Fishing tips

[Sailfreak18]

Hey all
So I'm still having trouble catching anything worth taking home. Biggest thing I've caught is a dogfish.
I don't have a downrigger or anything fancy just a rod and some lures that look like fish. And I don't want to get into anything too fancy but am I missing something? I'd just like to catch one fish. (Out of Nanaimo)


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[wildthing]

super easy

Leave all your stuff at home

and go out with someone who has the right stuff

chip in for gas and bait

and watch & learn .......


if all else fails hire a local guide

 

[Aces]

Yeah you're missing that fishing isn't all that easy

what Wildthing said was great advice.

 

[Old Blue]

It's easy when they're fishing with you Shawn

 

[Mighty Sylvan]

The local tackle shops can help you. I would suggest a white hootchie and a green flasher. Ask them for a slip weight to get it deeper. Troll those at around 3 mph.

 

[fish brain]

Are you trolling or jigging Sailfreak? If you are trolling,it would really help to get down to at least 60 feet, I believe most of the fish in Nanaimo are still being caught at 100-130 although some might bee deeper or shallower. To get to these depths you really need a downrigger if you want to get down there. You could try a deep six or pink lady, but you wont get much better than 60 feet- 40 is probably more like it, a 6oz weight might get you 15 feet.
If you plan to troll use the advice above. you can find used manual downriggers for not much money on used nanaimo (about $60 for an old school one)

You could try jigging, to do this a sounder would help to find schools of bait fish and mark their depth. lift your rod quickly, but not a really hard jerk. then follow your line down with your rod, dont let your line go slack-but dont hold your lure back either, the fis will usually hit on the drop and you want to feel it when it does.
If you are going to jig use a stingzelda, buzzbomb or similar weighted lure. if your fishy lures are floating or not weighted dont use a weight attached above your lure you will just get tangled.
Jigging without a sounder can be like fishing for a needle in a haystack, you can be fishing your heart out within 200 yards of them and still get no love, though you might get a straggler.
Good luck.

 

[Fish Camp]

I beached one off Neck point 15 years ago .winchelsea plc.off fillinger rd.cast from the rocks anytime with a mac deep.

 

[Califbill]

Do not know if legal in BC, but down here we also use weight releases with 2.5-3 pound balls. As a kid we used 3# cast iron balls, now seems as if 2.5# lead balls are the norm. Do not really like dropping lead balls in the ocean. But I have DR's.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/PUCC...=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=03840415&rid=20

Is the style I like.

 

[Corey_lax]

Keep you eye on craigslist for some cheap downriggers. I just sold my old blue scotty's for $40 for the pair. That's a cheap investment to get you into the trolling game.

 

[Aces]

Do not know if legal in BC, but down here we also use weight releases with 2.5-3 pound balls. As a kid we used 3# cast iron balls, now seems as if 2.5# lead balls are the norm. Do not really like dropping lead balls in the ocean. But I have DR's.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/PUCC...=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=03840415&rid=20

Is the style I like.

Not legal nor ethical. 2 lb max for fishing and who wants to add to the pollution of the ocean

 

[Libbs]

Not to derail, but just in case this sinker release would be a viable option for the OP...

Fishtofino's post makes it sound to me like the sinker become sacrificial... I don't think that's the case. At least that's not how I'd use it. Looks like there's swivels attached to the release hook, one to tie on a weight, the other I'm guessing is to be tied to another line to retrieve the weight with a second rod, essentially turning a second fishing rod (or other retrieving device) into a downrigger. Could one argue that it falls in the downrigger category and be exempt from the weight limit? Might be worth looking into. If I remember the definition of downrigger in the regs correctly, this should be exempt.

 

[Califbill]

Yes the weight is sacrificial. And I doubt a few 2# iron balls are polluting. Even a lot of iron balls. They are clean and we sink ships for reefs. Lead balls a different matter.

 

[Rum Buddies]

Yes the weight is sacrificial. And I doubt a few 2# iron balls are polluting. Even a lot of iron balls. They are clean and we sink ships for reefs. Lead balls a different matter.

lol - and where do you plan on getting a pile of 2lb iron balls with an attachment point? Even if you do, let's not treat the ocean as our dumping ground. Iron or lead.


To the original poster, if you can't afford downriggers or don't want to get into trolling then you CAN jig and catch fish. You're going to handicap yourself in terms of salmon, there just aren't enough of them concentrated in one spot, so the chances that you drop your jig on top of a school of salmon is slim. If you look for bair on your depth sounder or learn how to read structure your odds go up, but still there's a reason why everybody trolls.

If you're set on jigging(it is a really nice way to fish), start reading. It's often called mooching or drift fishing, so try searching those terms and you'll find a ton of info.


But fishing aint easy, 90% of fishermen suck, the other 10% catch all the fish. Put in the time and educate yourself and it will pay off.

 

[Humpbubble]

If you have a boat..go sit in the middle of the DR crew and drift jig the first few feet off bottom with small test braid and whatever jig size (3 - 6 oz)you need to stay relatively straight up and down through slack tide.
Chances are something will hit,and its a quiet,and cheap,beauty way to fish.

 

[Sailfreak18]

If you have a boat..go sit in the middle of the DR crew and drift jig the first few feet off bottom with small test braid and whatever jig size (3 - 6 oz)you need to stay relatively straight up and down through slack tide.
Chances are something will hit,and its a quiet,and cheap,beauty way to fish.

Where is the DR crew?


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[Percy Stipec]

Where is the DR crew?

I think he is referring to the group of boats fishing along with downriggers.

Last September my fishing situation was similar. I had a ten or eleven foot car-topper with an ancient 4 horse British Seagull outboard without a downrigger and minimal tackle. Learning to catch Chinook was a steep learning curve and I am still learning. I started off jigging and trolling with sliding weights and dipsy divers with Tom Mac's, Flashtails, and herring dodgers. I didn't catch anything other than flounders and dogfish. I bought my first downrigger (made by Luhr Jensen) for twenty dollars, and although it was difficult to operate, it still caught fish. Since then I have bought a 17.5 foot Campion and put a scotty manual downrigger on it. After a lot of learning, money, bad net jobs, and pulling a flasher backwards hahaha, I am able to catch some salmon. If I were to recommend to you just a bit of tackle to get started I would say the "Bonchovy flasher", a splatterback green/white glo hoochie, an "Irish Cream" spoon and a green/glow Coho Killer. There are many second hand manual downriggers that you can get( I got my Scotty second hand for $100). Fishing is expensive, I spent probably over $1000 dollars before I caught my first Chinook and I got off easy, however that satisfaction of catching it was priceless. I hope you catch some.

Tight lines,
Percy

 

[Cuba Libre]

Percy--you went through ( and still going through ? ) the learning curve that many of us had to learn about how to catch fish. And anyone that tells us he knows it all is either a REALLY good fisherman-- or a liar!! LOL. Its interesting that our methods and areas still are evolving. And that is why there is a reluctance to just open up to someone unknown that shows up on the board and says-- "Tell me everything!!!!" You paid your dues! But-- an exception for me is a reasonable request for help from an angler that is eager to learn... especially kids.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Califbill-- back in the days when the Sacramento was producing exceptional catches of kings, I had the privileged of fishing outside of the Golden Gate . My host was doing what the majority of the trollers were doing.... 2lb lead ball on a trip release , no flasher and a spoon such as a Krockcodile . Thirty feet down in the bait stacks and HANG ON! It was fabulous fishing-- but even back then, the anglers were wondering when the EPA was going to crack down on them for the TONS of lead left on the bottom annually. I am surprised that it hasnt been banned yet.

 

[Percy Stipec]

anyone that tells us he knows it all is either a REALLY good fisherman-- or a liar!! LOL.

Not claiming to know it all...not at all... I'm still a novice, just giving my two cents to a new angler as has been given me. Also who said there is a difference between good fishermen and Liars?

 

[Filletandrelease]

Just want to catch one fish???