T
The Jackel
Guest
Go Elden Smith Go
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2017 Sooke Reports
- Thread starter SFBC
- Start date
Go Elden Smith Go
Fishing is a game of odds.
You gotta do things to increase your odds.
Profisher consistently out fishes the fleet. It's not from trolling around aimlessly.
Lots of good tips here.
Here's another... it's not important how many boats are fishing an area. It's who is fishing an area.
Some Pro-fessionals fish most days and know where the fish were yesterday.
Tips
You gotta do things to increase your odds.
Profisher consistently out fishes the fleet. It's not from trolling around aimlessly.
Lots of good tips here.
Here's another... it's not important how many boats are fishing an area. It's who is fishing an area.
Some Pro-fessionals fish most days and know where the fish were yesterday.
Tips
T
The Jackel
Guest
Follow my buddy Elden 
fogged in
Well-Known Member
All good advice, but lets not sell Englishman short
He has his good days and he is the most honest reporting fisher on this site!
Lets face it, he does as well or better than half the boats in the Sooke area and I love his reports.
I still remember in the Consultants Derby a couple of years ago, when fishing was spotty, he out fished most and was in the prizes!
Keep up the great posts Englishman!
Everyone can't be a pro guide.
As Jackel says "Go Eldon Smith Go"
T
The Jackel
Guest
Fogged in for Premier
Englishman
Well-Known Member
Yep, I know much of what you say it true Tips. I have said it many times before, fishing off Sooke is all about location, location, location, and the pro's know exactly where to be on any combination of time and tide. I do not, and so it is still hit and miss. I fish in tight when I can but often just get rockfish and ling. The trick is to be the right distance above the bottom, even in shallow water, and avoid the rockfish. I still fail at that. Also the speed of troll. I still believe I have a lot to learn on that as it makes a huge difference to where your bait is given tides and current variables as well. It is VERY complicated and if it were easy, even I could succeed more often LOL
Englishman
Well-Known Member
Thx Fogged In. Just that once I was in the right place at the right time and tide. Been to the same place several times since of course and have never repeated that day. Five chinooks in a single day is still my record even after another three years have elapsed and I am highly unlikely to ever repeat!!
Glad you like my posts. I try to make them reports. Some guys just put up a "Twitter feed" of 140 characters which tells you very little......
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Tips I agree on what you meant....but I now prefer to fish with fewer boats for a couple of reasons....1. way more enjoyable and stress free being able to get to where I want to go when I wanr to go there 2.. with fewer fish around I'll go where there are less of those top rods to compete with over the few fish holding in a spot. The odds of more hookups is increased if your gear is all they see all morning. Obviously there are times you find out there are no fish there and then it is a lonely feeling being all by yourself in the wrong spot!! lol
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
Follow my buddy Elden
Or his brother because Elden know he out-fishes him LOLOL.
I think that was me fishing with my mother and kids Casper that you gave tips on where you caught your fish just after you netted your last one. Tried a couple of passes there but the current started ripping and pushing all the weed through so we couldn't even get in position. Trolled up past possession with my mom at the wheel and pulled our gear. I apologize to ever boat she cut off lol. Thanks for the tip looks like you had a great morning!!
FishSlayer1976
Member
Less then 2 weeks away from our 3rd annual Sooke trip and we are getting excited!! I read all the reports everyday and theirs always a lot of mixed reports hits and misses and appreciate them all. I actually mostly go on to look at the pictures of peoples catches lol and wish there was more pictures I am definitely not expecting Sooke area to be like Winter Harbour was for us in early July, but I completely agree with what profisher said. you need to go where the fish hang around because they are there. I am confident I will find some nice fish regardless of the reports and I always will post my methods and findings. Persistence and perseverance always pays off when fishing I find and I attached a picture of my chart plotter from the trip to WH last month on how we fish the kelp lines and rocks Yes I lose some gear but hey when your catching 20-30lb fish steady, why not It was funny one day we fished Kains Island for 10-12hrs straight and sometimes all the boats had left and had the whole island to ourselves and were hammering springs because for some reason so many boats were staying 50-100' off the rocks and kelp and not getting much so left lol. In 5 days of fishing I dont think I put my downrigger deeper then 35-40' unless we hit the highway for some coho. I am hoping to finally get my Tyee this year in Sooke because for some reason I've been stuck in the 29 club and even last month in WH I got a 29.4 lol you can see the pics under the Winter Harbour feed So if you see a blue kingfisher close to the shore lines and kelp that will be me And don't worry I'm not out to mow peoples grass and will always patiently wait my turn to do my passes.. Happy Fishing everyone!!
Englishman
Well-Known Member
Nice post FishSlayer. But as I have said in an earlier post above, how you (and others) manage to fish that close in to the kelp and rocks without constantly hooking rockfish and baby ling cod completely baffles me. That is all I have ever caught in Sooke fishing shallow/close..... Winter Harbour must be different......
Winter Harbour must be different......
casper5280
Crew Member
Ya that was me. Funny we left just in time bit bumpy on the way back in and was surprised that the tide started to rip as it was coming up on the slack
Get navionics added to your chart and you will see the true contours you need to run. If I'm traveling a km of shore before I turn I'm not in the right area. Know your structure. Look for bait or signs of fish on your key points and hammer it. Stick and stay. 75% of my fish this year have come from the same 100 foot square.
Englishman...my gear is seldom less than 10 ft off the bottom. So if in 50ft of water the deep line is max 40ft. But the most important part is staying on a set depth by steering to keep yourself in no less than 50ft of water. You can't just point the boat and expect the bottom to stay constant. I'm always watching my sounder when I make the tight inside tack and move the boat in and out to stay on the depth that keeps my deep line off the bottom.
Englishman
Well-Known Member
Thx Profisher. I will have to troll faster or make sure it is 15' above bottom. Case in point; I am aware of the bump off Sheringham that Walleyes spoke of in a post above and when we went over that on Monday we got a double header of rockfish!! And I swear I was more than 10' above the top when we came over since I cranked the D/R rapidly since I hate losing balls. (I do of course watch the sounder). The damn things love my bait and lures and I get four or five rockfish every trip, even off the Bluffs.
Heading out to sooke today for a few days fishing. Probably on the east side between beecher and secretary as I'm in a sailboat so my top speed is 6 knots, so getting over the west side takes a long time, hah. Anyone fished around there recently? Most of the last few pages has been about otter point/sheringham
