2023 OFFISHALL Vancouver-Howe Sound-Sechelt Reports Thread

[Alex_c]

Friend of mine caught this between Sandheads and T10 in 150 feet of water and DR at 65. Sunday afternoon. Took him 45 mins to bring this male red spring in. Scale says 43lbs. So yeah, there are some really, really big chinooks out there.

Beautiful fish

 

[Rcook.bc]

There will be. Numbers will start dwindling down but rain may also bring in a fresh wave of fish and send the zombie pinks and colored springs up river. Stalled fish become liptight and that's why it's become a bit slower lately - or at least that's how I like to see it. lol

Thx! Hopefully the wind will

 

[Rcook.bc]

Hopefully the wind will cooperate

 

[adanac]

Friend of mine caught this between Sandheads and T10 in 150 feet of water and DR at 65. Sunday afternoon. Took him 45 mins to bring this male red spring in. Scale says 43lbs. So yeah, there are some really, really big chinooks out there.

More 40+ lb fish this year than I’ve ever seen locally , awesome

 

[wildmanyeah]

Helps when the whole south coast has to release them

 

[sweettjim]

Just wanted to share this pic. Don’t know the guy really well so don’t want to plaster him on this forum. Fish weighed at 46lbs from Sandheads on Sunday. Fish of a lifetime if you ask me!

i know the guy hes a great guy and defintly was a fish of a lifetime

 

[sweettjim]

Fished sandheads 10 to 1 today. 3 coho to the boat, one chunky hatchery keeper male at 90' on the big size 5 anchovy spoon. Creamy orange flesh with the fat.

View attachment 98062

Tried all kinds of different tacks to find chinooks including up on the shelf behind the green can and through the valley between the can and the pedestal lighthouse. No joy.

View attachment 98063

Fished the size 5 spoon and anchovy on the other side. Didn't see may other nets out. Guide boats were out deep at T-10 on our way past so maybe they found some fresh fish?

nice male coho there nice work

 

[Alex_c]

Helps when the whole south coast has to release them

Crazy how not killing all the big ones means there are more big ones around

 

[sweettjim]

Friend of mine caught this between Sandheads and T10 in 150 feet of water and DR at 65. Sunday afternoon. Took him 45 mins to bring this male red spring in. Scale says 43lbs. So yeah, there are some really, really big chinooks out there.

43 lbs wow and a red to boot got to love that

 

[the force]

Fished sandheads 10 to 1 today. 3 coho to the boat, one chunky hatchery keeper male at 90' on the big size 5 anchovy spoon. Creamy orange flesh with the fat.

View attachment 98062

Tried all kinds of different tacks to find chinooks including up on the shelf behind the green can and through the valley between the can and the pedestal lighthouse. No joy.

View attachment 98063

Fished the size 5 spoon and anchovy on the other side. Didn't see may other nets out. Guide boats were out deep at T-10 on our way past so maybe they found some fresh fish?

Our springs from Sunday were out deeper, 300-400 contour. That’s a beauty coho, we had a couple wilds like that Sunday that stayed in the water.

Our last fish of the day Sunday just after sunset was instantly into backing and I couldn’t make any gains, after 10 minutes we started to chase it with the boat. I was wondering if it was a seal or shark or something- caught a 30+ last year and this one was in a different league. My arm and hand started to tingle from the exertion as we finally got him close to the boat…my mind is running ‘what do I do if it’s over 40, plan was always to release him but it’s getting dark and it’s our last one to limit’. I catch a glimps and sure enough it is a salmon, but wait something seems odd. Hooked 2/3 of the way back, near the anus… honestly more than doubled his fighting power. What a disappointment lol.

 

[the force]

I get it, tried a similar day last year to see how the boat would fare, it earned an A+ grade. However, I caught a nice chinook that a sea lion grabbed, so almost a half hour of fighting it trying to get my gear back, almost puking from conditions and looking backwards. Got my gear back, lost the fish, headed home.

Lol no way, sooo damn much effort. Steve Rinella has a saying about those experiences, not enjoyable at the moment but the ones you’ll never forget.

 

[ab1752]

I hit the heads this afternoon at 3 pm, impeccable timing as the squals rolled in. Saw nets at t10 when we buzzed by. One super scrappy feeder at 110 who went back, 2 misses at 57' on hoochies and nearly no pinks! When the wind kicked into gear around 5 it was cold af but good times.

 

[Ringo]

Cap Mouth - Here we come!!

 

[pescador]

Is something missing here?

Cap Mouth - Here we come!!

View attachment 98092

 

[Ringo]

Is something missing here?

If that forecast materializes, I wouldn’t bother with hitting SH after this week. But I come out of north shore and my freezer is already full.

 

[Last_Call]

More 40+ lb fish this year than I’ve ever seen locally , awesome

more 40+ lb fish bonked this year as well. Go on those who have released (or tried to) these larger fish as fish of this size are now very rare for the fraser system and giving them a chance to spawn does help keep them in the gene pool. As has been shown coastwide from CA to Alaska, once the big ones are gone they are extremely unlikely to ever rebound. I'll be in the fireman's derby this Friday and hope like to hell to catch a 40+ and release it (boat mates might not be stoked as it's the right thing to do if we hope to keep seeing more large fish going forward. Don't mean to sound preachy (as i've bonked big fish myself in the past) but we all should now know that continuing to kill big fish will mean fewer and fewer for future generations.

 

[Aquaholic]

more 40+ lb fish bonked this year as well. Go on those who have released (or tried to) these larger fish as fish of this size are now very rare for the fraser system and giving them a chance to spawn does help keep them in the gene pool. As has been shown coastwide from CA to Alaska, once the big ones are gone they are extremely unlikely to ever rebound. I'll be in the fireman's derby this Friday and hope like to hell to catch a 40+ and release it (boat mates might not be stoked as it's the right thing to do if we hope to keep seeing more large fish going forward. Don't mean to sound preachy (as i've bonked big fish myself in the past) but we all should now know that continuing to kill big fish will mean fewer and fewer for future generations.

Taking the treble hook out of a teaser head and using all singles is a start. It is difficult to gaff release in the water when a treble hook is used. This necessitates netting it, and we know the odds decrease of a successful release, let alone the work and time involved when two or more of the three trebles are in the mouth. There were so many chinook this year that a treble was not needed.

 

[Last_Call]

Taking the treble hook out of a teaser head and using all singles is a start. It is difficult to gaff release in the water when a treble hook is used. This necessitates netting it, and we know the odds decrease of a successful release, let alone the work and time involved when two or more of the three trebles are in the mouth. There were so many chinook this year that a treble was not needed.

Agree on the trebles. I used to fish bait with a treble and single trailer and now I use 2 singles (usually 5/0 and a 4/0 trailer) and have noticed no difference in hook up rate and it's way easier to release a fish boatside without that pesky treble. It's small stuff but it adds up big time when you consider there are some 300,000 salt water anglers in BC. SFI and others will be putting out a best practices guide soon and hook size and type will be included... as will flashers (hint: they don't help with survival) as well as other best handling practices... gaff release in water being the #1 way to ensure good survival.

 

[Alex_c]

Agree on the trebles. I used to fish bait with a treble and single trailer and now I use 2 singles (usually 5/0 and a 4/0 trailer) and have noticed no difference in hook up rate and it's way easier to release a fish boatside without that pesky treble. It's small stuff but it adds up big time when you consider there are some 300,000 salt water anglers in BC. SFI and others will be putting out a best practices guide soon and hook size and type will be included... as will flashers (hint: they don't help with survival) as well as other best handling practices... gaff release in water being the #1 way to ensure good survival.

I don’t net a fish unless I can’t ID it boat side, and I use a release net. If I can ID the fish, it gets the gaff release. I also mark my gaff with a minimum length so when I do net a fish that is of questionable legal size, I can leave the net in the water and measure the fish with the gaff. I never seem to catch big ones, so I haven’t had to deal with max size yet

 

[Cohoslayer]

Was over on the North Shore today and seen quite a few boats trolling at mouth of the Cap/Ambelside as well as a few around Point Atkinson.

Any reports from either of these areas?

Thanks In advance