I have a question for you guys - I just sold my 14 foot aluminum boat last year which I had for 3 years. My sort of rule with a boat is if I own a boat I want to use it. No sitting in the car port unused, if I'm going fish and there is a boat in the drive way I'm using it to go fishing. Perhaps sort of a rule, especially when it's tough to find time sometimes. I'm sure some of you must feel the same. For years I was always the type who floated around with the different river fisheres. Steelhead and Cutthroat in the Winter/Spring, Salmon/Chinook, perhaps Sockeye in the Summer, some river rainbow trout fisheries (e.g. Skagit River, etc.), and then fall salmon or steelhead on the local rivers or the odd up north. But lately I have gotten the urge to get into salt water fishing and buy a more salt water friendly boat (e.g. something 17-19 foot for the local Vancouver waters). I really enjoy fishing out of a boat, but if I bought something such as an Arima boat (or similar) I'd want to use it. ON one hand, what I like about it, is it is more family friendly to fish out of a boat, as well as being easier to go fishing with friends/family who aren't good or knowledgeable about fishing (it's much tougher to get people dialed in river fishing or fly fishing in comparison - on the boat with downriggers you just set them up and pretty much troll and wait for one to go off, etc.). On one hand I can fish a lot locally without having to drive much, but on the the other hand if I own a salt water boat I always figured I'd be missing out on a lot of BC - camping, fishing other rivers, lakes, etc. (mind you I've never been much of a lake guy for some reason - I'd rather be out on the ocean than a lake). So did many of you start out like me - river fishing with dabbling in salt water and then move strictly to mostly salt water, or do you still find enough time to dabble in both? What is the draw of salt water fishing for you and what makes it worth missing out on other oppurtunities such as river fishing for trout/salmon or interior lake fly fishing? Do you find it more relaxing, or enjoyable or?
What is the Draw of Salt Water Salmon Fishing?
- Thread starter Scott K
- Start date
Sculpin
Well-Known Member
I just like to spend money
.
All joking aside it is expensive. I grew up on the ocean in Departure Bay and have always messed around with fishing and boats. I used to windsurf on the ocean for many years in my younger days all over the Island. I guess you could say I am drawn to her like a moth to a flame. It's in my blood so to speak.
I really like the mixed bag harvest day's where you actually luck out on fish, prawns, and crab etc. You just can't do that on a river. The other really cool stuff like porpoises, whales, sealions, etc. make some day's very interesting. When you venture far offshore you get to see all sorts of other stuff you just don't normally see. Mother nature at her best.
I read into your post like you might think salmon fishing from a boat is easier than river fishing? If so then good luck lol. You are right in that fishing from a boat with friends and family is more sociable and can be more relaxing in certain conditions. The only draw back I can see aside from cost is sea sickness. I have never met many river fisherman that get sick while fishing lol.
Cheers,
John
.All joking aside it is expensive. I grew up on the ocean in Departure Bay and have always messed around with fishing and boats. I used to windsurf on the ocean for many years in my younger days all over the Island. I guess you could say I am drawn to her like a moth to a flame. It's in my blood so to speak.
I really like the mixed bag harvest day's where you actually luck out on fish, prawns, and crab etc. You just can't do that on a river. The other really cool stuff like porpoises, whales, sealions, etc. make some day's very interesting. When you venture far offshore you get to see all sorts of other stuff you just don't normally see. Mother nature at her best.
I read into your post like you might think salmon fishing from a boat is easier than river fishing? If so then good luck lol. You are right in that fishing from a boat with friends and family is more sociable and can be more relaxing in certain conditions. The only draw back I can see aside from cost is sea sickness. I have never met many river fisherman that get sick while fishing lol.
Cheers,
John
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fish stalker
Active Member
I love fishing but I dont think I have the skills to run a boat by myself and I hardly know anyone who knows anything about being on the water. I would get a boat that is easy to do most of the loading and unloading with min help so not to big yourself. I would love to be in the chuck everyday but weather keeps me off in the late afternoon early evening after work so Id get a 20ft stable boat so it can be used in most weather. I can never find anyone to go fishing with so thats the main reason I fish in rivers. Plus seeing a fish follow your lure and take it is pretty cool. Ocean fishing is defeinlty more of a production it seems and the cost is alot more, little more nerve racking as more things can go wrong. If I had a river and ocean the same distance from my house with the fishing equally as hot...hmm... ocean has lots to see like Scuplin said and I like to eat fish which alot of fisherman dont. id take ocean because id rather have the big chrome slab for the bbq. River if I just want to relax and chill. I never see to much action on the river as Im still learning lol.
River if I just want to relax and chill. I never see to much action on the river as Im still learning lol.
Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
Join one of the anglers associations . let them know that you are willing to learn . Clubs tend to be hard to break into, as a lot of the guys (and gals) already have established partners. But if you stick with it, you WILL find folks willing to spend the time to help you out----- dont forget to volunteer for club work parties-- that is where a lot of partnerships come together.
Good luck--- I hope this helps as I have seen too many guys give up and leave when they didnt get immediate recognition.
ps-- my home club holds stag fishing and hunting weekends. Great way to get to know the members even if you sit next to the campfire listening to the BS and dont wet a line!
Good luck--- I hope this helps as I have seen too many guys give up and leave when they didnt get immediate recognition.
ps-- my home club holds stag fishing and hunting weekends. Great way to get to know the members even if you sit next to the campfire listening to the BS and dont wet a line!
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Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
Started with lakes, then rivers then salt. Dont know why-- but I expect to catch something in the freshwater-- not so in the salt, its always changing and I like that challenge, even if I do come home skunked.
For me, there's a lot of reasons to fish the salt.
1) I almost always limit out in the salt. Of course I fish where the fish are when they are there. I'm usually out at the end of the strait of Juan de Fuca starting in late June and ending sometime in Aug/Sept. In August, it's hard NOT to limit out.
2) The fish are all bright and tasty. Some river fish are chrome, some are boots. Not a worry in the salt, everything is bright (except fish near he river mouths).
3) As Sculpin pointed out, there's variety. I can limit on salmon and bottom fish on the same day. I can catch crabs while I'm trolling for salmon. I can run out far and get tuna an salmon on the same day.
4) As Scuplin mentioned also - the scenery and nature in the salt are awesome. I can see whales, porpoises and birds I'll never see in the rivers
5) Solitude - I can fish places in the ocean with no other boats within a mile.
Yes, it's expensive and yes it take more time than running down to a local river. But I've spent more time with a salmon on the line in a typical weekend this summer at Neah Bay than I'll have all fall long on a river. I don't have tons of time to fish so I maximize the fish/unit time by fishing in the best places in the salt at the best times of the year.
1) I almost always limit out in the salt. Of course I fish where the fish are when they are there. I'm usually out at the end of the strait of Juan de Fuca starting in late June and ending sometime in Aug/Sept. In August, it's hard NOT to limit out.
2) The fish are all bright and tasty. Some river fish are chrome, some are boots. Not a worry in the salt, everything is bright (except fish near he river mouths).
3) As Sculpin pointed out, there's variety. I can limit on salmon and bottom fish on the same day. I can catch crabs while I'm trolling for salmon. I can run out far and get tuna an salmon on the same day.
4) As Scuplin mentioned also - the scenery and nature in the salt are awesome. I can see whales, porpoises and birds I'll never see in the rivers
5) Solitude - I can fish places in the ocean with no other boats within a mile.
Yes, it's expensive and yes it take more time than running down to a local river. But I've spent more time with a salmon on the line in a typical weekend this summer at Neah Bay than I'll have all fall long on a river. I don't have tons of time to fish so I maximize the fish/unit time by fishing in the best places in the salt at the best times of the year.
Englishman
Well-Known Member
I have done a fair bit of lake and river fishing but am relatively new to the saltwater game. I would say floating around and flycasting on a small lake is far more relaxing than boat fishing on the salt! In the latter there is the constantly changing tides, winds, weed and flotsam debris, other boats, weather and plain difficult to catch fish. Where ARE those fish and what depth are they??!! LOL Having said that, when you do contact the fish, they are bright, energetic, hard fighting and far bigger (than on lakes anyway...). And very tasty.
I do miss the BC interior a bit - the camping, freshwater fishing and scenery, but there are some beautiful places right here on VI often best seen and visited by boat. Like everything in life, it is a bit of a trade off.
It's all good, here in BC!!
I do miss the BC interior a bit - the camping, freshwater fishing and scenery, but there are some beautiful places right here on VI often best seen and visited by boat. Like everything in life, it is a bit of a trade off.
It's all good, here in BC!!
Sculpin
Well-Known Member
Alla salute!!!
carpeweekend
Crew Member
I think the answer is very simple. No mosquitoes on the ocean
Big Green Machine
Well-Known Member
I fish salt WCVI, ECVI, freshwater lakes all over the Province and rivers and streams too. I have three boats, twenty rods and reels. But if I were too chose one, it would salt and Coastal rivers because there is always something to drag up. In the Interior, our lakes are hard for 3-4 months.
Bifmalibu
Well-Known Member
Fishing the ocean is going to cost you way more money and it is a bigger production to get out fishing than simply heading to a river and wetting a line. That being said though, something about the salt is incredibly enticing and addicting. It's like a bag of chips, once you start, you can't stop. I love the ocean and the salt air will always draw me back. I have a 17' Arima. I love it! It is so safe, comfortable and fishes like a much bigger boat for less than half the cost. If you do buy a salty boat think Arima, you won't regret it.
Seafever
Well-Known Member
Carpeweekend:- no mosquitoes on the ocean?......try fishing close in to Winchelsea Island on the Strait side in the middle of summer.....
I salt fish and I lake fish. I will river fish too if the desire comes up.
What's the draw to salt water fishing?......well,you're born that way. At an early age the sea will call you. You can't fight it if you tried. Even when you think you don't want to go fishing on the chuck, you will anyway.
You may come back from a saltwater trip where everything went wrong and you swear you are going to hang up your rods and sell the boat.
But you won't.
As soon as you repack the tackle and sort out the chaos.......you'll be right back out there again.
The ocean is a drug.......and once you're addicted (especially after you reel in your first slab) you are hooked for life.
It will be harder to kick it than heroin.
But sailors and saltwater fishermen are born...not made.
If it's in you you will inevitably wind up on the salt, whether you consciously choose to or not.
It is your karma...it is your destiny........resistance is futile.
Once you have been baptised on the salt.......any journey to a land point between Vancouver and Halifax seems like a colossal waste of time.....unless it is to a lake or river.
If you are a saltwater fisherman....and then you decide to sell your boat and give up ocean fishing:- believe me you will need counselling for the complete sense of utter loss and futility that you will experience.
Days will be spent wandering around like a lost penny, no clear purpose at hand, and if you pass a boat-dealer there's a chance you will start convulsing uncontrollably.
You'll be visiting breakwaters and feeding the seagulls to pass the time.......you'll be spincasting off piers and docks......all to no avail.
At some point a strange feeling will come over you. You will tell the wife you are going to the hardware store but on the way you will stop in at the boat dealer and in a cold sweat with your voice barely a whisper you will say to the salesman " Had my eye on that 20 footer out there". As if in a dream, where you are an outside observer, you will watch yourself sign the papers and the check and hitch the new rig up to your truck .
You will remain in this state until you get home....where the wife,shouting and slapping the crap out of you ,will bring you back to reality.
Her objections will not matter....because it is just simply in you to be a saltwater fisherman.
But it won't take long to get her addicted as well......
I salt fish and I lake fish. I will river fish too if the desire comes up.
What's the draw to salt water fishing?......well,you're born that way. At an early age the sea will call you. You can't fight it if you tried. Even when you think you don't want to go fishing on the chuck, you will anyway.
You may come back from a saltwater trip where everything went wrong and you swear you are going to hang up your rods and sell the boat.
But you won't.
As soon as you repack the tackle and sort out the chaos.......you'll be right back out there again.
The ocean is a drug.......and once you're addicted (especially after you reel in your first slab) you are hooked for life.
It will be harder to kick it than heroin.
But sailors and saltwater fishermen are born...not made.
If it's in you you will inevitably wind up on the salt, whether you consciously choose to or not.
It is your karma...it is your destiny........resistance is futile.
Once you have been baptised on the salt.......any journey to a land point between Vancouver and Halifax seems like a colossal waste of time.....unless it is to a lake or river.
If you are a saltwater fisherman....and then you decide to sell your boat and give up ocean fishing:- believe me you will need counselling for the complete sense of utter loss and futility that you will experience.
Days will be spent wandering around like a lost penny, no clear purpose at hand, and if you pass a boat-dealer there's a chance you will start convulsing uncontrollably.
You'll be visiting breakwaters and feeding the seagulls to pass the time.......you'll be spincasting off piers and docks......all to no avail.
At some point a strange feeling will come over you. You will tell the wife you are going to the hardware store but on the way you will stop in at the boat dealer and in a cold sweat with your voice barely a whisper you will say to the salesman " Had my eye on that 20 footer out there". As if in a dream, where you are an outside observer, you will watch yourself sign the papers and the check and hitch the new rig up to your truck .
You will remain in this state until you get home....where the wife,shouting and slapping the crap out of you ,will bring you back to reality.
Her objections will not matter....because it is just simply in you to be a saltwater fisherman.
But it won't take long to get her addicted as well......
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Foxsea
Well-Known Member
With apologies to John Masefield...
Sea Fever
I must go down to the seas again, to the beckoning sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a small boat and a good course to steer her by,
And the rods kick and the reel’s song and the bright Spring shaking,
And the mystery on the sea's face, and of a new dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of those running fish
It’s a wild call and a salty call that satisfies my wish;
And all I ask is a gentle day with the ocean gulls crying,
And the whales splash and his blown spume, leaves smoky mist flying.
I must go down to the seas again, to my vagrant gypsy life,
To the salmon’s way and the dolphin's way, where spray can cut like a knife;
And all I ask is the merry yarns from my laughing fellow-rovers,
And cold brew and a sweet dream when the long day’s over.
Sea Fever
I must go down to the seas again, to the beckoning sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a small boat and a good course to steer her by,
And the rods kick and the reel’s song and the bright Spring shaking,
And the mystery on the sea's face, and of a new dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of those running fish
It’s a wild call and a salty call that satisfies my wish;
And all I ask is a gentle day with the ocean gulls crying,
And the whales splash and his blown spume, leaves smoky mist flying.
I must go down to the seas again, to my vagrant gypsy life,
To the salmon’s way and the dolphin's way, where spray can cut like a knife;
And all I ask is the merry yarns from my laughing fellow-rovers,
And cold brew and a sweet dream when the long day’s over.
J-GLOBAL
Well-Known Member
I think the answer is very simple. No mosquitoes on the ocean
X2
And I love the rock of the boat. Opposite of those that get seasick, I love the feeling of being on the water.
Bought a bigger boat this year(28' w/cabin), and its nice for keeping warmer/dryer, but if I'm on my own and the weather is nice I prefer my smaller (22') boat.
Was out Tuesday, and weather was so/so, with intermittent showers. Brother cooked up some burgers on the boat Barbq and ate in the cabin nice and toasty, felt great.
Thanks for the replies fellas. Yeah Salt Water fishing IS in my blood. I grew up until I was about 9 in Campbell River where my "dad" was a guide at Painters for a few years and with other outfits before that. Unfortunately the only thing dad like my "dad" gave me was fishing, and I remember going out on the boat with him fishing with my brother at a very young age in Campbell River. I also used to fish the Campbell & Quinsam Rivers from 6-9 years old. So I feel very at home out on the ocean in some ways. I don't feel as though getting into or moving towards salt water fishing is a way to catch more fish. Certainly keep a few more fish, but more as a family/friendly social thing. My son who is very young (almost 3) likes being on the boat, my wife enjoys it somewhat, so I view it as a family activity in that regard, plus I have a few friends who enjoy it also. River Fishing is much more difficult to get them set up in unless there are lots of fish, but then with lots of fish there are often lots of crowds, unfortunately.
arima arima
Member
I like you was out in the water at a young age with my grandpa fishing the port alberni canal. Something happen that drew me away from salt water for most of my teen years and early 20s. I started to fly fish and loved it hitting up all the usual spots. I have a family now and realized i had a sport bike sitting in the garage not being used so traded it straight accross for a kc thermo 17. Went out jigging not thinking of salmon in the least for the better part of a year then something happened, on a 6 weight fresh water spin caster I hooked into a 20 pound salmon and had the fight of my life. I landed the fish on little rod and was hooked. Bought down riggers the next day and went out to catch more. Now 2 years later im rocking a 16 foot arima with electric downriggers and still cant get enough. The lerning curve isnt too bad, playing the fish isnt much different but its more of a hunt to get in to them. One other thing all the good intentions about bringing family out, the kids like it to a certain age, but count on probly being out by your self most of the time, at least in my case.
I started there also, in the 60’s. Those were simpler times, although I don’t think I want to go back to Peetz wood reels, kinky wire fishing line and roller rods, cranking up 2lb balls or using large planers, and replacing paper rolls on fish finders (if you were one of the few who had one at all). Flashers, dodgers and spoons had to be taken home rinsed off in fresh water and polished after every trip and you found your way back in the fog with only a compass.
Not sure if I miss the use of herring strip which was big back then, but which you seldom see anymore and is not available commercially. Cutting it was a skill and I suspect it is too labour intensive to produce commercially anymore but a lot of big Chinook were taken on it.
Things were different in other ways also. You did not need a fishing license at all to fish in the ocean, the salt water regs were about one page with little in the way of gear restrictions, barbed hooks were allowed.
I recall 4 salmon of any species allowed as long as they were over 12 inches and no restrictions on the size or number of other/bottom fish which could be caught.
Atlantic Salmon were in the Atlantic.
You actually got checked by fisheries officers on the water to make sure you did not have more than 4 salmon.
Coho were caught on bucktails and real mother of pearl or chrome spoon on the surface, not at a hundred feet on a rigger.
You could catch your own bait jigging off the Gorge bridge in the spring and actually catch lots using a hand tided jig you bought off an old guy named Wiskers (big beard) at the bridge for couple of bucks and a used spark plug for a weight that the gas station at the end of the bridge (now gone) gave us kids.
Crabs were plentiful and no one would steal them out of your traps and you could get oysters and clams many places that are now closed because of contamination. Someone had established a small colony of Nova Scota Blue Point Oysters on a rock wall not far from Hulls boat house and those who knew about it took only a few at a time to keep the colony going.
You could leave your kicker and fishing gear on an open boat at the dock for weeks without guarding them with a shotgun and if you could not afford a boat you could still catch big Chinook and Coho casting from shore.
Just having an nostalgic moment.
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salty-dog
Member
I was born on salt, raised on salt and will die on salt.
No matter where I have lived, I always kept salt nearby. It doesn't matter if I am chasing salmon, tuna, mackerel, shark, redfish, ...... it is all there and in greater numbers. The sizes are also varied whereas with smallmouth bass, you know they are not very big at all and not likely to get any bigger. Lake trout, the same.
But, in salt, you could hook up with nearly anything. I've been flounder gigging at night and have managed to get other species with a gig { now illegal in BC} and I have targeted whiting only to end up with hammerheads. Here, I have gone after salmon and ended up with ling.
Plus, as mentioned before, you drop your crab traps out, go fish, pull your traps on the way in. You can limit on several species of fish and still get your crabs without additional work or cost.
I am now trying to dabble in fresh water, but see so many restrictions, regulations, closed areas from one obscure point to another and you can use this gear here, but not there or that gear there, but not here...... you have to be very intimate with a given area or have an attorney figure all the crap out with the help of surveyers to stay legal.. Too much BS involved.
But, be warned about salt: once it is in the blood, it stays, it grows and you find yourself using freshwater for bathing only.
Salt life-it is a way of life; the only life
No matter where I have lived, I always kept salt nearby. It doesn't matter if I am chasing salmon, tuna, mackerel, shark, redfish, ...... it is all there and in greater numbers. The sizes are also varied whereas with smallmouth bass, you know they are not very big at all and not likely to get any bigger. Lake trout, the same.
But, in salt, you could hook up with nearly anything. I've been flounder gigging at night and have managed to get other species with a gig { now illegal in BC} and I have targeted whiting only to end up with hammerheads. Here, I have gone after salmon and ended up with ling.
Plus, as mentioned before, you drop your crab traps out, go fish, pull your traps on the way in. You can limit on several species of fish and still get your crabs without additional work or cost.
I am now trying to dabble in fresh water, but see so many restrictions, regulations, closed areas from one obscure point to another and you can use this gear here, but not there or that gear there, but not here...... you have to be very intimate with a given area or have an attorney figure all the crap out with the help of surveyers to stay legal.. Too much BS involved.
But, be warned about salt: once it is in the blood, it stays, it grows and you find yourself using freshwater for bathing only.
Salt life-it is a way of life; the only life
