Well after enduring the incredible frustration of missing almost the entire chinook season because of boat engine issues (long parts delivery lead times etc.) we finally made it out to our favourite spot, Muir. Our last trip out was August 4th reported here, when we had to come back in on the kicker.
I was not expecting much since in past years action always fell off dramatically for us in the last days of August.
Boy was I wrong this time, as it turned into a remarkable day. Lines down at 7:30am and at 8:00am as we began a turn to avoid the crab traps loading the eastern part of the Muir troll, there was a huge pin popping hit. He felt good and heavy, came in docilely at first, saw us standing with the net at ready and took off for the bottom. A long dogged fight ensured and we finally netted a beauty deep bodied fish a fraction under 80cm and weighing in at 19lbs. Back at the ranch he was a white male.
An hour and half later, almost in the same area, there was another bouncing hit and this time we boated a nice 10lb fish. Did not even think about returning him in the hope of something bigger because, as I said, late August has always been spotty for us. He was a male white too.
The same batch of little frozen herring we used last year, loaded in a conventional T.H. were the killer bait, run at a conventional 66’ on the rigger.
And now for the remarkable part. We next headed out to see if there were any coho. I had a pink stripe hootchie/dodger combo on one side and after it had been down at 45” for only 10 minutes, in 300’ of water we got a decent hit and for a second I thought “coho”, But the thing took off like an express train down and away and fought really hard, much harder than the two in the boat, and I thought, this must be a chinook. So it proved as we netted and released one that was 12-13lb estimated. Definitely bigger than the second one we kept, wouldn’t ya know it!
It did not end there. An hour later we were waay off Otter, in 350’ of water and at least a kilometre out from the crowd hugging the usual Otter troll line and we got another pounding hit on the same dodger/hootchie combo running at 45’. Again it took off down and away and seemed heavy. Again after several nice reel screaming surges, we netted and released a chinook I estimated at 17-18lb!
So what gives!! We have trolled that line back to Sooke from Muir before with hootchies looking for coho and have never had a single chinook the size of those two. In fact I think I have only ever had one 8lb chinook, several years ago, while trolling a dodger.
So could’a released the 10lb fish and done better with either of those fish!! But I am not complaining. Who knew you could catch chinook in 300’ plus of water with a dodger/hootchie combo running at 45’!!
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