2015 Nanoose Bay / French Creek

Hey hootchiebugger, be sure to take life jackets! There are days when you could probably take a 10' tinner to Lasqueti if you dared and I've seen some pretty small boats on the water but I really don't think you have to venture that far. I have caught many fish right out front of the marina and soon they will be schooling up and going into the bay beside the marina. I think it might be a bit early for that.
Personally I haven't had any more luck on anchovies over spoons but that's me. I think coho are hard hitting and aggressive and go for the action of a spoon more but that's only my opinion. You know what they say "When they're hot they're hot".
I'll be giving it a shot in the morning, hopefully not too foggy.
 
Hey all - i'm new to the forum, but have been reading comments for the last few weeks. I'm primarily a fly fisher and intend on scouring the beaches of ECVI for the next in search of coho. However, we do have a 10 ft tinny with a 8hp that we can launch once our arms/wrists get tired. We are thinking of trolling chovies on slip weights or banana weights and possibly buck-tailing. I've noticed that guys are hitting fish on various spoons and hootchies, where as the Vancouver guys are mostly using teasers and chovies. Is this just differences in fishing trend or is there different food sources on this side? Is the "hump" a decent place to go? or are we crazy and totally going to die because "only idiots take a 10ft tinny and 8 hp out there"!

We also plan on hitting up the local shops for safety tips and fishing reports as well but any pointers on where to start will be appreciated.

tight lines

HB

Welcome aboard :)
 
Poked around from 3pm to 7pm last night...Amelia, Gerald and over to Ballenas. Saw a bit of bait. Got one shaker at 70 feet at the end of the day. Beauty afternoon washing the lures. Usual gear, spoons and anchovies. A few guys were on the ling at Ballenas. Shaker hit the chovie. Would be nice to be out this am...flat water.

Cheers
 
Thanks HH!
Sounds like the beach fishing is picking up as well! But i can imagine that we will still get out on the boat for afternoon or two next week. I'll Keep an eye on the weather reports.

tight lines
HB
 
I only managed to get out for maybe 2 hours this morning with only a couple of wee little buggers. One on anchovie the other on a cream coloured irredescent spoon. Would had been a fine morning for a small tin boat.004 copy.jpg
 
Hootchiebugger:-

You don't need to use anchovies or bait for Coho around F.C....they will take spoons or hoochies readily.

A good lure is the 3 inch Apex...no flasher just a weight at least 6 feet in front of it......Watermelon pattern is good but others work too.....with these you don't need to go too fast..it has lots of action at normal speeds. Or you can run it off a downrigger line.......about 20ft back of clip.

I get most of my Coho around 70ft deep during the day. Shallower works too sometimes......if they are up on top.

Bucktailing isn't what it used to be around here......at certain times/conditions yes........but I don't even bother...

Smaller 4 inch or 3 and 1/2 inch plugs with some green and chrome or blue on them work at times......just go faster.....no flasher...

3.5 or 4 inch Coyote spoons in Watermelon and PartyGirl will work on Coho....trolled at normal speeds....

You can troll a 3 inch lead jig like a Spinnow by itself behind the boat........about 40ft back........green/chrome or blue/chrome etc etc ......use a really good swivel setup about 6ft in front of the jig or you leave yourself open to horrific line twist. If the Coho are up top they will hit these.

A good casting spoon to use that often works on Coho is the small Gibbs that is hammered brass with a bright orange stripe down the edge......
 
Beauty night out last night, warm and not a breath of wind. We went out to Sangster to try our luck on lings as it was the last night of the season. Fished for almost 2 hrs with not even a sniff at 5 or 6 different spots. The sun was getting close to being done and I said let's try one more spot and then call it a night. Lucky we tried that spot as we got our ling each and a big old snapper. One ling a bare keeper and the other around 10lbs, just perfect size. My partner also lost something that was incredibly big and heavy but ended up losing it. That will go down in the annals of fish tales :)

Papa Whiskey I think I must have seen you at Ballenas the night before. I was in the 17' glasscraft with the dark blue canvas. We were trying for ling but got skunked. I was out the night before that at Ballenas and did manage one keeper ling and released 2 others.
 
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Fished High tide this morning... Started at little Q little no bait/marks, tried white door same thing, tried hump more marks ...first hit at 118 ft on brined chartreuse anchovy in teaser head with jelly fish glow flasher. Landed 5lb 12 oz (exact - new digital scale) wild coho. Heavy Fog moved in, headed for home.
 
Hootchiebugger:-

You don't need to use anchovies or bait for Coho around F.C....they will take spoons or hoochies readily.

A good lure is the 3 inch Apex...no flasher just a weight at least 6 feet in front of it......Watermelon pattern is good but others work too.....with these you don't need to go too fast..it has lots of action at normal speeds. Or you can run it off a downrigger line.......about 20ft back of clip.

I get most of my Coho around 70ft deep during the day. Shallower works too sometimes......if they are up on top.

Bucktailing isn't what it used to be around here......at certain times/conditions yes........but I don't even bother...

Smaller 4 inch or 3 and 1/2 inch plugs with some green and chrome or blue on them work at times......just go faster.....no flasher...

3.5 or 4 inch Coyote spoons in Watermelon and PartyGirl will work on Coho....trolled at normal speeds....

You can troll a 3 inch lead jig like a Spinnow by itself behind the boat........about 40ft back........green/chrome or blue/chrome etc etc ......use a really good swivel setup about 6ft in front of the jig or you leave yourself open to horrific line twist. If the Coho are up top they will hit these.

A good casting spoon to use that often works on Coho is the small Gibbs that is hammered brass with a bright orange stripe down the edge......

Cheers SF! We will be arriving on Monday and will be definitely hitting the beaches in the morning with our fly rods, and then into the saltchuck in afternoons. I can see us trolling spoons as well as fly fishing from the boat.

Thanks again for all the detailed information, hope the coho action heats up after this weekend!:cool:
 
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