 31Halibut fishing for the recreational fisherman will be restricted by a further reduction of 71,000lbs in 2011 due to DFOs creative way of figuring out the catch by the recreational group.

A big thank you to Sandy McElroy for distributing the awards at the Christmas party, sorry about the lighting.

Another thank you must go to our retiring secretary, Barry Proud. He has certainly served us well.

Upon announcing the new executive he chose to compare them to various celebrities.

There was no program as this was our last meeting of 2010.Thank you to all who brought items for the food bank and to those fellows who took them down there. Our last meeting of the year was ended appropriately with a small luncheon.

ACS October 6

2010-10-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hatchery approximately 200 Coho taken at the fence .Over half of them too bright and released from the hatchery to spawn naturally in the river. It has been a very poor Chinook year, so far only 2 Chums.There is talk of a possible net pen in Sidney next year for Cohos.

Sooke Flyfishers had a successful fishout on Sunday on the Sooke River

Haig Brown mentioned the symposium on Nov 13/14 cost will be $80.00. particulars to follow.

Esquimalt Anglers poor fishing. Port Renfrew Hatchery loads of eggs, somebody stole their small outboard motor.

Victoria Fish and Game Elk Lake Advisory meeting Wed Oct 13^th, 7:00pm at CRD Parks office . This club now has 1640 members.

Royal Canadian Navy Anglers Tom Cole mentioned that all creel surveys have been cancelled for the year. There is a possible early closure for halibut for the recreational anglers. This has happened as of Oct 18^th. No restriction on the commercial.

October 12 meeting summary

2010-10-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

Fresh water fishing... Sandy McElroy fishing the Stamp River, loads of fish, had a great time.

Salt water... nobody out in the past week , Clive is out today doing research for next week's meeting.

Awards... A discussion on types of mugs which we should purchase in lieu of trophies.

BCWF... Letters to and from DFO Minister Shea concerning the sad state of the Steelhead fishery in B.C.

ACS... see ACS report

New business... Merton's letter to minister Shea re hatcheries

Hatchery... poor showing of Chinook,no chums yet, Coho is early but showing signs of a good year. The hatchery is looking for help on Oct 21 to assist in clipping fish.

PROGRAM

Barry Proud told of his younger years and his introduction into the newspaper business.

Misquito's were biting

2010-09-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Our Annual pilgrimage to Ralph River Campsite on Buttle Lake was a good time as usual and, as we expect in the Fall, fishing is slow. The fish were deep 30 to 50 feet, those with downriggers had the best catching results. Many lures were used from Wee Tad, Black Flies, Red Flies, Silver spoons and flat fish.
During the summer the water level in the lake was really high and since then has dropped about 3 feet, thus leaving a wonderful breeding ground for mosquito's. We had more mosquito bites than fish bites.

ACS Meeting Sept 1, 2010

2010-09-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

Craigflower bridge will not be rebuilt. It will be widened to allow bike traffic. There is some work to be done on the pilings as well.

VF&G had their summer salmon derby , with 50 boats . They caught 15 chinooks with the largest being 21lb 10oz.

Sidney Anglers had several derbies this year .
March Halibut derby , 9 caught, largest 89.5lbs
April Salmon derby, 18 caught, largest 20lb 13oz
May Salmon derby, 10 caught, largest 15lb 4oz
Aug Salmon derby all Sockeye.
Their first meeting this fall will be Sept 27th.
Sidney Anglers are looking into restarting the Sidney Derby next year.

The new interchange at McTavish Road may have a problem for fish in Reay Creek due to some possible error by the construction crew in lowering the ditch by several feet and running into a thick clay bank which may start washing into the creek.

Clover Point Anglers had a slow year fishing.Their Salmon derby yielded three fish and was won by a 22lb Chinook
Haig Brown mention their trout symposium for mid- November..Dates to be announced later.

VGRRs It was suggested we write an article for the B.C. Outdoor magazine about our recent involvement withe cubs and scouts and the number of children that we introduced to fishing.

RCN Anglers had their Salmon derby with 22 boats entered and No fish caught.

Tom Cole works the summer season as camp supervisor at Heather Campsite on Lake Cowichan and said that fly fishing was tremendous this year. His wife caught a
23 inch cutthroat which was 14inches around its belly. This would probably be in the 6lb range. A friend of Toms has been using a Baitrix minnow at 50ft.on the down rigger in Lake Cowichan and catching lots.

Chris Boss gave a report on a recent meeting with Minister Shea ( DFO)

July 27th Meeting Summary

2010-08-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

21 members present for our last meeting of the summer.

Frank Szarkowicz commented on the surprise birthday party that Ann gave him at the clubs summer party at John and Nina's on July 24th. It was a real surprise for Frank.

Freshwater fishing - Rob and Frank report no fish on Langford. Dennis mentioned there could be up to 25 friends and relatives, up at Cluxewe this year.

Saltwater fishing -Ray Wallis told us about a friends fishing in Saanich inlet,2 big Springs.
Jim McDonald mentioned his recent northern fishing trip, no 40lbrs but a good time.

Larry Repp talked on his recent trip over to the mainland and how he was not allowed to cross the Mission bridge due to a possible jumper.

Rob McConnell had a tour of Babes Honey Farm and learned all there is to know about
raising bees and making honey.

There was a short discussion on the BCWF Go Fish program.

No program this week.

July 20, 2010 Meeting Summary

2010-08-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

19members present, no visitors.

Loads of birthdays in July/August. At least two 90th year birthdays, Bob Ladbury and Frank Szarkowicz, congratulations.
Social - Reminder for Corn Roast August 19th
Freshwater fishing- Frank and Rob were out after Bass and did quite well with 2 and 3lbrs, said it was lots of fun.
Dennis mentioned there are approx 22 people going up to Cluxuie. Dennis also showed his organization lists prior to his going on this trip, this is several pages long and takes in a 10 day period of things to do.
Saltwater fishing- pretty slow all round, some teen sized fish but no big runs yet.
Hatchery - has a mink problem. They have been moving fish to reduce overcrowding, but otherwise pretty quiet this time of year.

Garage Sale has been cancelled for this year, will do one in the spring.

Executive meeting to follow regular meeting.

June 29th meeting summary

2010-08-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

22 Members, no visitors

Sick & Visiting – all members seem to be healthy, Stu is out of Hospital. The only sad news is that one of the Schnauzers who usually stay in the front office was very ill and had to be put down.

Fresh Water – Dennis could see lot of fish on his new down rigger but was unable to catch any. Ray W. was out on Elk lake but came in early due to too much boat wash from so many speed boats, but not before bringing in 4 good sized trout to be used for smoking . While taking his boat out a fisherman arrived with a huge fish boat to launch. As it happens he had been out Halibut Fishing and came to Elk lake to flush his motors. Don W. just returned from Fraser Lake & Francois Lake where fish were plentiful but small. Black flys and Black woolly buggers worked best.

Salt Water – Sockeye are beginning to appear at Alberni, but you have to get up really early, reports are that limits are caught by 6:00 a.m. Daily limit is 4.

11 people went to Salmon Point and trying to lure more people for next year we were told of the delicious Crab Fest Night with Prawns, Crab, Scallops & Corn. Ray Field was there with his bagpipes, only one complaint and upon hearing this the manager said she would ask the complainer to leave since everyone else enjoyed listening to Ray play. There were lots of boats at the marina, 6 to 20 out fishing at any given time but not too much coming in, mostly cod. Larry R told of his adventure first going to the Oyster River Hatchery, which is most impressive since they do not have electricity and rely on sunlight and gravity feed . On his way back to the Resort he made a stop at Saratoga Speedway because the gate was open and found several people going on a Monster Truck ride. He and Annie joined in and enjoyed themselves.

16 People are registered in for Cluxewe August 1^st to 14^th. Crabbing is good early on. Bob L. told the club how he was introduced to Cluxewe. When he first joined GRR there was a member Oscar Morrison who had a secret fishing place he would tell of how many fish he caught but would not divulge the location. Bob L. being new volunteered to help with the person who was elected Salt Water Chair. Since there was no one else Bob got elected. It was after this Oscar introduced Bob to Cluxewe. He says it was very “Rustic” in those days.

Hatchery – Not that many fish left, most of the work now is feeding and clipping fish.

Social – Next event is just 24^th at Spencer Castle. Sandy has engaged Ambrosia Catering and Event Centre for our Christmas Banquet.

There was no speaker today, just a long coffee break with Anniversary Cake left over from our Pot Luck lunch.

June 15th Meeting summary

2010-06-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

23 members present, John Lang has joined our club Welcome John.

Good of the Order -Bill Carnes has a new great grandchild in Williams Lake.

Social - Sandy R discussed Xmas dinner reservations. Cedarhill Golf Course is $45.00 per person this year. Sandy is looking for other places and will report back next meeting and let the membership decide.
Freshwater fishing - Larry R fishing on Prospect Lake limited out with a friend. Jim Mc
fished Prospect and found it very windy. Barry P, Ray W, Bill C and John E all did well on Elk Lake. Barry had an encounter with the rowers running over his line. There was no coach boat for the rowers. Barry did not report this incident although we have been advised to report all incidents. Bass fishing starts June 16th.
Hatchery - There was a very bad loss during the weekend of approximately 12,000 Coho fry due to a fault in the water intake.

PROGRAM

None due to Executive meeting.

June 8th weekly meeting summary

2010-06-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

25 members and 2 guests.

Freshwater fishing - Bill C. had good fishing for 2-3lb trout in Elk Lake. Unfortunately
he broke one of his rods. Oh well I think he probably has another one..Dennis suggested we try Loveland Bay instead of Ralph River in the fall. The mooring for the boats is much closer to the campsite. Dennis also showed some flies he uses at Clutuxi.

Saltwater fishing -Clive mentioned salmon fishing is picking up,Port Renfrew is good at this time.Wind and weather has been the deciding factor for the number of fish being brought
in. Slot size for Chinooks remains the same 45 to 63 cm ( 18” to 25” )
Clive also visited Merton and Fran when he went back to pick up his brother Colin in Calgary.

Fishing for fun - Jim Mc was thanked for his work with this program. The last fishing trip to Ida Ann Lake took place on Saturday June 12th. Jim mentioned that fishermen can only take one trout over 20” from the local lakes.

Environment - A short talk was given on the ongoing study of Hummingbirds up at the hatchery where Dr. Moran is teaching some university students how to measure and band these tiny creatures.

PROGRAM.

Today, since we did not have a program scheduled GRR Member Geoff Barnard stepped up and gave a very interesting talk on his experience with the birdwatching group and shared his vast knowledge about the local Hummingbirds. Geoff spent many years at the Swan Lake Nature Park guiding groups of Birders.

Meeting Summary June 1st

2010-06-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

21 members in attendance

Secretary reported we are rapidly going broke. We have less money now than we did at the start of the year. We need some brilliant ideas to avoid the inevitable.

Freshwater fishing Dennis gave a detailed report on the Buttle ;Lake trip. Wet but good fishing and fun. The suggestion has been made that we try Loveland Lake in the fall .

Dennis has his tri-hull boat for sale. Unfortunately Doug and Carol Binns missed

the Buttle Lake trip but they also missed the delightful showers that we had.

Salmon Point crab feast will be on Wed nesday June 23^rd at Salmon point, it will be

at dinnertime

Fishing for Fun Jim McD gave directions how to get to the cub hall for our last training session this summer there will be a fishing day at Ida Ann Lake this Saturday.

Jim mentioned the fishing buddy program ,which is take a new fisher person out and show them the methods of fishing.

Lesley gave us a brief on her recent training session out at Clayquot Lodge

PROGRAM

Bob Ladbury gave us an fasinating talk on his first few weeks in bomber command during

WW II.His memory is fantastic and he is a great speaker.

Meeting Summary May 18th

2010-06-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

22 members present
Freshwater fishing - All reports say good to great fishing. There is even good cooperation from the rowers. There was a 8lbr taken out of Elk Lake by a Haig Brown member.
Dennis has the largest trout for our club so far 4lbs 8oz. Jim McD caught 3-----19inch trout at Matheson Lake.
Fishing for Fun -The scouts from Langford troupe had a derby on Langford Lake and my grandson won it with a 2lb 4oz trout. These were the scouts that we trained on the previous week
Hatchery - clipped some fish and fed fish.
New business - Suggestion by the president that we only hold Executive meetings bi- monthly This will be decided upon at annual meeting.

Meeting Summary May 11, 2010

2010-06-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

29 members and one guest, John Lang

Social- There will be a potluck lunch at Peter and P ats on June 4^th for a remembrance of Leon's passing.

Freshwater - Frank, Rob, John E, Barry and Sandy McE. Had a good week for fishing.

Saltwater- The Halibut Derby had 550 entries, largest fish was 132lbs. Clive and partner caught 2 40lbrs at 309ft.deep.

Big rally on fish farms last weekend at parliament buildings, a few club members attended.

Scout meeting on Friday evening at Savory School followed by Fishing for Fun at Ida Ann Lake on Saturday.

Where's the Fish

2010-05-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

It was an absolutely beautiful day even though no fish were caught. Good Lunch though

2010-05-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

32 members present.
Fresh Water Bill Carnes, Rob McDdonald, Frank Szarkowicz all got soaked on Elk Lake, but caught some fish.
Ray Wallis had good fishing on Thursday. Larry mentioned Prospect Lake was good.
Buttle Lake trip scheduled for May 24th, we should have several campers.
Saltwater fishing derby followed by pot Luck lunch at Esquimalt Anglers on Thursday.
Salmon Point trip June 21, all members wanting accommodation are to make their own arrangements. Prawns are shut down May 7th to 14th.

Fishing for Fun at Camp Barnard on Saturday May 1st, 250+ cubs are expected.

PROGRAM

DFO officers Tod Parker and Stephan Beckman made a presentation outlining how DFO manages the fisheries resources, however there were so many questions they were unable to finish. Both said they were happy to return another day.

Meeting Summary April 30th

2010-05-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

No report for April 20^th , president was not there , Jim McDonald chaired the meeting.

April 27^th, 23 members present no visitors.

Freshwater fishing Good to great fishing on Elk Lake. John Edge ,Ray Wallis did well ,Bill Carnes had battery problems.

Ray Wallis has the largest trout entered this year, 3lbs 14oz.

Saltwater fishing Larry,Barry Merton and Peter went out on a charter for Halibut

and did very well ,with a 48, 30, 25 and a 20 lbr, lots of fillets there. Clive, fishing off Sooke

caught Grey Cod,Tommy Cod and a 15lb Halibut.

Environment Terry distributed some environmental papers, Georgia Strait,etc.

Hatchery Lots of baby fish to feed.

PROGRAM

As we did not have a scheduled program Winston Jackson stepped up and gave us an interesting tale of a trip he and Sandy McElroy had on an interior fishing trip. It will be another day that we here Sandy's side of this tale. This was followed by Bob Ladbury's brush with celebrities.

Meeting Summary April 13th

2010-05-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

29 members , Joyce McDougal has joined the club and was out with us on Monday evening
helping in the fish for fun with the cubs.

Social May 6th a saltwater derby from Esquimalt Anglers ramp, a pot luck lunch to follow.

Freshwater fishing nobody out this past week. Outdoor derby on Elk Lake ,largest trout
just over 6lbs. There was a lot of comments about the rowing club. All incidents concerning safety should be reported to Saanich Police.

Saltwater fishing Clive out after Halibut , he hit a deadhead with his boat, lucky for him no damage. Peter's charter trip for halibut was blown out, so they took Mert's boat out and tried in the quieter waters off Sidney. Didn't bring any home.
There will be a summer seafood party once again at the Tsawout reserve in Saanich in June

Fishing for Fun A good turnout of cubs and leaders on Monday night and also at Ida Anne lake on Sunday.

PROGRAM

Dr. Benjamin Isitt from U. Vic gave a very interesting talk on his trip from Vladivostok to Moscow on the trans Siberian railway , accompanied by many old and recent slides. Check out his website for his latest book.http://isitt.wordpress.com/

Meeting Summary April 6th

2010-05-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

28 members and 1 visitor

Several members not in the best of health

A lively discussion on the merits of belong to BCWF.

John E dge has new great grandchild

Birthdays Doris was April 17^th, Jessie Edge is April 18^th and Peter is also April 18^th

Freshwater fishing Bill Carnes leading our derby with a 3lb 4oz Rainbow,

Dennis first trip out caught and released 8, Ray Wand John E also out caught a few.

Saltwater Clive got lots of Prawns, Rob got some good clams.May 6^th our derby.

ACS meeting April 7^th

Doug Binns gave a short description of his newest toy, SPOT , ( a satellite based communication device ) so you can keep in touch when out in the BOONIES.

PROGRAM

Pat Psaila brought in a video from the Blue Planet series, hopefuully we will see the rest

of it at another time .

Meeting Summary mMarch 30

2010-05-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

23 members and 1 visitor, Joyce McDougal
Several members on the sick list; Leon and Lorraine, Sandy McElroy, Ethel Lett and Jack Milner.
Social a possible chinese food dinner at one of the restaurants on April 14th
Freshwater fishing Elk Lake good for Ray W and John E , Ray had 5 on landed 2 on wooly buggers. He tried a wee tad and lost it around his prop.
Island Outfitters trout derby is April 10th on Elk and Beaver Lake.
Remember salt and fresh water licences are to be renewd April 1st.
Saltwater Clive fishing out of Sooke ran up to French Beach . Caught nothing there so came back and picked up two small chicken halibut. VGR&R will have a salmon derby May 6th or May 13th. Peter has arranged a halibut charter with Island Out fitters.
Prawns are open April 1 til April 30th.
Environment
Dr. Stephen Cross from U Vic is part of a study showing how various species of marine life can be raised in separate pens to the benefit of the environment around fish farms.

March 23 Meeting Summary

2010-05-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

25 members present, several members under the weather: Ethel Lett is getting better,

Dave Cromack is as good as he can be, Lorraine and Leon are having a series of tests,

Sandy McElroy recovering from eye surgery.

Freshwater fishing Dennis brought in new business cards and new design for brochures.

Bill C, John E and Don W out on Elk caught one fish. April 23/25^th Gedney fishing derby

on Salt Spring Island, talk to Dennis re particulars.

No Saltwater report.

Jim Mc saw an otter or mink at Ida Ann Lake last week. First cub/scout meeting Thursday,

Saturday at Ida Ann lake. Jim went to Quamichan Lake ,no fish.

Annual Island Outfitter Trout Derby on Elk Lake April 7^th

Rob mentioned a proposed project of talking to old timers about fishing back in the 50s and 60s in the lower Georgia Straits. Rob will keep us informed.

PROGRAM

Ron Estey kept the club informed and amused with his tales of fishing in New Zealand and

up in the Nass Valley in B.C.

Victoria Senior Living Show

2010-03-14T13:59:00.001-07:00

Our Booth at Senior Living Show that was held March 5th at Pearkes Arena. The show in general was really well attended We received good response from passers by who took time to look at our pictures and talk to our members.

Meeting Summary March 9, 2010

2010-03-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

25 members plus 2 visitors, Margaret and Mick Palmer
The Active Living Show was well attended by the public and our members who manned
our booth spoke to several people about our club. Many thanks to all of you for helping out.
The birthdays for March were read out with three of our members turning 80 or more.
Freshwater fishing Don Walker was successful on Elk Lake catching a 1lb 8oz trout.
Rob and Jim fished Elk with no luck but Jim is learning to fish cromanids?. Winston Jackson
( a new member) also was skunked on Langford Lake. John Edge and Bill Carnes had a good day on Durrance lake.
Saltwater Fishing supposed to be good for Halibut and not too bad for feeder springs.
Sidney Anglers are having a Halibut derby this weekend. Your president apologizes to Clive
for insisting Butter Clams were not open in Area 19.I guess I should read the regs more often.
Frank Zarkowicz gave us a quick overview of his trip to Los Cabos.

PROGRAM

Sarah Walsh, Victoria's Deputy Emergency Co-ordinator gave us a thorough briefing on what
and what not to do during an Earthquake.

Weekly Summary March 3rd, 2010

2010-03-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

22 Members present

Ray Wallis' wife Shirley in hospital.

Social quiet for a while

Fresh water Don Walker on Elk Lake,no fish.

Saltwater Merton told of trip out in his boat .He was boarded by the combined forces group, American Coast Guard and RCMP. All of us had to show I.D. Which they checked out on board their craft. They then wanted Merts registration for the boat. Mert looked for it but could not find it . They eventually let us go. Their boat was a hard bottom inflatable about 24 ft long on which was mounted 3 - 300HP. Mercury motors. Can you imagine the raw power.

Merton has also written another letter to Minister Shea (DFO ) concerning problems with fish farms.

Awards March18 will be our first training session with the cubs.

Hatchery Doug Binns has been given the dubious honour of training two people for each day , showing the location and operation of all the piping and valves and setting up a cold weather protocol.

The forthcoming Active Living Conference was discussed. With Sandy McElroy's help and knowledge it should be a success.

PROGRAM

Pat Hannah ( RBC) and Mike Lewis (Olympic Rower ) gave a very good slide and video presentation on parts of the Olympics,past and present.

Weekly summary Feb 23rd 2010

2010-03-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

28 Members and one visitor.

Our visitor met us last year at Elk Lake and dropped in to see what we were about( he also wishes to sell his 14 foot boat).

Comments were made by yours truly concerning the Blue Whale Project taking place at Ellis Recycling on Harbour Road.

It is time to start thinking about Salmon Point, who is going and in what will you be staying.

It appears Fresh Water fishing is picking up on the local lakes . Someone not one of ours caught a 5lbr on Elk Lake recently.

Salt Water Clive is the only salt chucker so far this year and he caught a 28 Halibut.

Hatchery Rob reported that the speaker gave an informative talk on west coast salmon.

A discussion ensued over the number of seals and amount of salmon they consume.

PROGRAM

Mr. Richard Stanton gave us a slide presentation of his trip to Japan in the 1960s

Weekly meeting summary Februay 16th

2010-02-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

23 members present

Social Potluck supper Thursday Feb 18^th.

Fresh water fishing has not been too good at Durrance Lake for our members, but neither was Elk Lake for Sandy McElroy.

Fishing for Fun program Ida Ann Lake is to have the weeds knocked down and a layer of material laid to restrict new growth from forming. This will be at the intake end of the lake.

Saltwater fishing Clive caught a 30lb Halibut and his partner caught a 15lbr, they also hung into a very large dogfish which was released. Herring are running in the Gorge.

Hatchery The volunteers released 500 Coho smolts into Sandcut Creek on Saturday

The Active Living Conference on March 5^th in which we have a table is being co-ordinated by Sandy McElroy. Letter explaining our club( by Barry Proud ) was accepted and copies will be produced and distributed at the conference.

PROGRAM

A fascinating trip was made down to Harbour Road to view the Blue Whale Project. A Blue Whale was washed up on shore on PEI 20 years ago. It was buried and was exumed recently by UBC. The bones were shipped to Victoria and are being assembled by a group of Graduate students after a lot of work cleaning and repairing broken parts. The assembled skeleton will be displayed in a new building in Vancouver this Spring.

Visit to Blue Whale Project

2010-02-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

Victoria Golden Rods and Reels had the opportunity to view the Blue Whale Project. This Blue Whale was unearthed in PEI and is being reconstructed in Victoria, BC. This is a project sponsored by UBC and will be displayed in the lobby of the new Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC. Check out the Blue Whale Project Website for Open House dates. Visit our Flickr Site for more pictures

The Feds are coming!!!

2010-02-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

Cap’n Lesley told us at the Jan. 26 meeting that the federal Department of Transport has taken on three more inspectors to check boats in this area for licences and safety equipment. The enforcers are backed up with some pretty hefty fines.

Here’s what they require for equipment, with my definitions added in italics:

For unpowered craft less than six meters long, including canoes, rowboats and kayaks:

Personal protection equipment
1. One Canadian-approved personal flotation device or lifejacket of appropriate size for each person on board

2. One buoyant heaving line no less than 15 m (49’3”) in length (that’s any rope that will float and isn’t being used for any other purpose)

Boat safety equipment
3. One manual propelling device (paddle or oar, basically)

An anchor with no less than 15 m of cable, rope or chain in any combination

4. One bailer (they suggest making a scoop by cutting out the bottom of a four-litre plastic jug)

One manual water pump fitted with or accompanied by sufficient hose to enable a person using the pump to discharge water from the bilge of the vessel over the side of the vessel

5. If the freeboard is more than 20 inches, a reboarding device (hook-on ladder)

Navigation equipment

6. A sound-signalling device or a sound-signalling appliance (whistle or air-horn)

7. Navigation lights that meet the applicable standards set out in the Collision Regulations if the pleasure craft is operated after sunset and before sunrise or in periods of restricted visibility

For powered craft less than 6 metres (this includes electric motors):

All of the above, plus:

8. One watertight flashlight

Three flares of Type A, B or C

9. One 5BC fire extinguisher if equipped with an inboard engine, a fixed fuel tank of any size, or a fuel-burning cooking, heating or refrigerating appliance

And here’s what they want for licences:

For any powered craft of any size, including small boats using electric motors: A Pleasure Craft Operators Card.

For any craft with a 10 horsepower or bigger motor: A Pleasure Craft Licence, with the numbers displayed on both side of the bow of the boat.

Here’s an example of the kind of fines we’re looking at:

· Not having enough approved lifejackets on board: $200

· Not having the required proof of competency on board: $250

· Not having the required Pleasure Craft Licence on board: $250

And just to show your tax dollars are being well spent, you’ll be glad to know that local police and RCMP are enthusiastically joining in the hunt for unlicensed canoeists.

If you don’t have one, you can get your pleasure craft licence and numbers at the Service Canada office on Pandora – you’ll need proof of purchase of your boat, and personal ID. Lesley Head can help you with the test for your operator’s licence, if necessary.

Reintroduce Coho to Tetayut Creek

2010-02-14T13:35:00.000-08:00

> It's time to give you a bit of an update again. First, I've included some
> pictures that Dan Claxton sent along recording today's activity. Some of
> the volunteers were involved in out planting of our coho into Tetayut Creek.
> This watercourse was formerly known as Sandhill Creek and has a pretty
> healthy sea run cutthroat population. A good portion of the creek runs
> through the Tsawout First Nations Reserve and our members had the
> privilege of being invited onto the property to help release Goldstream coho. The
> coho no longer are found in the creek even though there were once solid
> returns.
> The Tetayut coho disappeared largely because their freshwater habitat
> upslope of the reserve was degraded due to agriculture and residential
> development. Some of these insults have been rectified but certainly not
> all. The Tsawout people have been front and center in restoring habitat
> and monitoring water quality. The other part of the equation has been the poor
> ocean survival aggravated by over fishing. Ocean conditions are turning
> around and harvest restrictions have reduced those losses. The Tsawout
> First Nations felt it was time to reintroduce coho and, having secured the
> necessary permits from DFO, invited our group to participate. So that's what we were doing.

>

>

Meeting Summary Feb 9th

2010-02-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

25 members present
Freshwater fishing several members out on Durrance Lake, all seem
to be catching fish on trolled flies ? Leeches,Wooley Buggers etc.
Saltwaterfishing nobody out on the saltchuck. There are several
fishermen on Craigflower Bridge trying for herring.
Awards Discussion of when is a person flyfishing ? When he is casting
a fly or trolling a fly. The general consensus was if he is using a fly to catch
fish then he is flyfishing.
ACS report will be in next newsletter
Hatchery now feeding fish as the water has warmed, all schools have
been supplied with eggs.
We have been accepted to have a booth at the Senior Living Conference
Sandy McElroy will coordinate this for us. We will need a few volunteers
to assist Sandy
.

PROGRAM

Executive meeting

Meeting Summary Feb 4/10

2010-02-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

26 members, no visitors

Bob Ladbury spoke on a Gray Whale skeleton which we are invited to view on Feb 16TH.

We can not change the name to Victoria Golden Rods and Reels Fishing and Social club

until approved by the membership at the Annual General Meeting in November.

We are waiting for a decision from Senior Living Magazine as to whether we will have a

table at their upcoming snr. Fair on March 5^th.

Our banner needs some repair , a new one slightly smaller would cost around $400.

Sandy R has offered to see what can be done and to do it.

Fresh water fishing Barry Proud no fish, Sandy McElroy no fish but John Edge on

Durrance Lake hit lots of small trout.

Hatchery general clean up,cleaning filters. There will not be a Seafood Festival at the

Tsawot reserve this year. Larry needs more Smile cards to be sold.

PROGRAM

A very interesting talk on the Neptune project.

Meeting Summary January 26th

2010-01-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

31 members present,

Fresh water fishing Rob and Frank out on Langford Lake , no fish but saw some cruising.

Saltwater fishing Nobody out from our club, but Sidney Anglers had a derby, largest fish a 9lb Chinook. Clive caught some crab,.he also mentioned that the use of Methanol in older outboard motors is causing some serious problems. Bob Wison was out at Constance Bank,no fish. Halibut season opens Feb 1^st.

Barry read out a letter from DFO minister Gail Shea to Merton concerning fish farms;

their placement, feeding concerns and sea lice problems.

Awards There will be a Bass trophy this year.

Fishing for Fun 5 groups are booked already.

Hatchery Picking and weighing eggs prior to shipping to the schools.

New Business Leslie mentioned 3 more fish cops will be on the water this year.

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STEWART THURBER 92 YEARS YOUNG TODAY

PROGRAM

Barb Small from the Family Caregivers Network Society

Meeting Summary January 19th

2010-01-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

28 members present

Social pot luck dinner Feb 18^th. Barry gave details of a Chinese dinner at the Purple Garden Restaurant on Jan 28^th.

Photos Ray Wallis brought in albums with pictures of club events in the last two years.

Fresh water fishing nobody out. Jim Mc. when trying out his new rod on Elk Lake

had the rowers come within 20 feet of him. Dennis told club of his dates for going to

Cluxewe in August.

Salt water fishing Clive just got back from California and mentioned the trip up the

coast road . Nobody out fishing.

Hatchery Doug Binns mentioned a cold weather program used back East that he gave

to Peter at the Hatchery to help us in avoiding frozen pipes.

Sgt. At Arms had a field day collecting fines .

No program as it was Executive meeting day.

Meeting Summary January 12, 2010

2010-01-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

27 members plus one new member, Patrick Alexander.

Two motions passed, (1) that we apply for a table at the Senior Living show,and

(2) that we purchase fly pins (presented to guest speakers) at a cost no more than $250.00

Fresh water fishing Robert and his grandchildren fishing at Ida Ann lake caught several trout

which had been feasting on snails.

Fishing for Fun, we have 5 cub packs interested in our program for this year starting in April.

Dennis reviewed the trip up island for this year. Dates to be finalized.

Hatchery Doug Binns stated that egg picking was the order of the day and 22,000eggs

were picked on Friday.

Larry mentioned Smile cards are not going as quickly as he would like them to.

Leslie appraised of the cost of different venues and her qualification and ability to drive a

bus should we decide to do any touring by bus on the Island this year.

Our Sgt. At Arms was back from the warmth of Mexico and had no trouble collecting

fines.

PROGRAM

Due to the flu our speaker was unable to appear so our world traveled secretary stepped

in and gave us a brief talk on his time working in part of Africa.

December 15th Meeting summary

2009-12-31T17:10:00.000-08:00

29 members present.
Social Sandy R mention Ian and Leslies pot luck lunch on the 17th.
Bill Carnes thanked everyone for a great year. Christmas party was a great success.

Fresh water fishing no one out.

Salt water fishing Still excellent for 7 to 9 lb chinooks. Clive out on Saturday,fishing at
170 feet on a green and white Coyote spoon.

Hatchery checking morts and feeding live ones.

Awards Jim Mcdonald reported on number of fish entered in club this year

65 trout
4 Chinook
4 Coho
1 Halibut
there were many more fish caught than those entered but some were considered too small and others were probably Pinks.
New business Barry P explained his cruise on the navy frigate Regina and is trying to arrange something for the club in the spring.

this is the last meeting of 2009. Next meeting January 5, 2010.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

December 8th meeting Summary

2009-12-31T17:06:00.000-08:00

25 members present

Fresh water fishing Jim McDonald took a young lad fishing on Ida Ann Lake and they caught 5 trout. They met a RCMP officer who wanted to know about the fishing. Don Walker tried Elk Lake ,nothing. Sandy McIntyre fished the Cowichan River with no success,the river was too high.

Salt water fishing Sooke Bluffs still the place to be.

Awards Jim McDonald has all the trophies for Christmas dinner presentation.

Fishing for Fun program has finished for this year will start in the spring. Jim has bought some new rods and is putting new line on the old ones.

Hatchery It is rest time out there , not much to do .We do have some problems with frozen pipes but nothing that our very competent volunteer plumbers can't fix.

ACS report given,possible shutdown of Chinook fishing for 2 or 3 months.

PROGRAM

Sandy McIntyre gave an interesting talk and video on Spey fishing.

November 24 Meeting Summary

2009-12-31T17:03:00.000-08:00

29 members present
Social A quick mention was made concerning the over 85 lunch last week. We had 12
people at the head table. Ted Adams was the guest of honour.

Fresh Water Fishing only Ron Estey braved the elements up at Durrance Lake for 1 small
trout.

Salt Water Fishing Sooke Bluffs and Saanich Inlet around Pat Bay have been active for winter Springs.

Awards all the trophies are bought and will be presented at the Christmas dinner.

Fishing for Fun has been very successful, ordinary garden worms have been the best bait
( surprise,surprise ) We have unfortunately lost 5 fishing rods which will be replaced. April or May will be the start of next years campaign.

Hatchery continuing to take Coho eggs, looking to harvest approximately 200,000.
Bus tours continue with school children seeing the whole process.

PROGRAM

Dr. Richard McKay giving an interesting talk on Vancouver Island cougars.

Meeting Summary November 17th

2009-11-19T19:29:00.000-08:00

29 members and 5 visitors
No freshwater fishing
Social - Goldstream Picnic and over 85 lunch were well attended and a great success.
Saltwater - prawns close at the end of Nov , and all Dec. +
Fishing for fun program is buzzing along, one group of scouts to be trained this week.
Hatchery - egg taking this past week, should have enough for school programs.
Awards - Jim McDonald has everything shipshape.
Election of officers took place , with several newer members accepting positions.

Program today was a luncheon celebrating 12 of our members over 85 years of age, with the guest of honour being 100.

Meeting Summary November 10th

2009-11-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

21 members present and no visitors
Social - Goldstream Park on Thursday, hot dogs,soup and deserts..Thursday Nov 19th over 85s lunch at Seniors center ,Ted Adams will be guest of honor..Dec 9th Christmas dinner at Cedar Hill Golf Course. Tickets are $ 40.00 each.
Freshwater fishing - There was great fishing on the Sooke River for Chums and Coho Paul Carnes was down from Williams Lake and gave a brief talk on fishing on the Bella Coola River for Coho using a prawn fly
Saltwater fishing - Nobody has been out. Clive mentioned prawns open on the 16th and Bamberton beach is open for clams but the low tides are all at midnight.
Environment - C.R.D., Barry attended the meeting,a long discussion on Elk Lake, nothing resolved. John Edge at the Sports Fisheries Advisory Board meeting,several items discussed . Race Rocks is a Marine Protected Area out to 20 fathoms. Fraser River Chinook salmon in trouble in Georgia Strait.

Speaker from CFB Esquimalt Submariners- interesting talk - history of submarines in our Navy and life on board.

Reoccuring theme

2009-11-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

If you happen to look at our pictures on our Gallery page you will notice a reoccuring theme. This is food. Since the weather is not conducive to fishing at the moment our club is having a great time eating. In the past four weeks we have had 3 events, Halloween Dinner, Goldstream Park cook out and our over 85 (years) birthday celebration. What a group!!

August Corn Roast

2009-08-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

The Social Committee was all ready for the August 20th Corn Roast, prepared to meet at the Saanich Historical Society grounds at 10:00 a.m. The Social butterfly with the supplies was running late so requested that the rest of the committee be late too. The corn and goodies arrived at 10:15 ( wow we were early). Lorraine & Leon were waiting for us, Jim, Doris & Lucy just arriving. They were immediately put to work shucking the corn. As the rest of the committee arrived, they too got into the corn. As more people arrived, more help was offered. As they say many hands make light work, and with all the wonderful people in this club, the work was light. Desserts were arriving faster than you can imagine. The cooks were in place shortly after 11:00. After a slight delay Bob had the corn on the boil and a couple of batches done before noon. The call to lunch was made, buns, wieners & corn started to disappear. I hope the cooks got to eat. We had several guests, some potential new members some grandchildren, even some four legged guests, with I must say were all very well behaved. We raised a few dollars by selling left over corn. Peter is a great salesman. The wieners and buns that were left will go to Buttle Lake. There was the equivalent of one pie and a few Tim Bits left over, I don't throw anything out so Art had to eat them. Thanks to the members of the committee and everyone else who helped (if I named them all I would have to name everyone in the fishing club). It was a great day!!!

Meeting Summary July 28th

2009-08-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

30 members in attendance plus 2 visitors, Colin and Margret Creighton, Bob Ladburys daughter

and husband.

Social..... the corn feast is on August 20^th.

Bob Ladbury announced today's speaker would be Dr. Jim Boutillier.

Barry Proudbought out the smile cards with good response from the members.

Fresh water fishing..... Rob was out but no luck. Ray Wallis was up at

Roche Lake and the fishing was fantastic.

Salt water fishing...... Clive was out on Thursday fishing in 350ft of

water and down 140 ft on the downrigger when he caught a 30lb chinook.

PROGRAM

Dr. Jim Boutillier gave some serious mention about the pirates who are attacking

shipping of Malaysia and Somalia.

Meeting Summary July 21st

2009-08-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

17 members members and 1 guest, Yvonne Elliot.

Barry Proud will handle the smile cards while Larry is away.

There was a short discussion on the boating/rower accident that Bill Carnes

had on Elk Lake.

Ray and Shirley Wallis are doing a great job on the photo albums.

Fresh water fishing Rob found out his mysterious little fish were Sandlance.

He did not catch any fish from the beach. Gord and Barry caught 1 fish each at Elk

Lake.

Salt water fishing Clive went prospecting. He tried fishing out in Sidney

but it was really foggy , he still came home with a 12 lbr.

Sgt. At Arms showed some of the pictures of his Charlottes trip.

Meeting Summary July 14th

2009-07-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

-27 members present

-Fresh Water...... Rob fished Cusheon Lake on Saltspring Lake gaught Bass and Trout but no great size. Bill Carnes tried grasshoppers on Elk Lake and caught 2 nice trout.

Bill was hit two times by rowers and reported same to Saanich police.

Rob was fishing off the beach and saw some unidentified small fish close to the beach, still does not know what they are .

Don Walker was up at Fraser Lake and caught loads of trout with his son. Dennis is going up to Horne Lake at the end of July.

-Salt Water..... Clive has said the club salt water derby will be July 29^th , dawn til noon lunch will follow at Esquimalt Anglers. Peter Psaila caught two Coho, a 5 and a 10lbr. He also asked if anyone was interested in a guided halibut trip.

-Awards Jim McDonald is off to Montana on a fishing trip .He mentioned the smile card from

Thriftys. Barry Proud will look after this while Jim is away.

-Ray Wallis received the Mortimer Moose award for the “daring “rescue of his son while fishing up around Merrit.

-We will have our last meeting for the summer on JULY 28TH and will resume our meetings

SEPT 15TH.

Senior Living Magazine Article by Enise Olding

2009-07-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining at Elk Lake and in one of the sheltered picnic areas people are stir ring great pots of bubbling chili on a series of portable stoves. There are salads under wraps, the fixings for hotdogs are assembled and a Bundt cake along with other desserts waits alongside the plates, cups and napkins.
While the tempting food is prepared, some members of the Victoria Golden Rods and Reels Club sit in the sunshine and enjoy lively conversation, others are making their way up from the nearby lakeside and some are still hauling their boats out of the lake.
Now and then, there's the glimpse and gleam of a fresh caught rainbow trout and some snatches of conversaon: "I had two in the boat and I made a fisherman's mistake and put them back in - never caught any more." And, "I don't eat fish." And, "if the fish don't come, then it's not that exciting, but I love the fresh air."

But what has a chili cook-off competition or the evening's presentation about a trip to Antarctica, have to do with fishing? Everything -ask any members -there's more to fishing than, well, just fishing.

Back in 1977, the Victoria Golden Rods and Reels started out as a fishing and social club with a goal, amongst others, to encourage retired people to enjoy outdoor recreation. As a result, members pour equal amounts of energy into the fishing and social aspects of the club. Combining a love and respect for the outdoors with social activities ensures all members can participate and get involved.
As their Web site indicates, "the club has a multi-faceted approach. Members include fresh and saltwater fishermen and women, stream fishers and fly fishers. Fishing techniques and ideas are shared. Fly tying techniques are taught in a social context, with good food and wine, at a member's house."

The story of how Sandy and Art Raven joined the club is typical: "We liked to fish and were looking for something interesting to do and found this club. We just love the people," they say. "Every-one is active and supportive. As far as clubs go,you're lucky if you get one-third of the people out, but with this club, everybody goes to everything. And, we make sure they are okay if we haven't seen them for a while," says Sandy, who is on the social committee and manages the club's website; Art is president of the club.

Dennis Gedney, the current vice- president, used to hear all about the club from his neighbour. He was working, at the time, but his neighbour was retired.
"I really envied my neighbour," he says, "he would tell me about the companionship within the club and the fish ing, and how great it was. As soon as 1 retired, the first thing 1 did was join."

Others heard about the club by way of pamphlets, the newspaper or from a
list of local clubs. Many arrived from out of the province or out of the country to take up retirement in the Victoria area and wanted to get back in touch with the out-doors, with the fishing they'd enjoyed years ago, or simply to become involved in an active and varied social group.

Shirley has been a member for two years and through her husband, Ray, a 19-year member, she participated in many of the club's activities. "I came to enjoy the social part of it," she says, "we have a nice Christmas dinner, there are potluck suppers and going on trips so 1 joined too."

The club meets each Tuesday at the Silver Threads Hall on Douglas Street, Victoria. "As part of the meeting, there is almost always a guest speaker or film. We have a vast range of speakers," says Club Secretary Barry Proud. They include members sharing their interesting life stories, local experts on fly tying techniques, estate planning, representatives from Fishries and Oceans Canada, university professors covering topics of general interest, travel and the outdoors.

While Elk Lake is a popular local spot for club members, organized camping is another way the group appreciates the outdoors. Each spring and fall a small group heads out to Buttle Lake for five days of camping.
Other popular destinations; -
River, Salmon Point and China Creek, and experiences while waiting for the fish of the the campfire.

The more serious side of the club has them tackling various projects, involving themselves in education and participating voluntarily in a broader range of conser-
vation and wildlife activities. In previous years, the club helped clean up O'Donnell
Creek, which flows into Elk Lake. And they helped build a sanitary station and
wheelchair accessible dock for fishing at the lake. More recently, club members
were in Sooke at a Cub Scout camp. "Eight of us tried to teach over 200 cubs
how to fish," says Barry Proud. "We were going all day with three stations taking
about eight cubs each at a time. At times, utter chaos reigned with lines in trees and rods all tangled up. We are all now recovering, but the cubs had lots of fun."

Today, before eating and then voting on their favourite chili, the official weigh-
ing of the day's catch is undertaken; long-time member John Edge's lIb 6 oz [680 g] catch nudged out two contenders.

Back in 1988, friends told John about "this great club," so he went to a meeting. "I would never have been a per- son to join a club, but I joined this one," he says. "Within two weeks, I was heading up a fish feeding project in Gold- stream," he laughs. John later became president for five years and was on the executive until this year. He says there are open companionships in the club, "people say 'anybody want to go with us' and anyone really is welcome. People help one another out."
With hundreds of years of combined fishing experience, the Victoria Golden Rods and Reels is the perfect place for everyone to learn how to fish or hone their skills. As their Web site says: "whether one comes to learn fishing techniques, or to find a fishing partner, or to enjoy the camping trips, or to participate in the conservation activities, or to listen to the inspirational speakers, one is sure to find friendship, companionship and a further enriched lifestyle."

As the sun kissed, well Fed,cheery group deliberate on the merits of various chili recipes, the words of Dennis Gedney might well sum up the satisfaction that comes from being part of the Victoria Golden Rods and Reels. "I like the companionship. I like the serenity and the quiet of the lake. It is complete wilderness. The solitude. When I am fishing, there is nothing else on my mind and the cares of the world are gone."

written by Enise Olding for Senoir Living Magazine, July 2009

Meeting Summary July 7th

2009-07-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

There were 28 members and no guests

A big thank you was given to Barry aand Zoila Proud for the dinner on Sunday evening.

It was suggested all members pick up a copy of the latest Senior Living Magazine which has an article on the Victoria Golden Rods and Reels.

Fresh Water Fishing.....the lake waters have warmed up and fishing seems to have slowed down. Ron Este tried for bass on Prospect Lake with no luck.

Salt Water Fishing.....is picking up. Our club will have a derby and lunch at Esquimalt Anglers on July 22 or 29th . Clive will decide by our next meeting.
Several salmon were caught recently by members, Peter Psaila a 24 lbr,
John Edge 16 lbr and Art a 13lb 10 oz spring.
Dennis said Margret Bay has fish chasing bait all over.

Our picture albums have been brought up to date by Shirley and Ray Wallis,

PROGRAM

A great video was shown on Alaskan Grizzly bears feasting on the abundant salmon in the various State Parks Rivers.

Meeting Summary June 30th

2009-07-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

27 members present plus Sarah Modrow ( new member soon? )

-Fresh water fishing Rob didn't get out, On Elk Lake Dennis caught a 5lb 130z Rainbow, Ray W. caught 4 fish and Bill C. said fishing was good.

-Salt water fishing ….. Clive and a friend hooked 32 fish boated and released12, kept 2 small Coho and 1 Jack.
Frank told us of the recent trip to the Charlottes,lots of fish.
Clive and Rob out after Crabs and did well. Clive caught a 17 lb Halibut off Sidney Island and at Pender Bluffs lost a 20lb Salmon.

-Awards ….. Jim McD sent in an application for another Smile card.

Sgt. At Arms mentioned that on the Charlottes trip there were 39 fishermen who brought back 3500lbs of fish which works out to 110lbs of fillets each.

-Leslie and Ians Pot Luck is on Sept. 3rd. Their fruit trees will be ripening soon club members are invited to take all that they want.

-A suggestion made to make Wes McKay an honorary member will be reviewed at the next Executive meeting.

Meeting Summary June 16th

2009-06-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

22 members present plus one visitor, Sarah Modrow.

-Barry and Zoila proud have invited one and all to their house

on July 5^th. They will generously supply dinner, please bring your dishes,cutlery and chairs.

-Fresh Water fishing Rob was not able to fish this week

Ray Wallis had an interesting trip in the Interior, with lost boat, tipped

over boat and oldest son floating around with no life jacket. But, alls

well that ends well.

Barry Proud had Saanich Fire Dept. assist him with a flat tire on his

boat trailer.

Jim McDonald tried to fish on Tsawout Reserve, told not to.

-Salt Water Fishing Good most places, Sidney Anglers derby

winner was Colin Menzies.

Clive stated Sidney boat ramp is hard to use on a windy day.

-Sgt. At Arms had a rhubarb sale again.

Bass fishing opens June 16^th.
Dennis' son wants to sell his boat, contact Dennis for info.

"Fishing for Fun"

2009-06-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

the Golden Rods and Reels have undertaken a project they call " Fishing for Fun" Check out our Project section on our "about us" page for more info and photos

Meeting Summary June 9th

2009-06-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

-26 members present

-Fresh water ….. Rob said not good, Dennis said it was good ( really good ),Ron Estey

caught a Carp and Barry had great success, all on Elk Lake.

Bob Wilson lots of fish at Loon Lake on Jim's flys.

Need repairs to Electric motors contact Mikes Repair shop.

Rob will print Solunar tables for Elk Lake in newsletter.

-Salt water ….. The Seafood festival was a great success,loads of Sockeye,Clams

Oysters,Scallops,mussels,crab, and octopus,plus a chance to try Sea Urchin.

This all took place on the Tsawout Reserve on Sunday.

There is also a good Coho fishery right of the beach , check at Band office to be able

to fish there.

-Hatchery …... Clean-up is the order of the day plus feeding thousands of fish.

-Rhubarb will be available at Bob Spooners onWednesday.

Meeting Summary June 2nd

2009-06-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

23 members present and 1 visitor, Ray McArthur.

Several members recovering from various illnesses

No Treasurer report.

Photos---- Shirley Wallis has offered to put the pictures in the albums,

members are requested to give printed pictures to Shirley for editing

and display.

Fresh water ----lots of fish biting in Elk Lake,Barry Proud and charming

Zoila hooked the catch of the day when they caught two Chinese fellows line.

Salt water ----Cliveand partner caught two Springs out by Sheringham

a 12 and a 4 lber

The Tsawout First Nation is having a Seafood Festival on June 7^th at their

Reserve property out in Saanich. 1:00 pm. For lunch.

Awards ---- Jim McDonald stated there have been no entries in the Salt

water end.

Sgt. At Arms Leon, fined the late guys,and presented Barry with an

opportunity to share crop with Leon on an upsidedown Tomato plant

Barry gets to raise the plant and Leon shares the Tomatos.

PROGRAM

Dr.Griffin from the museum gave a historical look at the old Bamberton

Cement plant.

GARAGE SALE

We made $572.21 at the sale. This figure must be checked by the Treasurer.

There was a fair amount of non-saleable stuff which we had to get rid of.

The suggestion has been made that we drop the Garage sale next year.

1st Picnic of the Summer

2009-06-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

Our seniors ordered sunshine for our first picnic of the summer. We had a great turnout, fabulous food and wonderful company. Plus there were many fish stories to highlight the day.

Meeting Summary May 26th

2009-06-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

31 members present.

The “Fishing for Fun” program has purchased of some fishing equipment for our Cub program.

Sick and visiting Chair person stated Merton still in hospital, Dave Cromack also in

hospital in Vancouver, Doris Humphries just getting over a Gall bladder operation, the Jones are still coping.

We need a volunteer to keep up our picture display books.

Fresh water ---- Robert stated there was good fishing virtually everywhere on the

local lakes. He also had quite a story about L angford Lake fishing. John Edge and

Jim Mc. Had good fishing on Elk Lake.

Salt water ---- Clive won 2^nd place in the Sidney Anglers Derby with a 12lb 11oz

chinook.. John Guinane and friend caught 4 halibut at Constance Bank.

Newwsletter needs articles.

Sgt. at Arms sold a large amount of rubarb and enhanced the clubs coffers by $25.00.

Buttle Lake trip was fully described in glowing terms by those who went.

May Mortimer

2009-06-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

The Mortimer Award for the Month of May has to go to Don Walker. Anyone would agree, when a Senior ( or anyone for that matter) can catch a trout like that he deserves it.

The Greatest Catch

2009-05-25T20:41:00.001-07:00

Where does the Victoria Seniors Fishing Club go when they leave Victoria to go fishing. They go to Buttle Lake of course. For many years the club has been going to the Ralph River Provincial Campsite on Buttle Lake. There was a group of ten of us just returned from five days of fishing, telling stories around the campfire and consuming countless calories together. The fishing was good, some couldn't keep the fish off of their hooks. There was a lot of 'catch and release'. The main lure was a “black wooley bugger” or “black leach” with a little touch of silver. The largest fish caught (and I must say the largest trout I have ever seen) was a 5 lb, 4 oz cutthroat trout. What a great catch!! Check out our Gallery page for some of the sights of our trip.

Our First Fresh Water Derby of the Season

2009-05-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

On April 30th in the early morning (before the Chili Cookout) there were seven club boats on the waters of Elk Lake trying for the largest catch. The total catch was 20 trout, although only three were brought in for weighing. John Edge had the biggest fish at 1 lb 5 oz, with Jim MacDonald and Ray Wallis tied for second at 1 lb 3 oz.

Who says seniors don't eat chil

2009-05-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

On April 30th our Seniors fishing club held it first and hopefully not its last Chili Challenge Cook Out and Pot Luck Lunch. It was an amazing sunny day, 30 some members attended with enough food to keep us going for days. There were 5 different Chili's competing for "The best darn Chili". Every one was good, every one was different, we had spicy, medium spicy, not so spicy, vegetarian and one with a South American flavour. We had fun tasting them all. Thank you to everyone who brought food, who helped keep us organized and clean up. For a fishing club they make pretty good chili.

Meeting summary April 28th, 2009

2009-04-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

-23 members present and one guest, Wynn Brown.
. -Sunshine Lady Ethel is back all be it with sore ribs after a bad slip.
-Fresh Water ....Ray Wallis caught a 3lbr plus a couple slightly less on Elk Lake.
The annual Gedney fishing trip to St. Mary lake was a huge success as usual.
Dennis' son won their derby. Dennis read out his log that he writes everytime he fishes.
Robert McConnell joined the Gedneys on this trip and enjoyed himself immensely.
-Salt Water.....There are high hopes for better Salmon fishing this year. According to
DFO predictions there should be 14 million pinks passing Victoria starting in
mid July and 5 million sockeye. We will have to wait and see.
-Hatchery .... Virtually all Chinook and Chums are ponded and are feeding well.
-Awards.... Jim McDonald needs more entries.
-Social.... Chili lunch at Elk Lake this Thursday.
-The instruction class for the Cubs will be this Saturday.

-PROGRAM
Pat and Peter Psaila presented us with a slide show of their recent trip to Antarctica.
Some problems with the equipment did not allow us to see it in colour , none the less
it was very interesting.

Meeting Summary April 14th

2009-04-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

-23 members, one visitor
-Peter Psaila mentioned Chili cookout, we would like more contestants. we ended up with 6 .
-Fresh water ---Frank and Rob had good fishing on Langford Lake. Dennis caught 4 around 2lbs on Elk Lake, he caught 5 in the derby but all were released. Largest trout in the derby was 4lbs 3 oz largest bass was 5lbs 13oz.
Bill Carnes said fishing was good on Elk.
-Salt water Peter Psaila's son caught prawns at 220ft in Saanich Iinlet plus one octopus. Over the long weekend
Sandy and I caught 163 prawns and 7 legal crabs generally around 200ft for the prawns and 80 ft for the crabs
-Hatchery...... ponding all the Chinooks and feeding them. Frank Szarkowicz received the coveted Mortimer Moose trophy for his heroic rescue of a trout by netting just as an eagle was going to snatch it from Rob's line, Of course Rob kept the fish.
-New business........Peter asked if anyone was interested in a charter Halibut trip this year?

-PROGRAM
-Bob Ladbury showed slides of a trip to Israel that he and his wife had taken a few years ago.

Chili Challenge /Ttrout Derby

2009-04-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

We have a GREAT EVENT planned for April 30^th and expect everyone to participate and have a lot of fun. The Social Club is planning an outdoor event at Eagle Beach on Elk Lake (near the Rowing Club) there is a covered area plus BBQ's. This event will be the GREAT CHILI COOKOFF CHALLENGE. We know from many previous lunches, dinners, etc that we have many great cooks in our club and we would like them to show off by entering their best chili. All members attending will vote for their favourite and the winner will be acknowledged. We understand that not everyone will cook a chili (and we hope not) because we need some sweet things too. We will put on a few Hot dogs and some onions.

This is only half the fun, the Social committee has teamed up the the Fresh Water committee (being that the Fresh Water is only one person we did team up on him) and plan to fill the morning of the 30^th with fishing at on Elk Lake. When the fishermen come off the water at noon they will have a nice crowd to show off their catch to.

If you are unable to fish at least you can come and eat and cheer on your favourite fisherman or cook.

meeting summary April 7th

2009-04-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

-28 members present, no visitors.
-Photos.. we need a new photographer, Eric Roberts has said he can take pictures and is willing to fill in for Wes.
would anyone else like to try?
-seems the trout are starting on the local lakes according to the fresh water fishermen. Ray W says they prefer an early lunch 11:30 to 12:30 this was confirmed by Jack M. Remember no Bass fishing between Apr 16 and June 15.
-No salt water fish have been caught by any members. There maybe a chance for Sockeye in Alberni this year
decision to be made April 23rd.
-Mark your calendar for June 10 which will be Spooners party
Our VGR and Rs garage sale will be May 30.
- There will be a chili cook -off on April 30 at EAGLE BEACH right behind the rowing club, this will be at
approximately 1:00pm after the club fishing derby. So come one come all and taste some fine chili and cheer
the fishermen.

-PROGRAM
Stephan Beckman , DFO,gave us an enlightening talk on the history of the Enforcement department of the DFO.

Meeting Summary March 31st

2009-04-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

-34 members present no guests
-there will be a social April 30th - fishout and chili for lunch
-TC free ad is missing and will be replaced
-Wes Mackay is losing his drivers license and will not be able to take pictures , we will need a new photographer
-Fresh Water ... Frank will be the net minder of the year, he netted a trout from the clutches of an Eagle, the trout had his claw marks on it when recovered
-Jim MacDonald caught 2 1/5 pounder, then caught the line in his prop, Barry fished on St. Mary's lake, got nothing, Dennis was on Elk Lake and didn't get any. Doug Estey reports Durrance Lake is really good
-3500 trout have been put in Elk Lake
-Garage Sale will be May 30 or June 6th
-Sargent at Arms had a cookies sale and netted $25.00 for the club

Program

David Misuki gave a recap of his research trip to Antarctica. Lots of slides and great information

March 24th Meeting Summary

2009-04-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

-33 members present, Ron Duncan a new visitor.
-Wes showed photos from 1988/89 and the present . Lots of fish back then.
-Fresh water---- Robert and Frank fished Langford Lake with no luck. Jim McDonald and grandson caught two on Elk, at least his grandson did. Dennis caught 4 up to 2lb 4oz 16 feet deep. Bill Carnes said lots of fish in Durrance.
-Salmon Point trip is June 22nd and Wednesday will be the dinner.
-Robert McConnell gave us some insight into the kind of weather we can expect based on past trends. It will be cooler.
-Salt water---Clive spoke about recent Halibut derby at Sidney Anglers,12 fish entered, 20 boats fishing, largest Halibut 181lbs. He did not land one. Prawns open April 1st in Saanich Inlet.
-Hatchery-----They are ponding all the hatched eggs.

-PROGRAM
-Merton Moriarty gave a spirited talk on the problems with fish farms and their effect on wild stock.
-

Meeting Sumary March 17th

2009-03-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

-Happy St. Patricks Day
-25 members and 1 guest present
-Peter Psaila back from the chills of Antartica
-Wes showed albums from 1986/87 (with loads offish caught by members) and the latest Dave Cromack patiently waiting for a heart transplant
-Fresh water John Edge did well fishing at Durrants Lake
-More fresh water, Dennis caught a 2.5 lber on Elk Lake. There will be the annual Bass Trout derby on Elk Lake April 11, $25.00 entry fee,$ 1000.00 for largest Bass and the same for largest Trout.
-The largest trout award for 2008 was presented to Eric Roberts, however the size was incorrect on the trophy and will have to be changed.
-The flycasting course was attended by four members with good results.
-Hatchery....we are now ponding some of our 250,000 Chinooks.
-Our local smugglers Barry and Peter had discussions with airport authorities which resulted in one member losing his booze and the other having no problem at all
-Sgt.at Arms will be gone for month of April, He sold 1 box cookies $5.00 and 2 pillows for a total of $ 7.50, putting$12.50 in the club kitty
PROGRAM
Two speakers from League Assets Corp. gave a short insight into IGW Investments.

Meeting Sumary March 10th

2009-03-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

-On March 10th there will be a fly casting course, weather permitting.
-Fresh water scene, Rob McConnell told a hilarious tale of a trip to Duggans Lake where he forgot the paddle for his canoe and had to borrow a shovel in lieu of
-Dennis reminded those going to Salmon Point that deposits are due now.
-Dennis also brought up the point that should anyone cstch a Carp on Elk Lake there will be a $ 25.00 reward for the largest one. He caught a 24.5 inch carp a few years ago on Elk Lake.
-Awards.....no entries yet.
-The Wolf Howl for the cubs will be held first weekend in May. We will need some volunteers.
-There will be at least one Bass trophy this year.
-A letter of reply from CRD to Wayne Zaccarelli concerning illegal bouys in Elk and Beaver Lakes was read out. Of course no decission to remove same by CRD.
-Another letter from the Executive of the Goldstream Hatchery stated their desire not to participate in or be in anyway involved with the Coalition of Ccncerned Anglers as this mayor could interfere with the Hatcheries charitable status.
-Sgt. at Arms has introduced a FINE FREE ticket which costs $3.10 for three months and $6.00 for 6 months, this enables offenders to not have to pay fines for that period.

Meeting Sumary March 3rd

2009-03-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

-24 members present, no visitors --St. Patrick Day lunch will be held on March 10th after the regular meeting
-August 20th will be the corn roast at Saanich Historical grounds
-Doug Dobyn caught 4 more trout at Durrance Lake last week
-On the salt water, Halibut opened this week, 1 fish per day, 2 in possession
-There have been two trout registered in our annual fishing derby. We will be changing a couple of old trophies to Bass trophies this year
-There will be a jamboree at Camp Barnard May 1 st weekend for 200 cubs, we will be teaching casting, fish anatomy and some knot tying. We will need some volunteers.
-Under Environment... a short comment was made on the increase of Jellyfish in the warmer climes due to the elimination of the large predator fish that prey on them.
-An aging damn up in the Central Lake area is causing some major concerns at the Robertson Creek Hatchery.
Program
Dr. Stephen Cross gave us a glimpse of what is happening and what can happen in the Aqua Culture industry. This was an extremely interesting talk.

February 17th Fishing club summary

2009-02-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

Weekly summary Feb 17th 2009

-26 members present, no visitors
-a big thank you was given to the social committee for the excellent pot luck dinner and the decorations.
-A thank you letter was received from Alex Raven ( Art’s grandson ) for the club’s help -in buying some chocolate bars for a school project.
-Wes showed albums from 1990 to 1992 and the latest.
-Doug Bins caught 3 trout in Durannce Lake on a red wooly bugger.
-Dennis displayed the new brochures and asked they be delivered to various locations.
-He also mentioned discounts available at various stores for club members.
-The cost for the brochures was $106.00 .
-Dave Cromack is home now after a session in Vancouver where they rewired his pacemaker. He hopes to be able to come to a few meetings soon.

Four-Mile Creek Hatchery

2009-02-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday Feb 11th, Jim Pearson (from the Goldstream Hatchery) and Art (from Golden Rods and Reels fishing club) went out to Port Renfrew and visited this small well-run hatchery. They traveled the West Coast Road on the way out there and saw some of the remains of the washouts and collapses of this area after the storms we had earlier this fall and winter. There are places where the road is only one lane wide usually on a corner. To get to the Hatchery, it is just a short distance from the long bridge across the swampy area and on the road to Lake Cowichan.This road is paved and in very good condition.

The reason for being there was to pick up some Coho eggs for the Howard English hatchery. We were very fortunate to get 20,000-eyed eggs from them.

The Four-Mile Creek Hatchery has collected 1,000,000 Chinook eggs this year and
140, 000 Coho eggs. Hopefully all will hatch and get us some great fishing in the future.

Mortimer has a new home

2009-02-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

We have finally broke the no fish barrier. Robert McConnell caught the FIRST FISH OF THE YEAR and was presented with our MORTIMER AWARD at our regular meeting. He caught a 22.5 inch cutthroat weighing 4lbs. This will be the one to beat!!

Meeting Sumary February 10th

2009-02-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

-Summary of minutes was read by acting secretary Arlene Darlington
-34 members present and two guests.
- Lesley and Ian have been away but will be back soon
-On the social scene, Feb 12th our pot luck dinner, March 10th will be a pot luck lunch after the meeting.
-Photos, Wes showed albums from 2006, 2007 and the latest.
-Robert McConell caught the first fish of the season with a 22.5 inch cutthroat weighing 4lbs He was fishing with his partner F rank. Robert won the coveted Mortimer Moose award for his accomplishment. Congratulations Robert.
-On the salt water Clive has not struck gold (read fish ) yet ,tried Prawns with no luck.
-Hatchery, just feeding fish and picking eggs, Art going out to Port Renfrew on Wednesday to pick up Coho eggs from Four Mile Creek Hatchery.
-The Sgt at Arms fined the president for starting the meeting early.
-Dennis announced the date for the boat show and that we need brochures and business cards and made mention of Buttle Lake and Cluxui also he has addresses of places to rent RVs.

Feb 3rd /2009 Fishing Club Meeting and Program

2009-02-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

-26 members present, Edna Hansen is home from the hospital.
-Pot luck dinner on the 12th Feb
-A map book was made up by Sandy to assist anyone who is picking up members to bring them to one of our functions.
-Wes McKay displayed photos from 1988 and 1989 plus the current one.
-On the fresh water scene, no fish for our members yet. Dennis’ son caught a 1 1/2lber on Elk Lake. It was 9 ft down and he was breaking ice with his boat .Who said we don’t have ice fishing in Victoria?
-Salt-water fishing was no better for our s/w chairman.
-BCWF had a meeting with DFOs minister Ms. SHEA .The 4 main concerns of BCWF were presented and it appears the minister was interested and took copious notes. These
concerns were: ( 1 ) halibut allocation for recreational fishers
( 2 ) salmon enhancement, more money for hatcheries,etc
( 3 ) supposed flood control ,re. Gravel rmoval on the
Fraser River
( 4 ) circle hooks, circle hooks will not foul hook fish,
BCWF has tried to have this looked into for 8 years.
-A short comment was made on (ISA) Infectious Salmon Anemia, which was featured on Global TV recently. ISA is a flue like disease, which affects farmed salmon. There has not been any ISA discovered in BC waters ever.
-Jim McDonald reported that March would be a good time for the fly casting course, cost around $50.00 He suggested we only need to give the length and the girth for entering a fishes size and he will figure out the weight for the awards.
-Sgt. At Arms, Leon, auctioned of two boxes of cookies plus fined a few people for various offences
-A question was raised about a calendar of events for the year, it is in the website and will be published in the newsletter. Another query was could we include web addresses of various sites; weather, wind etc. this was passed onto our web lady.
-Under old and new business Dennis mentioned the 18th annual trip to St.Marys Lake on Salt Spring Island and invited us to attend .He also discussed Cluxuwe .

PROGRAM

Dr. Kevin Butterworth gave an extremely interesting talk on sea lice. He cleared up several questions that have been floating around for quite along time.

Dr. Butterworth has conducted systematic investigations on the distribution, efficiacy and control of sea live on wild and farmed salmonid stocks in the Canadian Pacific Northwest and Norway.

January 27 Meeting Summary

2009-01-28T16:18:00.000-08:00

-A quick review of the signs of a stroke and 4 ways of checking if a person could have had one.
Remember ….. STRT .......
S-SPEECH is it slurred
T- TALK can they repeat a short sentence
R-RAISE can they raise their arm
T-TONGUE has the person stick it out, does it droop
In all cases call 911 IMMEDIATELY.

-23 members present and two visitors, Wynn Brown and Tom Paul, welcome to both of you and to Martin Brooks a new member.
-No fish so far, salt or fresh. Sidney Anglers Derby, 15 boats out, no fish.
-Jim McDonald asked for a motion to change the awards coffee mug to an etched glass beer mug this was approved.
-Ian Muirhead is willing to put on a fly casting course for interested members, dates and costs to be determined.
-The question of decorations for the potluck dinner was asked and passed onto the social committee
-
Sgt. At Arms, Leon, went on a tear and fined 6 members for various infractions, thereby making a dollar or two for the club plus he sold several herring jigs .

PROGRAM
Dr. McPherson, gave a very interesting talk on the Inuit of Pond Inlet on the northern tip of Baffin Island. Unfortunately his video display was not compatable with our equipment, hence no pictures.

January 20th meeting sumary

2009-01-28T16:14:00.000-08:00

Ø 26 members present
Ø Stu Thurber’s birthday is Jan 26th will be 91 congratulations Stu.
Ø Treasurer's report
Ø Still no fish caught by our members, Esquimalt Anglers Derby yielded 5 fish for thirty boats.
Ø Robert McConnel will be producing the newsletter while Dave Cromack is getting better, all articles for the newsletter must be given to Robert by Jan 28th.
Ø Leon, our Sgt. At Arms, read out a cute poem suggesting that Leon collect more moneys for our club through his fines.
Ø Dennis, our Vice President, has been looking into different locations for a camping trip for the club. Weirs Beach was one but it is too expensive with nothing to do there. He also mentioned Cluxui and his annual trip to St. Marys Lake on Saltspring Island.
Ø A short discussion was held on the inclusion of spouses and or significant others in the directory, Email addresses were mentioned but would not be included but could be on a separate sheet.
Ø The monthly Directors meeting was held after the regular meeting.

January 6th meeting summary

2009-01-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

-23 members and 1 new member
-Peter Psaila resigned as president, as he and Pat will be traveling extensively this year.
-Art Raven will serve as president.
-All committees reported, no fishermen out on fresh or salt water, nobody sick, no BCWF or ACS report.
-Comments on the TC advertisements (mystery fishing comments placed by someone who does not agree with DFOs ability to run the fishery)
-Awards were given out to Don Walker for hidden weight (trout) presented by Bill Carnes. -Wes McKay displayed pictures from both the trip to Goldstream Park and the Christmas party. -The club is looking for donations of trout rods and reels for our Go Fish program.
Program.
Barry Proud gave an interesting talk on his recent trip to Uganda and finished with his insight on past trips in Zambia.

Goldstream Outdoors

2008-12-28T15:25:00.001-08:00

Our annual pot luck lunch turned out great, lots of food and super turnout. Good returns of fish also.

Sustainable fisheries?

2008-11-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

There are new approaches being taken in the study of sustainable fisheries. Aquaculture can raise questions no matter which side of the plate you are eating from: concerns ranging from human consumption of fish treated with antibiotics to the transfer of disease from farmed fish to wild fish are lined up against interests in re-energizing local economies and satisfying an increasing worldwide appetite for seafood. UVic marine scientist Dr. Stephen Cross thinks he might have one kind of answer. The SEA –system (Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture) is the basis of research being conducted by Cross and his team from UVic. Its premise – polyculture--- has been used in Asia for thousands of years, and Cross has found a modern application off our shores. The organic wastes originating from fish farms are used by shellfish (scallops, mussels), kelp and sea cucumbers strategically placed around fish farms.

The science is getting the correct balance between the number of fish (thousands) and the type and quantity of other species that will naturally consume and hence clean up the waste.Dr. Cross admits their research does not address all the concerns about farmed fish . Instead this method of aquaculture can help enhance production, diversify the seafood industry and evolve best practices. He states that it is in our best interests to design food production systems to be ecologically sustainable.

Busy time at the Hatchery

2008-11-11T15:33:00.000-08:00

What an exciting couple of weeks it has been up at the Goldstream Hatchery. This is the busiest time of the year, with netting salmon, transporting them to the hatchery, separating them by specie and sex and then putting them in the correct tanks. We then have to check to see if the eggs are ripe and the males are ready to produce the sperm. When everything has matured then the egg taking begins.
Each female will produce approximately 2000 eggs or more. The fertilized eggs are put in trays, with fresh cold filtered water passing over them and left in the incubation room to hatch. In the meantime there are last years Coho to feed, chores and cleanup to do plus the inevitable coffee breaks where everything is discussed.
Just to take the boredom away we occasionally get a bear around the hatchery looking for a free meal. One recently crawled up on one of our fish holding covered tanks. On his way down he stood on the water intake valve and shut it of which resulted in a loss of some fish due to lack of oxygen . We had the Conservation Officer bring up a bear trap and he will relocate the bear when we catch him.
Each Friday is fish catching day as long as the fish keep coming into the river, our goal this year is to collect 1,000,000 chum eggs which will be distributed to the schools that chose to raise fish in their classrooms and release them in their local streams.

salmon parasite

2008-11-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

My neighbour phoned yesterday and asked if I could come over and describe what was wrong with the Pink salmon they were about to have for dinner. It seems they had bought a frozen Pink, thawed it and were filleting it when they discovered some white soft grain like ( about the size of dried rice ) pellets in the flesh. I had never experienced this before and could not give them an answer but I did tell them I would talk to Peter McCully at the Hatchery.

It turns out that this is a natural parasite found occasionally in both Pink and Chum Salmon. It is called HENNEGUYA .It occurs in fresh water and gets into the fishes system before they go to sea. It is only one of several parasites that these fish can acquire and it is destroyed in the cooking process .It affects the muscle structure of the fish tending to break it down quickly. It does not affect the flavour but is not pleasant to look at in the raw fish .

My neighbour was happy to find out it was nothing serious. She had wieners for supper and buried the rest of the fish under their apple tree .