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Atta boy. I knew you had a big heart in there somewhere. ;)

There are more than enough Sockeye for everyone this year.

Prized medium to large red Chinooks are a different ballgame. :) I’m selfish. So hate me.
 
you will find this challenging.

Read the report from Bonchovy posted above. They will show you the gear.

There are a few other threads here on gear.

Dummies... you need your gear in CLOSE to the dummies without tangling. Clip on a dummy on a short drop back. 6’ lead on dummies if you are using a 60-72” release clip length. lower just enough so the Flasher bites, add another dummy in the same fashion or add Flasher and squirt and have it drop back behind 1-3 feet from the back of the dummy. Space the gear tight...nothing should be more than 6’ from each other. Stack another rod above after the Flasher with another rod in tight if you are comfortable doing this. There’s a little bit of an art to getting gear in tight without tangling obviously. Lower your rigger
Somewhat slowly. Match the other rigger in the same fashion and slightly offset that rigger depth by no more than 8 feet. One rod per rigger is probably best for you until you start catching as is. Sockeye Fishing requires being quick, efficient and effective. I used to stack 3 dummies per rigger and have 2 rods above each rigger. 5 total Flashers per rigger. See the video above? That is what they are doing.

Slow. troll slow. 1.7 mph-1.8 mph SOG or slow
Enough so you still have boat control which is about that speed. Find out what Speed works best For your rig. After you tune your gear and get proficient at catching and running the gear you can troll Faster and mess with gear spacing and leader lengths so you cover more water, get the right action, and pull more fish.

S is for Sockeye. Here’s the “S” factors:

-straight troll with the odd turn and don’t turn too sharp when you turn around or you’ll tangle up.
-stack dummies.
-Sparse. Rip every 2nd frond off the skirt.
-small. Use the small squirts.
-slow as mentioned.
- short leaders...27” is very common from back of Flasher to end of Sockeye squirt with sport gear.
-sharp hooks...4-5/0 size. LIKE f’n sharp.
slowly reel them in so they don’t shake themselves free...taught but not horsing.
-Slacker rides...fish around tide changes not when the current is humping.
-Jumpers. use jumpers as a way to locate schools.
sounder. Use your sounder to look for big schools of Sox. It’ll black out when you’re over a big school.
depths.Depends...each year is different. 40-80 feet of cable depending on the location is an average. The Sox like comfort so they may move a little deeper depending on water temps or current movement.
Then the last S...SOCKEYE Success.


Notice all the S’s above? Imperatives.

All in, you’re going to spend some time messing with gear and spending $$$ on Flashers to get set up and dialed in.

When you start hooking up....do NOT stop...keep trolling and leave the gear down and reset one side at a time.

It’ll be 7-10 days before it starts to get decent enough staging schools to find them and get on them consistently. August 10-12 in that range. In the meantime get out 1-2 times and apply what You have learned above for practice.

I have done more than a few charters limiting lots of Anglers on a daily basis. We used to do groups of 12 with 48 Sockeye in 6 hours Fishing time. It is a LOT of work and a lot of gear. never mind the ones we lost and tangles etc.

Be committed to success and apply what you know and learn. The first bigger schools will be off Sandheads like the other years.

Tight lines.
Thank you!
 
you will find this challenging.

Read the report from Bonchovy posted above. They will show you the gear.

There are a few other threads here on gear.

Dummies... you need your gear in CLOSE to the dummies without tangling. Clip on a dummy on a short drop back. 6’ lead on dummies if you are using a 60-72” release clip length. lower just enough so the Flasher bites, add another dummy in the same fashion or add Flasher and squirt and have it drop back behind 1-3 feet from the back of the dummy. Space the gear tight...nothing should be more than 6’ from each other. Stack another rod above after the Flasher with another rod in tight if you are comfortable doing this. There’s a little bit of an art to getting gear in tight without tangling obviously. Lower your rigger
Somewhat slowly. Match the other rigger in the same fashion and slightly offset that rigger depth by no more than 8 feet. One rod per rigger is probably best for you until you start catching as is. Sockeye Fishing requires being quick, efficient and effective. I used to stack 3 dummies per rigger and have 2 rods above each rigger. 5 total Flashers per rigger. See the video above? That is what they are doing.

Slow. troll slow. 1.7 mph-1.8 mph SOG or slow
Enough so you still have boat control which is about that speed. Find out what Speed works best For your rig. After you tune your gear and get proficient at catching and running the gear you can troll Faster and mess with gear spacing and leader lengths so you cover more water, get the right action, and pull more fish.

S is for Sockeye. Here’s the “S” factors:

-straight troll with the odd turn and don’t turn too sharp when you turn around or you’ll tangle up.
-stack dummies.
-Sparse. Rip every 2nd frond off the skirt.
-small. Use the small squirts.
-slow as mentioned.
- short leaders...27” is very common from back of Flasher to end of Sockeye squirt with sport gear.
-sharp hooks...4-5/0 size. LIKE f’n sharp.
slowly reel them in so they don’t shake themselves free...taught but not horsing.
-Slacker rides...fish around tide changes not when the current is humping.
-Jumpers. use jumpers as a way to locate schools.
sounder. Use your sounder to look for big schools of Sox. It’ll black out when you’re over a big school.
depths.Depends...each year is different. 40-80 feet of cable depending on the location is an average. The Sox like comfort so they may move a little deeper depending on water temps or current movement.
Then the last S...SOCKEYE Success.


Notice all the S’s above? Imperatives.

All in, you’re going to spend some time messing with gear and spending $$$ on Flashers to get set up and dialed in.

When you start hooking up....do NOT stop...keep trolling and leave the gear down and reset one side at a time.

It’ll be 7-10 days before it starts to get decent enough staging schools to find them and get on them consistently. August 10-12 in that range. In the meantime get out 1-2 times and apply what You have learned above for practice.

I have done more than a few charters limiting lots of Anglers on a daily basis. We used to do groups of 12 with 48 Sockeye in 6 hours Fishing time. It is a LOT of work and a lot of gear. never mind the ones we lost and tangles etc.

Be committed to success and apply what you know and learn. The first bigger schools will be off Sandheads like the other years.

Tight lines.
Not sure I’ll find it challenging because I am experienced in general but thanks regardless
 
you will find this challenging.

Read the report from Bonchovy posted above. They will show you the gear.

There are a few other threads here on gear.

Dummies... you need your gear in CLOSE to the dummies without tangling. Clip on a dummy on a short drop back. 6’ lead on dummies if you are using a 60-72” release clip length. lower just enough so the Flasher bites, add another dummy in the same fashion or add Flasher and squirt and have it drop back behind 1-3 feet from the back of the dummy. Space the gear tight...nothing should be more than 6’ from each other. Stack another rod above after the Flasher with another rod in tight if you are comfortable doing this. There’s a little bit of an art to getting gear in tight without tangling obviously. Lower your rigger
Somewhat slowly. Match the other rigger in the same fashion and slightly offset that rigger depth by no more than 8 feet. One rod per rigger is probably best for you until you start catching as is. Sockeye Fishing requires being quick, efficient and effective. I used to stack 3 dummies per rigger and have 2 rods above each rigger. 5 total Flashers per rigger. See the video above? That is what they are doing.

Slow. troll slow. 1.7 mph-1.8 mph SOG or slow
Enough so you still have boat control which is about that speed. Find out what Speed works best For your rig. After you tune your gear and get proficient at catching and running the gear you can troll Faster and mess with gear spacing and leader lengths so you cover more water, get the right action, and pull more fish.

S is for Sockeye. Here’s the “S” factors:

-straight troll with the odd turn and don’t turn too sharp when you turn around or you’ll tangle up.
-stack dummies.
-Sparse. Rip every 2nd frond off the skirt.
-small. Use the small squirts.
-slow as mentioned.
- short leaders...27” is very common from back of Flasher to end of Sockeye squirt with sport gear.
-sharp hooks...4-5/0 size. LIKE f’n sharp.
slowly reel them in so they don’t shake themselves free...taught but not horsing.
-Slacker rides...fish around tide changes not when the current is humping.
-Jumpers. use jumpers as a way to locate schools.
sounder. Use your sounder to look for big schools of Sox. It’ll black out when you’re over a big school.
depths.Depends...each year is different. 40-80 feet of cable depending on the location is an average. The Sox like comfort so they may move a little deeper depending on water temps or current movement.
Then the last S...SOCKEYE Success.


Notice all the S’s above? Imperatives.

All in, you’re going to spend some time messing with gear and spending $$$ on Flashers to get set up and dialed in.

When you start hooking up....do NOT stop...keep trolling and leave the gear down and reset one side at a time.

It’ll be 7-10 days before it starts to get decent enough staging schools to find them and get on them consistently. August 10-12 in that range. In the meantime get out 1-2 times and apply what You have learned above for practice.

I have done more than a few charters limiting lots of Anglers on a daily basis. We used to do groups of 12 with 48 Sockeye in 6 hours Fishing time. It is a LOT of work and a lot of gear. never mind the ones we lost and tangles etc.

Be committed to success and apply what you know and learn. The first bigger schools will be off Sandheads like the other years.

Tight lines.

You are a champ
 
Not sure I’ll find it challenging because I am experienced in general but thanks regardless

Trust me, you will.

Especially when you see a guide or experienced Sockeye Specialist who is dialed in with 4 downriggers come through a pack of boats and hook ‘em left right and Center and tub out while you and the rest of the boats do less than 50% of that if not run past you a few miles and come back tubbed out on the way back to fillet and take out the second and even a third boatload of guests of the day who desperately want to go out and will pay a premium to Go.

If this run comes in big enough they’ll be $10 a fish at the Steveston docks...be sure to head over there when the boats come in and get them fresh and load up the freezer if you desire for your friends and extended family..we may not get an opening in 2019. Ahh...the spectre...do not forget how fortunate we are.

“You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's uh, Sockeye-kabobs, Sockeye creole, Sockeye gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple Sockeye, lemon Sockeye, coconut Sockeye, pepper Sockeye, sockeye soup, soxkeye stew, sockeye salad, sockeye and potatoes, sockeye burger, sockeye sandwich, canned sockeye, hot smoked sockeye, cold smoked sockeye, candied sockeye, sockeye salad, sockeye Benny, Sockeye appetizers and that’s about it”
 
where are you staying?
Camping at ucluelet campground, moor the boat at the public dock. Are you gonna be around? It would be nice to chit chat with someone on the radio as it’s my first time going out there on my little 18’er
 
Camping at ucluelet campground, moor the boat at the public dock. Are you gonna be around? It would be nice to chit chat with someone on the radio as it’s my first time going out there on my little 18’er

I wish but it is my plan for next year. I wasn't sure where to stay either island west resort or ucluelet campground. If you don't mind let me know how it is. The fishing looks good out there. Good luck.
 
Camping at ucluelet campground, moor the boat at the public dock. Are you gonna be around? It would be nice to chit chat with someone on the radio as it’s my first time going out there on my little 18’er

Msg me if you’d like some Ukee intel. I fished there last year and have some spots dialed. All a short jog from the public dock.

Sorry to interrupt the sockeye pandemonium! As mentioned in my post, on Sunday the boat beside me hooked a sockeye off west van.

Proceed...
 
Every year this thread takes a detour into this ridiculous derail. It is a reports thread so how about we stick to the topic at hand. If you don't want to view what another member has shared, because they don't provide enough info or because they provide too much info, simply click on that members name, find the ignore button and push it. Voila, aggravation over and you can go on enjoying what this thread and forum are intended for...sharing information about fishing!
 
Every year this thread takes a detour into this ridiculous derail. It is a reports thread so how about we stick to the topic at hand. If you don't want to view what another member has shared, because they don't provide enough info or because they provide too much info, simply click on that members name, find the ignore button and push it. Voila, aggravation over and you can go on enjoying what this thread and forum are intended for...sharing information about fishing!
We got passed it without intervention. No problemo. All good in the hood. Didn't you hear Sockeye opened?!!
 
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