salmonintern
2010-09-16 04:59:12
WOW..what a deal this trolling season has been. After arriving from WA, we set out to catch catch catch...Chums that is, ...Alaskan gold!
Not only was chum fishing fun, exciting, and different(as if I know any different - this was my first season) we caught enough fish to pay the fuel bill!
Salty
2010-09-17 17:56:01
Good for you, I am sure your opinion on the chum trolling being fun this season is a minority opinion. Most long time chum trollers were totally disgusted by the crowded conditions, the relative refusal of the fish to school up or bite well due to all the rain, a 6:00 am troll opening at Neets Bay when most of the fleet had already been fishing since before 4:00 am, the absolute chaos the Sitka fishery degenerated into, the poor quality of the Deep Inlet chums during our two days in there, and the loss of a $.75 cent market for most of the SPC boats.
Nevertheless there were some bright spots. $.75 really helps make chum trolling make sense for some who don't mind fishing bow to float bag, constantly maneuvering to avoid other boats and attempting to stay on the fish absence any semblance of a drag or organization. I actually don't mind the situation too much as I have become used to it during the 22 years I have been chum trolling.
It does frustrate me that I can't separate myself from the fleet like I used to. No matter how hard I work to find my own patch of fish it becomes crowded shortly after I start working them. But, that is just the way it is and I just deal with it as part of the business of chum trolling.
Another bright spot was the absolute chrome bright fish we caught in Icy Straits, the size of the Neets Bay and Sitka chums this year, the unloading by appointment at SPC, and the general overall eagerness of the processors to provide good service and pay us more than the net price for our higher quality fish.
roecounter
2010-10-18 16:41:10
Funny...who ever Salty is....he sounds more like Butterbean then a troller....
As far as the chum season is concerned, I have a few questions regarding the chum fishery in Ice Strait.
First, let me say I didn't participated in that fishery this year. With that said, I have heard several reports on how things went and wonder if anyone else has comments or ideas regarding that fishery.
Questions...
1) did the guy on the "I Gotta" really refuse a fisherman access to a tender until they joined the CHum trollers association?
2) Is it true the Sitka fleet has taken credit for "finding" the chums on the homeshore?
3) what was the result of the investigation into the behavior of the fleet at the homeshore?
4) Is it true the trollers on the homeshore had defined boundaries and could only catch chums within that defined area? ( I didn't see any troll announcements spelling out closed areas in Ice Strait)
Anyway...
Salty
2010-10-18 18:42:32
Here are the answers to your questions as I understand:
1. Carl Peterson headed up a subcommittee of the Chum Trollers Association (CTA) to explore the possibilities of troll chum harvest in Icy Straits in response to recommendations by gillnetters and the Executive Director of USAG at the NSRAA spring meeting. Trollers are way behind in their allocated share of the value of SE hatchery salmon harvest. Gillnetters suggested Icy Straits as an area trollers could target DiPAC chums without having to open up 11A, where we are confident we could harvest a fair %, similar to our troll fisheries at Neets Bay and Deep Inlet. So we approached buyers in the Icy Straits area about tender service and pricing. Hank Baumgart at Icy Straits stepped up and offered to buy our production at a nickel above net price (which almost all processors offer in SE for troll chums as they are of superior quality being live bled and individually handled.)
While Carl and the Chum Trollers never asked for an exclusive market with Hank at Icy Straits there was a misunderstanding that you needed to be a Chum Troll Member to sell to the Icy Straits tenders as our members understood the quality handling procedures and had the slush tank brailer bag systems required for the high quality round troll chums. When someone asked how he could sell to the Icy Straits tenders (two other companies, Trident and XIP, also had tenders at Home Shore) Carl mistakenly advised him that he could join the CTA for $50, obtain the quality handling sheet, and then sell to Icy Straits. After a few phone calls that was straightened out literally within an hour and Icy Straits bought from all trollers meeting the standards. The "I Gotta" was not involved other than pioneering the chum troll fishery, pioneering the round troll fishery in Sitka Sound and Cross Sound, drafting the quality guidelines which were worked over and greatly improved before approval by the CTA Board, recommending that we work with local processors in the Icy Straits area, and that we use an open channel to communicate with anyone who wanted to tune in what we were doing so far as finding fish, avoiding by-catch, improving quality, arranging deliveries by appointment, etc. Carl Peterson, "Last Dance", was the man who chaired the committee that organized the fishery this year.
2. Trollers have been harvesting chums in the Cross Sound Icy Straits area for many years. There has been a "Pink and Chum" troll dedicated fishery at Inian Islands since the early 90's. I personally have harvested chums at Home Shore in the 80's in the fall, as a seine crew member starting in 67, and trolling in early July in the mid 90's. Contributors to this site have described chum trolling out of Excursion Inlet several times. One longtime gillnetter, troller out of Juneau has described chum troll opportunity at Home Shore many times to members of the CTA. What the CTA, which has members from around Alaska, can take credit for is arranging tender service and a fair round troll price in June and early July of this year. Harvesting chums in Icy Straits with troll gear is a long time traditional fishery. What is new is the volume of DIPAC hatchery chums moving through the area, a better price for round troll chums, and increased processor interest in these high quality chrome bright fish. The sampling showed that these were virtually all hatchery chums with the vast majority being DiPAC chums. There was virtually no sockeye by-catch, very few shaker kings, and few pinks or coho. While almost all the chum troll fisheries have very little by-catch, mostly pinks, I was surprised at how effective the gear was in Icy Straits at just taking chums. I credit this to two things:
1. Experienced chum trollers have refined the gear and techniques so we avoid other species while maximizing chum bites, and;
2. There were relatively few pinks in the area this year. In big pink years I expect we will have more pinks on the gear.
In any event, if there were by-catch issues, trolling slow with small hooks on bugs, and tending the gear constantly leads to a very high survival rate of any released by-catch.
3. While the chum troll fishery in Neets Bay and Sitka Sound this year was crowded and frustrating the fishery in Icy Straits with about 25 boats was mello. The fleet was spread out most days from just South of Pleasant Island to Sisters Island mostly in the deep. I did not hear of any conflicts. The fleet made an effort to share information with any local or other troller who was interested. I personally shared tips on speed, depth, and gave gear to trollers new to the fishery. We did drop quite a bit of money in Hoonah where we got fuel, groceries, supplies, and spent a couple of nights dining out and dancing. I heard there was some pretty creative singing and dancing behavior with one of our fleet earning the "twinkletoes" moniker. I did not realize this "behavior" was being investigated.
4. Icy Straits is open to hatchery salmon trolling within carefully defined boundaries to maximize hatchery harvest and minimize by-catch. There are troll announcements opening the area starting immediately after the Winter King troll fishery reaches its quota or May 1st, whichever comes first. The boundaries are defined in the troll plan which is on the ADF&G troll management website.
I hope this answers all your questions. Our mission is to "Promote and improve Alaska chum salmon harvest for all trollers."
greenseas1
2010-10-19 01:33:15
Does the Chum trollers association have a web site?
Salty
2010-10-19 04:23:36
We are developing one and hope to have it up by the first of the year. In the meantime we have a members mailing and e-mail list and send out regular information on developments important to the members. Our first fall meeting is this coming Friday, Oct. 22, at 6:30 pm at 103 Gibson Place. Potluck starts at 6:30 pm and board meeting at 7:00.
Carl Peterson or I commonly post public chum troll news on the chum troll thread on this site.