SOOKE REPORTS spring/summer 2010

[sammyslabber]

E.M Try the bluffs on a calm day, worked great for me last year.work 100' contour on the flood then out deeper on the ebb.Pay attn.to the areas holding bait ,those little hogs will not be far away from the food bag!"summer is great,fall is o.k but winter is my favorite time to play" Sammy

 

[Rockfish]

Another good day out with newfie boy, released a small legal feeder and an 11/12 lb coho and kept about a 7 lb clipped coho. Then the real fun started. Had a chovey down at 84 feet and a cop car coyote with the pink on it (and a strip of the glow stick on tape I like to put on them) stacked 30 feet up. First the spoon goes off and it’s my turn, Don hands me the Rod and I am playing a good fish. Then the bottom line on the same side with the chovey goes off and its double header time. Mine turns out to be another 11/12 coho. During a close in jump I could see it was not clipped so I pulled it in and released it beside the boat. Good thing it was not clipped as the net was not out of commission and I had the time to pull all the gear, get ready and net Dons 26lb (on the Marina Balance Scale) spawner Chinook. Yup, it looks like there are still a few around despite all the rain.

 

[Englishman]

Thx again for the tips guys.
From Addicted’s post I got Anchovy at 120 feet off Sooke bluffs. Can’t tell from the post whether that was the actual depth of the bottom, or if he was fishing over deeper water.
Your’re right Wolf. I am not doing something right, that’s for sure. Expect I shall be giving you a call eventually .
Sammyslabber. I know what a rubber snubber is but I can’t figure out from your post how you are rigging it and how it would stop cable fraying. Unless you mean the snubber is rigged to form a tube around the wire….but then how do you get it on to the wire?
Danthewire from your post I got bottom bouncing with needle fish hootchie or small herring. I am not sure how a needle fish hootchie differs from a regular hootchie and I don’t think I have seen a black one. I’ll poke around the tackle stores and try and find out. And the trout baitrix mini strips you mentioned I have never heard of but I searched the internet for pictures and I believe I am now enlightened. I assume you have mentioned these artificial strips because they are more resilient than real herring. But for me a chewed, mangled herring would be progress because I have not even had one of those yet….. LOL
Still a little concerned about the bottom bouncing thing, especially as I don’t understand how you can know whether the bottom is sandy. Having lost a couple of 10lb balls already, I’m a bit leery. Lost a flasher/hootchie rig yesterday too, though this time ball did not hang up. Don’t think I have enough cash for this bottom bouncing game …LOL

 

[danthewire]

English man,Go see Paul or Trevor at Trotac, they are knowledgeable and helpful. They have a great selection of hootchies there, lots of time to day dream in that store.
Whirl Bay has a sandy bottom, you can also troll just above the bottom.
You can't buy herring strip any more, some guys are very skilled at cutting their own, but I think it best to work on the basics first.
Match the hatch. Think about it.
Dan.

 

[danthewire]

Dave sent you a PM.
Dan.

 

[dohboy]

englishman, pm sent, i got time on my hands

 

[wolf]

Yeah sorry bud im stll in sooke area, pm me and we can meet up yes still hearing from the boys fishing is still good now where thats 25 cents fish fly???? LOL LOL ive collected 1 so far LOL

Good luck Wolf

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com

 

[sammyslabber]

Thanks Dan you took the words right out of my mouth Trotac are the go to guys, if your going to spend a few extra $ on gear that works.Didn't want to turn it into an infomercial like some others on this thread .Sammy

 

[addicted]

Sorry Englishman... should have said that we were in 130ft of water with the gear at 120ft... typically i like to leave my gear about 5-10 ft off bottom when fishing feeders... wolf is right, sounds like you might be doing something wrong... maybe it's time to go out with one of the guys on the forum who are willing to give you a lesson... pm me if you want... i'm no expert but i can show you a thing or two for sure.

 

[Karma-Kazi]

Hey Wolfie, I shoulda stopped you out in JR yesterday and gave it to ya. But it looked like you were busy. Have any luck out there? We saw 8 deer and 3 bears. None of the bears were shooters and all the deer were does and fawns.

 

[wolf]

What truck were you, there WAS so many out there.....nope was just out for a wet drive looking for some chantrelles.didnt see any bears but a few does and fawns as well

Wolf

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com

 

[wilkie]

Out Sunday,mostly nice weather, brother got 21# spring and friend got 11# coho. Both off of Secretary and both deep. Nothing for me[V] Had 4 young killer whales come straight onto us, 2 went clean under boat and 1 knock line off of down rigger.Quite the sight. Hope to have couple more trips before pulling the boat.
Wilkie

 

[Phantom]

Well sadly my first post marks the end of my fishing - at least for awhile. I did post this in buy/sell but I'm not sure how often everyone looks in there.

If anyone's looking for an awesome fishing boat, I'm selling my 22' Grady White Seafarer - details and a link to pics are in the buy/sell forum. If you know someone looking for a fantastic fishing boat, please pass it on. Thanks!

 

[Doug]

Sunday's rain has brought more Coho in.

Sat - fished at MC and land four feeders, the largest 13 lb and released one wild 10 lb Coho. Fished off shore for two hours for Coho and there was nothing out there.

Sun - fished at Otter Point and MC and in the first two hours released 3 Coho 10+ lb and then landed a hatchery 17.5 lb Coho. The largest hatchery Coho I've ever landed. We only hooked up to one small feeder all day and we let go.

Hopefully this is a sign that maybe the Coho are running late and if we're lucky they will still be coming past in Oct.

Let's Go Fishing!
Doug
D&D Fishing Charters

 

[fishspoon]

quote:Originally posted by Englishman

Thx again for the tips guys.
From Addicted’s post I got Anchovy at 120 feet off Sooke bluffs. Can’t tell from the post whether that was the actual depth of the bottom, or if he was fishing over deeper water.
Your’re right Wolf. I am not doing something right, that’s for sure. Expect I shall be giving you a call eventually .
Sammyslabber. I know what a rubber snubber is but I can’t figure out from your post how you are rigging it and how it would stop cable fraying. Unless you mean the snubber is rigged to form a tube around the wire….but then how do you get it on to the wire?
Danthewire from your post I got bottom bouncing with needle fish hootchie or small herring. I am not sure how a needle fish hootchie differs from a regular hootchie and I don’t think I have seen a black one. I’ll poke around the tackle stores and try and find out. And the trout baitrix mini strips you mentioned I have never heard of but I searched the internet for pictures and I believe I am now enlightened. I assume you have mentioned these artificial strips because they are more resilient than real herring. But for me a chewed, mangled herring would be progress because I have not even had one of those yet….. LOL
Still a little concerned about the bottom bouncing thing, especially as I don’t understand how you can know whether the bottom is sandy. Having lost a couple of 10lb balls already, I’m a bit leery. Lost a flasher/hootchie rig yesterday too, though this time ball did not hang up. Don’t think I have enough cash for this bottom bouncing game …LOL

First time I learned about bottom bouncing fishing at Oak Bay many years ago..I have lost a few lures, found out there were some rocky hills on the sandy bottom. People suggested me to have the downrigger ball touch on the bottom first and turn 5 or 10 feet up and then troll. I also learned not to troll too close to the rocky cliffs or islands or sandy beach or I could lose the downrigger balls. hope it helps cheers

 

[Englishman]

Addicted – thx for clarification. Fishing a few feet above bottom sounds a little less risky for a newbie like me, at least until I find out where all the snags are.
Danthewire, Sammyslabber – recommendation noted. Never been to that store (warehouse?) but will certainly pay it a visit. Whirl Bay has sandy bottom. Good to know
Dohboy – PM received and responded to
Thx guys

 

[profisher]

Englishman...keep it simple in the beginning and experiment as you get more experience. For winter springs I would fish glow flashers...one red..one green..a glow white hootchie and a glow coyote spoon. 40 pound test leader on the hootchie say 30 inches in length or close to it...the spoon 20 to 25 pound leader and a little longer leader. Speed with hootchies and spoons should be about 2.5 to 2.7 mph. Keep one rod a few feet (within 10) of the bottom and the other 20 feet up from that. I like to keep my downrigger clip about 8 feet up from the cannonball and then keep the bottom bouncing rigger about 2 feet up from bottom at all times....which keeps your lure 10 feet up and away from any weeds or small bottomfish. You have to follow our sounder closely...follow a depth so your deepest gear is always close to bottom...check that deep rigger often that it is still a couple feet off.
As far as loosing gear on the bottom...just make sure that if you are close to a known reef or rocky area that you are going into the current on a close pass. Never take a close pass going with the current. If you do foul a cannonball going into the current, often all you need to do is slow down, allow the current to push you backwards and your gear will free itself.

 

[Sea Ranger]

quote:As far as loosing gear on the bottom...just make sure that if you are close to a known reef or rocky area that you are going into the current on a close pass. Never take a close pass going with the current. If you do foul a cannonball going into the current, often all you need to do is slow down, allow the current to push you backwards and your gear will free itself.

Thats a good tip... thanks Pro,
Years ago we ran past the reef at the trap then put our gear and without knowing we drifted backwards onto the reef and lost both lead balls ... never did that again!!

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!

 

[wolf]

Good today got a 31,28,15 was a surprise still some fish around and had to throw back a few beauty cohos.
Back at it tommorow got them at the normal depth 60 to 90 ft.

good luck Wolf

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com

 

[addicted]

Great job bud! Save some for me!