2020 Victoria and Oak Bay Reports

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Any good tricks for keeping bait on hook? I’m new at Hali thing and my bait keeps getting pecked off by, I assume, something too small to get hooked by size 12 circle hook I’m using. I wasn’t too successful with salmon last fall and nodda I could keep thru winter so only one head and chunk of salmon belly left. Thx in advance for any advice.
 
We picked up a hali earlier in the week in the South Constance area. 300', herring AND were checked by the police boat.
2 fishermen, unrelated and living in separate residences in a 16' boat.
They were very friendly. Asked for id and the usual questions but no mention of Social Separation.
They said they had check about a dozen boats in the area and were watching mainly for USA fishermen.
They also said they had only seen one other boat with a halibut on board.

Must have been a bit tough keeping 2m apart on a 16' boat
 
Any good tricks for keeping bait on hook? I’m new at Hali thing and my bait keeps getting pecked off by, I assume, something too small to get hooked by size 12 circle hook I’m using. I wasn’t too successful with salmon last fall and nodda I could keep thru winter so only one head and chunk of salmon belly left. Thx in advance for any advice.

Herring get's pickpocketed all the time. Octopus usually sticks around and is doggy fish proof sometimes. Also using a jig is a good idea, I like to keep three rods in the water, sometimes 4 as long as there is a bit of current.
 
Hey some great advice by all, I will try them all and definitely report back on my trip outcomes. Thanks a bunch everyone!
 
Sometimes when the dog fish or the peckers are bad I will fillet the sides off a blue label herring and use magic thread to lash them to a white power grub shiny side out. Works good. Magic thread also works to lash up a multi bait rig to keep the peckers at bay. When the doggies and peckers aren’t bad a single circle with a piece of skinned octo sandwiched by two herring eye hooked is money. The herring wobble around in the current when hooked in this way. Happy Halibutting!
 
Went for a wee troll yesterday around Esquimalt while my crab traps soaked. One pull on a coho killer near Brotchie, but no surprise not much was doing. I wasn't there at an optimal time. I was basically just going for a ride while I waited for the traps.

Got 5 nice crabs after a short soak, all a good size.
 
What a beautiful day. I probably could have taken my 12 footer out to the banks but played it safe and just dragged some meat on the bottom on the Oak Bay flats. All I caught there was 5 cabezons. I've only ever caught one of those things before. Jigged a few reefs on my way in and was treated to a 85 cm spring just off Great Chain Island. Crab traps were stuffed. Lots of huge soft shells but enough hard ones as well. Clover point was a gong show mid day. The car traffic alone made it hard, never mind the human pylons.
 

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What a beautiful day. I probably could have taken my 12 footer out to the banks but played it safe and just dragged some meat on the bottom on the Oak Bay flats. All I caught there was 5 cabezons. I've only ever caught one of those things before. Jigged a few reefs on my way in and was treated to a 85 cm spring just off Great Chain Island. Crab traps were stuffed. Lots of huge soft shells but enough hard ones as well. Clover point was a gong show mid day. The car traffic alone made it hard, never mind the human pylons.

Nice, you are out crabbing and fishing almost everyone. Today we scratched up a few dungees and a couple monster red rock but nothing like that! Bounced bait at boarder bank for a few hours and came up dry. Whispers of Bamfield on our boat, but momma is talking about Sidney. Trailering time.....
 
Zip tie the bait to the hook.
please don't use zip ties for your bait!. and your anchor line for that matter. We are supposed to be stewards of the environment not polluters. Use either string or some other biodegradable material. For the release on your anchor crown use a light stainless hose clamp. We will not win the debate against the radical greenies if we don't use sound practices.

beemer
 
So I went squat lobster fishing today in the Saanich inlet. I thought, since I’d run the gauntlet of prawn trap floats, why not give them prawns a break! o_O

First time prawning ever for me today and I dropped the traps too deep. Ah well. Made for some interesting squeals from my kids though. Haha. My daughter wanted to bring one home as a pet. Ahhh no. I’ve found dried up worms in the house before. Don’t want to step on a dried one of those! :D

Odd looking things. Are edible as I understand but so little meat on them. Looks to be maybe 25% of the body. They all went back.

Beautiful day out there today. Nice to get out on the water with the family.

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Those squat lobsters are a member of the crab family and the daily limit is 4 per person. I have spoken with DFO many times about this and have tried to get the limit changed, but it is still only 4 per day. Like prawns, a person could be fined $100 per each over the daily limit.
 
Those squat lobsters are a member of the crab family and the daily limit is 4 per person. I have spoken with DFO many times about this and have tried to get the limit changed, but it is still only 4 per day. Like prawns, a person could be fined $100 per each over the daily limit.

Good to know. Thanks for posting. Interesting (and off thread topic so I’ll be quick) there is no mention of “squat lobster” in the regs, thus by reg definition, they would be classified as either:

1. Shellfish—> Invertebrates —> Other shellfish

or

2. Shellfish —> Unknown

Both of which carry a 20 per day limit.

Given this I think DFO would be hard pressed to justify a fine.

Regardless, thanks for the heads up! Save us some hassle.

Cheers
 
Interesting discussion guys

new thread for it:

https://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/index.php?threads/dfo-regulation-definitions.80745/

Good to know. Thanks for posting. Interesting (and off thread topic so I’ll be quick) there is no mention of “squat lobster” in the regs, thus by reg definition, they would be classified as either:

1. Shellfish—> Invertebrates —> Other shellfish

or

2. Shellfish —> Unknown

Both of which carry a 20 per day limit.

Given this I think DFO would be hard pressed to justify a fine.

Regardless, thanks for the heads up! Save us some hassle.

Cheers
 
I havent posted much in awhile but i have been fishing. I must say it. Where are the halibut? I know where they are usually caught. I have seen lots of boats out and very few reports of catches. There was likely 30-40 boats in sight on saturday from where i was anchored off 27 fathom/race area. No catch reports. Did anyone get halibut last saturday?
 
I havent posted much in awhile but i have been fishing. I must say it. Where are the halibut? I know where they are usually caught. I have seen lots of boats out and very few reports of catches. There was likely 30-40 boats in sight on saturday from where i was anchored off 27 fathom/race area. No catch reports. Did anyone get halibut last saturday?
Ya about 1:00 got one on the octo with a pink/purple Hootchie loaded with x-10 Not too big not too small. I could see 32 boats anchored from where I was.
 
I was out on Saturday and fished in amongst all those boats east of Race. Felt lucky to get one small hali after 5 hours just when I was considering packing it in for the day. Pays to wait!
Herring with no skirt. 300 feet.
 
Thanks guys. We all needed some hope.
 
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