2020 Sooke Reports

[submerged]

Out at first light today. Stared at 380' and headed deeper. Got our first hit at 550'. A nice size wild. We then quickly got our limit of 4 hatchery, back to back. Shorter trip than planned, but it worked out well as there was no lineup at the haul out yet, and a free cleaning table. Also nice not having to release a bunch. Hootchies trolled shallow worked for us. The largest one bit my lure halfway up when I was checking for weeds.

Also got to see a beautiful sunrise and humpbacks.

 

[sam_n_leo]

We fished 8-9am offshore and went 1 hatchery to 2 wild, then fished 9-1pm inshore near Bedford and went 2 hatchery to 5 wilds. Big rollers offshore today! Seems to me that this is one of the top coho years I've fished in this area of Juan de Fuca, out of last 18 years.

 

[BigBird007]

Epic morning!!

Lost count but well into the double digits. Managed 6 hatchery and lost another 12lb+ in the net as the handle broke apart.

We even managed to get a quad! With young kids on the boat it was a gong show but we managed to get them all to the boat. My girls haven’t stopped talking about it.

Fun fishery!

 

[profisher]

A better day water wise today, no wind at all for most of the day and the ground swell was 1/3 of yesterday. Out for 8 hours today starting at 7am...went through 6 trays of anchovies and was busy the entire trip. Maybe a few less on the gear than yesterday but today we found 8 clipped coho and a couple of winter Chinook. Our 3 largest that we kept were 12, 10 and 9 pounds...nice fish. Little deeper today and closer to shore off the bluffs...70-80 feet worked best. Had a triple and lost all 3...think that is a first. And for Tips Up that chicken got us another 6 crab!

 

[Tips Up]

Fished 8:30-12:30.
Roughly 12 fish. Kept 2 hatch Coho and 3 feeder springs. 2 of those were hatchery.
Put out 2 crab traps. First had a few female and 3 - 6 1/4” males. Second trap took a bit to find. It was 150 yards from where I set it. So we know what happened there. Only had a few small crab.
Used some tuna scraps from friends trip last week. Guess I should have used chicken. Or I’m going to have to charter pro fisher to take me crabbing.

 

[ziggy]

I see Victoria has been pretty quiet for Coho. So with Sooke being hot I was wondering where are the Sooke Coho headed? Are they Part of an American run that turns south once past Sooke? Just curious.

 

[Old Seadog]

Out today from 07:30 - 12:00 was a very nice Sunday. Kept 2 nice Coho and released about 18 wild Coho (couple well over 10 lbs). Also 4 under size hatchery Chinook. The whales show was a nice treat first thing in the morning also. All on DR at 60 - 70ft. Also ran spoons all day, no bait at all.

 

[Rusty Hook]

Fished from first light till 10:30 this morning out of east sooke. Got about 12 to the boat including one double header. Only one clipped. A nice size one though. Caught most of them around 120 on the downrigger. Irish cream skinny g one one side and glow/green coho killer on the other. Lots of boats fishing the tide lines from Muir creek all the way the race rocks.

 

[N2013]

Lots out there. Nothing for the first 30min, then 3 straight doubles to wrap up my hour of fishing. Kept 2 hatchies. 500-550’, 60-80’. Purple & whites. Some nice sized wilds. Besides winter fishing, coho fishing is my favourite time of the year. Shallow & fast.

 

[eroyd]

First thing one after the other on bait, and then it slowed down, or maybe I just went too far out. Came back in to 400' and two crazy double headers in a row. I was alone so several rolling coho's were lost beside the boat. Found about 50/50 clipped closer in, and better sized. Guessing these are local fish fish. Late morning ticket was the "Outfitter" skinny G at 57'. The Humpbacks came through again..

Curious. Do most people launching at Sooke have annual passes or are they just not paying?

 

[profisher]

Hey Tips I think I have a bit of an advantage when it comes to crab because I’m leaving the traps in overnight and then checking and re-baiting them first thing in the morning.....making sure I get the crabs and not someone else. Today 5 keepers on the overnight set and then all smalls after checking 4 hours at the end of my trip. I drifted off my spot this morning when I dropped them back in, bit to shallow.

 

[Fisherben3]

First thing one after the other on bait, and then it slowed down, or maybe I just went too far out. Came back in to 400' and two crazy double headers in a row. I was alone so several rolling coho's were lost beside the boat. Found about 50/50 clipped closer in, and better sized. Guessing these are local fish fish. Late morning ticket was the "Outfitter" skinny G at 57'. The Humpbacks came through again..

Curious. Do most people launching at Sooke have annual passes or are they just not paying?

I usually pay for the day

 

[Allbay]

Out from 7-12 this morning. We kept 2 hatchery that were our first double, released 6 and lost 4. Had a couple of nice wilds around 10 pounds.

Yes, we pay the $10 and appreciate the ramp as it’s pretty good to launch at on lower tides.

 

[eroyd]

Yes, we pay the $10 and appreciate the ramp as it’s pretty good to launch at on lower tides.

Glad I'm not the only one that pays. I've seen a few parties laughing about it. Off course they are launching $80,000 rigs.

 

[Tips Up]

Hey Tips I think I have a bit of an advantage when it comes to crab because I’m leaving the traps in overnight and then checking and re-baiting them first thing in the morning.....making sure I get the crabs and not someone else. Today 5 keepers on the overnight set and then all smalls after checking 4 hours at the end of my trip. I drifted off my spot this morning when I dropped them back in, bit to shallow.

At least I can still catch prawns. Had to fish the other coast yesterday.

 

[wildmanyeah]

View attachment 57473
At least I can still catch prawns. Had to fish the other coast yesterday.
View attachment 57472

I would take prawns over almost anything u can harvest from the sea. great catch

 

[profisher]

I had some prawns given to me yesterday and cooked them up tonight...wife's favorite. I heard they are shallower than normal right now.

 

[Tips Up]

Nope. They are still on the bottom.

 

[Reel Lucky]

yes, usually at 230, finding them at 170 now

 

[WaldoDingy]

$100 Reward!

Hey all. I know this probably isn't the place for this but I think it will get the most people reading it here.

I had 2 6 foot wooden oars fall off my dingy on Sunday near Whiffen Spit. They have full circle brass oar locks and black cuffs.

I love these oars as it's hard to find oar locks like these anymore. I'll gladly come pick them up with a $100 thank you for anyone that has them.

Oh yeah, lots of shakers and an 8 lb clipped coho lost at the boat. Now, I'm legit for posting here.