When it comes to fishing on Kanaka Creek in November, nets are a no-no, fishing rods are OK, for the month, as long as you’re upstream of the railway bridge.
Thursday, though, somebody thought they’d try a net and put the gillnetter into the stream near the junction with the Lougheed Highway, as well as at the oxbow bend near the observation tower, close to the Fraser River.
“It was in such a way that it wasn’t visible from shore,” said Ross Davies, with Kanaka Education and Environmental Partnership Society.
Davies said the nets were in the creek for a of couple days, but were then removed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Fortunately, six coho that were caught were still alive, then released back into the stream. But some chum died.
A derelict vessel was seen in the area, but no one’s been charged.
Davies said someone reported the net to a fishing store in Maple Ridge.
“Our sports anglers on the creek are the best enforcers we have. They’re our eyes and ears out there. We’re glad to have them.”
Davies said in November, sports anglers can catch one marked coho salmon per day out of Kanaka Creek, upstream of the CP Rail bridge. Coho at this time are usually silver, in good eating condition, he added.
Fishermen may not always catch a coho, but the stream isn’t as crowded as the Vedder or Chilliwack rivers, Davies said.
Recently, sockeye returned to Still Creek in Vancouver, near big-box shopping centres.
That’s because there’s now a fishway to allow salmon to get upstream to the tributaries, Davies said.
• Davies’s daughter Sarah recently was awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Pacific Parklands Foundation for her volunteer work with streams.