2017 OFFISHALL Vancouver-Howe Sound-Sechelt Reports Thread

[63stingray]

Lol I was waiting for that one , I use 4 / 30 inch ones and attach two small square traps 20 feet off the bigger ones . That day it was pretty average per trap and I soaked them for 6 hours on a low tide , I still haven't figured out what tides are best .I've tried a few different baits but I think the canned salmon I use works the best .

 

[Rain City]

We didn't have any luck prawning on Sunday either in horseshoe bay. 2 prawns and one octopus in one trap, zero in the other.

We did release one undersized winter from south end of bowen, then the kicker stopped peeing water so we were shut down for the day.

Did you shove a skewer in it?

 

[aussie]

Lol I was waiting for that one , I use 4 / 30 inch ones and attach two small square traps 20 feet off the bigger ones . That day it was pretty average per trap and I soaked them for 6 hours on a low tide , I still haven't figured out what tides are best .I've tried a few different baits but I think the canned salmon I use works the best .

Just plain old canned salmon no oil or pellets etc?

 

[OnTick]

Never seen so many prawn traps along HITW area as I did Sunday. The commercial boys will be PISSED!

 

[the fog ducker]

sportys will be even more pissed when they
shut it down in the winters to come , commies win every time
enjoy it while it lasts.....

some things are just best kept to yourselves ,
but the newbeez and looky loos thank you for your generosity

 

[reeltordarius]

Dropped our prawn traps on Sunday for an overnight soak. Got 175 in 4 traps. Nice to have the freezer full of prawns, now need to restock the salmon . I've been using a can of Friskies (white tuna pate) and it really seems to work.

 

[63stingray]

Just plain old canned salmon no oil or pellets etc?

Yup just canned salmon the pellets didn't work half as good in my opinion and ive tried them a few times.

 

[Corey_lax]

Did you shove a skewer in it?

In the octopus or the kickers pee hole??? We didn't to either. The octopus was small and managed to squeeze out through the holes in the prawn trap. The kicker, well, I am going to try poking it with some old downrigger steel cable to check for blockage. but its probably due for a impeller anyways.

 

[reeltordarius]

First report this year. Not much doin, few undersize west of the bell. Salty dog with a skinny g outfitter. Gunna get the boat tip top and look forward to the thrasher/entrance island fishery picking up. Hopefully the hump produces better than last year as well.

I didn't have a large enough boat in past years to get over to Thrasher/Entrance - curious the exact location and how my 18' Arima will do getting there from Vanier?

 

[Sotally Tober]

I didn't have a large enough boat in past years to get over to Thrasher/Entrance - curious the exact location and how my 18' Arima will do getting there from Vanier?

You will want to check the weather/ winds ( which we all do anyway ) as Thrasher doesn't get much protection. You will see a marker in the water when you are there.
Entrance Island is the small island northwest of Thrasher Rock, towards Nanaimo that has the light house.

 

[reeltordarius]

View attachment 32031
You will want to check the weather/ winds ( which we all do anyway ) as Thrasher doesn't get much protection.

Thanks for that info! Agreed regarding the winds, I'm overly cautious .

 

[fishin_magician]

Thanks for that info! Agreed regarding the winds, I'm overly cautious .

NW 10 knots should be quite decent. NW 15-20 makes for no fun in an 18 footer doing the crossing. NW15-25 don't even bother. If it goes to 20-25 it's ******.

It's 17 miles from Point Grey in a straight line...assuming you only fish Thrasher. If you're doing 35 mph you eat that up in 30 mins. I have done that a few times...but it doesn't always work out that way. One day it was like glass and I did it at 40 mph in an 18 foot boat.

Thrasher is best in recent years from Late April to May 25. After that or before that it is possible to replicate the results fishing in this side. 8 hours rod time for 1-3 Chinook in the box isn't wonderful....depending on the day. On other days...it depends one year... I was over and we boxed 24 Chinooks on a 2 day trip and easily lost as many. Obviously the timing was perfect. If it's not perfect....and you can't get on them...you can Skunk on legal fish.

SE 5-15 is tops for your rig. 15 knots SE makes for a crappy ride back. SE 20 is fuhgeddaboudit in an 18 footer.

Often times the fishing is further west at the Grande or further west.... Entrance and then you're a long ways away. You'll need extra fuel most likely....and going into Silva Bay for fuel is a time burner if you have to.

 

[Mozart]

Most 4th year prawns have started to lay their eggs and some have started to die off. You'll need to go after the 1-3 years olds and they tend to be in different spots and depth this time of the year

 

[63stingray]

I picked up a few females with eggs I always throw them back or Karma will bite me in the butt and I want more for the future but like someone said before ,How sound was loaded with traps on Sunday I have never seen so many go to Anvil from Sunset!

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

I picked up a few females with eggs I always throw them back or Karma will bite me in the butt and I want more for the future but like someone said before ,How sound was loaded with traps on Sunday I have never seen so many go to Anvil from Sunset!

I wonder why so many people are out prawning in that area this year? Hmmmm....how would they find out it's a good stop to clean out? There must be a reason...

 

[TheBigGuy]

sportys will be even more pissed when they
shut it down in the winters to come , commies win every time
enjoy it while it lasts.....

some things are just best kept to yourselves ,
but the newbeez and looky loos thank you for your generosity

With the numbers of traps out that guys are reporting I'd be surprised if they were all from sporties for personal consumption. With the price of prawns I'm guessing a good portion of those traps are being harvested for illegal retail sales. With the prices for crab and prawns there's huge money to be made in it. There's really very few sport boats on the water at this time of year. If there's a ton of traps out, yet very few sport boats that doesn't sound like the sporties are dropping all those traps. I could be wrong, but it's easy to blame sports over harvest, but there's really not that many sporties on the water now. Big money brings out the poachers. Just saying sporties might not be the cause.

 

[fishin_magician]

I wonder why so many people are out prawning in that area this year? Hmmmm....how would they find out it's a good stop to clean out? There must be a reason...

It's not exactly a secret.

Anyways...when the commercial fishery gets started...few of the regulars will put their traps out. More for you or more for them.

Personally I think it's great when fisheries get closed...in some cases DFO finally gets it right and recognizes there is a problem.

I recall that you used to go out and catch a nice Ling or two for dinner when you went too close to the bottom...now you can fish for hours and not find a decent sized Ling in local waters. Likewise I used to know where to find some meaty yellow eye....none left there now.

Anyhooooo....some nice Chinooks taken off Sunset again today. Tunstall too...

 

[fishin_magician]

Most 4th year prawns have started to lay their eggs and some have started to die off. You'll need to go after the 1-3 years olds and they tend to be in different spots and depth this time of the year

Why? You mean catch them before they spawn? Commercial mesh size is larger for just that reason....to select the larger ones and ensure the smaller ones escape and live to maturity.

By that logic, we should be catching much smaller crabs.

 

[fishin_magician]

With the numbers of traps out that guys are reporting I'd be surprised if they were all from sporties for personal consumption. With the price of prawns I'm guessing a good portion of those traps are being harvested for illegal retail sales. With the prices for crab and prawns there's huge money to be made in it. There's really very few sport boats on the water at this time of year. If there's a ton of traps out, yet very few sport boats that doesn't sound like the sporties are dropping all those traps. I could be wrong, but it's easy to blame sports over harvest, but there's really not that many sporties on the water now. Big money brings out the poachers. Just saying sporties might not be the cause.

Not so right now Big Guy. The RCMP are out there and have been for weeks....they're watching you and you don't even know it. They just busted a commercial crab poaching op and have been after some "unCanadians" shall we say.

Depends on what you mean by "few"....on a nice day at this time of year there could be 40-50 boats out in Howe Sound easily and I know that I have already counted a day when 25 were counted in 2 spots just by myself. Never mind the regulars who check their traps every couple of days from Sunset, Eagle Harbour, Fisherman's Cove, Horseshoe Bay, Bowen, etc etc. I know 2 individuals who leave theirs out and should not but they play the odds.

I used to go prawning with a bunch of buddies and with 5-6 of us on board we would put down 20-24 traps on occasion. The goal was to fill a garbage can with Prawns but we never did....

The best we ever did in one day was about 1200....and some days 1000.... some days much fewer with just 500 which was disappointing given how much work it was.

We only did that on a few occasions.

 

[reeltordarius]

NW 10 knots should be quite decent. NW 15-20 makes for no fun in an 18 footer doing the crossing. NW15-25 don't even bother. If it goes to 20-25 it's ******.

It's 17 miles from Point Grey in a straight line...assuming you only fish Thrasher. If you're doing 35 mph you eat that up in 30 mins. I have done that a few times...but it doesn't always work out that way. One day it was like glass and I did it at 40 mph in an 18 foot boat.

Thrasher is best in recent years from Late April to May 25. After that or before that it is possible to replicate the results fishing in this side. 8 hours rod time for 1-3 Chinook in the box isn't wonderful....depending on the day. On other days...it depends one year... I was over and we boxed 24 Chinooks on a 2 day trip and easily lost as many. Obviously the timing was perfect. If it's not perfect....and you can't get on them...you can Skunk on legal fish.

SE 5-15 is tops for your rig. 15 knots SE makes for a crappy ride back. SE 20 is fuhgeddaboudit in an 18 footer.

Often times the fishing is further west at the Grande or further west.... Entrance and then you're a long ways away. You'll need extra fuel most likely....and going into Silva Bay for fuel is a time burner if you have to.

Almost doesn't seem worth the trip with the cost of fuel, the amount of time it takes and the weather hazards. Thanks for the recommendations regarding the wind - usually don't go out if I see anything 10 knots or more, just too lumpy.