Didn't look very nice of Cattle pt. this morning so went over to Esquimalt instead. Much calmer there. Trolled around until 11:00 over where the ships sometimes anchor and then did a lap around the harbour mouth. Caught one sand dab. Not even a shaker or a strike. Slow! Hope somebody else did better. Watching the Swiftsure boats coming in was pretty cool.
 
On Sunday we fished Albert Head from 9 to noon. We first tried west of Albert Head on the 105 to 150 shelves and could see fish and bait on the sonar but no bites. Headed back towards Albert Head and just before the point got a double header. Let the wild fish go and kept a 8lb clipped. Circled around and got another hit and then nothing. Headed in at noon and picked up 4 crabs in the trap.

Fish caught using bait and 125 on the DR in 150 ft of water.

Sure lots of crab boats on the water, meaning lots of crab traps from 140' to 30' so watch were you are going, specially if you are fishing on bottom.
 

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Went to bank first light was VERY good had to let a few wild go got a nice 12 lb hatch then curent was too strong. off to albert saw doug there and a wave!!! as for tides yes best to look at levels and limit yourself when to come back..
 
Fished Albert Head this morning for salmon, 7 to 10. Not a bite and we tried all depths.
Luckily while fishing close to bottom and going over a pinnacle picked up a 30 inch Ling.
Picked up our two crab traps and got one keeper and 8 male crabs and all an 1/8 of inch under size..

Lots of boats halibut fishing the mud hole area today.
 
When you guys talk about bouncing bottom, are you being literal in that you let your cannonball hit or drag the bottom at times? Maybe I'm still too new to fishing with downriggers but I get stressed going back and forth from watching my chart plotter to see the current depth and upcoming depth in my path and then scurrying back to the downriggers to adjust their depth. I can't raise up the courage to go much lower than 20 ft above what is being reported as the bottom. I've gotten snagged up fishing for rockfish and lingcod enough times I can't imagine the grief associated with a cannonball getting snagged.
Use a snubber, to take some of the shock.
drop to the bottom, and then wind the rigger up just a bit. Keep doing this if the bottom depth changes, so you stay close.
watch the action of your rod...you can learn to see the difference between bottom dragging and a fish bite.

Steep rocky shelves are where I lose my balls.
 
Fished Albert Head this morning for salmon, 7 to 10. Not a bite and we tried all depths.
Luckily while fishing close to bottom and going over a pinnacle picked up a 30 inch Ling.
Picked up our two crab traps and got one keeper and 8 male crabs and all an 1/8 of inch under size..

Lots of boats halibut fishing the mud hole area today.
I guess everyone who doesn't have to work today are out finding their spots for the derby tomorrow. Do they leave their anchors out overnight?
 
I guess everyone who doesn't have to work today are out finding their spots for the derby tomorrow. Do they leave their anchors out overnight?
I have never heard of that and wouldn’t advise it. I would think most are Unmarked buoys and I’m not sure about the legality but I know some guys even have black buoys that could lead to a tangled prop in the night….
All that, plus if you had a secret spot, wouldn't you GPS it rather than advertise its location by leaving an anchor?
 
I have never heard of that and wouldn’t advise it. I would think most are Unmarked buoys and I’m not sure about the legality but I know some guys even have black buoys that could lead to a tangled prop in the night….
We used to do that all the time. Would even invite your buddy’s to hook up to it once you got your halibut limit and have them baited in
 
Hit the gap this morning from 6:30 till noon ish. Got the first bite right away decent size I think but long line release. I didn’t even have my second rod in the water when that one hit.
Second one was a hatchery but only around 5lbs so he was released at the boat.
And the next 2 fish were big and wilds, the first one had to be around 20lbs and the other around 15. The pic is of the smaller one. It was pretty tricky trying to hold the rod and phone at the same time.
Both fish released beside the boat nice and easy
 

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Went out hali fishing today with a buddy. Had to drop the kid off at school first then meet at the docks to run out. Went out in fog dropped anchor late morning south of discovery and waited. Got into some dogfish, a skate but no halibut.

Best part of the day - my friend grilled up some massive (and extremely delicious) marinated pork chops for lunch on the bbq.... had so much I had to take a quick nap after lunch while others watch the rods.

Heard other people on the radio got some fish so its good to know the hali are still around. Very nice day on the water though.
 
When out hali fishing today and decided to try a different spot than my normal location as we've only been catching 12-14lb chickens. Bad decision. We caught a few dogfish, a couple of ratfish and a set of triplet hali's that were 6-7lbs each. Released two but my buddy kept one as it had the hooks deep in it's throat/stomach so it would not of made it. Back to my old spot next time out for the big ones. 🤣
 
Late post:

I was out yesterday and I fishing by 7:00 after setting up a couple of crab traps.

Not much for my efforts, had three hits, by the teeth marks on the bait they were dog bits. Packed up 2:45, checked the traps. 1 red, and 5, but all undersized.

……I guess it beats working yesterday
 
I think overnight is different, when the tide rips tomorrow morning in some places it could suck buoy down just below the surface. Prawn commercial guys are running around in the early AM not to mention every other mariner….
Yeah we never had prawn boats in our offshore areas
 
Out yesterday for a hali mission. On the pick at 730 - a couple of dogfish and then silence. Took the 'stay and make it pay' approach and then around noon had a great hit that snapped the line (i think it had chaffed earlier) lost 300ft and one setup. Had another hali-like hit on the other line that somehow got off within a few minutes - was thinking the hali gods were against us, two firsts in losing fish for me. Took another hour and then rewarded with a pair of chickens, 75 and 80cm, in quick succession just as the fog lifted. Herring, salmon belly and power bait all fished relatively equally and often mixed - with power bait getting the big hit. 220ft of water - most boats around us pulled anchor around the second switch. Docks were a mixed bag of skunks, singles and limits.20240531_170712.jpg
 
Went out hali fishing today with a buddy. Had to drop the kid off at school first then meet at the docks to run out. Went out in fog dropped anchor late morning south of discovery and waited. Got into some dogfish, a skate but no halibut.

Best part of the day - my friend grilled up some massive (and extremely delicious) marinated pork chops for lunch on the bbq.... had so much I had to take a quick nap after lunch while others watch the rods.

Heard other people on the radio got some fish so its good to know the hali are still around. Very nice day on the water though.
What channel do you put your radio on?
 
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