The Throw Back Reports Thread

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Given the situation of no retention of Salmon it is understandable that the reports threads are quiet right now. It has also meant that there is a negative cloud hanging over us that even Eyore would avoid! So, to try and lighten things up at least a tiny bit...we are offering you a chance to post up stories from years past of some of your best times and fondest memories of your fishing adventures. As an incentive we are going to enter everyone who posts up a report (or multiple reports) into a draw for a 2 pack of lures from the new Amundson line. Each pack has two of the Salmon Camp Glow/UV spoons in size 3.25 inches and two 4.5 inch Brown/Splatter Rigged Kajiki Squid Lures. The first draw will happen June 15 and is open to all members (not just Crew Members)

Share your past successes, including pics if possible, and be entered to win!

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I'll kick it off with a photo from 2018 right around this time of the year fishing at Kitty Coleman.

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Tell us about the new line of gear. What inspired the spoons?

My favourite memories will always be anchored up at the Cap throwing buzz bombs impatiently until the bite came on with my teenage buddies. Live bait down and strategically anchored.
lookimg around and seeing all the boats stacked up. Then gradually seeing rod tips bending and reels peeling out line. The bite was on.
This was of course In the 80s when the cap was a live bait fishery.
 
I'll play along! Given I am not hitting the waters much and haven't in a couple years since selling the boat to focus on other priorities, I have returned primarily to lurker status. However, when we had the boat, our favourite was learning the quiet ways of halibut fishing (quiet because no kicker when on the pick and we picked relatively calm days). Nothing like sitting on the boat on a warm sunny day watching bobbing Hali rods. This was our first (and only) double catch day...wife and kids all had a blast, awesome! Back in 2013 I think, off Albert Head in Victoria.

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Thought this would be about all the fish we have to throw back! ;)

When I started this thread, I wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on and comment on the "throw back" wording! So, even though you didn't actually post a pic or report from yesteryear, I am still going to enter you in the draw for being the first to comment on the thread title. ;)
Btw...I know you have many trips from the past you could post about.
 
Should there be a throwback thread that might get read by DFO and government that shows how many hatchery fish are being released?
 
In the spirit of the Stanley Cup finals, heres a throwback to the time my guests cranked up Brad Marchand from the depths of the ocean! Also known as a Ratfish. It was the first one I had seen up there, and a little research told me theyre usually a deepwater species. Think we pulled this one up from around 300' which is fairly shallow for them.

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Of course the pic is rotated - no idea why it does that. Maybe try standing on your heads to really see the resemblance.
 
It was 4 years ago, and I was fishing near Point Grey near the bell buoy. I had just hooked and lost a nice 20ish pound Chinook while trying to land it single handed. After resetting the gear probably less than a minute went by and my rod goes off, and pulled from the clip immediately. It is an obviously heavy fish and hot as hell. Within a minute I'm down to almost no line left on my reel and I am losing this battle badly, I have to turn the boat to start chasing the fish. At this point I'm thinking I must have been sealed. But a couple minutes goes by and as I chase the fish I'm gaining back line. After another couple minutes it becomes obvious it can't be a seal because it would of had to come up for breath by now! I battled that fish for almost 40 minutes not knowing how in the hell it was kicking my butt so hard. Finally I get it near the boat and it makes sense. Early in the fight the hook had pulled from its jaw and foul hooked this fine 29 pound white spring right in the middle of its belly. I netted it and thought about releasing it, but it was in rough shape and exhausted along with me!

Decided to buy a bigger cooler after that day too!
 

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In the spirit of the Stanley Cup finals, heres a throwback to the time my guests cranked up Brad Marchand from the depths of the ocean! Also known as a Ratfish. It was the first one I had seen up there, and a little research told me theyre usually a deepwater species. Think we pulled this one up from around 300' which is fairly shallow for them.

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Of course the pic is rotated - no idea why it does that. Maybe try standing on your heads to really see the resemblance.
Brad Marchand....LMAO!! So true!
 
Fishing with my dad, and we are basically out of bait. He digs around in the bottom of the boat and finds the tail half of a herring that had been stepped and otherwise severely disfigured. He manages to get it in a teaser head with a mess of tooth picks, tail end first, and somehow half asses a couple hooks through. Down it goes without it down without a flasher. I say "there is no way that is going to catch a fish" and start to think about how much fun its going be untangling a rats nest.

Not a minute later the rod goes off and we land a 15# spring.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
I will never forget this fish. I was fishing out of Masset for the first time. Probably my 3rd time salmon fishing & have never caught anything big. We were grinding the kelp in 50' of water when suddenly my rod went of the clip & the reel was screaming. I ran to grab the rod & I panicked. As soon as the fish ran away, it came back even faster. I will never forget the sight of a Monster Chinook jumping strait out of the water at least a a foot. It was so close to the boat when it happened I remember seeing the eyes of the fish. I can not explain how big it was... Something that big should never be able to fly like that. As soon as it was back in the water it swam right into the kelp bed. It was over before it began. The emotional turmoil that it puts a guy through is over whelming. I fell into a depression for the rest of the day & even that night I just went to bed. I was in a dark place. Felt like my eyes were on the verg of filling up with tears. Im not trying to sound ridiculous, it was truly that bad for me. I know there are guys & gals on here that have been in the same place. I think it I know what it would feel like to loose the Stanley cup in Game 7 OT..

The next morning we were back at it & the guide said lets go back & try for that fish again. I chuckled & put on a fake smile. I had caught a couple +20lb fish that day & didn't even care. With only an hour or so left in the day we made the same pass we had tried all day. This time the fish gods felt my pain & served me a chance at Redemption. My reel started screaming, my heart stopped, I went for that rod holder but this time I was ready. Well,,,,, I thought I was ready. I was like a green horn with buck fever. I kept telling the guide my drag was to loose & I needed to tighten it. He yelled at me to keep my Fnin hands of the drag. He was more focused into getting us to deeper water. He was picking up the other gear & this fish had not slowed down yet. I started yelling at him that I was running ut of line. He said no you are not out of line, then he walked over to take a look & said, actually you are almost out of line. He fired up the main & we started to chase down the fish. I was trying hard to keep pressure on the fish & my arm was burning so bad from reeling. I begged him to slow down & he said to keep reeling... for the next 35 min it was back & forth with this fish. It was a calm & cool guide that was on the ball every step of the way that allowed me to get this fish to the net. Looking back I was as green as could be & I sorta freaked out... When the fish hit the deck it looked huge.... Not as big as the one I lost the day before, infact the one I lost the day before was way bigger. However this was a dream fish & my first +40lb salmon.

It was this day that the seed was planted in my & I became obsessed with fishing salmon. Looking back this day changed my life. This is the most important fish I have ever caught & I will never forget.
 

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51E0564E-B87E-4859-B96A-59BBE8EFC753.png E478997D-514A-4347-B4B4-C255CFC2AF99.png Most recent fishing trip yielded some great throw back fishing!! out in Sidney where I caught my last fish, (close to the spit) and having no luck, after a hour decide to pull up and move to the ol stomping grounds of my buddy who is on board and never goes out without fishing coal. 20 mins into our tack he get a bite, decent fish takes a couple runs but nothing crazy and as it turned and ran at my buddy we lost it. set back down he drops the gear gets to his depth and not 10 sec latter whammo another hit, this fish puts up a good fight screamed a little line and in the end get it to the side of the boat I tail it and it’s a bright chrome 15lb wild fish. safety release the fish no harm (I hope) swims off strong. 10 mins later we passing same spot and boom another hit, again feels decent but don’t know as we lost this one. another 10-15 goes by this time I’m on the rod and my buddy yells as my rod popped straight off the rigger..... a I jump on it nearly jumping out the boat as I always like to be tight on the fish right away especially when he pops off the clip like that, get him tight and he starts to screem line. i knew we had a nice fish on. I slow my kicker down a bit after 5 mins of peeling, ask my buddy to turn into the fish just a bit.... sure enough he turns ans the kill switch in the kicker gets pulled out killing my power.( I think the line from this kill switch was tabled.) I immediately loose tension and start reeeling like a mad man to keep up with this fish. Of course at this time he had just turned and started coming at me. I yell at my buddy to start the main and quickly get it in gear as this was the fastest way to get tension back. he does but has little hope as he thinks there would be no way that we could still have the fish..( I sorta agree the way things happened ) anyway I gain back tension and fish is still there ans goes for another run. We circle him for about another 15 mins before getting him close to the boat and, he just held 20 feet out as big Chinook tend to do. finally got him tired out enough but still fresh to tail and release him. Got him tailed on the first attempt and after a quick photo back he went to hopefully make more nice fish like him. if he makes it past all the American anglers and commercial guys it was a 20+ pound fish my guess would be at 22. Not a monster by any means but a real fun and super memerable fish for me to catch with a good buddy.

I have countless other stories for a real throw back top of the list would be my twin 29lbsers in winter harbour that I had my buddy reel in.
Thought I’d share that one to keep the attitude strong around fishing cause it’s my passion and there’s fish to be had out even 5 min from the dock!!

Cheers tight lines to all
 
Fishing up in the Tahsis area in 2001 with a friend and his uncle who lives in Tahsis. We were fishing the spot along shore across from Cougar Creek. We had caught a couple of springs in the mid teens, but nothing big. Running low on anchovy, I hooked a big herring minnow in a teaser head with a flasher and put it down. After a period of time the rod went off and I jumped up and grabbed the rod, it took off screaming and the fight was on. I played it for about 10 mins. and felt like I was winning the battle. I could get it within about 20 ft. of the boat and it would take off. Finally got it coming to the boat and got a look at it and would guess it was close to 40 lbs, (they are always bigger when you don't get them). After a couple of swimbys it was coming to the boat and sank below the surface where we couldn't see it. All of a sudden it came straight out of the water like a torpedo, spit the hook and as if to say "see you later sucker" and was gone. Never seen a fish do that before or since. I sat back down on the fish cooler I had been sitting on with rod in hand. Never said a word and my buddy who would normally raz the crap out of me for loosing a fish never said a word cause he said he thought I was in shock. Eventually I gained my composure and went down into the cabin and grabbed myself a beer. Oh well the search for a 40 continues.
 
My favourite fish story took place many years ago at Rock Bay, just north of Chatham Point in Johnstone Strait.
It was August 1st and the first day of a casual, family run derby held each year back then.
I woke early to cast my favourite buzz bomb off of the decrepit old government float, that had been abandoned to the elements, years before.
As I was making my first cast, a guy (old friend of the guy who ran the derby) came by the dock in his boat & said, you won't be needing this, & took my borrowed landing net. I was kinda pissed, but it was a beautiful morning & I figured he was probably right, so I fished on.
After just a few casts, I hooked into a really nice fish. With my light spinning gear it was a real challenge, but I finally got him to the float.
As soon as he saw me, he stood on his tail & openened his mouth wide. Wide enough for me to see one barb of my treble hook barely piercing the skin on the roof of his mouth.
As fast as I could, I loosened the drag & let him run. Once he was well away from the dock, I set the hook hard & had a great battle until he was tired enough to bring him home.
Problem was, I was still without a net! After chasing the fish around to keep him from going under the dock I found that one corner of the float was waterlogged and would sink if I stepped right out to the edge. So, standing there, teetering on the edge of the float, I swam him up onto the deck planks. Walking backwards a few steps, the dock slowly floated back up, leaving my prize high & dry.
For the remainder of the derby, the guy who "stole" my net insisted he was gonna beat my puny 26 pounder, but neither he, nor anyone else did. I ended up winning first prize, a really fine spinning outfit with a 10' rod & a skookum Shimano reel. After forty-six years, I finally retired that rod this season.
There are many other great fishing memories that stand out for me, but that was definitely one of the very best.
Great thread! Thanks for getting it started, Admin.
 
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My most memorable moment was catching my first tyee in 2015 off Nanaimo. Had the lines down for 5 minutes and BAM the clip breaks off and a monster is on. The downrigger was set at 130 feet so it was quite the fight! After 15 minutes or so the fish broke the surface and you could tell it was much bigger then the typical 10 ibs. you find off Nanaimo in May. After 1 failed netting job a 33 ibs. Tyee was in the boat. Memorable moment for me because previous to this I had lost several fish around the 30 ibs. mark. I think now, I would probably release a tyee but I'm glad I had the experience.
 

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Last August my wife and I were jigging in the Gulf Islands taking a break for working on a friends cottage. After a couple of hours with little action I was ready to pack it in for a comfy chair and a cold beer but my dear lady said “ just a bit more then we can go in”. About ten minutes later as the buzz bomb went down it got picked up by this nice fish and the dance was on. 355F9E4C-3CCD-40D0-9DFC-1CD8EDB598B9.jpeg
 
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