Hello All 17,000 of you salmon people on this list!!

The Columbia River is now receiving near record daily numbers of sockeye salmon passing Bonneville Dam in Washington State! Their Technical Advisory Committee has upgraded the run as they are now expecting a return that will break the previous record set in 1955.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/reeltimenorthwest/2012202602_parts_of_the_columbia_river_op.html

Also people are cheering to see large numbers of sockeye returning to Spout Lake on western Vancouver Island. The fish are large and beautiful.

These two early returns suggest the North Pacific was full of good food for sockeye. These two runs were unaffected by last year's crash.

The indicators for the Fraser River are good. Some portion of sockeye return a year earlier than the rest of their generation and they are called "jacks." The number of jacks was extremely high last year. This suggests that this generation of Fraser sockeye made it out to sea in good shape and had a good first year at sea. In the past the number of jacks was an excellent predictor of the size of the next year's run, but the scientists who follow sockeye have found they are not as reliable as they use to be.

The Fraser River sockeye stocks are like a rope. They are many different runs that spawn in many different areas of the river and these runs are made of many generations. The generations are not all equal. There are dominant cycles and off-cycles. This is pulse of salmon life. All these individual strands of runs and cycles twine together like a strong, living rope. The strands are separate, but they twist together as they run to sea and back.

Fraser sockeye scientists are not able to predict returns anymore. While predictions remain true in Alaskan waters, something has changed in BC waters that no one has measured and factored into the models. There is a new and unknown variable having strong effect.

There is a good chance BC will be blessed with an abundant sockeye return to the Fraser River system. If we are lucky enough (and luck is now involved as mangers are running blind) please don't let the media tell you we don't need the Cohen Inquiry or any of the other investigations into the decline of the Fraser sockeye. I say this because this is what happened last year with the pink salmon returns. We were asked to believe that because we got one good run back, we could all abandon concerns and vigilance. The return this year is no indication the other years and runs have or will recover. In fact for reasons no one can explain yet, this strong Fraser cycle has been less impacted than all the others over the past ten years.

If we get this run back we can know there is hope and all the more reason to do everything we can to make sure BC and the world do not lose this generous fish.

I love this time of year, when hope rules and we wait to receive the power of the natural world to feed us, and our world. We are increasingly lucky to live in this part of the world where hope is still possible.

We are posting lots of news and updates at www.salmonaresacred.org

Also thank you for all your orders at alexandramorton.ca you are keeping me viable!

Dr. Alexandra Morton

I just wanted you to know that our 4 hour fishing excursion this morning was absolutely fabulous. The lunches provided were great and special consideration for my guest with celiac disease was much appreciated. Yves was tremendous; calm, informative and a true professional from a fishing and guiding perspective as well as a boat operator.

Our guest was overwhelmed by the experience and we will definitely recommend Yves for future trips. Oh and by the way we landed 2 huge sturgeons and 1 monster sturgeon during our short trip.

Thanks again,

Les Timar

Woodtone came out fishing with us and held a 3 boat derby. The prize couldn't be claimed because of a tie (10 fish each boat), and rather than calculating total size, or ro-sham-bo-ing for the $$$ they decided to give back to the community. See email below- I love little stories like this!

Hi Ria,

After a few laughs and beers on the boats the money from the derby will be donated Children’s Hospital in Vancouver $400 US in the name of Woodtone, BlueLinx and Friedman’s. The largest fish caught was 8’6” by one of our US customers.

Community Support

Having been in business for over thirty years, Woodtone is firmly entrenched in the communities in which we operate. In 2008 we formed a dedicated team, the Community Builders Team, which is tasked with giving back to our communities and providing opportunities for our employees to volunteer. At Woodtone, our employees are our finest resource and what better way to support our community than with our employee’s time and skills.

We kicked off our program with Earth Day centered activities like the Fraser River Clean Up. The enthusiasm spread through our company and now we are the proud sponsors of the Narbeck Wetland and have organized other activities like tree planting, park invasive species removal and built emergency shelters for a school. We have supported local sports teams, donated books, toys and food to local Community Services organizations, sponsored families at Christmas and even rolled up our sleeves and cleaned up garbage on our street! If there is one thing we have found, is that there is a tremendous desire within our employees to support local causes and Woodtone is equally excited to organize such events.

Thanks Mike

One of our boats yesterday ended up with 3 six footers among 7 other fish... there may have been a 7 foot 6? I recall that in the conversation but the paint fumes are negatively affecting my memory right now!!

The water has coloured up a just enough to make the fishing HOT! Nice sunny days will do that!

Hi Ria, a little sample of what's been happening on the Pitt! Most fish are between 2 and 4 lbs and are real fresh.
Enjoy,
Erik

Brian has already been here for 3 days waiting for a big fish on his line. About 5 mins after we sorted out the credit card troubles and the trip was paid for in full- he had a 6 footer on the line!

Monetary Karma!

This picture is classic June.

I love June-
#1- it's my birthday month (feel free to send me a present!)

#2- it's when camping actually starts! (May Long is NOT the start, it always snows or rains somewhere in BC during Victoria Day weekend)

#3- the Salmon start coming in in bigger numbers therefore the sturgeon get busier feeding and the buzz is super exciting!

#4- a couple of our guides that head up to Langara Fishing Lodge are tucked securely away in their staff cabins 800kms up North- this means that Mike Neufeld is NOT on the river on his days off stealing the good sturgeon spots and heckling you on the radio about how he just caught a 7 footer and IF you want the spot now you can move in for the leftovers...

#5- the longest day of the year is very fast approaching!

This picture is classic June- a big fish, and a very washed away river bank. The big fish are very fun to fight during a fast flow! Watch out for logs!
Call us for bookings- PS Bull Trout fishing on the Upper Pitt has started!