Kayak fishing around the Broken Islands Group

[Bravoman]

Hi Everyone,

I am heading out to the Broken Islands for a week long kayak trip in the middle of August.

As I understand the regulations, the Broken Islands Group is in a Rockfish Conservation area, and is closed to fishing for all finfish all year.

For anyone interested, the regs can be viewed here:

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/tidal-maree/a-s23-eng.htm
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/restricted-restreint/rca-acs-eng.htm
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/maps-cartes/rca-acs/booklet-livret/index-eng.htm

Being a fishing addict, I was hoping to do some fishing arround the edge of the Conservation area, which is marked in red.

My goal is to catch a salmon in the kayak. I have caught salmon before on buzz bombs, and was thinking that might work. The disadvantage of a kayak of course is the water you can cover. So can anyone recommend a good Coho spot JUST outside the conservation area? (The conservation area is only about 3 miles across and 6.5 miles long, so about an hour to paddle across and a couple to paddle the length)

I would also like to do some cod fishing and get my fiancee to experience what I find to be one of the funnest types of fishing. Hopefully she catches a little bit of the fishing bug! I am sure it won't be hard to catch a rock cod or two outside the conservation area, but I am wondering what the park wardens are going to think if they find me at camp, INSIDE THE PARK, cooking up a ling or rock cod? Any thoughts? I was thinking of making sure to take photo's of the catch and the spot it was caught at to prove it was legal.

If anyone has any advice, that would be super!

I will be bringing a short rod, sutable for casting, jigging and trolling. A selection of buzz bombs, zingers, and a couple jigs. (Color advice would be appreciated. Mostly I use the holographic blue zinger

or a jig head with a white gummy tail.) I hear a lot about Coyote spoons and whatnot, but not having spent a lot of time salmon fishing/trolling, I'm not exactly sure what to bring. Would a flasher on a weight with a coyote spoon work? Or would you go the bucktail route and just troll a fly? I figure I've got the cod covered, and if we can find some coho to cast or jig too, I'm ok, but not sure how to handle the trolling set up in a kayak.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

By the way, I just want to add that I really enjoy this site! This is my first posting but I have been following all year. Sure is hard being landlocked and watching all those salmon and halibut photos get posted. Hopefully I can join in with a few fish photos of my own in a month.

Thank you.

 

[Karma-Kazi]

I have heard of alot of sucess with coyote spoons with just a slip weight up the line 10-12 feet up the line. i like the blue and chrome for coho's. I would give that a shot forsure.

-Steve

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

the east side of austin isl is where id fish.

Fill the dam tub!

 

[tubber]

Did this trip about 7 summers ago. We trolled our Zingers and caught cohos. Nicest camping was at Clarke IMO. Try outside the boundary between Clarke and Benson, that is where we found some. Of course other gear could work, but with the zinger, you can switch to jigging bottomfish hassle free. The problem with kayak trips, is after you have a rockfish and a coho, you have enough food for several meals and then you're stuck sightseeing when we all know you would rather fish the whole time. Good rock crabs in the bay by Clarke too. Make a collapsable ring with some netting and 4 elbows and 4 18" pieces of white irrigation pipe. Drill a few holes and throw in a rock for weight. Good luck.

 

[likwit]

we do a kayak trip each year (nootka and kyuquot), and we fish quite a bit.

spoons and a slip weight have worked the best for coho's... still searching for a spring, hopefully this year will be the year.
i have a shorter 6'6 rod with a mooching reel. i tuck the rod underneath my front deck bungees... when i paddle, the rod and line is actually tucked back in between the boat and where my paddle hits the water. depending on your bungee setup, i found it helpful to sometimes use something else to make sure the rod holds in place.

catching coho's in the kayak is a blast. the first one i caught i nearly wet myself.

for bottom fishing, any weighted lure will likely work... we often use the cod jigs, pretty cheap.

 

[Dogbreath]

This is the spoon and colour you want, none better for Kayak fishing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bravoman]

Thank you for all the great information!

Tubber - is this similar to the design you are talking about? Looks fairly easy to build.

Generally what is a good water depth for rock crabs? And Dungeness?

While researching the topic of crabbing, I came across this wicked underwater video of a soaking crab trap. (Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to make the video play on the page! Can this be done here?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLfLOfr4j0

As for the salmon, what weight slip weight would you expect? 4 ounce?

Finally, for the guys who have actually caught a salmon from a sea kayak...... did you use a net? And how did you find the stability? When I last fished from a sea kayak, I only caught bottom fish, and once I had a fish on, I called friends over to help stabalize my kayak and help net the fish. I'm wondering how crazy it gets catching a salmon with the jumping and fighting involved! I found it especially un-nerving that you have to put your paddle down to fish, so if you get a little tippy, you don't have any way to help get back on balance other than shifting your hips around.

Has anyone gone for a swim because of a big fish on?

Thanks again!

Trev

 

[Bravoman]

Thank you for all the great information!

Tubber - is this similar to the design you are talking about? Looks fairly easy to build.

Generally what is a good water depth for rock crabs? And Dungeness?

While researching the topic of crabbing, I came across this wicked underwater video of a soaking crab trap. (Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to make the video play on the page! Can this be done here?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLfLOfr4j0

As for the salmon, what weight slip weight would you expect? 4 ounce?

Finally, for the guys who have actually caught a salmon from a sea kayak...... did you use a net? And how did you find the stability? When I last fished from a sea kayak, I only caught bottom fish, and once I had a fish on, I called friends over to help stabalize my kayak and help net the fish. I'm wondering how crazy it gets catching a salmon with the jumping and fighting involved! I found it especially un-nerving that you have to put your paddle down to fish, so if you get a little tippy, you don't have any way to help get back on balance other than shifting your hips around.

Has anyone gone for a swim because of a big fish on?

Thanks again!

Trev

 

[tubber]

That crab ring is very similar in size, but mine is square. Instead of using the bottom ring, use the same amount of web and then toss a rock in to give you a bag when you lift it. I'm sure you could buy a cheap ring, but the irrig. pipe job folds up to nothing(don't glue the elbows) Just be careful you don't spend more on parts than the price of a real one. I had all the junk in the garage. 20-30 feet was deep enough for rock crabs in the little bay in front of the Clarke camping beach. Don't know about Dungees, probably try deeper some place fishy looking. 2-4 ounces of weight would work for trolling spoons for cohos, I still say troll and jig the Zinger. You'll get used to playing fish from a kayak. Even an 8 lb coho will tow you around. It's fun. I wouldn't bother with a net, play it till it's tired, and grab it by the back of the head. Cohos are hard to squeeze by the tail. Another idea would be bring your salmon net, and use it as a crab ring (use more rocks and be careful not to bend the hoop)

 

[tubber]

That crab ring is very similar in size, but mine is square. Instead of using the bottom ring, use the same amount of web and then toss a rock in to give you a bag when you lift it. I'm sure you could buy a cheap ring, but the irrig. pipe job folds up to nothing(don't glue the elbows) Just be careful you don't spend more on parts than the price of a real one. I had all the junk in the garage. 20-30 feet was deep enough for rock crabs in the little bay in front of the Clarke camping beach. Don't know about Dungees, probably try deeper some place fishy looking. 2-4 ounces of weight would work for trolling spoons for cohos, I still say troll and jig the Zinger. You'll get used to playing fish from a kayak. Even an 8 lb coho will tow you around. It's fun. I wouldn't bother with a net, play it till it's tired, and grab it by the back of the head. Cohos are hard to squeeze by the tail. Another idea would be bring your salmon net, and use it as a crab ring (use more rocks and be careful not to bend the hoop)

 

[likwit]

after some experimenting, i now bring a net (got it used, 3 foot handle, smallish hoop). and i also have a gaff. i found it a little bit easier to bonk a keeper while its in the net, rather than trying to hold it down on front of my sprayskirt. they both fit nice i underneath my deck bungees.

haven't went in yet, but i have had a buddy come and raft up to help me land a fish.

i'm preferring 6 and 8 oz weights for trolling... i'm still trying to catch a spring and looking to try and get down at least 20-30 feet or so... with anything less you pretty much gotta come to a dead stop pretty often to get your gear down to any sort of depth.

good luck!