2020 Sooke Reports

[Newf]

Out of cheanuh this morning. Fished from 6:30 to 3:30. Skunked as far as keepers go. Lots of fish to the boat but the 5 or 6 chinook were 3-4lbs. We both lost a nice one close to the boat. We released 8 coho at the boat, all wild. All fish except 1 were caught at 90-100ft on the DR. All but 1 were caught on spools. Beauty of a day on the water.

 

[Alex]

Got into about 10 fish total on Sunday between the bluffs and trap. Only 1 decent spring which we kept. Also took home 2 fat hatchery coho. Bait between 60 and 100 worked for me!

 

[wolf]

You don’t have to wait for the coho English, they’re here now.

LOTS OF them are here and man some are big got like a beauty one today id say about 10 lbs

 

[Tsquared]

LOTS OF them are here and man some are big got like a beauty one today id say about 10 lbs

I know heh! I was out solo from about 10:30 on and had some great fighting coho on. Only shaker springs though.

 

[BigBird007]

Hi, I am newish to the area with my boat moored for the first time in Cheanuh. Was wondering what the fishing historicity is like for the next 4-6 weeks? Generally when is the peak of the coho fishery?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Whole in the Water]

I’m curious if anyone knows if all the Sooke net pen fish are tagged or just clipped ?

I know they are Nitnat fish, so other than catch location what’s indicating to DFO that all these heads are from the project ?

I have to say I have noticed a difference in the amount and size of fish around Sooke this year vs a few years back.

Here’s to hoping the fishing just keeps getting better and DFO sees that the project is a success !

All the fish are clipped, some have coded wire tags.

 

[profisher]

Christopher, 100,000 are clipped and tagged the balance are neither.

 

[pelican]

Out yesterday afternoon, with my mom, who had never seen Juan de Fuca/ East Sooke or Sooke Harbour from the water, though she's lived here for 77 years.Tried to hook into the same fish we got into Sun afternoon at Secretary, but they were gone. We trolled from Fraser to West Bedford o Possession and back to the Head. No bait on the screen until the trap, .We bonked off a 7-8 lb spring with the net at Aldridge and released a short fat wild coho near the Trap. Beautiful sunset, flat calm with little current.

 

[Englishman]

Went out to Muir again today, since the weather looked good, and as of today no 80cm size limit.

Flat calm but early fog made us troll with the late ebb tide from the Bluffs down to Muir, passing round a quiet Otter as usual. (Running in the fog is too scary for us!) However, we were glad we went yesterday because if that was slow, then today was stopped. We never had a single touch, even later on the flood. Saw just one fish caught but of the four boats we spoke to in passing no one had had any hits either.

Gave up on the chinook at 11:30am (as did many others) and headed out for coho. Got our only hit of the day in 350’ of water at 65’ and he was on for maybe 30 seconds and then gone. Not another touch from anything for the next 2 hours, despite wide searching from 350' to 450' of water so pulled the gear at 1:30pm.

Will give the chinook one more try on Thursday, but for regular Joes like us I think the chinook are pretty much done. (The fishing gods will no doubt still get some but that goes without saying.)

If Thursday chinook are a bust too, will have another try for coho, and if still not there in any numbers, will sit on the dock for a couple of weeks, until October. LOL

 

[Old Seadog]

Out this morning from Sooke Harbour, it was very foggy on the way out to Otter. Got one big hit that ran for about #15 sec....then gone. Then I got a small jack spring that I let go, looking for a big brother. Moved down to Muir and gave that a try, released 2 nice wild coho and that was it for us. All on bait at 65/70 ft on the DR.

 

[wolf]

but for regular Joes like us I think the chinook are pretty much done

The rain and the big ebbs suck bud they will still be here late afternoons with that top of flood have been good, i bet ya by the 6th you will see more come in with the stronger flood in am and less later dont give up yet , some of the best spring fishing ive had been mid sept .... we did manage 3 where you saw me this am...btw .....shhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[rockdog]

Worked the Trap pretty hard this morning with GnB. The plan was to hit Otter, but the fog cut that plan short.

We released a couple Chinook area 55cm and that was it. Couple other small touches. Seemed really slow.

 

[fshnfnatic]

Worked the Trap as well this AM .Had one smash the gear but was off before I could get the rod out of the holder.Trolled up to Possesion but that was a kelp fest ,so out to the deep we went.Found a school of coho to play with and caught 4 fish with only one being a hatch job and the smallest as well at about 5 lbs.Let one go that was easily 10 + lbs. that hit the Micheal Bait mini squirt like a freight train and put up a great fight jumping and going **** crazy.Beautiful day out there today.Hope those big wild coho hang around till Oct.!!

 

[Doug]

Big tides with lots of water flow mean, fish do not want to feed as much. To top it off, a very big bright moon with lots of light so the fish can feed at night. We could see a lot of fish on the sonar but they wouldn't bite. By the weekend the fishing will pick up again and just in time for the derby.
We fished Tue and let go one 7lb and lost a good one at the back of the boat. We only saw a couple of nets out all day and from everyone I talked to they all had very little action.
There are a lot more springs coming our way so get out there and get a few.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Big tides with lots of water flow mean, fish do not want to feed as much. To top it off, a very big bright moon with lots of light so the fish can feed at night. We could see a lot of fish on the sonar but they wouldn't bite. By the weekend the fishing will pick up again and just in time for the derby.
We fished Tue and let go one 7lb and lost a good one at the back of the boat. We only saw a couple of nets out all day and from everyone I talked to they all had very little action.
There are a lot more springs coming our way so get out there and get a few.

agree 100 percent

 

[Rockfish]

We were out yesterday for the first time in about a week and a half and it seemed rather slow but stayed inside for Chinook and picked up a gold 11lb Chinook and a 10lb clipped Ho in the afternoon, both on Green and white Skinny Gee spoons trolling into the current and down 50.

 

[Rex4deo]

Question...
I moved to Sooke in May and have quickly learned the key areas to fish for salmon but I’m not finding much success. Yes I’m catching fish, but it’s not without putting in a lot of time. My question is... Is this a typical year in Sooke? I’m not seeing very big fish and the numbers seem to very low from what I’m used to on the inside and also out of Ukee. Yes, I know you can hit me all sorts of comments, but my question is to those of you who regularly fish a sooke, is this a typical summer?

 

[Newf]

Can't answer your question because I don't fish Sooke area too often but maybe you can answer a question for me. What is your definition of "Success"? How many fish would be a "success", what size and in what time frame?

My last trip out of Cheanuh I fished for 7 hours. Brought about 12 to 15 fish to the boat. 8 cohos were all wild and the chinook were shakers. I still considered this a very good day of "fishing" for me and certainly not typical for my number of fish to the boat. I've had my share of days with no fish so any day I can bring a fish to the boat is a bonus. I think the days of dropping your lines and consistently filling you quota in a hour or so are long gone for this part of the coast.

 

[wolf]

Well ill bite id say in sooke its been a great year n july limits of coho at will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chinook in aug was very good even having to let go many over the slot. You cant compare sooke to any other place really if you are trying to compare to other places , sooke is a awesome place to fish and it takes years to understand when where and how (ask englishman) I know personally that renfrew has been very tough where here getting lots ... Up where I used to guide in knight its like a dead sea one or 2 hits a day... Big fish have been her got more this year then in past but the new norm is a 15 lber and number have been good this year id say excellent not like last year when it was insane...
Now last few days its been a struggle HUGE ebbs ad that rain but like others have said wait for the weekend im sure it will be better when we have the early am floods

 

[kaelc]

Going to moor our boat at Cheanuh the rest of September. First time fishing since July! Can't wait to get out there. How has the crabbing been?