The herring were done on the gorge
Done as in done forever, or just done for the year. I'm down there almost every day and haven't seen the signs, birds and seals in any volume for years. I always remember the Gorge being a Spring Break thing. The herring that was in my last waterfront chinook was bursting with roe. There must be some spawning around here somewhere. Keeping the jig handy. Hopefully a break in the weather Sunday.
 
Done as in done forever, or just done for the year. I'm down there almost every day and haven't seen the signs, birds and seals in any volume for years. I always remember the Gorge being a Spring Break thing. The herring that was in my last waterfront chinook was bursting with roe. There must be some spawning around here somewhere. Keeping the jig handy. Hopefully a break in the weather Sunday.
Done for the rest of the year
 
The herring were done on the gorge
Last year I got a few on March 10th and was told I just missed it. I’m not much for giving up yet as the few I got last yr were amazing looking. Even a couple small ones the fit my anchovie bullet roll teaser heads perfect. I bought a $20 bag a few weeks ago but they look pretty beat up. To The Bridge I Say…
 
Late Feb - most of March used to be decent for me.

I would say the runs are 10% of what they were 10-15 years ago ? And even then they were not major runs.

I used to take my daughter for a ton of fun but stopped trying about 5 years ago, just was not worth it to get a few when I could get a bag for $20 I feel the same about wild Steelies, i used to spend Dec - April chasing steel almost every weekend but now I look at them like a endangered species.

Depends what you want to use them for I guess but I am surprised you can still fish gorge herring .
 
Walk and row the gorge on a regular basis.
The herring appear between January and March, most often indicated by the Cormorants and Common Mergansers.
This morning the CM's were chasing something just up from the VCKC wharf. Good luck.
 
if there was a dog fish derby I think we would have had a good shot at winning today mud hole area lost count probably close to 20-25 dog fish couldn’t take it anymore went back to pedder had a coffee and relaxed sounds like most guys had similar luck did see a very small chicken at the dock though.
 
Great day out yesterday - got out on the pick past the shipping lanes before 8, and had our halis to the boat in an hour. One low 100cm and a second in the 70s. Finally broke the skunk on the 'new to me' boat! Rubber debatably outfished herring. Sniffed around Constance bank for an hour or two for some salmon, but very little action. Crabbing was not bad, lots of softies. Nice to see the ghost gear all cleaned out.
 
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Super tough weekend for myself glad to see others are getting on the halibut though so that’s encouraging On the hook Sunday and today unlike yesterdays dog fish bonanza we had a skate party today, some absolute monsters and zero dog fish but no hali hopefully get into one next time!
 

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Slow for me this weekend on the Victoria waterfront for chinook. Did get one about 8 lbs and a few smaller ones. I'm saving that last line on my license for a big one. Lots of boats out. I suspect mostly for halibut.
 

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Got out Monday early and got into a few smaller ones but the 2” herring aid was the hot ticket again. That little spoon landed the two biggest fish and had a few nice ones that spit the hook. Morning was better then it slowed down and we had to get creative to get our last one. I’ve been reading up on how to read the water and tides including tide lines and I think I may be starting to think like a fish. Met up with a forum member from Seattle who’s up with his buddy for a few days. Hoping he finds a monster or two in sooke area today.
 

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Huge herring ball just west of the green can in 130 feet of water. From 30' to the bottom. Jigged up some jumbo 9" herring.
Screenshot from 2024-02-22 14-41-24.png
Still not 'spring' time for me. 🙉
Some Halibut came in when I was launching at Fleming.
 
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What a week of great fishing off the waterfront for me. Took out a couple pals I haven’t seen for a while hoping to get them a couple on there licence. One of them had only caught 1 fish this yr. Launched 9:30 dropped a trap and trolled from there meandering Fromm 100-150 trying to keep the gear near the bottom. Pretty consistent action and by 1pm they both had some decent 6-8 lb springs in the tub. I took over a rod planning to release saving my last two spots on my licence for that linker. Well I’m now down to one. Scrappy 32x18x18 divided by 750 =13.84 lb female wild white. Lots of small crabs today only a couple keepers.
 

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First hint of any larger Canadian fish around and:

FN0141-Recreational - Salmon - Chinook - Portions of Areas 19 and 20 - Chinook Management Measures - Effective March 1, 2024




Effective 00:01 hours March 1, 2024, until 23:59 hours March 31, 2024, the daily limit for Chinook is two (2) per day, hatchery-marked only.

Retention of unmarked Chinook is not permitted.

These measures apply in the following waters:

Subareas 19-1, 19-3, 19-4, and Subareas 20-4 to 20-7 (those waters near Victoria between Cadboro Point and Sombrio Point).

Reminder: The minimum size limit for Chinook in these waters is 45 cm.
 
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