Quantity or Quality?

[Seafever]

When the hatcheries start pumping out triploid Chinooks the fun should start..

but then again, seeing as how a triploid has no reproductive capabilities and all the energy goes toward growth, would they bother coming back to their natal rivers ?.....they couldn't spawn so it would be pointless for them....

There was a time when the so-called "Northern Coho" was the sought after species if you wanted a quality fighter.....big bang for the buck although they weren't "Tyee" class in weight.

Almost never hear of them anymore........most of the Coho I catch could use a shot of Geritol nowadays.....

 

[mikep]

Just to clarify when talking of hogs its fish over 40# in my books. I have a limited time to fish these days, I would rather spend my time any money looking for big fish on our coast. GDW you are very right a 30+ fish in the straight is a once and a while fish and a 40+ is once in a decade fish......I don't mind catching smaller fish locally, boat ride is short and fuel usage low. If I am gonna bust out the wad its going to be for an epic north coast trip during very small season window where a fish over 40# is usually seen, that is worth the trip. I have not seen many spunky 20# fish that can keep up with a sluggish 40#er. Bring on the hogs!!!

 

[Seafever]

If a "hog" is over 40lbs...then I have been catching piglets.......

 

[Rockfish]

I have not seen many spunky 20# fish that can keep up with a sluggish 40#er. Bring on the hogs!!!

It is sometime deceiving at least in our area. We once had one on that got itself pulling line in a super strong Sooke rip current (the kind where your 9.9HT kicker can’t push a medium size boat forward without help from the main, you are either going side to side only which changes direction as you try steering into it and sometimes backwards) till it had all but spooled us and that was with the drag set and the hand burning from palming just short of popping a knot. We were down to the last turns on the reel (no backing) when we turned the boat sideways and at that point with the pressure off it gave up, was done and reeled up to the boat to be netted with no further fight. While it was running and running and running with the help of the current you would have swore it was in the 30’s or bigger but turned out to only be 22lbs.

A couple of years ago we had a 33 which is not a bad fish for Sooke that made one 40 or 50 foot run then stopped and reeled right up to the boat before a perfect dip under and up netting job with a long handled net got it without scaring it and it never woke up. Sometimes you just can’t tell how much fight they will give you once they are over 20.

 

[fshnfnatic]

So true,Rockfish.My biggest slab took barely 10min. to land.Took only 3-4 short 50-75ft. runs,then came up on its side
right next to the boat and just laid there while I grappled for the unready net.Tipped the scales at 42lbs.A year or two
later,I was fishing off the outside tip of Secretary Is. in a strong riptide fishing for sockeye with small pink squirts and
bam,one of my troll rods with a 1.5lb. weight just starts screamin'.It was right around 9:00 PM with not much light left in the day.I fought that thing and fought that thing.Every time the weight got almost close enough for me to remove it
it'd take another couple hundred feet of line.This went on till the sun set and I was alone in the dark with this fish.
Common sense would have been to cut the line and get the hell in,but I was sure I had finally nailed that 50 lber.I
had been searching for forever.Long story short,I finally landed it around 10:30 that night.The fish was barely visable
in the darkness,but I could tell by the weight of it in the net that it was no 50lber.Turns out it was a 27lb. of hard scraping white spring.You just never Know!

 

[SteelyDan]

I'll play the teeners all day every day

 

[Pink Pounder]

Steady action all day for sure

 

[bigdogeh]

I'll take one or 2 bigdogs, or steady action all day. both scenarios are equally exciting for me. the 1 or 2 bigdogs probably get the edge though if i had to choose... as long as they put up an epic battle...

 

[Tugcapitan]

I would take the one big one everytime.

On the "hog" subject,
The guides I worked with (Charlottes) called;
15-25 - cookie cutters
25-30 - nice one
30-40 - slabs
40-50 - hogs (even then, any guide announcing a "hog" on the radio that turned out to be under 45 back the the scales was mercilessly ridiculed at the dinner table)
Over 50 - smileys

Cohos - shakers, rats, garbage
Cohos over 14lbs, nice one

These days down south, I'll happily fish all day for one fish no matter the size. Lots of fish are good too of course!
Still don't really count cohos

 

[TheSookesOfHazzard]

Man I just gotta say my absolute most memorable days on the water are ones spent on the pick hauling up doggie after doggie from 280+ feet. I mean ya, you could get like one 60lb Hali, but who in their right mind would want that when they could into double header action with the ocean's version of man's best friend all morning? Am I right?

 

[Cuba Libre]

Cohos - shakers, rats, garbage now that PISSES ME OFF. There is no such thing as a "garbage" pacific salmon. If some folks will give their head a shake (and some guides included in that) they would realize that we are BLESSED on this coast with a multitude of sportfishing opportunities that other Canadians back east would really appreciate. Its all about matching you gear to your quarry. If you are hitting pinks near the surface... put away your 50lb braid trolling gear and get out the pink zzingers on light casting gear. You will learn to appreciate these little silver rockets.. and there is nothing better than a FRESH (bled and gutted and iced immediately) pink on the BBQ.
Small coho? Rats????? WTF! Seems that SOME people have forgotten that the gulf coho harvest was built on 4-6 lb July and August marauders. They drove an incredibly vibrant inside fishery that has been greatly missed since the crash in the late 80s.

TugCaptain-- time to rethink you opinion of coho methinks...

 

[Tugcapitan]

Haha whoa Cuba easy!
I like a coho just fine! Those were tongue in cheek terms used by guides spoiled by day after day of Charlottes type action. We all hunted and counted chinooks only, cause that's what our mainly American guests wanted, and the only thing that counted at tip time. Big fish + big effort = big $$$, although some people were cool enough to realize big effort was enough. Others not so much! We all respected every fish out there, and worked hard to educate our guests in its conservation and respect. That doesn't mean we can't use derogatory slang amongst ourselves
I still only put gear down hoping for Chinooks, but believe me I don't throw my hat on the deck in disgust when I'm lucky enough to get a coho! BBQ loves it, so does the smoker.
Hope that clears it up for ya

 

[Cuba Libre]

OK -----you are forgiven

 

[Fishtank]

Man I just gotta say my absolute most memorable days on the water are ones spent on the pick hauling up doggie after doggie from 280+ feet. I mean ya, you could get like one 60lb Hali, but who in their right mind would want that when they could into double header action with the ocean's version of man's best friend all morning? Am I right?

Hhahaha great call, well said