Keep Getting Skunked?

[ericl]

Opendome; lot's of great advice above; too bad it isn't 40 years ago.
You REALLY need a GPS/Chartplotter because so many fishing spots are RCA (Rockfish Conservation Area) where fin fishing is illegal at all times. If you went on the WCVI or north of Campbell River, the RCA's are far enough apart to be avoided w/o a GPS. The GPS/Chartplotter will most likely have fish finding capability with the addition of a transducer.
I would consider inside waters south of Campbell River pretty fished-out for Ling & Rockfish. This is compared to 40 years ago; Iv'e been fishing Vancouver Island for 45+ years.
Trolling w/o a down rigger will limit your options; but you can either drift fish with jigs and/or cut-plug herring to target Chinook, Ling, & Halibut. Wind, current will hamper your efforts ; to be successful you should be DR trolling, & drift fishing. Another good technique for trolling w/o a down rigger is to go slow with cut-plug herring & there take the motor out go gear, letting your rig sink deep; just don't put out more line that the depth of the water.

So, in summation I'd say you are fishing the wrong area using the wrong techniques. Going out to WCVI & getting a guide to teach you would be useful.
My personal technique is to go to a great spot, DR troll for Chinook, and get enough bottom fish while trolling to make me happy.

At the end of the day, it's all about what makes you happy.

 

[Cuba Libre]

I would consider inside waters south of Campbell River pretty fished-out for Ling & Rockfish.

Oh yes-- nothing to see here-- Move along !!

 

[tinboatrobb]

Yup, Dead Sea. Stay on the outside and north island lots of fish up there..

 

[ChilliSpoons]

Without downriggers and using divers you’ll need to stay away from other boats. While your gear is dragged some distance behind your boat you risk tangling up with other boats gear.

 

[Ghostprof]

Just a couple of points to add on charts and apps. The MyCatch app from Angler's Atlas has all the RCAs fully up to date and will let you know if you cross into one. I keep it open on my phone when we're fishing just to be sure, since sometimes even the Navionics charts are out of date. Second, you can view great charts at https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@6&key=kiufHfkqoV including sonar depth readings. For lings and rockfish, I scour the charts to find good looking structure (again, it doesn't need to be deep -- I pulled up a nice ling from 40' of water last week) and then jig needlefish, cod jigs, and Gibbs Delta Jumbo anchovy jigs. Depending on the current, you will want at least 6 oz; sometimes I get up into 14 if the current is moving. On that note, finally, everyone on here should know about this great site, with up to date current predictions and stats (as opposed to tide charts): http://www.dairiki.org/tides/daily.php/jua (start here, then click on the little "map" tab on the right and pick the location nearest to what you plan to fish). This has been so accurate for me in terms of knowing when the current would be slack, versus just when tide would be. And it's a lot easier to get your jigs down straight when the current is not ripping by at 5 knots.