Howe to fish the sound.

[Percy Stipec]

I am looking for advice in fishing Howe Sound. I own an eleven foot tin boat with a four horse power outboard motor at Hopkins Landing (next to Langdale ferry terminal). I have been mostly bottom fishing and I have caught mostly greenling, spiny dogfish, small flounder, and some rockfish and lingcod but I had to release them. Does any one know where I can go to catch pacific cod, cabezon, halibut, hake, pollock, or salmon? I have heard the Grace Islets and Salmon Rock are good for salmon but I lack a downrigger, can these areas be jigged? Any advice would be appreciated and helpful.

 

[Pippen]

I really don't see why aside from sole/flounder you would be targeting any bottom fish in a closed area for retention? Sure they may be by-catch while targeting the odd (legal) bottom dweller over there but have a look at the section on "Finfish other than salmon" as it includes catch and release. http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/tidal-maree/a-s28-eng.html

You may do okay power mooching for salmon in some areas or dropping a buzz bomb for them. If I recall correctly pinks when headed up the sound go by the Gibsons/Langdale area. Not sure how far you want to be running in a boat that size around there.

Also take a look at divers to get your depth down a bit. There are a few manufacturers but this is essentially what they are. http://www.luhrjensen.com/luhr-jens...ng-accessories/deep-sixandtrade/Deep+Six.html

 

[Percy Stipec]

Thanks for the advice, I will try mooching and jigging for salmon, I have a few lures that are said to be pretty good jigs. What spots and which depths usually produce? The bottom fishing I do is indeed quite unsuccessful apart from the odd greenling and keeper flounder... the dogfish kill me when I try pacific cod fishing. I do stay out of the rockfish conservation areas and avoid the places where rockfish hang out. I have tried hard for hali but I think they are fished out. Am I correct in thinking you should be ten feet off the bottom for salmon, and will they take a live wired shiner? I always want to catch a pacific cod, have you encountered them here?

Tights lines.

 

[GWT75]

Yeah not sure you will have any luck going for the Pacific cod or Hali in Howe Sound. Best bet is to target the salmon. With a boat like yours I would obviously try the leeward side of Bowen and look for some structure that the fish could get pushed up on during a tide if you're going to be jigging. Depth depends on time of year. Summer you can have success from the bottom right up to mid water - even near surface if Coho are around. Winter you will be near bottom for sure.

 

[Pippen]

In a nutshell.....there is no easy answer along the lines of what GWT75 said.

All depends on time of year....what may be "running" etc. There is no quick answer to your questions aside from much like GWT said, you're going to be down DEEP during the winter.

If I were you I would cover some water and troll with a diver as noted above during the summer/early fall if targeting salmon when they are moving through your area. A diver is NOT going to get you down deep enough for the resident fish which we target during the winter but you may find some migrating fish at other times of the year which will be higher up in the water column. If it was me in your rig I would be trolling a diver with a flasher with a hoochie, spoon or bait behind it. I don't recall which company makes them but you can get divers that are very bright/iridescent like a flasher allowing you if you so choose to remove the flasher from your rig and just run the lure behind the diver.

If you were going to try and power mooch.....do a search online or on YouTube as to how it is done. LOTS of tutorials on everything you can imagine with respect to salmon fishing on the big ole Internet.

Personally I only recall catching Pacific Cod during the spring fishery and that has been either near Gabriola area or out at the Hump which is south of Bowen Island in the Strait. Not sure if you are aware, but if you are catching dogfish be very careful of the spine on their back behind the dorsal; you do NOT want to get jabbed with it.

Hali.........if you really want to eat some pick some up at a store. Halibut are for the most part only caught as a VERY, VERY, VERY rare by-catch on this side of the Strait.

Will salmon take a shiner? You never know......people catch salmon on all sorts of rigs/lures/bait.

 

[Percy Stipec]

Thanks for all your feed back, it has been quite helpful indeed. I purchased a dipsy diver and some herring and I will try power mooching at the hump, the Grace islets, and Salmon rock. I heard that the Grace islets are a pretty good jigging spot during the winter so I will try there. I did here about the dogfishes spine, the first time I caught one it was off a pier and I went to grab it but a guy stopped me before and told me about the spine. I did some casting at bonniebrook beach and caught a 5.5lb pink and a 3.5lb coho, I hooked into a big lunker of a coho or spring but after taking 100ft of line it bit through my 15lb fluorocarbon
I will be heading out in my boat in a few days and report back.

Tight lines.

 

[Pippen]

I may be mistaken but I believe that there are salmon that go into McNabb if you were apt to make the run up there. May be able to cast at the mouth.

 

[trophywife]

sea-run trout at potlactch creek!!

 

[Percy Stipec]

I made it out on my boat yesterday. I trolled for a few hours around the Grace Islets and the northern end of Keats I was trolling a glow coyote spoon behind a glow flasher and a pink/purple hoochie behind a dodger. No salmon, I think they have moved away following the rain on Thursday and Friday, and prepared to go up the creeks. I tried hali fishing with a strip of salmon belly for an hour while having lunch but they were not around either. A few decent flounder took the bait, including a sixteen inch sand dab and one red snapper. I installed a downrigger onto my boat but the wire snapped and I lost the cannonball, the downrigger was second hand so I suspect that there was a rust spot in the wire. For the last hour and a half (5:50 to 7:00) I trolled with the flasher and coyote spoon behind the diver but when I reeled up I found a 1.5 lb flounder on the line that didn't disengage the diver. I can't make it to Mcnab, my boat isn't fit, but I here the fishing is good there for pinks. I could not find potlatch creek on a map.

 

[Salmon.com]

I caught a 22" Pacific Cod inside the Cardinal buoy at Point Holmes jigging with a McDeep.

 

[Percy Stipec]

Nice, I have only caught one and that was off a pier in davis bay, I was young at the time and didn't recognize the species so I released it. It was around six pounds. I won't be fishing for them for a little while because I lost my boat unfortunately. If any one has a fourteen to sixteen foot boat with a ten to thirty five horse power motor, and is interested in selling private message me. ><> ><> ><>
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