14 ft aluminum near Cow Bay. / Courtney ..any advice?

[Greg1971]

Hello all!


I will be on the island in the Cowichan Bay and Courtney area. (3 or 4 days in Cow Bay and 2 around Courtney) My boat is quite small: 14ft aluminum..15hp Yamaha, fish finder, no down riggers.

I am wondering if anyone can suggest some sheltered locations where I could troll and hopefully hook a fish or two.

I've done some charter fishing on the island but this would be the first time for me out in my tiny boat! Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! It is a bit overwhelming.

Thanks for reading!

Greg

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Brown's Bay, and Deep Water Bay are doable in your boat.
Lots of pinks and maybe sockeye will be open this week.
I take it you have no down riggers on your boat, so 8 oz
and a flasher and red mini squirt will work for you there.

Drive to Brown's Bay, do not launch in Campbell River
and run your boat thru the narrows. .....BB

 

[Cuba Libre]

The crossings from Browns Bay to Deepwater Bay on a strong flood tide can be downright nasty.. get a chart and stay away from Separation Head. My choice in a 14ft tinny would be to go around the corner and fish the wall from Browns Bay.. The pinks and coho dont just live on the Deepwater Bay side.. good luck. Another option you have is to fish off Cape Lazo off Comox-- Some nice cohos are coming in off the northern cardinal bouy .. A deep six or Pink Lady in front of a small (red or green/silver coyote spoon) will get you some pinks and possibly a coho if you are looking for a meal of whitefish, there are some lings hiding in the kelp and out a little deeper (50-70 depth) there are plenty of sole and flounders.. Jig a Zzinger on the bottom.... sorry I cant help you on the Cowie

 

[fishspoon]

jigging is other option...works well for springs and cohoes when you find baitballs out there.

 

[fshnfnatic]

For Cowichan Bay area,the bay itself and Sansom Narrows are closed as of Aug. 1 until late Oct.There is also a Chinook
non retention in neighboring Saanich Inlet from Aug.1 to Oct.15.You may only keep 2 hatchery coho in the inlet right now
until further notice.Not much oppertunity around here right now,I'm afraid.

 

[Tugcapitan]

X2 on deep six (or other planing boards) instead of weights if using flashers.

 

[Greg1971]

Wow! Thanks very much for all of the great responses! A great community of fishermen here!