2025 Sooke Reports

[Tsquared]

After resolving the kicker kill switch problem over the week-end, we went out again today on a beautiful flat day. Launched late because my son wanted to accompany us and low tide at Sunny Shore meant we had to go to the Prestige.

Made our way down to Muir again, where there were at least a dozen boats including several charters. However, for us, once again Muir was disappointing. We had a couple of pinks, a nice unclipped coho released and several undersized chinook but not a proper keeper did we contact. We used both bait and spoons. Did not see any chinook netted by anyone else either.

At 1:00pm we head out into 250-300’ of water with little pink hootchies hoping for sockeye but settling for pinks. We contact the latter but not the former, managing to miss hits and lose some fish, before boating a couple.

So at 2:45 pm we were headed east rounding Otter at 300’ and I had “crisp” hit on the little pink hootchie that looked different from the bites we had had all day. It was still a huge ironic surprise when it took off powerfully running 70 metres. I got it to the surface halfway to the boat and it made another run straight down this time. So this was no pink. However a few seconds later it turned into a long distance release. So we remain “chinookless” (is that a word? ) for three trips in a row, although today’s fish would have been a complete fluke, that is for sure.

Fishing solo, I couldn’t get out until 3:30 this pm. I had 1 good fish on at the trap but it released from long distance. 2 more passes with nada and then I went out into the deep looking for Sox. Only got 1, they ignored the pink gear and bit the bait: go figure! I will try again tomorrow and fish from the beginning of the flood.
T2

 

[SVIAC]

Awesome reports, great fishing to be had, including some of those sox! As a reminder, the 2025 Alpine JDF Fishing Tournament is coming up fast! Details are at this LINK, and you can click there to get your tickets too. $20,000 first place price, $45,000 total prize board, as well as great raffle prizes with lots of great sponsors! Check it all out, and good luck out there!

 

[Tsquared]

I checked PSF sockeye catch data from 2 test seiners taken on Monday, 1 at Bonilla Point (fish heading our way) and the other in Area 12 (fish heading down the inside of the island.) The Bonilla boat only had 173 Sox from 6 sets whereas the inside boat had over 8 thousand from 4 sets. It seems the bulk of the run is heading down the inside, not our way.

 

[tubber]

40% wcvi diversion they say.
Area 12 ties the seine to the beach where the fish swim. Area 20 they could be in water 30-130 fathoms deep which is several miles across and sometimes they go under the net.
They had 15000 per day in area 20 a week ago.
I don't know how the yellow zone impacts you guys. Go find them.

 

[Admin]

Had another great day on Tuesday, although we had to get away from the little guys to finally find our 3 chinook. We got 2 around 10 lbs at Beechy and an 80 cm between the Trap and Secretary at 70 ft in about 120 ft of water. All were caught on spoons. We also released 3 Coho that weren't clipped. We went out to about 300 ft off Beechy hoping to find more Coho or a Sockeye, but we were inundated with Pinks. We kept some larger ones that my brother wanted to smoke. A buddy managed to get a random Sockeye while targeting Chinooks at the Trap. The stomachs were full of 3 inch Herring in most of the fish. The water was very enjoyable with no wind and the late morning sun was appreciated!

 

[Tsquared]

We got to the Trap about 10 and had our springs, 75 and 80cms, by 11, both on bait. We were the only boat fishing there in August! Weird. We went out into the deep looking for coho and Sox but no luck. Back to the dock at noon. Here’s pics of our fish and one of my happy guest.

 

[PHW]

Back at Otter again today at 640 am. Wind stopped and water laid down nicely. Paid off…have 2 nice Springs. Done at 830. We let one a bit smaller go (yikes!) and were rewarded with larger one to punch out for the day on Chinook. We stay out of the crowd and fish deeper water 90-150. Found some bait at 130 right on the point and bingo. 3 1/2 inch spoons, green Herring Aid patterns. Have not used bait at all in 3 days and have caught 6 nice Springs. On to look for Coho—-again, 15 fish, no keepers!! Out SW of Secretary in 350-500 FOW with blue/green/silver sparkle (Seahawk) hoochies and Seahawks Ace Hi-Fly with 28-32 inch leaders with red-racer flashers. Go fast and hang on! We were mindful of the yellow no-fishing zone. Coho Rodeo—fun but would be nice to have some clipped we can keep. Would love to find some Sox…saw a guide come in with some really nice ones that he caught “in the ocean”. I deserved that one for asking—C’mon man! Two other guides were impressed with his Sox haul. Any tips on finding them anyone wants to share would be amazing. Tight Lines!

 

[Whole in the Water]

Planning to go fishing in Sooke on Friday. Like to get into some sockeye (been a long time).

How deep on the rigger and how deep off Sooke are guys catching sockeye??

Any particular color mini hootchie they are going for other than the old standby Goldstar Michael Bait MB15??

 

[Sam7]

Back at Otter again today at 640 am. Wind stopped and water laid down nicely. Paid off…have 2 nice Springs. Done at 830. We let one a bit smaller go (yikes!) and were rewarded with larger one to punch out for the day on Chinook. We stay out of the crowd and fish deeper water 90-150. Found some bait at 130 right on the point and bingo. 3 1/2 inch spoons, green Herring Aid patterns. Have not used bait at all in 3 days and have caught 6 nice Springs. On to look for Coho—-again, 15 fish, no keepers!! Out SW of Secretary in 350-500 FOW with blue/green/silver sparkle (Seahawk) hoochies and Seahawks Ace Hi-Fly with 28-32 inch leaders with red-racer flashers. Go fast and hang on! We were mindful of the yellow no-fishing zone. Coho Rodeo—fun but would be nice to have some clipped we can keep. Would love to find some Sox…saw a guide come in with some really nice ones that he caught “in the ocean”. I deserved that one for asking—C’mon man! Two other guides were impressed with his Sox haul. Any tips on finding them anyone wants to share would be amazing. Tight Lines!

Back at Otter again today at 640 am. Wind stopped and water laid down nicely. Paid off…have 2 nice Springs. Done at 830. We let one a bit smaller go (yikes!) and were rewarded with larger one to punch out for the day on Chinook. We stay out of the crowd and fish deeper water 90-150. Found some bait at 130 right on the point and bingo. 3 1/2 inch spoons, green Herring Aid patterns. Have not used bait at all in 3 days and have caught 6 nice Springs. On to look for Coho—-again, 15 fish, no keepers!! Out SW of Secretary in 350-500 FOW with blue/green/silver sparkle (Seahawk) hoochies and Seahawks Ace Hi-Fly with 28-32 inch leaders with red-racer flashers. Go fast and hang on! We were mindful of the yellow no-fishing zone. Coho Rodeo—fun but would be nice to have some clipped we can keep. Would love to find some Sox…saw a guide come in with some really nice ones that he caught “in the ocean”. I deserved that one for asking—C’mon man! Two other guides were impressed with his Sox haul. Any tips on finding them anyone wants to share would be amazing. Tight Lines!

I understand that they make a living off fishing, but come on…….when there are thousands swimming through and the “4” that you might catch are going to make a difference?

Sometimes people are just too “high” on themselves? What does it take for someone to say I caught them at Secretary at 80’ in 200 feet of water…. By tomorrow they have more than likely moved on.

There are a few guides…BlueWolf, Pro-fisher, and Tristan (just to name a few) that share their information. It’s still up to you to catch them. Sometimes giving a bit of information makes someone’s day by catching their first fish….EVER.

Thanks to those who share their information

 

[Grant_J]

For those who have launched at both Pedder and Cheanuh, is one or the other better at low tides? I know I need a minimum of 0.8 meters at Cheanuh - this gets the boat in/out but it gets my truck hubs a bit wet which I despise, so I go for at least 1m so that only the tires get wet. I was thinking of trying out Pedder, how is it by comparison?

 

[Mausermike14]

Not sure if they fixed it or not, but I was there (Pedder)about 2.5 weeks ago and one guy got stuck in a huge hole and it blew his tire and ended up shifting his trailer axle! It was on the right hand side, if you’re looking at the ramp. If I remember it was around a .5-.7m tide. I have never had an issue at Pedder, as long as you have 1m. I like at least 1.5m tide, so I don’t touch the water with my truck.

 

[Englishman]

Got an earlier start today and launched at 6:00am.

In view of the extreme disappointment dealt to us by Muir this year, decided to go fish the Trap. Turned out to be great decision and I can report we broke the bad losing spell at last.

We got our two chinook. A fat 72cm fish, and a slimmer 74 cm fish. Not huge by the standards of the experts on here, but very welcome just the same. The first came around 8:18am with a nodding hit that could have been misinterpreted as a pink. The second came just after 9:00am and was much more obvious as it yanked the rod sideways and hooked itself. Both fish gave good accounts of themselves with their first runs especially. They both hit little herring in T.H. at 60’ in around 100’ of water.

In between these two fish we had the amazing spectacle of two porpoises (dolphins??) cavorting just under our bow, and running right alongside, rolling just under the surface and rubbing against each other. My wife got some decent video of this event. Never seen the like before.

Headed out to look for some sox but it was just a pink bonanza. At 40’ it was a pink and at 100’ the same. I even had one hit around 90’ as I was still letting it down quite fast. We lost quite a few with the single hook on the little hootchies. Anyway after a double header of pinks we called it at 11:30 with 5 pinks in the boat.

Catch pics below

 

[SpringVelocity]

Man there must be a lot of fish out there right now.

 

[Tips Up]

Man there must be a lot of fish out there right now.

Yup. You should get down here.

 

[PHW]

I understand that they make a living off fishing, but come on…….when there are thousands swimming through and the “4” that you might catch are going to make a difference?

Sometimes people are just too “high” on themselves? What does it take for someone to say I caught them at Secretary at 80’ in 200 feet of water…. By tomorrow they have more than likely moved on.

There are a few guides…BlueWolf, Pro-fisher, and Tristan (just to name a few) that share their information. It’s still up to you to catch them. Sometimes giving a bit of information makes someone’s day by catching their first fish….EVER.

Thanks to those who share their information

I think Roy and Rollie should come out in our boats for free…raffle off some charity tickets for a 1 day ride on your boat and teach us the ropes. I bet you’d raise quite a bit of dough.

 

[PHW]

Got an earlier start today and launched at 6:00am.

In view of the extreme disappointment dealt to us by Muir this year, decided to go fish the Trap. Turned out to be great decision and I can report we broke the bad losing spell at last.

We got our two chinook. A fat 72cm fish, and a slimmer 74 cm fish. Not huge by the standards of the experts on here, but very welcome just the same. The first came around 8:18am with a nodding hit that could have been misinterpreted as a pink. The second came just after 9:00am and was much more obvious as it yanked the rod sideways and hooked itself. Both fish gave good accounts of themselves with their first runs especially. They both hit little herring in T.H. at 60’ in around 100’ of water.

In between these two fish we had the amazing spectacle of two porpoises (dolphins??) cavorting just under our bow, and running right alongside, rolling just under the surface and rubbing against each other. My wife got some decent video of this event. Never seen the like before.

Headed out to look for some sox but it was just a pink bonanza. At 40’ it was a pink and at 100’ the same. I even had one hit around 90’ as I was still letting it down quite fast. We lost quite a few with the single hook on the little hootchies. Anyway after a double header of pinks we called it at 11:30 with 5 pinks in the boat.

Catch pics below
View attachment 119989

We’ll start calling you “Sir Roland the Highliner”

 

[PHW]

Well…Mom always said you take the good with the bad—you guys ready for some bad?

Very tough day for us…my friend said we got too cocky last few days and had to pay the price today. Otter loooked so fishy at 645 am but it was a gong show in our boat. Lots of action, but nothing but indersized Chinook, shakers, and a few Coho. All the spoons that were working flawlessly earlier this week shut down. Bait didn’t work…did get a keeper Coho. So bad. 45-110 on the DR in 60-250 FOW. Lots of traffic on Otter Point today. Everyone was mindful of others so no nav issues. Moved to Trap and Beecher later about 1130 with high hopes only to be crushed. Was a nice morning on the water with a good friend and beautiful area, so a win, right? Back at it tomorrow!!! Will meet Mr Roland Alcock tonight at The Prestige for some food and adult beverages. Maybe I’ll ask him for his catching secrets? Did anyone else hear or feel that large explosion this am about 1030-11 or so? Weird.

 

[kingspring]

Well…Mom always said you take the good with the bad—you guys ready for some bad?

Very tough day for us…my friend said we got too cocky last few days and had to pay the price today. Otter loooked so fishy at 645 am but it was a gong show in our boat. Lots of action, but nothing but indersized Chinook, shakers, and a few Coho. All the spoons that were working flawlessly earlier this week shut down. Bait didn’t work…did get a keeper Coho. So bad. 45-110 on the DR in 60-250 FOW. Lots of traffic on Otter Point today. Everyone was mindful of others so no nav issues. Moved to Trap and Beecher later about 1130 with high hopes only to be crushed. Was a nice morning on the water with a good friend and beautiful area, so a win, right? Back at it tomorrow!!! Will meet Mr Roland Alcock tonight at The Prestige for some food and adult beverages. Maybe I’ll ask him for his catching secrets? Did anyone else hear or feel that large explosion this am about 1030-11 or so? Weird.

The explosion you heard could have come from Bentinct Island. It’s a demo place for the military.

 

[wolf]

I think Roy and Rollie should come out in our boats for free…raffle off some charity tickets for a 1 day ride on your boat and teach us the ropes. I bet you’d raise quite a bit of dough.

I would like that but no free time pulling boat early this year as I got a moose draw leave in 4 weeks!!!!!

These last few weeks has been exceptional fishing its the best ive seen in sooke for many many years, I dont know where roland has been looking but that day I was done in no time ,,, LOL
Ive been hitting possesion ,bluffs ,otter, muir even sheringham and getting them in all spots.... FYI....

Bait of course has been working great ive been still using AP spoons all varieties as I am constanty trying all the colors gold and bluewolf and army truck have all been workign great, and white hoochies , last few day they were deeper i even sent gear down to 120 and got some springs So id say they are everywhere.

I tried looking for the sockeye with the squirts etc most got pinks even got spring out in 300 foot mark pushing 30 on pink gear WTF??? LOL only Sox I did get have been in tight taking bait...oh well take it anyway ...

 

[vicsurfer]

We started the morning today at the Head at 9am. Within minutes we side hooked a mid sized spring and lost it near the boat. Then it was constant shakers and pink hits. We probably had 30+ hits that didn't stick. Quit at 1 with 4 pinks. There was a good spring bite near the Trap at 10am but we struck out.