Quick note about Kitty Coleman Hump

[guyfawkes]

Thanx Lazoman....it was an awesome day!

 

[Duffer]

I saw those porpoises on the way out to the Hump tonght that was a pretty cool sight. Bight sure slowed down tonght at the Hump. The fish moved or Morning bite? Any ideas? Definately less fish goin in nets tonight.

 

[Cuba Libre]

quote:I thought i saw the Cuba Libre.
I thought that boat was still in dry dock?
GLG

You did indeed..... Fully operational and out on duty! Blood on the boat..

The Oak Bay Marine whaler fleet must give thier clients a bumpy ride in the mornings. Its a long run from CR in an open boat.

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[lazoman]

How did we do at Kitty today? Radio had a report of a 38 lb? Sounds like it's getting crowded out there. I also heard reports of Fish cops at the ramps, so mark those licenses, and measure those small ones.

 

[GLG]

Boxed out again yesterday and I’m heading back out today (Sunday). Got to get my fishing in now, as I am traveling out east for a spell. The fleet was spread out so traffic was not a problem. I have not heard of anyone getting large. Biggest I have a confirmation on was 28 lb. I have seen lots around 20 to 21 that have been called 30. so maybe the 38 is a stretch. Regardless the fishing has been awesome for our boat during the day. Stayed late last night but only washed our gear. The fish cops did hand out a few tickets for not marking down on license. You never know were they are going to be when you go a shore. It’s not a bad idea to keep a spare pen on the boat. Last week our pen died and we were more than a little concerned. Our boat picked up 2 clipped fish and the heads went to the depot. Check your gear often doggies are all over. We had most of our hits at 190 feet. Good luck to all.
GLG

 

[PW_Homer]

Picked up a nice 20# Saturday, double hitter, when going thru a bait ball. Grabed one rod and had to break em from the down rigger(prob under 10# - shaker) and while reeling in watched the other rod break from the rigger and scream line. I put the rod back and grabbed the screaminng rod and rewarded by a nice 20#. Spoons at 70' and 130'. That was around 2:30pm and nothing after that except dog fish. There was over 50 boats and didn't see that many come in, but there was a few. Belly was full a herring. Find the bait balls and have fun. Left Kitty at 7PM.

Nice run from CR as water was flat and only 40min run.

\fishon

 

[GLG]

Got out early Sunday but only washed spoons till noon. Lumpy as heck but the friends we had out made the trip a pleasure. Hit fish at 190 feet in the afternoon. It seemed slow but steady till 4pm. FA had Walter on but lost him 30 feet from the boat. The fish came to the surface and said, “I’m not going for a boat ride” and shook his head and the spoon popped out. This fish was the absolute biggest one I have seen this year out there. Hard to tell but way bigger than the 25lb I got 2 weeks ago. Ended the day with 3 in the boat in the high teens and our guests with big grins on their faces. Not many boats out there on Sunday, probable because the water and wind were not co-operating. Lots of dogfish to contend with but all in all a great day. GLG

 

[tortuga]

Perserverence pays off hey GLG. I took my 6 year old son out at 7 am and he was seasick by 8, poor guy, so home we went. He thinks he's still sick this morning.
A couple days ago we weighed in a 28 at the launch. White hootch at 170. Happy days are here again
Tortuga

LET GO OF THE REEL!!!

 

[ZuluGirl]

Caught this 25lb last week...

 

[Cuba Libre]

Nice Zulugirl!!

quote:Lots of dogfish to contend with but all in all a great day. GLG

I agree GLG. The doggies are getting more numerous..dont make the mistake I made and put on a shot of 'chovie oil on the hoochie!! That hoochie lasted all of 10 min!!

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[GLG]

Zulugirl … Nice fish! Bet it was fun reeling in that one.
Any details on what you were using?

Sadly I will not be out there for a spell as I am heading to Alberta.
I have heard that the fishing has been good these last few days.
Good luck out there.
GLG

 

[Cuba Libre]

Another beauty ( the fish!) from todays paper..

quote:Conditions look good for excellent salmon fishery

Chuck Ashcroft with his 37.8-pound chinook taken off the Kitty Coleman Hump. Photo BY RALPH SHAW

Text By Ralph Shaw - Comox Valley Record


Published: June 18, 2009 6:00 PM
When the fish are in the message goes out by all forms of communication. Valley fishermen take on a frenetic attitude about the importance of the Kitty Coleman Hump and its chinook fishery.

In fact the message has travelled as far north as Campbell River where many of the guiding community and infected anglers are making the long boat trip from Campbell River to try to find cures for their clients or themselves afflicted with an urgent desire to catch a nice chinook salmon.

I suspect more than a few find a prescription for a cure by taking a mental health day and going fishing on the hump as a temporary remedy. Well, the fish are on the hump and I predict they will be around until at least the middle of July so we can expect it to be quite a prolonged affair.

Chuck Ashcroft, pictured with this column, is one of the infected anglers and along with many others he will be some weeks in trying to find a cure for his condition. His fish was close to 40 pounds as weighed on his digital scale at 37.8 pounds after being bled.

I think there is some justice in the natural world after all because Chuck virtually gave up his winter retirement to volunteer on our behalf in trying to get some sense in how we run our federal fisheries. He spent most of the winter in advisory board meetings.

I looked up on the computer the description of the chinook closure that runs from Kitty Coleman ramp down to Little River, about a mile offshore and if you can figure out precisely where the boundaries are you are better navigators than I am – which doesn’t say much.

Suffice to say that it is legal to fish on both sides of the hump and that is where the action is at this time. Stay well offshore near the crowd of boats on the hump and you should be okay. The closure is off on June 30.

Both of our local sport fishing tackle shops are sponsoring season-long fishing derbies and they are of the reward type with many hidden prizes rather than a serious competitive type of derby. If you are entering it is obviously to your advantage to weigh your fish in the round at the respective store. If this is the case at the very least I would suggest you bleed your fish as soon as it is killed to preserve the quality of the flesh and also keep your fish in a cooler with ice prior to the weigh-in.

One thing I believe about derbies is that when you enter you already have won the most valuable prize in a beautiful salmon that you caught. The rest is an unexpected dividend.

I have been out twice so far and on both occasions I was into fish. I am convinced that the reason the fish are back on the hump is because of the abundant food sources that have appeared in local gulf waters.

The first time when I was out with Chuck we saw a huge concentration of gulls to the north of Kitty Coleman. They appeared to be feeding on krill from the up-swelling current. Another friend who lives near Bates beach reports that the foreshore, at low tide, was white with resting gulls the other day, which is another indicator of the food supply. The krill are important salmon food in their own right, but along with it they are also important food for many other marine fish and mammals. It also follows that the schools of herring will be attracted to the krill.

The second time I was on the water we saw swirls of salmon as they pursued small herring near the surface. I believe the conditions are present to give us an excellent salmon fishery this year.

Most of the fish are being taken in deep water from 150 feet down to 225 feet with the aid of downriggers. On the two occasions I have fished to date we found the best lures were green hoochies and Cop-car coyote spoons. The best flashers were Golden Betsy, but I used a Purple Haze and caught fish. There is a big difference in these lures so a broad range of tackle is catching fish – good luck.

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[Duffer]

Any recent reports on Kitty I'm hearing it slowed down this week didnt get out all week planning on going out tomorrow and Sunday.

 

[Haze]

One of the guides I work with ran down there this morning got 2 in an hour, but then one of the guests got sea-sick so they had to run all the way back. Same guy yesturday had his limit in 6 hours. Spoons with long leaders seem to be the ticket.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Zulugirl-- nice to meet you and C. at the Family Fishing event at Comox lake. I will follow up on the stuff we discussed next week when I get a moment.

Cheers
Bryan

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[Cuba Libre]

Hey Zulugirl, nice to meet you an C. at the Family Fishing event at Comox Lake. I will follow up on the stuff we discussed later next week when I get a chance.
Cheers
Bryan

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[ZuluGirl]

Nice to have met you too, Bryan! Thanks for a great event. We look forward to helping out with the fish

GLG - it's been a while, but if I recall correctly, it was a purple hoochie on a Purple Haze flasher. Don't remember how deep - sorry [:I]

Been out to the hump a few time in the meanwhile, but never had any luck again. Aside from bad chop and wind and dogfish, nothing was happening. Maybe if we went out another few times? One just never knows.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Striper Sniper and myself were out yesterday from about 930 to 3. Zilch! (oops- forgot the three gray cod and baby yelloweye.)

Bait has disappeared-- and apparently the chins went with them. Saw only 2 other boats out but it was bumpy so that might have discouraged some. But we did manage to pick up a feed of trophy oysters on the way in, so it wasnt a total loss!

ZuluGirl-- now that I have got the fishing out of my system for a few days, I'll pass on your info to the conservation crew.
Cheers
Bryan

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[Cuba Libre]

Think I just might pass on Litty Coleman for a couple of days.

quote:Marine ForecastWinds
Issued 02:13 PM PDT 24 June 2009 Today Tonight and Thursday
Gale warning in effect.

Wind southeast 25 to 35 knots diminishing to 20 to 25 late this afternoon and to 10 to 20 this evening. Wind diminishing to light late overnight then increasing to northwest 25 Thursday afternoon.

In the 80s this wind pattern was called the "conservation wind" as it kept the fishermen tied to shore...

20ft Alumaweld Intruder

 

[tortuga]

Anyone have any luck lately? Thanks.

LET GO OF THE REEL!!!