Need a hand with salmon trolling

L

lowlandsavage

New Member
Hi, having some trouble winning with the salmon. I'm fishing in the comox area ( hump, Flores, Qualicum Bay) I can see the fish on the finder, and I can see my gear. I'm running my gear right through the fish. I've been running spoons (Kermits, army trucks, no bananas, herring aid, cop cars) behind flashers or false flashers (green, purple iridescent, blue, no bananas). Spoons are all tied to 20lb mono anywhere from 36-60 inches. Flasher is clipped directly to my braided main line. Running gaps of 3-30 feet off the downrigger clip. I'm trolling between 1.8 and 3.5 knots. I make a habit of starting to fish 1 hour before slack until well after slack. I'm so tired of getting skunked, am I missing something?
 
You want to use a top shot of mono about 20feet long. This will break should you hang up, also allows a little shock absorber action. Sounds like you are doing the right things. How far back from the clip is your flasher?
 
tinboatrobb said:
You want to use a top shot of mono about 20feet long. This will break should you hang up, also allows a little shock absorber action. Sounds like you are doing the right things. How far back from the clip is your flasher?
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As short as 3' when looking for coho but usually 5'. I go as far as 30' sometimes when looking for Chinook but typically about 10-15'. I vary throughout my day if I'm not hooking up. Also started using some herring variety smelly jelly on the chrome side of the spoons. I regularly change out my spoons if I'm not hooking up.
 
Try daybreak to the first tide change and a couple of hours later. I like the flood around Sooke AND go where there are fish particularly if you are fishing late in the season like right now. Watch what the guys who are catching fish are doing. If they are not there or not catching fish, the problem is there are no fish.
 
gone fishin said:
Try daybreak to the first tide change and a couple of hours later. I like the flood around Sooke AND go where there are fish particularly if you are fishing late in the season like right now. Watch what the guys who are catching fish are doing. If they are not there or not catching fish, the problem is there are no fish.
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I've been doing daybreak to a couple hours after slack off the hump and south of quadra back in late July and early August but still no luck other than 1 day where we pulled up like 8 coho. I've been fishing once or twice a week all summer weather permitting.
 
So I am thinking you have bad juju in the electrical current from the wire. Someone here will chime in about that. Most guys now use braid as you do not get and electric current on the line. You have everything else right. You need to check the voltage of the wire when it is in the water.
 
tinboatrobb said:
So I am thinking you have bad juju in the electrical current from the wire. Someone here will chime in about that. Most guys now use braid as you do not get and electric current on the line. You have everything else right. You need to check the voltage of the wire when it is in the water.
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Multimeter steel line to negative post with motor running right?
 
lowlandsavage said:
As short as 3' when looking for coho but usually 5'. I go as far as 30' sometimes when looking for Chinook but typically about 10-15'. I vary throughout my day if I'm not hooking up. Also started using some herring variety smelly jelly on the chrome side of the spoons. I regularly change out my spoons if I'm not hooking up.
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I actually never have had luck with smelly jelly. I prefer Lunker Lotion and Pro-Cure anchovy oil, but I doubt that makes much difference. Do you lower/raise your gear when you see a bait ball, zig-zag around, fish bait, fish structure, fish tides, tide seams, change spots often, fish away from the pack if it’s slow? It’s a constant learning process, I’ve been doing it for about 10 years now, and I’m still learning stuff. Sometimes I limit out in a few hours, sometimes I get skunked, it’s just the way it is!
 
Alex_c said:
I actually never have had luck with smelly jelly. I prefer Lunker Lotion and Pro-Cure anchovy oil, but I doubt that makes much difference. Do you lower/raise your gear when you see a bait ball, zig-zag around, fish bait, fish structure, fish tides, tide seams, change spots often, fish away from the pack if it’s slow? It’s a constant learning process, I’ve been doing it for about 10 years now, and I’m still learning stuff. Sometimes I limit out in a few hours, sometimes I get skunked, it’s just the way it is!
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I regularly roll back through bait balls and try to go back over the arches on the fish finder a few times with different spoons to see if the fish will hit. I regularly fish the hump off kitty coleman and the horseshoe off the south side of hornby so I am finding structure and drop offs. I do fish the morning tide pretty regularly an hour before and 2 hours after. Tide seams aren't something I've played with yet and may be something for me to look into a bit more. Thanks for the tips! Guess I'll just have to keep banging my head at it or see if I can find myself an ancient mariner to troubleshoot what I'm doing.
 
Are you fishing your flashers upside down? I’ve seen some fishers do that in the past? I’d use 40# test mono to tie your spoons. 5 foot leaders for spring and 3 for coho. I’d go with braid on the downriggers. Sorry you’re having some troubles. It can be frustrating.
 
RiverBoy said:
fish the bottom. the very dam bittom. if fishing kitty and your finder sez 250’ put out 270 fow at 2 knots.
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What Riverboy said. What depth and lb cannonballs? Do you ever drop to the bottom and see your downrigger bounce?

I fished the hump twice this year and got a couple fish both times on July 15/16th, but reports have been good down deep.

Are you hooks sharp? If they don’t scratch your nail with a light drag, they won’t go through a springs lip.
 
Think about presentation all the time in addition to thinking about your gear.

You will find the odd tack that works in two directions and some places where a cross current tack works consistently. Most inshore fishing you want to be fishing with the tide on the drop off Or working the humps as you are. Zigzagging from shallow to deeper water on a drop off as you go can make a big difference in finding the fish. Continue to Watch the other boats as you are.

The vertical part of your presentation is important as well. Recent study in Juan de Fuca showed that returning salmon migrate in either the top third or bottom third of the water column. For Chinooks, people fish the bottom third. Offshore, people work underwater plateaus with gear close to the bottom. Sharing information can help get you to the “right” depth for the location, more or less. Salmon that are shallow will move deeper as the sun goes higher. Some places develop a consistent thermocline and the fish are just under it.

Some of the best advice I got from fishing guides and the Charlie White books on salmon fishing. One bit of advice from a lodge operator was that “catching salmon isn’t hard, the hard part is finding them.”

Coaching from someone who knows your local waters is priceless. Having a local expert on board will really help on the learning curve. Perhaps join a local club.

Good luck!
 
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