Funniest Stories - Fishing Sooke This Summer

[High Five]

Well I thought I would just post this as wrap up to the the summer season.

The question is what at the funniest/stupidest things that happened to you while fishing Sooke this year? An waht lessons did you learn from the experience. I am not to proud and by all means the master of the wtaer/angling, but at leat I can laugh and admit it. I would really love to here some guide postings on this. Wolf?

My three lessons/stories of summer:

1. (WATCH YOUR DOWNRIGGER DEPTHS)Fighting a pink (lol if you call it a fight) in Aug not paying attention in the fog being all cocky with teh GPS and drifting into Obrien, and nearly ripping my downrigger, and bending the arm back. Was too stubborn to bring up the rigger. That was an expensive pink.

2. (ALWAYS CARRY SPARES OF EVERYTHING)Having my gas attachment explode on my kicker hose shutting down my fishing day at 5am. At the same time as the bite was on at Secretary.

3. (ALWAYS WATCH YOUR RODS) I was making a turn, and the guy I bring out says to me, and claims he fished all the time. He says" I noticed your drag must be loose because both rods/popped off went slack after that big rock, and they shook a little then stopped. Hey does your downriggers always bounce up and down like that[}:)].(Possession). Checked the lines both anchovies chomped on. Two seconds later both guys land fish right beside me.... 20-30lbs nice..

Smiley66

[Merrittboy]

Stretching this to Renfrew... Brother came out for the weekend to catch his first in the ocean spring. Fished Friday and Saturday and hooked several but line kept breaking off... bad line, duh! Finally Sunday morning hooked and landed a nice 22lb spring. He was excited of course and I was relieved, want to be a good host. Back at wharf, brother is on dock and I grab his fish to hand it too him from the boat. Bottom half of fish hits the dock as I hand it, slips from my hand and splash, in the water. Three of us stand helplessly watching it slowly sink deeper! I am now feeling sick to my stomach! Brother spends a bundle to come out for 3 days from the mainland and idiot brother drops his fish (priceless).... Told him we had great pictures and he could have a couple fish from my freezer, (sure he felt better). Friend says he can see the fish on bottom on other side of the dock, shiny fish, can't reach with net or boat pole, about 14 feet deep. Friend says lets jig... it worked, treble hook works! I did not touch the fish again. All were happy, especially me, the idiot! Lesson(s) learned, 1) Use good leader line, lost at least 3 quality springs during weekend, why did I not change line earlier? 2) Let guests handle their own fish! 3) Use bag, rope or container to move fish out of boat!! Sure this has happened to many others!

[Karma-Kazi]

Well i have one similar. i was trolling in a strong current of the head. and bang double header with a newbie buddy with me, dobody to drive. threw the boat in nutral. buddys got a screamer. And i have a teenager. Boat spins around while im noticing i had forgotten to hit my buddies downrigger to auto(its just that easy) and wham, rigger in the kicker, arm broken off, rigger ball everytihng gone. And when i say everything, i mean both fish too [xx(]:([V]

Another funny and crazy thing had to be a sealion following my boat and trying to grab feeder springs off my line as i brought them in. I always use the downrigger to bring up shakers and feeders. and the sealion was just not wanting to get that close, so everytime i would unclip the fish, it would swoop threw the propwash! Let me tell you the fist swoop i nearly Sh*t my pants. tought it was a shark or Whale.

will add more later. Because there are so many...


-Steve

[KCW]

Was fishing with my brother at renfrew , both of us not paying attention, waiting for the bite to come . Finally went to check my rod, most of the line gone because there been a 25ld fish on the line.MR2's don't make alot of noise. Who knows how long it was on

[Merrittboy]

fishflyguy, that would be an expensive lesson as well!

[High Five]

Wow I thought I would here more on this posting. Guess everything was perfect for everyone else. No one likes to admit things especially mishaps.....

LOL Smiley66

[Sitkaspruce]

No in Sooke, but on the island.

The outlaws came for a visit this July and brought along the Aunt and Uncle.

First day out fishing up here in McNeill and I go through the talk about big fish, knuclebusters, tips up and all that is included in catching a fish here on the westcoast. The uncle talks about the great lakes fish he has caught and that he knows what to do.[:0][:p]

The first couple fish into the boat were a couple of good coho and a good test, the uncle handles it like he says he can. He says to me that this is the same as the GL and he will have no problem and not to worry about his fishing skills. The father-in law is a quick learner, although he drops the road tip a bit.

As we hit a spot the shallow road bounces a couple times, then kind of twitches, I jump up, push the uncle out of the way (he is watching the rod tip bounce, but says nothing) and pull it off the downrigger, I feel a couple good head shakes and then a dead weight, then a slight steady pull. I pass the rod to the uncle and say hang on as this is a spring. He takes the rod and starts to reel right away, I tell him to slow down and hang on. He says to be quite as he knows what he is doing, then the spring decides he want to go somewhere else and goes there. All I hear is OH SH*T, OH Sh*t repeated over and over again as the line starts going and the reel catches a couple knuckles. But he is a fast learner and decides that his fingers should go where I told him they should go. He gets a handle on how to use the single action and brings a nice 19 lbs to the boat. He is all proud and at the same time humbled by the experience. States that he will go back to the GL and use single action reels there as well as he thinks they are the only way to play a fish.

The father-in-law hits a nice spring and plays it like a pro, and later tells me he learned a lot from watching his brother get rapped by both the reel and by me.

Cheers

SS



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Fishing08018-1.jpg

[Striper Sniper]

Nice SS, thanks. SS

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll49/mauricepiquette/seaswirlstiper.jpg

[juandesooka]

Fishing with a buddy in Sooke derby. LONG slow day, we're into 10 or 11 hours of trolling gear, and I've been enduring little pranks all day -- shaking the downrigger, calling out false alarms, etc. So I finally get him back....a few beverages going down, needs to take a leak, sees a good chance of a private moment starboard side facing the rocks at First Point, so he goes for it. A quick swooping turn to port and all of a sudden he finds he's saluting the pack off the point..."say hi to my little friend". [8)] I laughed and laughed. Actually seems pretty stupid now, but punchy after a long day's fishing and a few pops, pure comedy gold.

[ReelAffair]

Fishin with my dad one morning

Hit a nice and I mean nice fish....It takes 4-5 long runs..Get it up beside the boat....Would have been my biggest fish in Sooke. Dad getting impatient to net it, catches the hook on the net, and procedes to rip it out of the fish...that was the last of that fish:(

Next morning we are out again

Dropping the second rod down, The first rod pops and starts peeling line. My dad grabs the rod an plays the fish. Time comes to get the fish into the net:D....Still pissed about yesterdays fish:(..I gave his fish the old whack with the net:D PAYBACK

Then we got into another fish and I netted that one for him...well since then all my fish have been properly netted :)


I can be an A$$ at times

[ReelAffair]

3 weeks ago

I am heading out for an evening fish

The temp guage on the boat is going up/down all over the place. I fish for approx 15 minutes then head back to the dock in order to figure out whats going on. I check my leg for any obstructions..all good. Well it has to be an impeller. I have the waterpump mounted on the front of my crank (I/O). Well gotta check the impeller, so I remove the hoses going to the pump, seawater starts pouring in so I push the hose back on. I find some things it the boat to plug the hoses. I then pull the hoses, plug them of and inspect the impeller. Everything was fine so I put it back together. Flash it up and it seems to work. 1 problem water in the hull....turn on the bilge pump but it is mounted to high to pick up all the water..front and rear pumps are raised with a low spot in between.

I then unclip the front pump and drop it into the low spot and it sucks up the water..until I turn it off and the water out of the hose flows back....well I am a tad anal and thats not good enough.
I then turn the bilge pup back on and when the water is drained, I put the pump on deck and turn it off...I then have this idea, if I flip the pump over and blow into the bottom it will push the water out..So I proceed..WELL I start blowing into it AND THE F'EN AUTOMATIC SWITCH TURNS THE F'EN PUMP ON, [:p]and SUCKS my tongue into the IMPELLER....WHAT A SUPRISE....spitting blood with no skin left on it...I AM THINKING THAT WASNT SO BRIGHT...am I glad no one was watching.


moral of the story.....pull the hose off the bilge pump and blow into the hose...it was hard to eat for a few days[:p]

[banger17]

similar story on my end...

fishing at bamfield at the end of august, me and my buddy working the areas hard. one day we get 4 springs up to 27 lbs and 3 coho, happy as can be right!

next day, drag lines for 12 hours and not a sniff... nothing, not even a shaker... i mean nothing! by this point we are starting to wonder what the hell is going on...

next day we are trolling around hitting all the usual sweet spots, and nothing! nothing at all for 8 hours. It is now 4 in the afternoon and we are really wondering if we should just sell the boat and call it quits for good. We are pretty well sure nothing is going to bite our lines at this point, so resort to drinking (more than usual) and carrying on... enjoying ourselves as best we can anyways.

well wouldnt ya know at 430pm, a spring slams my line and starts peeling! this is so rare in the last couple days that we almost forget what to do?!!?! well... eventually i remember and after a really fun fight i get it to the boat and there she lays about 25-30 pounds (which would have been our potential biggest of the week i might add). BUT... the fish isnt quite ready to be netted... so i be careful and do my part to try and tire it out but get it close enough for a potential net job.

my buddy - out of excitement and the fact that we havent seen a fish in what seems like a coons age, lunges at it as the fish is sort of vertical in the water (head out of water, tail down in the water 3 feet, ya know what i mean). anyways... knocks the hook clean out of its mouth and this beauty lays there for maybe 5 seconds as i drop a loaf in my pants and then it takes off...

thats it, that was our chance at redemption and we screw it all up! trolled around the rest of that night and the next morning for NOTHING! it was NOT our trip to say the least...

ahh well, we left them out there for you guys to catch right!?

moral... net the fish when it is ready to be netted! seen this happen to my fish too many times it hurts! haha

[Kisinana]

A couple of years back a friend and I are coming in and hit a massive school of herring with salmon ripping through. We decide to do a little buzz bombing and I hook a nice fish. It dives straight towards the bottom. He hauls his line out and grabs the net and stands in the back corner from me. After a couple of more runs I start pulling it up and my rod is bent like a horseshoe.
Suddenly he blurts out "quick pull in the slack" I ask "what friggin slack" as I try to pull straight up. Then I look over and here through the herring past the leg is a 25lber swimming lazily away from the boat.
He then tells me he didn't net it because it was heading away and thought it was mine and I could turn its head.
We still ended up with one nice fish.

[Smiley]

Thank you Striper jack!
Family is wondering why I am still laughing.
Not that I have EVER done ANYTHING remotely that silly [8D]
Smiley.

[ReelAffair]

I am glad I could entertain...that storey has made quite a few laugh including myself

[Sitkaspruce]

Well to add to the net stories, I will add one that happened a long time ago while guiding in Bamfield.

We had these very early dot com guys up from Seattle. They were young and making lots of money so they loved to spend it.

The first night out, fishing off the wall, we hit this good 20's spring, we get it beside the boat and as I am getting ready to net it, the guy without the fish says to me, with a smile,
"I will give you a $100 if you knock that fish off"
I looked at him and laughed, he pulls out his wallet and brings out a $100 us bill. The guy with the fish, then says
"I will give you a $125 if you net it"
They both laugh and trash talk each other.
Well I net the fish and the guys are pretty happy.
The story repeated itself through the rest of the trip and I made close to $1300 us on top of the tip they gave me.

I miss those guys............:D

Oh yea, when you want to knock a fish off the line with a net, it is damn hard to do....:D[:p]

Cheers

SS

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Fishing08018-1.jpg

[walleyes]

Once Again being Snubbed By Some Of the Local Guides.

As everyone knows it was a tough year again out in Sooke,, but some of us were happy to have what was given to us.

Once again I made the trip out from Alberta to Sooke for the Salmon harvest. Brought along 2 friends this year so that totaled 3 of us. As has been the story for Sooke the last couple years a guy had to work his butt off for the fish. This being a Pink year at least made it worth while. All I had was 4 days to be out on the water and considering the situation I feel we did not bad. We brought in 5 Chinook 4 being over 25#, they came in at 25, 26,28 & 28 and 1 teener at 15#. But the funny story is is one of the local guides..

This fellow we all know and I thought was a bit of a friend. Anyways one of the days we were out there and he happened to be out on a charter we trolled along side each other all day. As luck would have it we bagged 2 nice Chinook that day and we fought and dropped another. Through out the day we decided to keep a few Pink's. I think we kept 5 or 6 that day,, not sure.. I do know that for 3 guy's we decided to come home with only 19 fish out of the 24 that we could have,, so we showed much restraint not that we had to !!! Anyways on this particular day this guide comes by me later that evening when we had our 2 Hogs on the rack and I think 5 or 6 Pink's anyways on his way buy as his clients are drooling over the Chinook ( and he had none ) he gives us the old sideways look and the ,,Oh looks like a Pink harvest ??? I didn't know quite how to answer the ***** other than try harder tomorrow,, I know I did and caught another hog,,lolol..

I guess the heart of the story is the attitude of this guide,, rather than coming over and letting his clients see the fish He just shrugs it off and makes it look bad,, typical... Its easier to be ignorant than learn Hey COLLIN...

Its just this attitude that some have that only they are entitled to the fish that just makes it a real joke..


http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k303/walleyes_2006/IMG_1021-1.jpg

[Time]

Had a friend out for his first time in 2 years, and he was using his own gear. After a bit he shows me a bit of chaff or roughness on his line about 25 feet up from the flasher. Suggested he peel off some line and retie his gear. You don't want to lose the big one because of a line break.
Good idea he thinks.
Cuts line at the flasher, peels off about about 15 yards, cuts the line and reties his gear.
Now tell me, because he can't (or won't) how you can confuse the line from your rod with a piece that has been cut off. Some how he had managed to retie to the cut-off, and then launched the flasher and anchovy over the side.
A few moments of stunned silence ensued before he allowed that he might have committed a "boo-boo".

[SerengetiGuide]

quote:Originally posted by Time

Had a friend out for his first time in 2 years, and he was using his own gear. After a bit he shows me a bit of chaff or roughness on his line about 25 feet up from the flasher. Suggested he peel off some line and retie his gear. You don't want to lose the big one because of a line break.
Good idea he thinks.
Cuts line at the flasher, peels off about about 15 yards, cuts the line and reties his gear.
Now tell me, because he can't (or won't) how you can confuse the line from your rod with a piece that has been cut off. Some how he had managed to retie to the cut-off, and then launched the flasher and anchovy over the side.
A few moments of stunned silence ensued before he allowed that he might have committed a "boo-boo".




HAHAHA...I did something similar this year...I was changing flashers as one was getting all the action. As I'm doing this a fish bites on the other side, land it then I throw the anchovy on the side i had just switched over and it keeps going back...I pull on the rod to check the spin...keeps going back...and back...and back...****!!!!! Lost the whole leader and anchovy head...

www.serengetifishingcharters.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/canucksfanatic44

[Karma-Kazi]

Here is my best one of the year. This was mid august, friday night. Bymyself. The wind was miserble to say the least. But being the fishaholic i am i decided to head out into the bay at cheanuh for some trolling. At around 7:30 i had my 4 salmon in the boat. 2 feeders and 2 pinks. I was going to head in but decided to try a little spot my grandfather showed me held some nice big red snappers. So i drop down my spreader-bar and a big 7 inch tomic spoon. This was in about 320 ft of water. Hit a huge 12 pound snapper within 10 mins. I decided to drop the line down again and see what i could catch. The water had become flat calm. strange for sooke. i dropped my line down 320 ft again and withing 15 mins my dod begins to thump really hard. i set the hook and it feels like bottom only this bottom fights back. I fight what i know is a hueg halibut for over 1 hour before my back cant handle the stress. I put the rod in the holder as she lays on the bottom motionless. I call my dad and ask what i should do. He says horse her up just so you get to see her. So i put the phone in my pocket and begin to reel like mad. I get the fish within 5-6 ft of the surface and i look over the edge to see what looked to be a 4x8 sheet of plywood. knowing there was no chance for me to land this barndoor i give the rod a one more turn so i can cut the leader and free her. She goes nuts sraightening the hook of the spoon and off to the bottom she goes.

I dont know if there is a moral to this story. but i will think twice before going fishing alone again.

Please dont reply with you shouldent have kept that fish anyways. Because i ahve never caught a halibut over 17 pounds about yes i would love to get one barndoor in my lifetime. Approx size was ove 150+ pounds

-Steve

[Bosinova]

Man I thought I was the only one to pull off some of these things. I had a friend from work come out to Otter with me in search of his first over 20 lb spring. We hit a fish and I threw him the rod, it felt like a good fish! He started to play this fish so I went about my business of preparing the boat for a guest when I clued into something kind of strange. Standing behind him I could hear the reel and see that the fish was taking line and fast. The strange part here was he was still reeling?? What the?? This is a single action reel here?? Turns out as this fish was ripping out line my friend is keeping pace with this thing and paying out line by reeling backwards with the fish. This had gone on for a little while before I noticed. I remarked he should let the fish go and he quickly caught on and after a little more fight brought in a 26lber. Shortly after he showed me a blister on his hand the size of a quarter. Poor guy, but he got his fish.

[High Five]

Even though people do it all the time fishing alone has it risks. Take for example my last Sunday. I am out myself, and it starts to flood bigtime toward aldridge in afternoon. Just to add I have taken all my boating squadron, and safety courses so I am not that much of a newbie, but ther is always things you learn from experience.

I have boat pointed out, and a set my downrigger down, and realize I am drifting close too bedford islands right towards rocks. It just happened that fast...

Now I know that tides can be extremely strong in that area I get sucked in a matter of seconds gear down, and trolling motor stops. Ha! Ha! Not funny now drifting right into rocks at 5-6 knot tide. By the time a strt my main I am like 50 feet from hitting one of those rocks.

Was able to restart, and get the hell out of there, but it was a little close for comfort. Not exactly a funny fishing story, but just thought I would share... Makes me feel better:D

Smiley66

[danthewire]

I have a million of them,heres one.About 20 or so years ago my grandad came out from Calgary with this new salmon killer boat.It was about a 14 foot glass boat with like a 90 horse motor on it.So he talks my dad into going fishing to Peddar Bay after work.Me,I know better. We called my grandad the Penguin,think (Danny Devito in batman)anyhow off they go.A few hours later they are back, my dad's soaking wet and shivering.I say wtf happened?Apparently they launched and headed out, got out to about the can bouy and my dad started to get the lines in the water.Well grandad has to see what's going on and waddles to the back of the boat same corner,well the boat starts to list my dad goes over the side,gramps falls back against the controls the boat takes off like a bullet, he goes down flat on his back,feet sticking up in the air.Dad says this is all fine he's treading water until he realizes that the boat is now turning and going in a circle,headed straight for him so he dives down boat roars over him up he comes looks and gramps feet are still sticking up in the air.Well I guess theres a couple of three passes like this before gramps gets the boat under control and my dad gets back on board.Still chuckle about that one often.Dan

[chris73]

Priceless Dan!:D:D

[Salmon Smoker]

I see that ther have been a few "net" problems, so I'd like to add my net story, althought this was in Vancouver harbour not Sooke.
I don't normally see a lot of large springs here, so on the rare occasions that I hook one it's a pure adrenaline rush....Labour Day...

I was just packing up to get home before dark, I had one rod and one downrigger just stowed in the cabin and I was about to bring up the other line when it released...one of those exciting bend your rod in half and bounce, bounce kinda releases!I grabbed the rod as the reel started screaming and played this fish for half an hour. I got it to the boat and led it into the net, went to lift it out of the water and.....SNAP! The handle broke on the net, the fish fell into the water and swam away. I do know that this was my biggest fish of the season and possibly the largest ever.
This is gonna be a tough one to get over.
I now have a $300 bonker :(
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h19/hdharley/Sept072009015.jpg

[danthewire]

Heres some more.Last year we were up in Renfrew late August. Had my Dad with me, hes only allowed to drive the boat with the kicker running(there are multiple reasons) anyhow we go out in the afternoon to fish the tide change.Nothing was happening at camper so we went up a little ways to a spot i wanted to try in tight.It's calm no boats around us so i didn't put the kicker down right away like i normally do.Hell it'll be okay.So i drop the first rod down and go to get the second rod ready,and hear the ker chunk on the first rigger look around and see the rod starting to bounce.So i grab it and do a quick analization ....yep got some size to it.Meanwhile my dad is oblivios to whats going on, then the thing starts to run,hey dad i says i got a good one on.Oh he says,sits there watching me now i'm down to half the line and its still going,turn the boat i says its not stopping.So he turns the wheel ,well the boats not responding,turn the boat i yell,he gives me this dirty look i can't turn it any farther course hes got the wheel cranked.meanwhile this fish is now shifting into high gear.I'm down to a quarter of the line left give her a little gas i says ...wrong he's all pissy because hes being told what to do so he punches the throttle...next thing i know i'm airborne and land on the back of the outboard and fall down into the motor well.Fish is still going but now we can chase it.Righttt... next thing i know hes just about driving over the line.Finally we catch up to the fish its down on the bottom shaking its head,after awhile we get it up,holy crap i says thats big.Anyhow 4 or 5 passes by the boat and pops is just not ready,with the net finally it rolls over on its side about 15 feet behind the boat im trying to just keep enough pressure on him to keep the hook stuck. finally i guess the hook wore a big enough hole and pops out.I says to dad well you only get so many chances and we used them up.Then it was on about him trying to kill me.More stories to come. Dan

[kngfsh7]

"do a quick analization" - ouch!

[danthewire]

Didn't think anyone would get it LOL.Dan

[kelly]

quote:Originally posted by Salmon Smoker

I see that ther have been a few "net" problems, so I'd like to add my net story, althought this was in Vancouver harbour not Sooke.
I don't normally see a lot of large springs here, so on the rare occasions that I hook one it's a pure adrenaline rush....Labour Day...

I was just packing up to get home before dark, I had one rod and one downrigger just stowed in the cabin and I was about to bring up the other line when it released...one of those exciting bend your rod in half and bounce, bounce kinda releases!I grabbed the rod as the reel started screaming and played this fish for half an hour. I got it to the boat and led it into the net, went to lift it out of the water and.....SNAP! The handle broke on the net, the fish fell into the water and swam away. I do know that this was my biggest fish of the season and possibly the largest ever.
This is gonna be a tough one to get over.
I now have a $300 bonker :(
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h19/hdharley/Sept072009015.jpg




Ouch! the best way to lift them is after the fish is in the net you let it fold and put the handle straight up. That way there is no strain on the handle. Might not work in that net but should.

I once tried to net a fish solo on a 6ft leader and the hook got caught in the mesh and the fish took off pulling the net out of my hand. Net sank then i had to land this fish infront of everyone solo with a 6ft leader. Somehow i got a finger in the gill and tossed it in.

[r.s craven]

Does your Dad still go fishing with you Dan ?;)

[juandesooka]

quote:
Ouch! the best way to lift them is after the fish is in the net you let it fold and put the handle straight up. That way there is no strain on the handle. Might not work in that net but should.


Just about learned that one the hard way too....first big fish, solo in 14' tinner, rare HOT day in Sooke...shorts, no shoes, no shirt.

Probably 3rd or 4th time out in Sooke, never caught anything of significance. Downrigger pops, playing this fish in front of the crowd at Possession, while still have both downriggers down and 2nd rod too. Manage to get it beside the boat, HOLY CRAP it's a MONSTER.

Fishing 8' leader, so rod pretty much above my head as I try to lead it head first into net. After a few misses, get it in....then scoop that fish up and out like a farmer pitchforking hay. Problem is, as soon as weight of it comes out of the water, SNAP goes the cheap aluminum handle. I quickly bear hug the net bag, nearly falling into the water myself as I drop it into the boat.

I drop down beside it, sweating, breathing hard, heart pumping in my ears, literally shaking with adrenalin, and a rebel yell YEEEEESSSSSS, fist pumping!!!!

35 pounder, first tyee I ever saw much less caught, and hooked for life from that point... :D

[and have never broken a net since!]

[Tips Up]

Couple of years ago I was fishing with the father inlaw and we hook up. I grab the rod from the holder and set the hook. Rod snaps just above the cork and I am left with nothing but cork and a Islander MR2.
The front end of the rod goes overboard and down the line. I have not been knuckle busted in a long time but... wrap...wrap...wrap...
It was all I could do to hold on. The fish kept taking runs and I fought with it for what seemed like forever. We were laughing are a$$es off. Father inlaw offered to cut the line but I said no way. I finally got the fish close to the boat and kept getting close to grabbing the front end of the rod and then it would take off again. Finally got a hold of the front end and we used some cord to tie the overlapping rod pieces together to finally land the 25 lber. My knuckles were black and blue for a while!

Tips

[danthewire]

Yes Scott he still does. Hes getting close to 80 years old now but he's already planning for The Seabeam next June.He wants to do the Renfrew coho derby but i'm not sure if my nerves can handle it.He has slowed down a lot but hes just like a little kid when he gets a screamer on.And he can still cuss a blue streak.Not bad at packing a few luckies away either.Dan

[eaglemaniac]

That's a good one Tips.;) eman

[Smiley]

Smiley, from the geography of stories here I'm guessing you have no issues with this thread being used to share funnies from around the island.

First pass at Pill in the evening, well out from shore, my Shimano moocher goes nuts, I grab it and begin to apply palm pressure. It took a split second to realize that the small thing that went flying into the chuck was a reel knob, in the next split second the other knob goes as well!!! CRAP!!! What do you do? Couldn't reattach a knob, BOTH went overboard. Play the fish is what you do! It wanted to stay down deep so in between runs I used 2 hands to alternately turn the lip of the spool and then hold it and repeat. For 45 minutes. This was going to be sweet, the fish felt like a good one, lots of power. Eventually I get more and more line in. And then? Yup, line breaks when I had maybe 30 feet more to go!
Sit down, don't cry.
Almost dark, thankfully the beers were cold!

I took the reel to Bill Clinton in Nanaimo for replacement knobs and got the advice to check the left hand thread screws in the knobs annually. Which I do now.

It never ceases to amaze me how many first mistakes there are to make!

Smiley.

[danthewire]

Okay heres some more.I sold him my old 78 chev 4 wheel drive back in the early eighties.He went and bought a 12 foot aluminum boat with a 4 horse merc.He can fit it in the back.So He's going to fish like the "old days" when he had a clinker boat in esquimalt.Great I think this will be interesting.So everything is fine for awhile but he gets braver and braver.Dad I says be careful.So he starts going to Gordons Beach and launching there.So then he gets tired of going and dragging the boat down to the beach,brainstorm, I have a four wheel drive I can go anywhere.So now my brother tells me what happened. He gets this frantic call one night around seven get out here i'm stuck and the tides coming in.So off my brother goes to help him.Well he gets there and the truck is high centered on a log he's got it almost perfectly balanced on the transfer case.the back wheels have spun all the sand and gravel out along with the fronts.No traction period.So they try jacking and pushing and this, and that, meanwhile up comes the water.Finally one of the locals comes down and says i can pull you out but it might hurt your truck.Hell he says i'm not going to have a truck pretty soon.So on with the chain crunch, bang off the log it comes.He says to my brother don't you dare tell Dan what happened I'll never hear the end of it.Ha, cost him a transfer case put a big crack in it.And thaaaattt is another story not fishing releated.Theres more.....Dan

[Karma-Kazi]

quote:Originally posted by Salmon Smoker

I see that ther have been a few "net" problems, so I'd like to add my net story, althought this was in Vancouver harbour not Sooke.
I don't normally see a lot of large springs here, so on the rare occasions that I hook one it's a pure adrenaline rush....Labour Day...

I was just packing up to get home before dark, I had one rod and one downrigger just stowed in the cabin and I was about to bring up the other line when it released...one of those exciting bend your rod in half and bounce, bounce kinda releases!I grabbed the rod as the reel started screaming and played this fish for half an hour. I got it to the boat and led it into the net, went to lift it out of the water and.....SNAP! The handle broke on the net, the fish fell into the water and swam away. I do know that this was my biggest fish of the season and possibly the largest ever.
This is gonna be a tough one to get over.
I now have a $300 bonker :(
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h19/hdharley/Sept072009015.jpg





Over in van you must not be used to catching anytihng but pinks...[:p] Thats a tiny little net.

-Steve

[chris73]

Between soaks of prawn and crab traps out of Mill Bay some years back my good friend Gary and me used to pi$$-fart around in his 12' alu-boat catching soles, bullheads, dogfish and usually one or two halfway decent lings with light gear and herring bits for bait. Usually consumed a good quantity of beer as well... and having a casual competition who has the most fish up to the boat...and we were having a blast. So the score is about 27 to 24 in my favour but Gary takes it easy - he has several 40, 50 and even 60# springs under his belt from years ago and usually still outfishes me. So while he reclines back casually and waits for the his bite I am eager and try to detect every little nibble. Here we go - up comes another little sole and and another and another little bullhead and now I am leading comfortably and may just get lucky and beat Gary today. He is getting a bit worried now but of course doesn't admit it. As soon as my herring chunk hits the bottom I feel another bite and wham - a nice 12" sole comes up. Gary sunbaths and tells me some silly stuff while I unhook the fish - but wait - that isn't my hook?! WTF, there are two lines leading to the mouth and while I take my hook out too and glance over to Gary and he still grins into the sun and sips his beer. Now sneaky I take the "strange" but suspiciously known second hook and cautiously reach down and hook it into the bottom seam of Gary's pants. Then bait my hook and keep on fishing. I ask Gary if he shouldn't check his bait after this long time with no action while I was catching. He replied that everything is fine - he is just using the special trick to beat me on the finish line with a "real" fish. His line still pointed into the water underneath his rod tip - I take my rod and catch his line with my top eye and yank hard on it. He jumps up and yells that this is FOR SURE the BIG ONE. He cranks like a maniac since he can't feel resistance and yells that this fish must be screaming towards the boat and he tries to catch up. Well, after 80' the line finally becomes tighter but starts pointing towards the inside of the boat and a few more cranks and his pant-leg start lifting up. His jaw never closed again, his eyes were wider than a tractor wheel - the look on his face - priceless. I just about died from laughing and banging my head over and over on the alu boat floor. He just: WTF, WTF, WTF... and I just asked: is that your secret trick for the big one?

[jjmoffett]

that is too funny![:p]

[Salmon Smoker]

[/quote]


Over in van you must not be used to catching anytihng but pinks...[:p] Thats a tiny little net.

-Steve
[/quote]

Ouch![:0]
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h19/hdharley/Sept106.jpg

BTW, this is a great thread, I have tears in my eyes from laughter. :D

[banger17]

ahh yes, i just remembered another one from a year back at sooke!

out fishing with a buddy in his 19 foot centre console campion. trolling away along otter point on a beautiful evening in july... couldnt have beat the weather to be honest, and piss calm to boot!

so anyways, let me first say my buddy is prety tied to his cell phone as he owns a landscaping business, it goes with him everywhere and anywhere... fair enough right?

we are trolling along enjoying ourselves, maybe an hour into our hunt for the big ones. both standing up stretching, keepin limber for the rod to scream! RING RING goes the phone, which is nothing unordinary. goes to pick it up off the dash and in one smooth swoop, the phone continues thru the air and out of his hands, off the rigger and somewhat slowly starting to sink behind us. without skipping a beat, he strips down to what surprisingly was a rahter beat up and skimpy pair of briefs and stands on the back of the boat ready to lunge in after it. one look at me, one look at the water, one last second hesitation.... and a decision to not jump in after all. the boat is still trolling away and he is standin up there perched for all to see and phone drifting out of sight.
In his quick thinking, he is now standing on the ledge of his boat in these unfortunately tight as **** undies and putting on a show for a few boats (which he didnt seem to notice). needless to say, it didnt take long for a couple nearby boats to hand out a round of applause and a whislte or two for his nice demonstration.

adding insult to injury, it was a brand new phone with over 200 contacts of clients etc on it. ouch...

the beers had to flow to put that one behind him... hahaha damn phones on the boat i tells ya!

[tyeeking]

Fun thread. It seems like we have one or two stories every year. A memorable one this year was fishing offshore out of Esperanza. We got into one of those serious Coho bites with some real brutes (15 - 20 lbs). We had one that was just tearing us up racing back and forth, doing backflips . . . you know the drill. We got him close and were going to release him along side the boat and he took off, jumped out of the water and hit the big motor about 2 feet above the water line . . . . out cold. Man we were laughing so hard we couldn't stand up! He came to and was released unharmed (native).

[danthewire]

This is a short one,So we're off to Toquart bay for a week long fishing trip a few years ago,I'm towing my boat,dads behind in the motor home.Plan is to stop at my buddies place in Nanamio stay the night then all of us head up.Simple.Well he gets a little behind on the hi way,so i get to my buddies place first.I says to myself geez a cold beer would go down nice so i climb in the back of the boat and open the cooler up.I hear dads motor home coming around the corner and coming up the road.All of a sudden crash bang crunch screechhh,i look up and he's a couple of feet on the sidewalk and has driven over the nieghbours portable basket ball hoop.My buddie comes running out of the house what the hells that noise?I motion back ...dad....he looks at me shakes his head,pass me a beer.Heres the old man out yanking and kicking this mangled basket ball hoop stuck between the dualies water pouring out of the weighted base.G@#%* f in thing hes swearing.By this time we're killing ourselves laughing.Hey dad that was on the sidewalk,doesn't matter he quips its in my way,gives it another boot...More to come.Dan

[dohboy]

hey dan good thing your pops dont come on the site and hear all the fun your making of him, and i thought i had heard most of your stories:D
keep em coming folks, i had too clean more than a few drops of beer off my computer screen since this started

[oguard]

Smiley here is a reel story similiar to yours but different out come.
My wife and I were fishing in Nootka a year ago, pouring down rain and the fishing had been slow, one rod goes so she grabs and its a screamer. So I get the rest of the gear in and stand back and watch the show! In the first run it takes,one nob comes off and hits her right between the eyes naturaly I start laughing, I said you got one left your doing great. I was watching for other boats as this thing starts off on another run then suddenly the rod is thrust towards me and the wife saying you can have it now I look down and no nobs left. This is where I give the wife credit she picks up the needle nose pliers and hands them to me whadda ya know perfect fit. After a fight that seemed to go on for hours but I'm sure was 20 min. we had the fish in the boat and the wife had a bruise between the eyes.

Mike

Catch it,Kill it,Smoke it.

[danthewire]

Yeah Sean theres a ton of stories.These ones we all have a chuckle about from time to time.Pops even laughs about them.Too bad we have to keep them"G"rated.Dan

[danthewire]

Waaaay back just after cheanuh opened for business we went out fishing.Dad always tells mom oh we'll be back by noon.Well noon to him meant anytime that day.So I guess he got the riot act read to him.So any ways we get in at noonish o'clock and the ramp is a gong show (things never change do they)Of course hes in a mad panic to leave so he roars around everyone and backs down the ramp at a high rate of speed.Now hes got the old mid sixties ford with the huge hood and larger trunk.As he's going over the top of the ramp the boat tralier jack knifes and comes down the ramp heading towards the floats.Well he can't see the trailer and keeps going bang, it wedges in under the float and stops dead, now hes going so fast the car keeps on going, the back of the car starts to lift in the air and slowly the car catapults over the trailer and settles in the water.No problem he says,jamming his cigarete in his mouth.Puts her in drive and stomps on it.Well it starts going like an old sternwheeler water boiling around the rear tires and exhaust blowing bubbles.Course hes too far out and now the front of the car is slowly sinking.I'm standing there holding the boat about 3 spaces back,aw crap I have to go save him,now every one knows he's with me.So I go get him out of the car he climbs out through the open window and gets on the bow of the boat.Off to the wharf he goes meanwhile the cars going down like a torpedoed WW2 ship blowing air bubbles and ciggy butts every where.He gets off the boat walks up the wharf and into the office,How much to launch a car?he asks.So now I'm going well we got to get this thing out.So as luck would have it a guy I knew had a 4x4 and a heavy duty rope.And a fellow had his diving gear,so we quickly organized a plan of attack to pull her out.We go back down to the wharf and the cars about 40 feet out,and some guy has parked his boat on top of it.Hey can't park there I says theres a car there,Guy looks at me kinda strange like. I point down he looks shakes his head and says it wasnt there this morning.Anyhow fast forward we get about ten of us in the back of the 4x4 and slowly pull it up,well it breaks water and all you can see against the windshield is ciggy butts,paper and his floater coat spread eagle against the winshild inside.Slowly it comes up the ramp water pouring out of the open drivers door window.Now we have it up on the flat and the cars tires are just about flat from all the weight,so it looks like one of those latino lo riders.So hes got another butt jammed in his face walks over and opens the drivers door...yep hes standing right in front as it swings open...whooosh out comes the water all over him.@%$#&^thats cold he screams.....yes there is more.Dan

[Barnacle Bill]

OMG, if there was only pics to go with this great story! .....BB

[r.s craven]

Hey Dan, are you sure those were cigarettes your Dad was smoking ? :D

[danthewire]

Yeah pretty sure Scott,He ain't no long haired hippie.

[TenMile]

Before my dad passed away a few years ago, a group of us were out on a fishing adventure. He and his buddy had gotten up at 5am, fished for the morning and came back in around noon for lunch, a nap and several pops. They were fishing out of a small aluminum with a 15hp pull-start. Ready to go again, they untie the boat from the dock, Dad stands over the engine, cranks the throttle wide open, and gives the pull start a hard yank. Unfortunately, after downing several pops, Dad has forgotten about putting the engine in neutral before starting, so as the engine screams to life the momentum knocks him backwards as the boat is now heading towards the shore at full throttle. As he falls over, his arm catches the tiller causing the boat to do a complete 180 heading out to sea, knocking him sideways onto his arse which lands perfectly on the seat. Arm still on the tiller he straightens the boat and gives all of us on shore the old "I do this all the time" nonchalant wave and continues to the fishing grounds. Meanwhile the rest of us are on the dock splitting a gut laughing so hard we can't see!!!

TenMile
<'((((><

[Smiley]

Dan.

When does the movie come out?

Smiley.

[danthewire]

I've got a ton more,this is a bit of a thread hijack hope thats okay smiley.This is a sort of cotinuation after the car was sent to the wrecker he decides that he would like a pickup.So he buys this old Fargo,we kids nicknamed it the "Pig Wagon"Just a real treat to be in if you know what I mean.So my brother and I are walking home from school one day in the fall and my brother says what the hell is wrong with the truck,instantely i'm looking for major damage.The door he says.We look and theres a half inch hole in it,but the metal is pushed out towards the outside.So we look in the passenger window and theres bits of foam rubber everywhere,looks like wedding confetti.My brother goes around and opens the door and theres a furrow across the seat.Stupid idiot he says.So we go inside watch tv don't say anything,then we're having dinner and my brother pipes up hey dad what happened to the truck?Course theres a bunch of grumbling and the old eat your dinner and be quiet.Course he can't resist hey you didn't shoot the truck did you?Well that was it theres a bunch of swearing and he says the gun accidentilly "discharged"and my f$#@&^ ears are still ringing.My brother is just killing himself laughing,too bad you didn't put it out of its misery he says.So things calm down and we are just finishing dinner my brother pipes up so let me get this straight he says you drowned the car and now you've shot the truck he says whats next?Dan

[danthewire]

Hey smiley, its like living in a real life episode of Super Dave Osbourne and the Simpsons,never know what the next phone call will bring.Dan

[Time]

Ok Dan, ration the stories, but keep 'em coming.
Coffee all over the monitor from laughing.
Gotta say your Dad was an original.

[bigmeal]

Dathewire, your stories are freaken hilarious!. Keep em' comin'.

[tubbed out]

Bigmeal

Im sure we had at more than one crazy moment this year

tubbed

[bigmeal]

Hey Tubbed Out,

Remember fishin' the head on one of those beautifully rough and windy days. Tubbed Out was pissing overboard on my side (my rod) low and behold my rod starts to bounce. "I think you got a fish on". Nothing like a fish on to make a guy stop mid stream! I started to play the fish and it was making my reel scream, but wouldn't you know it the kicker dies as we are maybe 25 feet from the rocks. I'm just having the time of my life playing my first real spring and Tubbed Out is scrambling to get the motor started. No go, and we are getting closer! finally we get the main motor going and we have to back up so we can keep playing the fish and stay off the rocks. Interesting feeling seeing waves start lapping into the boat as your playing your first real fish. I must admit I was getting a little worried, but we got the # 25 (which put up a great fight) and were able to stay afloat. Good times, can't wait to get my first tyee! Glad we were in your boat and not mine.

[kildonan]

Dan, that's good stuff!!! Hahahaha :D:D

[High Five]

Well I guess I should put Dads in topic. Love my dad but he shoud never own a boat again. One is outside of Sooke but it is funny.

Two episodes:

1. Long time ago I was kid in brentwood. We fished it every weekend, and rented the putter boats from Gilberts/Btrentwood. Rented a Brentwood chuggy one morning. We almost get out of Brentwood marina boat, and my dad stalls motor, and we drift, and steers right into old wood boat going fast. Hit it so hard dock moved. This huge scary guy gets out of boat, and starts making a scene in front everyone in marina. Being only 8 years ago didn't know what a xxxx head was or XXXXXin idiot! Pretty embarrassing then starts it agin, and hits the dock again. Eventualy got out of there but what a gong show. Of couse my dads comment"what was with that guy?"

2. Sooke 10 years ago. Dad gets another boat. I rig it up for fishing, and take him out one day. We put gear in make on pass by Secreatry and wham double header two buig fish on. I say put kicker in neutral! He slams the kicker full throttle. Snaps one rod, and I nearly go flying. Then turns around and blames me that we lost the fish?? Oh well bit my tongue not my boat. Then guess what he not paying attention, and wham downrigger cable oaround the prop. I don't think we talked for a few weeks after that.lol.

And that is why before I got my boat few years ago I took all my safety courses and always learned, and tried not to by like that. He still comes out, but he is not allowed to touch anything. I think my Mom is grateful he is not navigating on water anymore!

Smiley66

[Lipripper]

LOL smiley..... that hits close to home:D

[Karma-Kazi]

I hope I have a few years to go before my dad gets to that point! [:p]

Heres a good one. My grandfather is out one day this summer in sooke. Hes been fishing since before cheanuh was even there. He hits a nice spring about 20 pounds, nets it, goes to smack it with the bonker while in the net hanging outside the boat. slip, there goes the bonker in the drink. So he gets it in the box, and goes to clean the net off, well his hands are slimy and slip there goes his net into the drink. Well now hes down one net and one bonker. As if it could get anyworse, he sets his lines and then hook a nice fifteen pound ling, gets it beside the boat and grabs the Gaff and slip there goes the gaff in the drink. he called me that night and asked if i could go fishing with him the next day. He doesent like to go alone anymore. Talk about BADLUCK mixed with a little OLD AGE [:p]

-Steve

[danthewire]

"The wounding of the tinny".As you know dad had bought a 12 foot tinny to fish "old time"So I had sold him my 4x4 chev and he used to stuff the tinny in the back and go.One day one of my friends asks me if I can take him and his daughter salmon fishing.Yeah I says my trucks down right now but dad wants to go to Peddar this weekend I'm sure he'll pull my double eagle out,i'll let you know.Anyhow its all arranged to meet at 6 am and go.So we all meet at my dads place and stuff the tinny in the back.Back up and hook up the double eagle.Off we go with my buddy and his daughter following,now dad doesn't believe in waiting around.So we're flying down Happy Valley road at a high rate of speed and come to the"S"bends around the first one we go a little fast so he drags the brakes...all of a sudden theres this bump bump bump sound at the back.I bend down and look in the mirror and realize that the boat is not connected any longer to the truck but its cradled in the safety chain,don't hit the brakes I yell,course what does he do slams them on,I launch forward then a few seconds later the boat hits the back of the truck now i'm launched back into the headrest and there's this god awful sound at the back.So we pull over and go back,well the crank support on my trailer has hit the tail gate dead center and pushed it in about 8 inches or so .Perfectly symetrical a nice lazy "V" in the tailgate but the tin boat has had one side crushed in flat.So we pry the trailer out re attach it and off we go my buddie is wondering WTF.We get to Peddar launch my boat and pull the tinny out yep shes pretty flat on one side,my dad takes it out and starts jumping up and down on it trying to flatten it back out course it's a stream of swearing.My buddies daughter who is about 9 or 10 is standing behind her dad holding his hand and watching this with eyes as big as saucers,just can't believe it.So off we go, fishings not too bad we get a couple and his daughter gets a nice 20.Dad arrives a little while later with this flat sided boat and promply gets into a dandy right off the kelp bed so he fights it gets it in close and nets it only problem is he body netted it, not head first this thing is laying across the net hoop,couple of flips and its off.I'm just busting a gut laughing cause all i can hear is F$%%#& net.Anyhow we jacked the boat back into shape and he used it for a few more adventures.Dan