Sooke Reports - Spring and Summer 2011

[searun]

Jimmy = a 2 year old chinook?? That's a new one on me. On the coast chinook spend 2 to 4 years in fresh water followed by one ocean (that would be a Jack) and 2 to 4 ocean fish. I have never heard of a chinook smolt up after only one year in fresh. My understanding is the majority of the run come in as 4 year old fish (2 fresh/2 ocean), with the rest spread out as 3 year olds (2 fresh/1 ocean), 5 (2 or 3 fresh/2 or 3 ocean) and sometimes 6+ year fish. I have never seen a mature 2 year old chinook, nor would I think it is possible. I think you actually mean to say that a "jack" is a 2 fresh and one ocean fish, and a "jimmy" is the same as a "Jack"....or jimmy crack corn and I don't care...

 

[profisher]

Chinook can spend as little as 12 months in fresh water. A Jimmy would be 1 fresh, 1 ocean = 3lbs.

 

[Little Hawk]

Well I guess I had it backwards then too. I thought the 'Jacks' were the little guys that **** you off and waste all your time.

 

[Hit em Hard]

Maybe that fish was the only one Jimmy doesn't own. A "Jack" is a mature 3 year old male. A "jimmy" is a mature 2 year old male. Usually 3 to 5 pounds max. Springs mature from 2 to I would guess over 10 years for those historic 100 pound plus specimens. This one was about 21 inches long maybe 3 1/2 pounds...you can tell by the colour..especially the belly area that they aren't feeders. Opening them up confirms this when you find developed sperm sacks. Out again today for 6 hours, landed 15 1/2 and 8 1/2 pound springs...lost another good one. Both red, the larger a very unripe female, the other a "Jack" Spent an hour on a quick tack out and back looking for Coho but no takers.

Thanks for the info profisher.

H.E.H.

 

[chris73]

While there are more comprehensive reports and explanations on this, here is what wikipedia says about chinook lifecycles:

Chinook salmon may spend 1 to 8 years in the ocean (averaging from 3 to 4 years)[2] before returning to their home rivers to spawn. Chinook spawn in larger and deeper waters than other salmon species and can be found on the spawning redds (nests) from September through to December. After laying eggs, females guard the redd from 4 to 25 days before dying, while males seek additional mates. Chinook salmon eggs hatch, depending upon water temperature, 90 to 150 days after deposition. Egg deposits are timed to ensure that young salmon fry emerge during an appropriate season for survival and growth. Fry and parr (young fish) usually stay in freshwater 12 to 18 months before traveling downstream to estuaries, where they remain as smolts for several months. Some chinooks return to the fresh water one or two years earlier than their counterparts, and are referred to as "Jack" salmon. "Jack" salmon can be half the size of an adult chinook salmon, and are usually released by sportsmen but kept by commercial fishermen.
....Chinook juveniles divide into two types: ocean type and stream type. Ocean type chinook migrate to saltwater in their first year. Stream type spend one full year in fresh water before migrating to the ocean. After a couple of years in the ocean, adult salmon, then large enough to escape most predators, return to their original streambeds to mate. Chinook salmon can have an extended lifespan, where some fish spend one to five years in the ocean reaching age eight. More northerly populations tend to have longer lives.

While I have never heard of a "Jimmy" either, it seems it is a "Jack" version as well as profisher describes it as there are "Jacks" that could be 2 year olds or 3 year olds in Sooke waters (old meaning ocean life). I guess if you had a stream that holds 7 year olds then you could call even a 6 year old a "Jack" because it returned for some reason one year earlier than it normally would be expected to. But since a 6 year old would probably still be in the 50-60 lbs range, very few people would look at it as a "Jack" but rather a "Fish of a Lifetime"...lol... It's all relative.

 

[wolf]

Back to something that matters..... Had a big group trip in the afternoon yesterday(10 boats) and we all got fish some boats did better than others 2 or 3 springs but they all left with some good eats. Had to let a beauty coho AGAIN..... dam it.....
We all went west biggest was 23 lbs. great day

Wolf

 

[Dr Lunk]

Fished Secretary for a few hours today, landed lots of coho, two keepers around 10-12 lbs and one Hog of a White spring at 30.2lbs that i let my dad pull in. Seemed to be a noonish bite, no signs of life in the morning. Great day ! happy to get my dad a nice fish while he was visiting !

 

[Old Seadog]

Fished Secretary for a few hours today, landed lots of coho, two keepers around 10-12 lbs and one Hog of a White spring at 30.2lbs that i let my dad pull in. Seemed to be a noonish bite, no signs of life in the morning. Great day ! happy to get my dad a nice fish while he was visiting !

What was the depth and also what did you use for bait????

 

[Dr Lunk]

What was the depth and also what did you use for bait????

was using anchovies (12 per pack) fish caught at 60 on the rigger... over 300ft of water

 

[Old Seadog]

Fished Secretary for a few hours today, landed lots of coho, two keepers around 10-12 lbs and one Hog of a White spring at 30.2lbs that i let my dad pull in. Seemed to be a noonish bite, no signs of life in the morning. Great day ! happy to get my dad a nice fish while he was visiting !

I also fished Secertary Isl and Possession on Friday. Got two Pinks and and Very Nice Coho (8lbs) but it was a wild (let it go). Was a very nice day on the water until a Killer Whale showed up around 2pm right at Possession. He got very close inshore I guess he was looking for something to eat. OH Well it was a good trip over to the Island and do some fishing. See you next year......

 

[Englishman]

Very slow today. Fished round Secretary and S.W. of Secretary. A few very small Coho, mostly wild but kept one keeper hatch. Everyone seemed to give up in close on the Trap and Possession and moved out 250-300 feet of water by mid-morning. Did not see many nets in the water.

 

[sammyslabber]

Out today droped the jig picked up a nice #20 ling 2nd drop hit a big rockfish wasn't watching & the prick sunk a couple of barbs into my calf.Ouch layed a hurt on me! got even & ate him.Headed off shore for some action hit 7 nice wild ho's but no keepers...hope they open ret. for wild soon before we hurt to many...sammy

 

[Little Hawk]

Yeah, gettin' spiked ain't fun but what I want to know is if he 'ate it' in the boat?

 

[Englishman]

Had a good day today. Picked up my first hos of the season. Lucky both hatchery 10lbs each right of the bat. 550ft water off of secretary. Tried for some springs in early morning with that rain I think they may have moved through, and may be done deal. Hit a mess of shakers mid morning in 300ft water off secretary. Good to see feeders around so early. Bring on the coho next few weeks should get very good. Did notice the coho not as large as last year so far, but that may change when the flood of them arrive in greater numbers.

I am so glad the pinks are finally gone!

High Five

Those are two very nice Coho High Five! What depth did you catch those at? We could not catch anything anywhere near that size. All of ours were very small around 2lbs (plus a few shakers). Maybe we did not go out far enough because we were mostly over water 250-350 feet deep??

 

[sammyslabber]

Yeah, gettin' spiked ain't fun but what I want to know is if he 'ate it' in the boat?

no bbq on board & no Cod sushi for me...cod was served "post mortem" cooked at home

 

[sammyslabber]

EM part2 how to sucessfully track large Coho?...maybe you should've tagged along when we x paths...sammy

 

[Englishman]

Sammy, not sure if we were in the same vicinity as you yesterday, but did not see you. If we had we would definitely have followed you.....LOL
We tried many depths and several spots, but only could only come up with the very small ones...... Maybe you were out in 550 of water like High Five as well? If so that was our mistake methinks.....

 

[Seafever]

Englishman:-

A lot of times the Coho are out at first or second tidelines.......so that could happen to be in several hundred feet of water depending on where the tideline is at that time.

The fish will still be relatively shallow, even out there.

Shakers and small stuff are anywhere and everywhere.....

 

[sammyslabber]

Sammy, not sure if we were in the same vicinity as you yesterday, but did not see you. If we had we would definitely have followed you.....LOL
We tried many depths and several spots, but only could only come up with the very small ones...... Maybe you were out in 550 of water like High Five as well? If so that was our mistake methinks.....

EM,we x paths off Secr. I waved & held up the ling we caught...my son was on back deck & my wife in the front...your partner S looked & gave us the thumbs up...remember details,details is what makes a good fisherman well maybe that & luck Hey u were in the gen. area ,tide lines hold the fish!...start on the 1st/2nd/3rd 250-600'...not all Coho are shallow in recent years i've found them as deep as 180'...once you locate the school stick,stay & make it pay!We all have our favs a mix of plastics/spoons/baits are a good start.Go fast,go slow, make sudden turns ...suerte sammy

 

[eaglemaniac]

Hey sammy: Next time you or anyone else get's spiked by a keeper rockfish, take your knife and jab it in the eye. The fluid stops the sting and prevents infection. I know it's gross but it works like a hot dam. eman