Tales From The Tyee Pool........2017...

Sunday evening and just back from a go-out with a couple of young gals name of Diane and Sharon.

I'd had Diane out once before but Sharon was a complete newby so required some basic instructions before we ventured forth, which I carried out as we motored away from our mooring spot.

Despite a bad omen start wherein my outboard nearly came off the boat as we were turning sharply to retrieve my lifejacket which somehow chose to remain on the dock after we'd left for the Pool, we eventually made it out and started fishing.

I had both of my Shovelnose plugs on, my older Lucky Louie and my new to me original Minser, recently received as a gift from a pal and most welcome as it made up the pair.

We worked our way back and forth a few times, exchanging pleasantries with the other rowers as we encountered them plus we performed a couple of weed checks which was interesting as Sharon has fairly short arms, which makes catching the line difficult with a weight swinging on it and she seemed a bit taken aback by the whole routine, even though it's not that complicated.

My impression was that she didn't really expect to get a strike so didn't feel a sense of urgency about getting things done quickly or getting the plug back out as fast as possible, but no big deal for me as I'm all-too-aware of how one can just get caught up in the whole experience and, having heard about how few strikes there are, wander away from the actual task at hand.

This played a big factor in what happened at about 9:10 PM as Diane got a strike which she nailed really well. Being on the port side of the boat she had to hold the rod butt-backwards, the bane of being on that side, so I quickly reminded her to switch hand position as I hauled away on the oars with the speed and vigor that would have made Bruce Aikman proud of me.

Simultaneously I instructed Sharon to reel her line in as fast as possible. She was initially a bit slow to react as she was caught up in the action and excitement of Diane switching around and getting on the reel with the result that she suddenly had line running out at a rate that suspiciously matched Diane's.

"I've got one too!" she hooted.

But I knew what had really happened, so tried to figure out which way the lines were crossed and who was over who, not that easy in the fading light.

The fish ran away a bit and I could see Sharon's plug sliding along Diane's line towards us so grabbed my nippers while asking Diane to swing her rod around so I could grab Sharon's plug and weight and cut them off, thus freeing Diane's line.

Unfortunately, I have but two arms and two hands so couldn't stay on the oars while doing the nipping bit and that's when the fish decided to arrive at the boat, still highly agitated by the looks of it, an undersize for sure but a bright fish, obviously new to the Pool.

"It's right here!" Diane exclaimed, gesturing at the frothing maelstrom right next to us.

I reached back for my net, looked back at the fish and watched it dive under the bow of the boat.

I might have said a bad word.

With my other hand I grabbed for the oar in a vain attempt to spin the bow away from the fish, ending up with a couple of awkward and feeble strokes which accomplished little when Diane announced, "It's gone."

Fortunately the plug popped up right there so I netted it then looked at the line where it had parted.

It was rubbed and scraped, probably when it encountered the keel, which is Brass covered Teak.

So there you have it, a new plug that hooked a fish the first time it ever saw the Tyee Pool plus a minor comedy of sorts involving beginners luck and a lost fish.

The fish was definitely not a Tyee but it would have been great to have boated it regardless, and I'm super stoked about the new plug.

Finally, even though it's well known that I'll take out just about any Tom, Dick or Harry, tomorrow I'm taking out a Joe. :D

Wish us luck.



Take care.
 
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Last night, Monday, found yours truly and old pal Joe out in the Pool with a dozen and a half others battling an adverse wind blowing one way and a weak ebb moving the other.

Heading with the wind was a rowers dream as one needs mostly to back-stroke now and then to maintain course and moderate speed to keep the plug working against the ebb current.

Going the other direction was a really good workout as one needs to outpace the ebb flow but do it against the wind in order for the plug to work properly.

And nothing happened last night at all that I'm aware of. No strikes, no fish and still a bell waiting to be rung.

This morning a 27 pounder came in, rowed by Mike Massie with Greg Eskey on the rod.

Close, but no joy.

Tonight I'll be out again making up for a missed outing on Saturday when I managed to poison myself with my own cooking and had to cancel.

I'm hoping the wind goes away or at least eases up a bit as it really detracts from the whole experience and makes it much more work than it needs to be, IMHO.

So off to do laundry and catch up on a few chores.

Later.






Take care.
 
HOT OFF THE PRESS!!!

First Tyee weighed in by my trusty old rower CC just a short time ago.

It weighed 30 1/2 lbs. and was the first for Chris in four years and the first he'll get a Trophy for.

He rowed it himself too, for which I'll give him heck as I was available to hold a rod today but he didn't call me. LOL

Well done to CC though and I guess we'll just go for the biggest of the year tonight when I'm out for another go with a pretty young gal.

Can't tell you how stoked I am for my old pal though.

Super!!





Take care.
 
And now we have two Tyee as a 32 1/2 pounder rowed by Martin Buchanan with the lucky angler being Dwayne Smith was registered earlier today not long after CC registered his.

CC caught his on a spoon but Dwayne got his on a plug, so one never knows just what will bring the often long-awaited strike, and that adds to the fun of the game.

Tonight I rowed a couple of young gals named Sharon and Cheryl although only Sharon fished. We've fished together before but have only a Cabezon to show for our efforts so far.

Lovely evening and lots of hope what with two Tyee already registered along with a couple of undersized ones weighed but alas, nothing for us at all.

CC, out for his try at the Daily Double claimed he had two more hits on the same spoon he got his Tyee on but didn't hook up either time.

One of the drawbacks to fishing alone is being able to strike quickly enough when getting a hit although CC is really good at it and I know 'cause I've watched him close-up in action.

Anyway, another day in the Pool and two Tyee on the board.

Not too shabby.




Take care.
 
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how exciting dave, I just got to town and got out yesterday trolling, (was on west coast fishing)there was another 34lb caught off the pier last night too! Wish my stay was longer so I could do the pool and have a chance to hook one! There's some nice ones showing up already
 
Here's a couple of pics of the successful guys so far.

My trusty old rower CC beaming as he displays his FIRST Tyee of the year which earned him the Les McDonald Trophy and accolades from all who know him. Chris rows by himself a lot and is really good at it.

Chris-Cook-30-5-lbs-Aug-8th-430-p-m-on-a-spoon-rower-by-himself-300x226.jpg


And here's Dwayne Smith (standing I think) and rower Martin Buchanan with their 32 1/2 pounder that was just a couple of hours too late to be first of the year.

Dwayne-Smith-new-member-32-5-lbs-Aug-8th-645-p-m-on-a-plug-rowed-by-Martin-Buchanan-300x225.jpg


I'm told Dwayne is from Alberta and was staying at Browns Bay when he got talking with a neighbor who invited him to try the Tyee Pool, so he did.

I'd think he's glad he did.



Take care
 
Hi Dave, just wanted to say thanks again for taking me out last night. Even though we didn't get into one it was great to experience the tradition of fishing the tyee pool. Good luck the rest of the season, hope some tyees find your boat!

Dave C
 
My pleasure Dave.

I enjoyed your company and the trout fishing tales too.


Take care,

Dave
 
Friday night and little to report in the way of Tyee.

Rowed another Dave last evening with no joy and my Lawyer tonight, again with no joy although we did watch Tyee Pool Master R.D. Berger artfully row his client into an undersize at the north end of the Pool off the corner.

Weird night with lots of weed, lots of chop and just enough wind to take some of the fun out of rowing. Watched a couple of cruise ships and felt a couple drops of rain too.

But no strikes for us.




Take care.
 
And we have a new and bigger Tyee courtesy of rower Roy Grant with trusty rodman Tim Samuels bringing in a 35 1/2 pounder this morning, caught on a plug.

Roy is a consistent producer in the Tyee Pool and one can do worse than pay attention to what he does, when he does it and how he makes it happen in order to upgrade one's own knowledge.

I try to whenever I can, not that it's helped me much apparently. LOL

Here's the happy couple with their prize.

Tim-Samuels-35.5-lbs-Aug-11th-815-p.m.-on-a-plug-rowed-by-Roy-Grant-300x225.jpg


Out again tonight with rod-holder Big Bud so looking forward to a good workout if nothing else.



Take care.
 
Sunday night, nearly 10:00 PM and no phone call from the Weighmaster so I'm assuming nobody got a Tyee tonight.

My hat's off to those hardy souls who rowed in the wind and with a flood tide tonight though, 'cause I didn't.

Hopefully the wind will settle down in the coming days and maybe even some new fish will show up.

Right now it's slow, so here's some Thumbs of recent pics.

I'm having a bit of difficulty posting picks from Flickr but if you click the first Thumb you'll get to all the pics. Note smoky sunset, peeking at the hard-cores through the bushes, RK holding position, the Tyee Club dock etc.

Maybe tomorrow......







Take care.
 

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Monday morning and no new Tyee but another undersize by Tim Samuels, currently leading the pack with his 35 1/2 pounder, caught on the plug pictured below.

I had a chance to chat Tim up and take a couple of pics of his plug, a $5.00 find in a local second hand store.

He rows this plug plus motors with it outside the Tyee Pool. He bought it near the end of Tyee season last year and quite quickly took four fish on it rowing in the pool.

So far this year he has boated five fish from the pool plus several more motoring using this plug.

Take a good luck at these pics and bear in mind this plug was almost pristine when he bought it. All those tooth marks come from the nearly 20 fish that have struck this plug in less than a year.

Tim says it's a line twister of a plug and speculates it may act like a cut-plug or something. Also note the hole near the tail, a result of mis-drilling when modifying it for a single hook harness after removing the original hooks, he claims.

We wondered if that hole might create a stream of bubbles or something like that which has a special attractive quality for salmon, but really don't know for sure.

Regardless, if you see a headline soon that says: LOCAL RODHOLDER MUGGED FOR PLUG, please forget you ever read this posting, and if you should see a rower furtively hunched over whilst tying on a weird-looking plug next week, it's not me. LOL



Take care.RSCN5048.JPG RSCN5049.JPG
 
Great stories! I love reading this thread!

Regarding the plug you pictured...roughly how long is the plug? How do you rig a plug like this for rowing? A banana weight and a leader to the plug? Single hook? So many questions!
 
One of the only threads that makes me laugh.......love it when people get all excited on there first fish... Your telling on Sharon and Dianne's fish was awesome, thxs
 
thank you Dave for rowing me in the pool, it is a amazing spot. best of luck to you Dave!
 
Great stories! I love reading this thread!

Regarding the plug you pictured...roughly how long is the plug? How do you rig a plug like this for rowing? A banana weight and a leader to the plug? Single hook? So many questions!


I didn't measure it but did note it seemed a smidge longer than regular Lucky Louie/Minser plugs, most of which are 5" so I'd say the plug pictured is 6" or better by a bit.
Very noticeable to me at first glance was the diminutive size of the nose on this plug. It's smaller than any of my plugs, which are either Chinook-noses or Shovel-noses.
Tim and I discussed a few variables as we wondered if the weird hole near the tail might create a bubble trail or something when he mentioned the plug was a bit of a line-twister which suggested it might be acting like a cut-plug and had a smaller and quicker rolling action than what we normally think of when imagining the plug working away.
Who knows??

All I can say here is that, unless I've been pranked by Tim and allies, that this is one heckuva plug for a $5.00 bill.


As to rigging a plug:
Most Lucky Louie plugs have a diagonal hole through their bodies from the nose to about a third of the way along the belly and we make hook harnesses up from bead chains, swivels and stuff (varies) which in the end must fit into the diagonal hole far enough to have the line attached to the harness out front of the nose of the plug with the hook snugged up under the belly.

There are a couple of favored methods for weight attachment used in the pool, none involve a banana weight in the method one thinks of and most use the simple slip weight. Mostly 4 oz for plugs and 2 oz for spoons, but that can vary a bit.
A few use a sliding weight system that is pegged in place once the lure is out, the name of which I can't recall at the moment, but I tried to go that way a few years back and discovered it wasn't being sold anywhere I could find so stayed with slip weights.

And we use single barbless hooks, maximum 20# test line, (tested), plugs and spoons or "trolling type lures" so no Buzz Bombs etc. and you must be rowed or paddled.

Oh, you're not allowed to shoot your fish either. LOL

It's one of the actual rules.





Take care.
 
thank you Dave for rowing me in the pool, it is a amazing spot. best of luck to you Dave!


My pleasure and great to meet you.

Good luck in your fishing too and all the best.


Take care.
 
Some guys take the theory of the "magic plug" way too seriously........not me!!

p.s. - can you tell me where Tim lives and where he keeps his tackle?
 
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