Good day,
Just a comment. I heard this year when you passed the rod to another angler the person that passes the rod would have to tag the fish. B'y I don't think this is right. When a fisherman can pass the rod to another angler then that fisherman must catch a lot of fish their self already. So its not really fair for that fisherman to tag a fish somebody else landed, especially when the novice fisherman, most likely, wouldn't use all if any of their tags. So I thought for a fisherman to be able to hand over a fish to a novice angler was marvellous. And we only have 6 tags, well I find it more like 4 tags, cause 2 you need to use in August. So to tag someone else's fish would be terrible.
When I started fishing about 10 years ago, it took me 3 years before I got my first salmon on. Man it would have been awesome back then if this rule was around and I was able to play a few fish and fill a couple of tags. I really thought we were headed in a positive direction last year when these rules came about.
Just to give you an example. Last year I was fishing in Main Brook River by the St. Anthony Airport and there was a middle aged man there fishing away at the Gate. It was no trouble to tell he was novice by the way he was fishing and the foot and half leader he had on his line. Well I set him up with a longer leader and the world famous Smokey Bomber coated in Gink, and he spent the next few hours fishing dedicated cast over cast on the river. Meantime I was fishing just down for him and rose 1 a couple of times, I think the other fisherman was getting more excited then I was. Well anyways just before dark I got that salmon on. Don't say buddy wasn't excited. Well I said to him, you want to play him out. By'' ? - He didn't hesitate. He grabbed the line and rod in one hand and tried to come on ashore with him as if he were a trout. Well I talked him through it that you need to use the drag of the reel and play him out for a while before he needs to come in. Well he got him in, luckily. That man was shaking in excitement. Well, when after he got him tagged he expressed his gratitude, and said "The misses isn't going to believe this, what a feed were going to have tonight." That was one of the top 10 moments I had on the river in the 10 years I've been fishing and man I love fishing. This year if I were to pass the rod, I would have let him play out the fish for 10 minutes and when he got him on shore I'd have to say no b'y, I got to put my tag on that one. I don't know if it would have been such a good story then.
I guess I'm just writing this to show you guys that though there are some people out there that abuse their right there are others who take these benefits and do some right with them. And also I've notice that fisherman are becoming very protective over the salmon, very nice to see. This year esspecially with all the big fish in the rivers. I've seen many fisherman let their line go slack and let the fish go right away if they look too big. What I am trying to say here is there must be someway of setting the rule up so that it cant be abused. Most fisherman abide by the rules and will contact DFO if they see others not abiding by the rules. It's pretty bad when just a small percentage of fisherman make it bad for everyone else.
P.S. I love the new tags, should have been done that way a long time ago. I think this will have a positive outcome for the number of salmon in the rivers and even give the novice fisherman better advantage.
Thank you for your time, Tight lines all around, DHJ
(Thank you for these comments - Seems everyone agrees tha tags are making a Difference, Co-Editor)
Some of the reasoning people are giving for agreeing with the pass the rod are just ridiculous. So others can experience the thrill of playing a salmon? My wife hooked and landed her own fish, and she isn`t a experienced fisherman. Actually part of the experience of salmon fishing is the relaxing environment and learning how to read the pools and show some patience. Your actually robbing someone from experiencing salmon fishing, and replacing it with catching, big difference. And if it really is neccesary to hook a fish for your spouse or child, you could always do that. People who say that are using it as a excuse to retain the extra 6 fish. If you really wanted your wife to experience this joy, why don`t you let her land your tagged fish. EXCUSES, EXCUSES.
My comments to DFO. -> Do not deny there is an issue about passing the rod!! Your Federal Enforcement people are trying to deny it or saying they are not aware of the issue. If they are not aware of it then they are not on the rivers and should lose there jobs!! Stop the practice all together - this allows an unlimited fishery and those "fisher persons" going home with the fish are sure not recording their catch here. Most of them do not even know how to tag the fish after they have played it for 20 seconds. If you do allow passing the rod keep it to the Family License - that way you are limiting the kill to the original 6 fish allowed on the license and it will let young people have the fun of playing the fish. You are allowing unlimited #'s of salmon to be taken. Shame on you!!! If you don't limit pass the rod, why bother to have tags let it be an unlimited fishery!! Shame on you again. On the subject of tags - You must get a better tag system - people are opening the tags for fun - come on with the surplus the government has spend a few extra dollars and get a better tag system.
First off, hats off to you folks at Spawn for the website and the rest of the wonderful work that you do. A fine job, indeed. I noticed earlier this morning that you have a notice on the website regarding a situation whereby a fish is hooked, the rod is handed over to a companion, the fish is landed and then tagged by the individual that landed the fish. I'd like to contribute to this, if I may.
I admit that I have been aware of this rule for some time after having a conversation with a DFO official last summer. At that time I was doing some fishing with my father who had 2 tags left to fill and so I had posed the question then to see what the rights of it were. I was told by the DFO official that it was perfectly legal for me to hook a fish, pass my rod to my father (provided he held a valid license) who could then tag the fish if he landed it. I advised the official at the time that I would keep his name and phone number in my fishing vest in case I was observed doing this and someone became concerned.
I can see how this ruling could be easily abused (like anything else, I suppose) and I think that there should be more clarification surrounding this scenario. I'd like to see more information on this scenario as well as what other anglers are thinking/saying about it. Keep up the good work, and tight lines.
This practice should not be allowed as I am aware of people buying licenses and going on the river to get others to hook the fish to fill there tags. These are people who would not fish otherwise. It is increasing the demand on the already weakened runs of fish. Salmon angling is supposed to be a sport not a way of feeding families. I feel that if you hook the fish, your tag must go on that fish, no matter who lands it. Great magazine and web site guys, I am always checking in the reports and stats.
I heard this was legal last weekend. I wasn't sure if it was true or not. What do you call abuse? If I hook a salmon for someone and they land and tag it, how can I be abusing that privilege?
The practice of buying tags for family members has been going on for years this passing the rod thing has made it legal. For example this weekend I am coming over with my family if my wife buys a family license or if we buy three more licenses between myself and my friend we could legally and easily fill all of those tags in 3 days 12 fish (we would never)! Not to brag just a fact I was on the Humber for 10 days and hooked an average of 8 fish/day many were lost however I managed to release 4 every day. That was forty fish that could have been retained if I brought friends relatives etc along. I could give you names of at least three people who are doing this. Traveling to the river every morning with family members. As a former Fishery officer this practice in Nova Scotia was not legal. I am surprised you have not heard of this before now it is all the talk last week among responsible anglers on how could this be allowed. My sense on these sort of things is that DFO thinks they cannot enforce it. If that is true let the anglers enforce it by keeping others in place. I would like to see the law as it is written if you have a copy of it that would be helpful.
SPAWN,
I have witnessed people passing the rod on a number of occasions already this year (Humber River), Fathers passing the rod to their son, husbands pass the rod to wives, grandfathers passing the rod to grandchildren. I even hooked a fish and passed it to my father! He lost the fish so he never tagged it. If he did land the fish I think he should be aloud to put his tag on it. We would have had a great meal at our Cabin. The meat is not an issue for us, we could of bought 300 pounds of salmon at $5.50 a pound for the amount of money we spend that weekend for the trip. Me and my father don’t get to spend that much time together because it is so hard to get weekends from work, this past weekend we traveled to the Humber and spent a few days fishing. My father is new to the sport and we arranged a few days on the Humber (Big Falls). I hooked a fish and gave him the rod and I have to say it was one of the happiest times I have ever saw him. His face was lit with joy playing that fish. I am a regular salmon angler and take part in the fishery immensely every year. It was great to be able to share such a thing with my father. For us it’s not a matter of how many fish we hooked but the enjoyment of spending time on the river together. He is already talking about making it an annual event for me and him to get away for a weekend every year for a salmon fishing trip, he says his life is passing him by and he don’t take enough time to enjoy what matters the most in this life - family. I think that this feeling was derived from the feeling he got while playing the salmon, if he never got to play the salmon he probably would have had a different feeling towards Salmon fishing (probably think that trouting would be better way to spend quality time). Since he is new to the sport it would probably take him years to hook a salmon on his own, I am a believer that some people haven’t got the patience and rod handling capability to hook fish. I think that you should only be able to pass the rod to someone in your immediate family. This practice is a great way to get the family involved with the sport. It is hard to find activities in which the whole family can get involved. I think this is a great way to bring a family together. I hope I have given you another point of view with the issue of passing the rod and tagging a fish.
Just returned from my second trip this year to Humber. This time with my 10 year old daughter. We were the first to be across the river on Sunday in Boat fished Goosney’s Rock. It was like catching caplin. I am very serious about that. Almost every cast resulted in moving a fish for about two hours she had a ball. We retained NONE! Later the same day I watched an angler on Mcgins retain two and passed the rod to other anglers who all retained 2 for a total of 10 fish killed all hooked by the same angler. Not sure why because my daughter hooked several without casting trailing a pink bomber behind the boat. Those other people should be ashamed of themselves. For the last two days most boats had a wife on board never seen so many women on the river I wonder why. Even the guardians told me that it is ridiculous. Please as a group lets stop the slaughter. Not to mention the same guys who take two everyday since middle of June. I have seen one guy take well over 30 since June 15th. It is out of control good thing that the river can stand it this year. On a positive note the 4 and 2 thing is working for the legal minded as I have seen many fishe released this year more than every. Thanks let do something about the tag system!!
The following is my take on the Passing of the rod Issue.
First off, great job on the web site which is a fantastic source of information regarding the various topics related to angling in Newfoundland & Labrador. With that in mind, I'd like to take this opportunity to put in my 2 cents on the "passing the rod" issue. Although I'm all for passing the rod so that the thrill of playing a salmon can be enjoyed by novice anglers, I am disappointed with the regulation allowing the lander to tag fish. Previous to this "unofficial" regulation, the rod (and thrill) could be passed to another angler, keeping the focus on recreation. Now, the lander has the option to retain the fish which will ultimately result in more salmon being killed prior to spawning. There are a number of other factors that continue to effect the well being of salmon stocks such as poaching, bait nets, seals, reduction of caplin stocks, etc. From a conservation perspective, the question needs to be asked, does the amount of salmon being killed by passing the rod increase the threat to future salmon stocks? As I see it, the known influences cause enough destruction to salmon stocks, why add another potential source of stock reduction to the mix. In the near term, passing the rod does not help increase salmon stocks, it only adds additional pressure. On the other hand, if allowing passing of the rod increases salmon license sales, thereby generating increased revenue which can then be used by DFO to better monitor and protect the resource, it 's a good strategy provided it is done in moderation. A good compromise would be to have limitations on passing of the rod, such as some of the following: red tag use only, both anglers must be on a family license, both anglers must use one tag each on the fish, etc. The primary objective of any regulatory changes made by DFO should be long term improvements of salmon stocks rather then how to get more fish home to the freezer. Ideally, any changes that help salmon stock growth in the long term will only result in more anglers hooking more fish, thus, the need to pass a rod will be reduced. With that in mind, more effort needs to be given to increasing the number of fish in our rivers, before taking more fish from them. Thanks for the opportunity to express my thoughts.
First of all, I can't seem to locate this new so called rule in the 08 guide book. Can you identify what section and page this is on? Thanks. If it is true, I don't agree with it simply because more salmon will be tagged/abused, killed, etc. We have this delicate and enjoyable resource in our Province that needs to be handled correctly. I witnessed it first hand last week while fishing at big falls. I had an angler ask me if I had an extra tag handy or if I wanted one of his fish that he just caught as he was making his way across the river. I told him, I'm not interested because if I can't fill my own tags I don't want to fill it at all. To me, it's not about how many you can tag per party of anglers, it's about the thrill of rising a fish and the excitement when you have one on. He was surprised at my answer but this is a classic result of this so called new rule change, people are catching more then allowed and are handing them off to whomever is interested. Just doesn't seem right to me and if this rule is in affect it needs to be changed ASAP. I spoke to an angler on Salmonier river last night and we discussed this issue as well and he said the same thing, he can't recall reading anything about this rule and if it is true, it should be banned immediately. Looking forward to more information on this topic.
As a spawn member I am opposed to the practice of passing the rod to
another angler to kill and tag the fish this has defeated the whole
purpose of the tag system and jeopardizes years of conservation efforts
as responsible anglers. I watched an angler at big falls yesterday
offer his rod to two guys drinking beer with no gear a bag of tags.
They played the fish killed it and the angler did not even appear to
know them.
In nova Scotia we went through this and it is not legal to pass the rod
to another and then the other tag the fish. I could have filled several
peoples tags this past week and it is happening at big falls. Good
anglers are traveling with girl friends wives grandchildren neighbours
I saw it happen many times. There is no end to the amount of tags
available there is no Total allowable Catch (TAC) the tag system is not
effective now this?? I saw many many people go up over the bank with
two fish every day. Never saw a fishery officer in many years I could
elaborate. So please tell me that others have the same complaint and
SPAWn will work to change this practice and revamp the tag system! I
thought the 4 and 2 tag system on the Humber would be good as I was
first to bring the idea forward and for the average law abiding angler
it has done well. But now this passing the rod?? Most law abiding
anglers I spoke to think that the practice is wrong lets work to fix
this minor glitch.
In Quebec they have a paper tag must be used cannot be reopened or used
over. Must be dated and signed simple. I have more ideas and am willing
to help out as I am a DFO employee in Nova Scotia and can get the ear
of those that make regulations.