Campbell River's historic huge tyee was wild, and there was more than one
Neil Cameron / Campbell River Courier Islander, October 27, 2013
The genetics are in and the secrets are known about the largest chinook caught in over 30 years in Campbell River’s annual Tyee Club of British Columbia tournament this year.
The chinook, caught by Mike Gage, weighed 61.5 pounds, was five years old and a wild fish of the Quinsam/Campbell River genetic strain. It was not from any release groups from the hatchery.
Gage was rowed to the fish by his son Richard, using a pearl Lucky Louie plug, on Aug. 11.
According to sources, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Quinsam River Hatchery staff have also seen fish just as big as Gage’s in their deadpitch count this fall. The deadpitch is a system whereby hatchery staff walk the banks and shallows of the river system looking for and counting the carcasses of spawned out chinooks.
So what does this all mean?
It means that the Campbell River system is once again producing huge chinook salmon, naturally.
The relatively short Campbell River was known for its huge chinook over 100 years ago and was one of the reasons the Tyee Club of British Columbia was formed with its annual tournament running from July 15 to Sept. 15. It continues to attract participants from around the world. In the fishery an angler must fish from a non-motorized boat using a plug or spoon lure with a single, barbless hook, line of not more than 20 pound test and no more than six ounces of weight.
But leachate from an upstream mine virtually wiped out the entire run in the 1980s. Had not the Quinsam River Hatchery started a broodstock program just the previous year, taking eggs and milt from returning chinooks, the entire run would have been lost.
Another blow to the system occurred when upstream gravel recruitment was halted because of the John Hart dam and electrical generation project which began in the 1940s. Its ramifications as per the gravel disappearance were not know until the early 1990s.
And the estuary had been ravaged by logging operations and other businesses that inadversely affected the health of the river.
Since then millions of dollars have been spent on gravel recruitment, spawning and rearing channels and estuary improvements.
One of the main people behind it all was Mike Gage, the same guy who hooked into the 61.5 pound chinook that took top honours in the 2013 tournament. As founding chairman of the Campbell River Salmon Foundation, Gage has helped direct thousands of dollars into repairing the Campbell, Quinsam and other watersheds on North Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland.
