This is not a complaint, wine, or rant. Just a warning for those of us anglers who have not been to either Scales Bar or the end of Saint Elmo Rd. banks for BBing before, but are thinking of doing so soon.
This is the first year I've fished Scales. Right now tempers are flaring between an average of 50 to 60 BBers. There are many arguments/threats/ between men of all ages BBing very close to each other. You have to wade in up to your chest to cast out far enough. Weekends are worst. Vehicle break-ins are common at all times of the day. You must park a 20 min hike away, and 10 minutes of that are on the CNR/CPR rail tracks with trains frequently passing by. There isn't much room on the side to wait the trains out. I would say this could be very dangerous for kids.
Aug 13 was the first time I ever tried fishing the banks at the end of <an upper river bar>. Average of 40 BBers on weekends. First theing we noticed was that the four of us were the only non-whites there. Never experienced that with 40BBers before. We were not welcome. As soon as we could see the BBers they turned around and gave us dirty scowles. One guy said right away that we couldn't fish next to him, and I said I wouldn't think of it. When I stated that we were going to hike upriver to a spot that I could see had nobody, he said, "no there's guys fishing there too". There wasn't a f****ng soul where I pointed to. We just sort of froze and ate our rage. I highly doubt this guy would be reading this site, or reading at all, but if you are...be careful next time you do that to four guys you don't know. Next time it may be four other guys who have also practice full-contact mixed martial arts for over ten years. Sure they may sustain many blows that don't phase them anymore, but eventually you will be choked out until you lose control of your bowels or suffer permanent brain damage. All legally in self-defence. True martial artists never provoke a fight, nor do they make the first strike.
We hiked high along the bushes downriver to a sandy beach that nobody was fishing. Accidentally, of course, I crossed lines with a fellow above me. He was friendly and nice enough to explain that the upper bar is for assaults and stabbings, while the lower is for friendly people who help eachother land fish and share knowledge of the river's bottom surface. He said it's an unspoken tradition. My friends and I crossed lines with eachother and a few other people in this area and never was it a problem other than untangling and exchanging a "woops I thought I had a fish on for a minute...thank you". BBers were hooking Sockeye every 5min when it was good and every 15 minutes when is slowed down.
If you're the type of person who is ready and willing to get into arguments, fist/knife fights then you'll thrive at these two spots. If you aren't, and enjoy mutual respect and courtesy between humans, then try less busy places. The uppper Fraser is good almost anywhere for Sockeye right now. Just fish a day or two after the commercial/native openings take place. We discovered that almost all native peoples are friendly to shore rod anglers, and they will even share their historical knowledge of where the fish are schooling and running on the river. Take an adventure and try a spot that looks good to you regardless of how many people aren't there. It makes it so much more rewarding when you hook, fight, and land that fish to the sounds of nothing more than the wind.
<Editted for language :x (Stone)>
This is the first year I've fished Scales. Right now tempers are flaring between an average of 50 to 60 BBers. There are many arguments/threats/ between men of all ages BBing very close to each other. You have to wade in up to your chest to cast out far enough. Weekends are worst. Vehicle break-ins are common at all times of the day. You must park a 20 min hike away, and 10 minutes of that are on the CNR/CPR rail tracks with trains frequently passing by. There isn't much room on the side to wait the trains out. I would say this could be very dangerous for kids.
Aug 13 was the first time I ever tried fishing the banks at the end of <an upper river bar>. Average of 40 BBers on weekends. First theing we noticed was that the four of us were the only non-whites there. Never experienced that with 40BBers before. We were not welcome. As soon as we could see the BBers they turned around and gave us dirty scowles. One guy said right away that we couldn't fish next to him, and I said I wouldn't think of it. When I stated that we were going to hike upriver to a spot that I could see had nobody, he said, "no there's guys fishing there too". There wasn't a f****ng soul where I pointed to. We just sort of froze and ate our rage. I highly doubt this guy would be reading this site, or reading at all, but if you are...be careful next time you do that to four guys you don't know. Next time it may be four other guys who have also practice full-contact mixed martial arts for over ten years. Sure they may sustain many blows that don't phase them anymore, but eventually you will be choked out until you lose control of your bowels or suffer permanent brain damage. All legally in self-defence. True martial artists never provoke a fight, nor do they make the first strike.
We hiked high along the bushes downriver to a sandy beach that nobody was fishing. Accidentally, of course, I crossed lines with a fellow above me. He was friendly and nice enough to explain that the upper bar is for assaults and stabbings, while the lower is for friendly people who help eachother land fish and share knowledge of the river's bottom surface. He said it's an unspoken tradition. My friends and I crossed lines with eachother and a few other people in this area and never was it a problem other than untangling and exchanging a "woops I thought I had a fish on for a minute...thank you". BBers were hooking Sockeye every 5min when it was good and every 15 minutes when is slowed down.
If you're the type of person who is ready and willing to get into arguments, fist/knife fights then you'll thrive at these two spots. If you aren't, and enjoy mutual respect and courtesy between humans, then try less busy places. The uppper Fraser is good almost anywhere for Sockeye right now. Just fish a day or two after the commercial/native openings take place. We discovered that almost all native peoples are friendly to shore rod anglers, and they will even share their historical knowledge of where the fish are schooling and running on the river. Take an adventure and try a spot that looks good to you regardless of how many people aren't there. It makes it so much more rewarding when you hook, fight, and land that fish to the sounds of nothing more than the wind.
<Editted for language :x (Stone)>