Alexander Valentyn de Leeu

Quick comment. I caught my first trout in the Cowichan in 1959, after which event I became a fanatic trout and salmon fisherman. Even though I used both fly and bait at that time, I and the friends I fished with had a code of ethics we adhered to. Never would we fish for, or even near where salmon were spawning. We considered it shameful to be seen with a tinted (let alone dark) salmon steelhead or trout. I no longer fish the upper Cowichan as the traffic, both boat and foot, is out of proportion. It saddens me greatly to see these wads of fishers flogging the spawning grounds of the few Chinook we have left, only for a photo op with a green or gold spawner. I still fish the Cowichan in the spring, for the last 40 years fly only, but try very hard to stay away from drift boats. So yes, close the upper section of the river to all fishing during, especially the chinook spawn. I would even recommend, with the warming summers, to close the whole river when it's water get above a certain temperature. My name is A. Valentyn de Leeuw, you may post this if you so wish. Thank you