A Very Unlikely Tyee

[Oly1]

I guess I could have put this in the fishing reports section, but I don't think that many people are going to use this technique to try and catch a salmon, let alone a tyee.

So my fishing buddy was fishing yesterday with his son. They launched out of Comox and we're heading towards Kitty Coleman. As they left the harbour the wind picked up and they didn't want to chance the rough ride over to their intended spot. Instead the cut the big engine and started trolling around Holmes Point. My buddies son got his flasher and hootchie set up and onto the downrigger and sent it down. My buddy got his son to run the boat as he got his rod ready.

He put his flasher and army truck hootchie on. He then pulled out 12 to 14 pulls, with the flasher and hootchie skipping along behind on the surface and reached for the release. He heard a big splash behind the boat and turned around as his rod almost jerked out of his hands. Fish on, as the salmon took off and peeled line out of the mooching reel. A little while later a tired spring was brought along side the boat, where my buddy's son slipped the net under the fish and they brought it aboard. That's when I got the frantic phone call, saying that he had just caught a huge salmon.

My buddy is just beginning to fish for salmon and this is only the third time he has been out in his new boat. He has not caught a legal salmon yet as the ones that he has caught have been all undersize by an inch or so. I asked him to give me the length and girth of the salmon which he did. 40 inches long with a girth if 25 inches. My calculator put the fish at just over 32 pounds.

He later weighed the fish on a certified scale and it weighed in at exactly 30 pounds. A tyee for his first salmon that he caught all by himself in his own boat. Pretty good fish for being only 25 feet behind the boat and on the surface.

This leads to the next question. What is the weirdest circumstances that you have been involved in and caught a good fish.

 

[Oly1]

 

[walleyes]

Nice lookin fish..

 

[Tugcapitan]

I love stories like this...

 

[Adler]

Awesome story, especially as a first keeper! We had a similar hit this weekend on the bait just before sending it into the deep, but sadly, it was a small coho.

 

[capt. crunch]

Wow! Crazy!! Beginners luck I guess.

 

[Rockfish]

This leads to the next question. What is the weirdest circumstances that you have been involved in and caught a good fish.

Here is a few fish stories.

Decades back I was at UVIC and a bunch of us use to fish for salmon from shore off nearby Ten Mile Point. One hot summer day when nothing was biting a friend of mine as a joke puts on a floating type bass plug and casts it out and ends up catching a large Chinook which he takes into the Oak Bay Marina to weigh it. – 31lbs. I think it was his first Tyee.

A few years back off Sooke my fishing partner hooks up a big Chinook out front and manages to get the line over the inside lip of the drum and wrapped around the shaft of the mooching reel – perhaps a little too much new line on the reel. Luckily it was resting between runs at the time and while he played it I was able to spin off the drag tensioner, remove the drum, get the line off the shaft and back on the drum but did not get the tensioner back on before the rod slams down again and it is off for another run. So now with my thumb and two fingers I am pushing/holding the drum on to the reel while he plays the fish as I try to avoid getting knuckle dusted until it takes another rest when I was able to grab the tensioner off the deck with the other hand and spin it back on and set the drag. We managed to get it in the boat and it also was in the low thirties.

A year or two back another fishing partner is playing a nice fish when the high tec rod explodes and now he is playing it with just the reel and rod butt and a few pieces of broken rod hanging off the line which I held up to keep them from catching on something. We also got that one in.

 

[finaddict]

In Port Alberni about 10 years ago, on my boat, my buddy sees the rod pop the pin off the rigger and start to peel off line. He grabs the rod, and proceeds to jam his fingers into the rapidly spinning handles, and immediately breaks off both handles (hence the term "knuckle-buster"). I will never forget the sounds of "Oww! Oww! Oww! and seeing handles and washers flying off in every direction.

Now with the fish still attached we have to try to land the fish with no handles on the reel. The fight then becomes a 2 man process where I hand line the fish in and my buddy uses his index finger to spool the line back on the reel. Every time the fish goes for a run, I let go of the line and he palms the reel (correctly this time), until the fish stops its run and I start to hand line the fish in again and he spools the line with his index finger.

Several other boaters stop to watch this unique fish fighting technique......

Finally, due to a very cooperative spring salmon, we land a 19-20 lb. fish into the boat, and then wrap my buddy's hand in ice to try to reduce the swelling in his very sore but fully intact knuckles. Fortunately the only thing that was broken was his pride.

 

[4bouys]

Not a tyee, but a similar story for me from Saturday in the JDF derby. Got a big hit off Beechy Head on Saturday morning. I was fishing alone and I run manual downriggers. Of course w the Derby on, the boats were super tight all around. So I was trying to land my fish, steer my boat and in those situations I just leave my cannonball down until my fish is in the boat. But of course, the fish wraps my DR cable - damn! It took a run so I took off all tension and somehow the line didn't snap. When I started to reel again the line caught on the cable. I threw down my rod and I and grabbed the line and started pulling the fish in. When I spotted the fish the thought went through my mind that I was going to win the derby prize of electric DRs!! I somehow got the fish in the boat - a few good line cuts on my hands. The fish was 101 cm long.

Wait it gets better! I was all excited to get into Pedder Bay and weigh it. Got to the dock, 50 people on the weigh in patio beside the dock. Got out onto the wharf and realized my bow line was on the other side of my boat - stepped on to the bow and realized, crap my boat is drifting off the wharf. Yes, the classic boat fail. Splash - cheer from the crowd - me wet to the shoulders - pulled my hammy bad!

Bloody fish was only 22 lbs!

When I limped back to my vehicle w my fish box a guys said, "wow, that must be a heavy fish!" - no, I just have a bad leg.

End of story. My wife and kids pee'd themselves when I told got home and told them. Happy F-day to me.

 

[Oly1]

Did you get any prize at all for your fish 4bouys. That was a good story that I am sure a few fisherman have gone through, but with different endings.

 

[Rayvon]

Fishing Bamfield many years ago my brother-in-law and I notice a flasher being towed along ahead of our boat,no other boats near us.He heads up to the bow to get a better look as I rev the kicker to catch up to it.He can see that there is some line dragging behind it so I pass him the gaff and he manages to pick up the line.He wraps the line around his hand and hangs on as I grab the net and bag a 32 pound spring at the rear of the boat.We couldn't have timed it better if we had rehearsed it,plain lucky.It turned out to be the biggest fish of that trip,never forget it.

 

[FisherTim]

Fishing Bamfield many years ago my brother-in-law and I notice a flasher being towed along ahead of our boat,no other boats near us.He heads up to the bow to get a better look as I rev the kicker to catch up to it.He can see that there is some line dragging behind it so I pass him the gaff and he manages to pick up the line.He wraps the line around his hand and hangs on as I grab the net and bag a 32 pound spring at the rear of the boat.We couldn't have timed it better if we had rehearsed it,plain lucky.It turned out to be the biggest fish of that trip,never forget it.

Similar Story, I was fishing off the Pender Bluffs, I got out around 4:30 AM, and it must have been 8:30, not a nibble. There were 20-30 other boats, with nets tucked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my Port-Side Rod Hammer down to the water. As I run back to it, it's completely slack, pissed of and half heartedly I pull it out of the holder, right as I have it out, the fish bolts down, I loose the rod and decide to call it a day. With all my gear up, and in the boat, I see something flash at the surface, then I see what I thought was a seal, I go over to check it out, a 20ish pound Coho is pulling my flasher. I manage to gaff the line, pull in the fish, then recover my rod.

 

[4bouys]

Did you get any prize at all for your fish 4bouys. That was a good story that I am sure a few fisherman have gone through, but with different endings.

I am not sure if I got a prize. Are the prizewinners posted online anywhere? I couldn't make it to the banquet - maybe you had to be there to win. Would love more info if anyone has any.

btw - there are some great stories showing up on this thread. Maybe it should be re-named "Hard to believe fishing stories" or "Crazy catches". Enjoying them and having a few good laughs - thanks.

 

[captain_no_fun]

Guiding, I set the hook and handed the rod off to a first time fisher. This individual quickly managed to drop the rod in the water and we watched as it was pulled under. We were mourning the loss of the fish and the rod and reel when we saw a flash and then the rod surfaced off the port bow. I kicked the boat in gear, chased the rod for a 10 or so meters and netted the rod. I handed it back over to the rookie and we netted a 13 pound chinook.

 

[Bobby]

I was a kid we were fishing Seymour Narrows at a full running tide fishing the eddies. Back in those days we raked for herring and fished live bait. So Dad is running the boat and mom and I are watching the rod , bang it gets a hit there wasn't much line out and the fish came up to the surface in the Eddie. I can remember the fish clear as day it was well over 40 lbs . Dads trying to get the boat going with the tide and mom has the rod and the reel an old peetz is just screaming off line. Moms getting spooled quickly and decides to stop the line by grabbing it ouch bye bye rod and reel she let go and overboard it went . Dad was pissed it was a new rod and really what did he expect lol. There was a lot of guide boats fishing that night from where we were staying at April point lodge . We were down on the dock when one of the guide boats came in with dads Rod and reel. The fish apparently got tangled in there gear and they ended up bring up dads Rod. What are the chances lol .

 

[CIVANO]

I was fishing Nit Nat mouth years ago and a guy came on the radio and told another boat that he had lost his rod a reel to a big spring at Nit Nat. He was on his way back to Barkley Sound. Just then we popped a release and thought we had a spring but it was his line with the rod and reel finally. We radioed him and he came back to get it. He said the plug attached had killed them all day and offered it to me but I gave the whole set up back. Wish I had kept the plug.

 

[Rockfish]

Fishing Bamfield many years ago my brother-in-law and I notice a flasher being towed along ahead of our boat,no other boats near us.He heads up to the bow to get a better look as I rev the kicker to catch up to it.He can see that there is some line dragging behind it so I pass him the gaff and he manages to pick up the line.He wraps the line around his hand and hangs on as I grab the net and bag a 32 pound spring at the rear of the boat.We couldn't have timed it better if we had rehearsed it,plain lucky.It turned out to be the biggest fish of that trip,never forget it.

Glad to learn it can be done. We have chased a couple of flashers being towed on the surface in the last few years but so far have not managed to get a hold of one. Because we have had gear down we could not maneuver fast enough and eventually lost site of them and in one case would have cut across another boat chasing it .

 

[Gypseas]

Get yourself a short rod w a casting reel and spool it with 30 or 40 lb mono and have a buzzbomb or similar attached go it at all times
Cast it over the line between the flasher and the fish it's a lot easier than chasing the fish.
Cheers

Glad to learn it can be done. We have chased a couple of flashers being towed on the surface in the last few years but so far have not managed to get a hold of one. Because we have had gear down we could not maneuver fast enough and eventually lost site of them and in one case would have cut across another boat chasing it .

 

[Peahead]

Glad to learn it can be done. We have chased a couple of flashers being towed on the surface in the last few years but so far have not managed to get a hold of one. Because we have had gear down we could not maneuver fast enough and eventually lost site of them and in one case would have cut across another boat chasing it .

About 10 yeas ago at the cap mouth fishing solo in the fall ( west van) I hook a decent spring.... fishing two lines on bottom as general protocol so I pop the clip on the other rod/line using my right hand winding down hard ( while fish is taking line from rod in left hand) .... wind other rod up in rod holder while fish is still pounding and running in left hand. Other rod now in and stowed and both riggers up automatically the fish comes close to boat and he dogs hard head down - I pull boat ahead to bring him up but then he goes nuts strait into a rigger cable that is still in water( rigger auto stopped ball 3' below surface - that was the MISTAKE to not complete the ball lift out of water!) Fish snaps off with flasher on. A few choice words ....then 2 min later I notice flasher skipping on surface about 2-3 mph then goes under.....then up again....5 min later I decide its possible and go after him-- full circle in boat come at him slowly head on....put net down and grab flasher both at same time and bag him. not huge but a 22 lber and a story.

Gypseas ......good idea but being a terrible caster I found the chase method easier and kinda more "Rambo" like! lol

BTW GREAT story Oly1-- simply priceless!

 

[Percy Stipec]

I was fishing for lingcod off the Egmont government pier one day. I put a rod down with a shiner on it and then put it down and walked to the other side of the pier. Just as I turned around to come back I saw the rod get bent hard. I sprinted back but not in time to save the rod. After grieving the loss of the fish and the rod I bought 60 feet of string from the Bathgates store and tied a bunch of trebles and a weight on. I pulled that around for a couple hours until I hooked something with some weight to it. I pulled it up and there was my rod with a ten pound ling on it. That was a very happy moment for me.