2022 Sidney Reports
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kaelc
Well-Known Member
For the swim bait do you just troll slowly with a heavy swim bait, or on the dr line?
carpeweekend
Crew Member
I troll on the down rigger at about 1 - 1.5 mph. You have to watch your sounder closely but as long as you are within about 5 feet from the bottom, it seems to bring them up. Much easier than jigging and less chance of getting snagged, plus you cover a lot more ground. Works best on a reef or somewhere that is somewhat consistent in depth.
Strait shooter
Member
Ray it was flat calm there until 2pm and then fished in a stiff breeze for 2 hours...but worth it. I put lots of time in Sidney waters...usually April and May before the big Sooke fish show up. Morning trip...26, 12, 12, 10, 9 and a few between 4-6 pounds. Afternoon trip 14, 8, 6, 5 and lost one up around the boat 17-18 pounds. The forecast was for wind today on JDF so I moved my people to Sidney trips yesterday...the perk of being on the trailer. Was out in Sooke yesterday and we landed 11 springs to 11 pounds for a 4 hour afternoon trip. Forest was going hali fishing and he told me Sidney had some nice fish so I was suddenly excited about today's trips. Skinny G's did the damage.
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Stizzla
Crew Member
You can’t just ask a prostitute on a date. Pay up. He’s worth it!
LOL I've had those days too Ray. Wondering wtf is going on as fish are being caught around me and my gear is like the plague of death...nothing wants to touch it. I can't say I do much different when fishing artificial...tie it on, drop it down, keep the boat over the fish and maintain the speed that makes it work. Bait, well there are some techniques that work better than others...especially in strong currents when you have to speed up to stay where you want to be.
To avoid the inevitable (because it happens every year) long drawn out debate, catch and release fishing is still allowed and if anyone wants to revive the conversation on this subject, the Conservation section is the appropriate place. As to Profisher's ability to estimate fish weights, it comes from the thousands of fish and days on the water he has experienced that allows him to do a pretty close guesstimate, even when the fish is not removed from the water. Please keep the fishing report threads for just that, reports.
Thanks.
Thanks.
kaelc
Well-Known Member
Managed 3 Ling cod while mom and her friend enjoyed Sidney spit. Was happy to out fish a couple guys in a BW Conqest 325 Pilot house. Grandma who used to fish commercially almost 50 years ago got to reel a couple in with my 1&5 year old cheering her on. Could have limited out but the tide was dropping so had to pull the boat or wait until 8pm. Sun was out, felt pretty good.
ThatswhatSeasaid
Active Member
Fished out of Sidney for the first time and took in 2 nice Lingcod 74cm and 78cm and a big fat Cabezon. Why didn't anyone tell me Cabezon taste so good??? 9am - 1pm near zero rock, today. It's worth the drive to Sidney!
The Skeptic
Member
Cabbies in the 6-8 lb range are my go-to ceviche fish as they have nice firm meat but aren't wormy at that size. How did you prep yours? I also really like them oven-baked.
ThatswhatSeasaid
Active Member
We made a Thai curry. Ceviche would be amazing! I'll try that next time. I still have the other half in the freezer. I didn't weigh it but it was probably on the heavier side as I had to pick out a few parasites. Maybe 10 lb? Anyway, how do you bake it? Salt pepper lemon? I'm super stoked on this new discovery.
The Skeptic
Member
I don't do anything particularly original.
I fillet them and lay the fillets on a greased baking pan with the skin down—Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (depending on size this might change). I will usually put a pat of butter on each piece halfway through.
Slap ya mama is my favorite seasoning for fish.
ThatswhatSeasaid
Active Member
Sounds good. I'll give it a go. Slap ya mama???LOL
I had a fun day yesterday on the water with a guest. Sooke once again was forecast to be very windy so I planned a trip over to Tulista for the booked full day salmon trip. It was a little different because a mom visiting from Moose Jaw wanted me to take her fishing fanatic 13 year old son out fishing by himself. She had 2 younger kids with her and would have to make arrangements for care for them if she tagged along too. So we met at 7am and me and Harper headed to drop a couple traps before heading to Coal. We played and released 1 5-6 pound fish between lines down and the first tide change at about noon. Then from noon to 2:30 we landed 7 more up to 12 pounds and dropped another 4 fish before seeing them. Harper was a great kid who needed very little coaching and did a great job on the rods. I was worried it might be a long day trying to keep him entertained with him not having a wingman his own age along. Wasn't an issue...a good kid.
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