Tales From The Tyee Pool........2017...

Wow Dave what an experience! I wish I was nearer so I could take up a "row" with you or one of the guides.

Anyway, would these things work up your way? Another antique shop find, never used. Now stashed in my lure collection.

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Hi Dave loving the thread. Got a question for you, i assume when you are talking about the slip weights you are talking the trolling weights that have been around forever. Have you ever thought of using the mooching slip weight method, fool proof and you don't have to worry about it not slipping or taking it off the line?? Good luck and keep the posts coming.

I'm not clear on what exactly you consider as a "mooching slip weight method" unfortunately, but if they are a keel-type weight with a surgical tubing attachment to the line that you can adjust and peg with a crib peg then that style is used by a few but I couldn't find any of them available so simply stuck with the conventional slip weight that I think we both are thinking of.

Really difficult to use any kind of a fixed weight obviously as we usually fish plugs and spoons 20 feet or more behind the weight and with short rods you'd never get the fish close enough to net it.

With a 10' or better mooching rod that's not such a big consideration plus mooching leaders aren't usually that long.

I'm a KISS fan so the old slip weights work for me.

Thanks for your interest and question.






Take care.
 
Wow Dave what an experience! I wish I was nearer so I could take up a "row" with you or one of the guides.

Anyway, would these things work up your way? Another antique shop find, never used. Now stashed in my lure collection.

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Wow, really nice find and pics too. Given most of the spoons used here are #8 and measure about 6" in body length I don't know why they wouldn't work, unless they were specifically designed to work at speeds higher than we normally troll at.

Despite having rowed a 45 pounder on a spoon I've favoured plugs so not an expert on spoons at all, but those sure look nice and at a quick glance would be worth a try IMHO.

The good spoon guys have their arsenals fine-tuned to match the water conditions and will change a couple of times during a "tide" when they notice the changes in flow and things like that.

Plus they all have their marks firmly fixed and will sit mere feet apart on the flood dangling spoons over the end of the bar during historically a good time of the tide.

I drag one around behind me. LOL

Thanks for sharing those pics. Really nice looking group.






Take care.
 
And just for fun here's the latest Tyee hanging around the clubhouse courtesy of John Woodward who rowed his friend Bill Cosulich to this nice looking 32 pounder this morning, caught on a spoon.

Good going guys!!

Bill-Cosulich-32-lbs-Aug-20th-620-a.m.-on-a-spoon-rowed-by-John-Woodward-300x225.jpg


I'm looking forward to tonight when my two highly experienced rod-holders arrive full of optimism, faith and finely tuned.

I've heard they were seen doing calisthenics regularly endeavoring to get fit for what may happen tonight if there's another crazy bite like last night.

I'm so proud of them for taking it seriously.




I've been napping.







Take care.
 
I'm not clear on what exactly you consider as a "mooching slip weight method" unfortunately, but if they are a keel-type weight with a surgical tubing attachment to the line that you can adjust and peg with a crib peg then that style is used by a few but I couldn't find any of them available so simply stuck with the conventional slip weight that I think we both are thinking of.

Really difficult to use any kind of a fixed weight obviously as we usually fish plugs and spoons 20 feet or more behind the weight and with short rods you'd never get the fish close enough to net it.

With a 10' or better mooching rod that's not such a big consideration plus mooching leaders aren't usually that long.

I'm a KISS fan so the old slip weights work for me.

Thanks for your interest and question.


Take care.

Hi Dave it is with surgical tubing, we use a piece of the tubing which you run your main line through, then we put in a piece of pencil weight to give it the resistance against sliding (the slider is put on in front of the tubing with a bead in front of it so it will rest against the last eye when retrieving the line). Typically we fish leader lenghts in the 20-40 ft range to get the back rods away from the boat and bow rods, once you have a fish on and you start to play the fish and once you get to the bead and tubing you just keep reeling and the bead will snub up against the eye on the rod and the line will slip through until you get to you swivel setup. So our leader lenght we run is usually 6-8 ft, i think it would work good for what you are doing.
 
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Glad to hear you are napping Dave, resting up for those 3 deep strokes when it happens again tonight!

We are hoping our years of experience in the rod holder seat will get us through the excitement of the moment and get you on the board :)
 
So, as I feared might be the case, last night was pretty quiet in the Tyee Pool save a bunch of excited female noises coming from the boat that did hook a fish and apparently boated it too.

But it wasn't a Tyee.

Still only 15 as nothing showed up this morning and now the consensus is we're waiting for new fish to arrive, having cleaned the pool out of under-sized ones Saturday night.

My rod-holders last night took the lack of fish well and enjoyed the ambience of being rowed around the pool as they are very used to getting skunked when out with me, having some years of experience now. LOL

Hopefully the next tides will bring us some more fish and things will pick up.

Remember that last year we had but two Tyee at this date and this year we have 15, so hope is still strong.








Take care.
 
Quiet night out there, but calm winds and a reasonable tide for the rowers! It really is an amazing experience to see nearly 50 row boats plying the waters back and forth concentrated in such a small area. Lots of fun banter tossed around and polite dodging the near collisions when the rowers meet bow to bow, you really need eyes in the back of your head while watching everything else going on. Watching for the proper steady thumping of the rod tip saying the speed is good for the plug, watching for others with fish on, watching for rollers and jumpers. Thanks Dave for another great outing!
 

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Well i am the one that was on the other end against leaping Lena and what an amazing fish she was. This was my 9th time on the pool and i believe the 4th year going out with Dave. This was my first hook up. Dave is real treat to fish with his quick humor and knowledge of the club and its history make for an exciting fun night. We at one point were right next to that guy that knocked off Dave's tyee with the net a bunch of years back haha. So back to Lena, we were out for a while and nothing seemed to be happening but the intensity was high {for me at least} as there was a bunch of fish weighed in over the last day and a half. My hands kept going numb i was squeezing the rod so tight. I think it was about 9pm and was starting to get dark and i said to Dave oh look they are hooked up then another then another and so on. It went completely off at this point and seemed like everybody was yelling "fish on!" Dave said we need to get over there and within minutes the rod pounded and i set the hook for all i was worth. Immediately Lena back flipped about 4-5 feet out of the water and was giving big head shakes. It went running out and to the side of us and just as i said it was gonna surface it came flying out of the water again end over end. I couldn't believe i still had her on. By now i think we both realized it was under and a real dark boot of a fish but i really wanted to land it and give some sort of success to both Dave and I. This is one of the only places that a mid 20s fish is a let down but i was very happy to be into a fish in a row boat on the tyee pool. We had her at the back of the boat after a couple more leaps and she rolled over, thinking we were close i brought her up beside the boat. It had gotten so dark neither of us could see it and when it finally surfaced and Dave went for it with the net Lena decided she wasn't done and with a couple more leaps towards the front of the boat she was gone. I was bummed at first but now just hope she makes it up river and makes lots of little clones of herself because this was the craziest fish i have ever had on. It was an amazing night to be out there and many thanks to Dave for giving me another shot. It was nice of him not to tell you about the giant rats nest i made while doing a weed check making for a complete re tie haha. I will be back soon and maybe one day will ring the bell.
 
Quiet night out there, but calm winds and a reasonable tide for the rowers! It really is an amazing experience to see nearly 50 row boats plying the waters back and forth concentrated in such a small area. Lots of fun banter tossed around and polite dodging the near collisions when the rowers meet bow to bow, you really need eyes in the back of your head while watching everything else going on. Watching for the proper steady thumping of the rod tip saying the speed is good for the plug, watching for others with fish on, watching for rollers and jumpers. Thanks Dave for another great outing!

That is a beautiful photo,Lazoman.What an experience you must have had fishing in such hallowed fishing grounds.I must admit I'm a tad envious!
 
That is a beautiful photo,Lazoman.What an experience you must have had fishing in such hallowed fishing grounds.I must admit I'm a tad envious!
That photo looks like a hand coloured print taken in the 30's
We have been fortunate to be rod holders 4-5 times, with one hit in all of the trips. Holding the rod waiting for the Big One puts the kid back in fishing, every second out there is full of anticipation! Thanks Dave!

Good luck tonight, lets hope you assassinate one for the books.
 
Just read through the last few posts as I've been busy all day so haven't updated the last results.

There are now 18 Tyee on the board as one was registered last night and two this morning.

I'm not sure if the day-shift spoon wagglers did anything as yet but as soon as I finish dinner, which Owen should be arriving with shortly, I'll go look before we go out.

Here's fish #16, rowed by Mike Mackie and boated by his son Landon......again. That's two for the 11 year old with his Dad rowing him to a 34 1/2 a few days back you'll recall.

Landon-Mackie-30-lbs-Aug-21st-845-p.m.-on-a-spoon-rowed-by-his-Dad-Mike-Mackie-300x226.jpg


And here's #17, self-rowed by Mike Stutzel and now a new member of the Tyee Club of BC to boot.

Mike-Stutzel-new-member-33.5-lbs-Aug-22nd-550-a.m.-on-a-spoon-rowed-by-Mike-Stutzel-rookie-rower-300x225.jpg


Well done indeed!!

Last and certainly not least, with his fifth Tyee rowed so far this season, here's the ever handsome Mike Mackie and his now famous rod-man Greg Askey showing off to we lesser mortals.
Landon hanging around soaking up some of his Dad's glory. Tyee #18.

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Today is Potluck Day at the Clubhouse and I've heard there's a move afoot to tackled Mike Mackie and break one arm to slow down his runaway rampage this year, so if you see a guy with a red hat rowing around in circles in the Tyee Pool it'll be him.

I wear a black hat.







Take care.
 
So Fish ,Assassin, aka Owen arrived with food and drink which we efficiently disposed of with me being careful to not take in too much fluid before going out, as that can be a bad thing I've found out, and the evening started off with full bellies and a lot of optimism. Last year we hooked two fishing together so how could we miss this year?

I'd wanted to try a couple of spoons first to see if they beat well or not so early on we tried a vintage #8 The Stewart spoon which seemed to have a good solid beat which pleased me considerably as it's one from Elmer Davis that ended up with me so I figured it must be a good one. I hope to find out.

It's hard to stay away very long from a plug that has hooked three fish so far so on went the Shovelnose and my Tour de Pool began.

Early on there was little in the way of visible fish activity, nothing like during the day when they were showing all over the place, so we covered the three main areas, south end, mid-pool all the while slowly working north. Back and forth meant half the time rowing slowly against the flow and then speeding along barely outpacing the flow to make the plug work going the other way.

Owen works on a BC Ferry so the back and forth must have seemed like old home week to him, but it's all part of the hunt for me.

The north end just below the bar and out from Van Egan's tree, used as a marker by most everyone I would venture, seemed to start showing fish frequently, both inside and out near our intended spot so we decided to hang around there and let the plug do its thing. And then I looked around to see who else was hanging in that area and what they were fishing with.

I realized they were mostly spooners, insofar as they specialize in fishing that corner of the bar using spoons most of the time. I had another spoon all ready to go on the back-up rod so we quickly switched to that and covered the area with a decently beating spoon for a short time all the while losing light but seeing more and more fishy action with a couple of boats hooking up and rowing out for the battle, but nothing for us.

By now I was past second-guessing what to be fishing but reasoned that a proven plug in the water should be better than a just tried spoon so we quickly switched back to the plug.
Having an experienced rodman who can quickly change and adapt to the different method quickly is such a bonus......and a pleasure. Owen is one of those guys and I rarely have to threaten him or anything.

With so many fish frolicking around just behind us and just off to the right and just in front of us and over there to the left it seemed like we just HAD to get bit on the Shovelnose, it all seemed so perfectly set-up.

And then Owen struck, hard and high while expertly flipping the reel to hand, muttered "There it is", and started reeling hard as I pulled on the oars, waiting for a couple of head-shakes, the beginning of a long run or a leap to match our Leaping Lena of but a few nights ago.

But nothing like that happened and it appeared that whatever we'd hooked was either asleep or of a diminutive size. Owen noticed the weight hadn't even been tripped so reeled in, rather casually and much too easily it seemed then suggested I might as well net it as it was right there at the boat, so I did.

It really wasn't what we were looking for so we let it go.

And thus came darkness and the end of another night in the pool.

No Tyee tonight but there are most definitely some in the Pool.

Maybe tomorrow.






Take care.





PS: The fish we released because it wasn't what we were looking for is also probably still in the pool. It shouldn't be hard to identify it if you should catch it some time.

It's a big Dogfish with a hook mark in its mouth.

It bit the Shovelnose plug too.

LOL
 
Good day everyone and say Hi to the newest member of the Tyee Club, one John Chalmers, who boated a 38 pounder this morning rowed by Yari Ivanisko.

They used a plug I'm told and I must confess to hearing the bell ring this morning as I lay abed, enjoying those last few moments that always seem so short before arising for the day.

I really missed it apparently, and after perusing the tally board and seeing how many have been caught in the AM hours this year I'm almost at the stage of actually getting up before breakfast sometime in the near future.

It could happen.

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Well done to John and Yari this morning.

Nice fish.






Take care.
 
Wednesday evening was a bit windy and rain-threatened so my scheduled rodman had no problem with my cancelling as he's a local and will get out again shortly, so I watched again as roughly half the usual number of boats plied their way back and forth, holding almost motionless while facing north with an ebb tide trying to move them northward while the opposing wind and a very light application of the oars helped move them southward.

As the ebb flow increased it was fun to watch some boats making big moves from the south to the north in the decreasing wind as it took mere moments to cover a couple hundred yards as they'd beetle along outside the pack sitting still in the mid-pool area.

Eventually a boat with two people arrived at the beach and a fish was retrieved, hauled up to the scale and placed on the table for Bob to weigh. It looked close.

And, at 29 1/2 pounds it WAS close.

But no cigar, so much sympathy was offered by those present as being that close is a heart-breaker indeed.

Not much later Neil Cameron beached his boat and out popped a couple of youngsters and a fish, obviously not a Tyee but the very first salmon ever for the angler, pictured here with his 25 1/2 pounder.

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It was funny to watch the fish being carried up the beach as it took two people. One holding the body and most of its bulk while the happy angler held it by the tail.

Big fish for a little person.

This morning, Thursday the 24th., saw another Tyee registered by the dynamic duo of John Chalmers on the rod and Yari Ivanisko on the oars who boated a nice 32 pounder to go with their 38 of yesterday morning. Look back at their photo with the 38 and compare it to this one.

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Same pose but different fish and the two put them in the lead for the Isfeld Memorial Trophy, awarded to the angler who registers the largest pair of Tyee caught on separate days.

They have two at 70 pounds combined now.

Show offs I say.







Take care.
 
This was my first time being a rod holder in the famous Tyee Pool and it was a bitter/sweet experience that I’ll never forget.

I grew up hearing stories of my grandparents annual pilgrimage from Vancouver to Campbell River to chase the many different fisheries of the area. Of all, it was the Tyee Pool fishing stories that stuck for me and I’ve since dreamed of becoming a member of the Tyee Club of BC for landing a Tyee according to the challenging rules that must be followed. My grandfather became a member of the Tyee Club on September 2nd, 1975 with a 34.5lb Chinook and my grandmother successfully landed a 43lb Chinook although it did not qualify because of some infraction with someone else touching the rod.

Greg Askey has had a standing offer to come join him in the pool for a couple years and I finally took him up on the generous offer this week. We fished Thursday night and Friday morning for a quick trip up from Victoria and back, where I am decompressing from the experience.

Thursday night we hit the water at 7pm with two rods rigged up and ready to fish, even though we were only going to have one rod in the water. The first rod had a proven Lucky Louie on the line and the other had a one-of-a kind 7” spoon that I had made just for the occasion. We started with the plug and worked the bar with the 50 or so other row boats for an hour with little action happening among the quiet pack. We decide to change things up and put down the spoon. Another peaceful hour passed with little action in the fleet aside from a couple undersized (in a place where undersized is less than 30lb?!...). It was starting to get dark and we were considering calling it a night when the rod pounds, head shakes a few times and then starts peeling out line in the direction of it’s choosing. Unfortunately this was in the direction of a dozen or so boats up the bar and a domino effect of gear gets pulled as our fish charges under the row boats and up the bar with us rowing in chase. We gained some ground as it took a break from its burst and then it took off running again. The runs were not in burst like some fish do…but in a steady, solid run. And then, as quickly as the peace was broken by the initial hit….it was gone without a headshake or a jump. The disappointment the moments after we realized the fish was indeed gone, was quickly replaces by the prospect that….this spoon….which had WORKED…may have broken off. Luckily, after pulling in a couple hundred yards of line we found the spoon still there. We never saw the fish but were left with the feeling that it was a good one.

We were back on it for first light and this time there was only one rod rigged to fish. Greg admitted on the way out that he was partially humoring the night before in my desire to run my spoon, being that there is a long history behind what ‘works’ and what doesn’t for catching these fish. I was happy to see that only the spoon came out of the truck and we worked it through the different current conditions, judging by the rod tip at what the spoon might be doing below. Two hours went by and we started talking about what to do for breakfast and considering calling it a pleasant tide change…when the rod pounded and a solid fish went on a run. It stopped about 100’ away showed itself briefly at the surface and then ran at the boat, went straight passed and out to the deep water outside the pool to sound. It took two good deep runs before quickly coming close to the boat and the net came out….but this fish had no intention of coming in that easy. We got a good view and realized that we were dealing with a tyee (Greg’s eye has been honed by the 3 he’s landed this season!!!)and off it went on another run. After a few bursts of speed it came back to the boat again and but still with a lot of energy. Instead of going for another run like we had hoped….it went into a violent head shake at the surface about 15’ from the boat and in an instant…the hook came out. I was pretty devastated about it…but also very happy that my own spoon had hooks to hogs on two tide changes.

It turned out that a similar situation had been unfolding right beside us…although I was too fixated on the fish to notice. Mike and Mike were also into a tyee but this one was using its airborne moves to get away…and fortunately for the fish, it ended it ended up shaking the hook after a few massive cartwheels.

We all played through the scenarios over and over during breakfast of what could have been done differently.

It was an amazing experience and I thank all of the welcoming anglers that I met, and who preserve this traditional way of fishing, some of which have been fishing since my late grandparents rowed the same waters.

I’m hooked.
 
Awesome stuff Andrew and a great telling of the story too.

Obviously I like a good story well written and particularly when it's near to home, so to speak.

Given I've hooked my rod-holders up three times with nothing in the boat yet I can also sympathize, although I don't think any were Tyee as yours may have been.

All the best and good on ya for making and trying a spoon that actually works.

Nothing to report Tyee-wise in the last two days but lots of fish showing so maybe tonight.



Take care.
 
Sunday nearly noon and only one remaining visitor is napping as I type this.

He was up early this AM and managed a small but clean fish rowing CC who was using a plug he'd re-painted himself, which pleased him no end.

The real winner this morning was one Bill Tomicki, who registered a lovely 36 1/2 pounder rowed by the well-known and (dare I say) venerable veteran, Mr. Ross Spiers.

Caught it on a plug.

Bill-Tomicki-36.5-lb-Aug-27th-630-a.m.-on-a-plug-rowed-by-Ross-Spiers-300x226.jpg


Well done gentlemen indeed.

That's 21 Tyee now which is way ahead of last year when we had but three at this date.

Anyway, at it again tonight with optimism still going strong.



Take care.
 
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