2016 Gulf Islands Reports

well let's get this gulf islands 2016 thread going a bit as I know there are some people over there fishing at the moment. I was over 2 weeks ago and picked up 1 legal chinook off the east side of galiano (power lines) and had quite a few small shakers there as well as Porlier. I also saw one of the biggest herring balls I've ever seen in Active Pass on my boat ride home. These were all large herring and I'm not sure if they were post-spawners or not. The ball was at least 50 meters long by 50 meters wide and tons of boiling on the surface. My sounder indicated it was up to 40 feet thick at times so that was pretty cool to troll through, although no bites for us when we did.

I'll be fishing over near SaltSpring/Pender/Galiano again this weekend so will post a report. I also plan to attend the derby below out of Montague Harbour on May 14th and I've chatted with some other forum members who plan to do the same. should be good times.

I'll be fishing again this coming weekend and 2016 Galiano Derby Poster (3).jpg
 
Did any of you guys hit the water a on the weekend. I am heading out friday and saturday for an over night trip to the gulf islands. I am eager to hear a report. Thank you in advance!
 
I wasn't able to get out fishing unfortunately. Too busy doing cabin stuff. I did chat with one guy who was out and said there were a few shakers around but not much in terms of keepers. hoping that all changes quite soon which it should given the time of year.
 
At Salamanca for the tide change at 11am today - picked up the first of the year for me, a small spring about 8lbs. 80' on the down rigger, with an AP herring spoon [picture]. The water is pretty murky with run off. Two other boats arrived from the mainland and then a short time later the police boat the Inkster pulled up along with two zodiacs. Each fishing boat spent a half hour with the a zodiac along side, one after the other, with the Inkster providing close cover.
Likely training but sure looked like over kill. Fortunately this took us well past the tide change so before they zeroed in on us we picked up and headed home rather than spend a half hour training in choppy waters. Made for an interesting day. In 14 years fishing this area it's the first police or fisheries boat I've seen doing checks - would like to see more of it.

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At Salamanca for the tide change at 11am today - picked up the first of the year for me, a small spring about 8lbs. 80' on the down rigger, with an AP herring spoon [picture]. The water is pretty murky with run off. Two other boats arrived from the mainland and then a short time later the police boat the Inkster pulled up along with two zodiacs. Each fishing boat spent a half hour with the a zodiac along side, one after the other, with the Inkster providing close cover.
Likely training but sure looked like over kill. Fortunately this took us well past the tide change so before they zeroed in on us we picked up and headed home rather than spend a half hour training in choppy waters. Made for an interesting day. In 14 years fishing this area it's the first police or fisheries boat I've seen doing checks - would like to see more of it.

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I grew up in the area. Whaler Bay to be exact. Fished the whole area from Salamanca, around Gossip and through Active Pass. Back in the days when there were tons of salmon there. All the hours I spent there fishing those waters and never once was I checked.
 
Tried tent for an hour and half or so while traps soaked. Nada. Tried porlier for an hour while traps soaked again. Two shakers. One other showed up but didn't stay long. Couple hundred prawns, no crab. Not a bad day all in all. Sounds like Nanaimo and the hump are starting to produce
 
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Fished Porlier on Sunday. Lures @ 90-150 in 100-600 ft of water. 5 hits, two the boat, both just barely undersized at ~58cm. Pretty fabulous day out there. Tides weren't my favourite but still managed a nice ling.
 
there will be a few dozen boats out fishing in the galiano derby this coming weekend so hopefully some good reports to follow.... after derby day of course ;)

derby is saturday, May 14th out of Montague Harbour on Galiano. last minute registration avail - https://www.facebook.com/events/1124992974207385/

live band at the Hummingbird both Fri & Sat nights and BBQ at Montague marina both nights as well!
 
well, nobody posted reports during/after the derby so i'll give a quick one from our weekend of fishing.

First off, the derby was awesome and well attended by both galiano locals and non-locals alike. Very chill atmosphere and the food was great. The new owners at Montague Marina have done a great job of cleaning the place up over the past 2 years and there are now 2 new restaurants in the area with great food so I think it will be a hot spot for boaters once again. Unlike last year, we got very lucky with weather on Saturday as it was flat calm and sunny most of derby day. I fished in a pack of over 30 boats at Porlier on Saturday and it felt like mid-summer conditions. Great to see so many boats out there and the better news was that almost everyone seemed to be catching fish! Our boat had about a dozen spring hits and ended up bonking 2 decent keepers and letting a bunch of 'just unders' swim free.

there were other boats fishing thrasher area and other parts of the gulf islands as well and the winning fish was a 22lber caught off Salamanca. Great weekend of fun and fishing and raised a few $$$ for PSF along the way. The hot tub raffle winner was a local Galiano guy who will put it to good use apparently. Looking forward to next year.
 
Fished Salamanca today 4 hours - 2 either side of low slack. Two shakers was all to show for it but there appeared to be lots of bait. 5 other boats and didn't see any nets but dead calm - a good day on the water.
 
Dropped the lines at Porlier around noon. Got a keeper before the second rod was even down, on a green & yellow AP anchovy spoon and a lemon lime flasher. 140' on the rigger in 300' of water. Released a shaker about 2 minutes after that, then no more action for me 2 more hours. Saw one other fish landed.
 
At Salamanca for the tide change at 11am today - picked up the first of the year for me, a small spring about 8lbs. 80' on the down rigger, with an AP herring spoon [picture]. The water is pretty murky with run off. Two other boats arrived from the mainland and then a short time later the police boat the Inkster pulled up along with two zodiacs. Each fishing boat spent a half hour with the a zodiac along side, one after the other, with the Inkster providing close cover.
Likely training but sure looked like over kill. Fortunately this took us well past the tide change so before they zeroed in on us we picked up and headed home rather than spend a half hour training in choppy waters. Made for an interesting day. In 14 years fishing this area it's the first police or fisheries boat I've seen doing checks - would like to see more of it.

View attachment 27381
Hard to tell from the photo but that hook looks like it hasn't had the barb pinched...
 
Hard to tell from the photo but that hook looks like it hasn't had the barb pinched...
It's pinched. Not sure what type of hooks Andrew P is using, but I had a hell of a time pinching the barb properly on my sand lance spoons. I squeezed as hard as I dared to for fear of snapping hook point right off. It leaves a pronounced bump, that I believe only grinding would remove.
 
Not really analyzing anything, just saw a hook that looked like it might not be pinched and commented. Wont happen again, officer.
 
It's pinched. Not sure what type of hooks Andrew P is using, but I had a hell of a time pinching the barb properly on my sand lance spoons. I squeezed as hard as I dared to for fear of snapping hook point right off. It leaves a pronounced bump, that I believe only grinding would remove.
Have had the same issue with the hooks on the AP spoons, I've been grinding them smooth in advance of heading out after not being comfortable with the barb pinch after a personal sleeve test. Would hate to have trouble with DFO over it!
 
Have had the same issue with the hooks on the AP spoons, I've been grinding them smooth in advance of heading out after not being comfortable with the barb pinch after a personal sleeve test. Would hate to have trouble with DFO over it!

Looks good to me, some hooks pinch and still have a hump. Seems like all fisheries I've talked to use the wool test so just run the back of your finger over it and if it doesn't catch then you're fine unless you have leather fingers ;)
 
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