Catching/Targeting Tyee's

[RiverBoy]

If you want big fish drive the boat to rivers inlet in early August . We were just up there . 6 fish in 2 days that ranged between 28.5 and 48 lbs. A friend just got back 2 days ago and they landed 12 fish in 2 days . Biggest was 50lbs.

Good genetics in the Rivers and Owikeno systems. lots of the lodges are promoting C and R for the larger fish which is awesome. matter of fact there is quite an uptick in this line of thinking altogether.
Managed a tyee this year ( first for me ) safely released. he hit a hootchie btw. pretty small bait IMO

 

[CRGreg]

Big spoons and plugs, close to the rocks and SLOW !!! Of course the only true Tyee are caught in Campbell River out of a Rowboat ;-) Right Dave H. !

CRGreg

 

[Aces]

Don't waste your time trying to catch Unicorns. In the last 1000 times I've fished, I've caught maybe 5 fish over 30lbs. But, what I will say, is that we seem to catch way more 18-23 lb fish than we did in the 70/80's..

So true about the smaller fish.

I'm worried that these days may be referred to the "good old days" in 10 years from now

 

[leaseman]

So true about the smaller fish.

I'm worried that these days may be referred to the "good old days" in 10 years from now

Don't worry about something that will not change....unfortunately! One thing about growing older, we all seem to remember the gold old days of lots of fish.....everywhere.

 

[wildmanyeah]

So true about the smaller fish.

I'm worried that these days may be referred to the "good old days" in 10 years from now

Skinny G;s wee gs, coho killers are pretty effective these days. Is it because of good marketing or is it because baits smaller?

 

[Thunder21]

Good genetics in the Rivers and Owikeno systems. lots of the lodges are promoting C and R for the larger fish which is awesome. matter of fact there is quite an uptick in this line of thinking altogether.
Managed a tyee this year ( first for me ) safely released. he hit a hootchie btw. pretty small bait IMO

I saw a lot of fish released up there which was encouraging. I would say over 80 percent that I saw caught were released.

 

[coastalmarinesafety]

What is "death rigged"??

The way I was taught to rig a cutplug was with two single octopus hooks...one at the front piercing the top of the fish just ahead of the dorsal fin, and the other hook (smaller size) put through the fish along the lateral line above the anal fin

I used to rig it so line ran in line with backbone, and one hook in each side, both in the body, one mid and one a bit farther back. Just wanted a tight roll at the end of the day, everyone has their tweeks. a tandem single hook set up at any rate. Will say that since 2004 I have released the majority of the tyees I’ve caught/hooked for folks. The lodge I finished up guiding at, had great incentives for the guests to do so. Islander reels, replica mounts, Haida artwork, etc.

 

[Whitebuck]

Imagine how many more would return to Rivers Inlet if anglers actually kept them in the water and released them without bringing them into the boat!

Hats off to the anglers keeping them in the water and actually being concerned about the well being of the fish!

 

[walleyes]

Imagine how many more would return to Rivers Inlet if anglers actually kept them in the water and released them without bringing them into the boat!

Hats off to the anglers keeping them in the water and actually being concerned about the well being of the fish!

First off handled right it doesn’t bother any fish that much. On top of that those fish being caught in Rivers Inlet are mere days away from their spawning river. Being handled properly has nill effect in them.

 

[Tugcapitan]

First off handled right it doesn’t bother any fish that much. On top of that those fish being caught in Rivers Inlet are mere days away from their spawning river. Being handled properly has nill effect in them.

How can you know that?
I’m not saying you are wrong, but I think about it a lot and don’t believe anyone really knows.

 

[walleyes]

How can you know that?
I’m not saying you are wrong, but I think about it a lot and don’t believe anyone really knows.

Well I do a **** load of fishing in a year. Open water and ice fishing for multiple species of fish. Fly fishing for trout and grayling, hours upon hours of catch and release walleye and pike fishing. With out exaggeration I probably catch and release close to 200 lake trout a year. As well as salmon fishing on the coast. Other than salmon fishing all our fishing is in a closed system like a lake or small stream. If catch and release had as big of an impact on fish as some claim we would see the effects of it in our lakes and fast. Some of our lakes see huge pressure some days with dozens of boats in small bays or outlets. But we do not see the extreme effects some claim. We have been doing catch and release for over 20 years now and our species of concern have all done well, to the point of over population in many cases.

 

[Tugcapitan]

Well I do a **** load of fishing in a year. Open water and ice fishing for multiple species of fish. Fly fishing for trout and grayling, hours upon hours of catch and release walleye and pike fishing. With out exaggeration I probably catch and release close to 200 lake trout a year. As well as salmon fishing on the coast. Other than salmon fishing all our fishing is in a closed system like a lake or small stream. If catch and release had as big of an impact on fish as some claim we would see the effects of it in our lakes and fast. Some of our lakes see huge pressure some days with dozens of boats in small bays or outlets. But we do not see the extreme effects some claim. We have been doing catch and release for over 20 years now and our species of concern have all done well, to the point of over population in many cases.

I too have released hundreds of Chinooks, over 1000 fish if I include Sailfish and Marlin.
All I’m saying is, it’s an almost impossible thing to study and possess certain knowledge of. Different techniques and skill levels releasing, differing levels of original fish condition, how could anyone possibly know how they do afterwards?
I’ve read the results of most of the studies, all of which I’ve found to be underwhelming in their scope and accuracy.
Anyways, back to the original thread subject, the only Chinook I landed over 50lbs was on a cutplug herring. The biggest one I’ve seen in person was caught on a black oil slick hootchie by a rookie guide.

 

[CRGreg]

Many years ago, I was involved in a catch and release/migration and holding area study in Rivers Inlet. Fish were caught in the open area and some in the closed area under Special Licence. We played them to the boat and inserted cigar tube sized transmitters down their throats. the antennas were hanging out their mouths. The majority of the tagged fish were recovered on the Spawning Grounds. These fish were sampled at the side of the boat and generally not taken aboard for photos etc. Survivability was very good I would say.

CRGreg

 

[Whitebuck]

Great reply Greg. You summed up the way C and R should be done. Kept in the water!
C and R does work well....if you don’t bear hug, take the fish out of the water, thrash around in the boat etc.

 

[walleyes]

Many years ago, I was involved in a catch and release/migration and holding area study in Rivers Inlet. Fish were caught in the open area and some in the closed area under Special Licence. We played them to the boat and inserted cigar tube sized transmitters down their throats. the antennas were hanging out their mouths. The majority of the tagged fish were recovered on the Spawning Grounds. These fish were sampled at the side of the boat and generally not taken aboard for photos etc. Survivability was very good I would say.

CRGreg

So what your saying is, you can treat them like **** and cram large items half down their throats, leave it hanging out so they can’t eat or breath properly and they still survive. Good to know.

 

[Pineapple Express]

So what your saying is, you can treat them like **** and cram large items half down their throats, leave it hanging out so they can’t eat or breath properly and they still survive. Good to know.

That's a snarky reply, and you're making some giant leaps of "logic" to reach your conclusion here. An antenna like what @CRGreg described could've been a very thin wire. And considering the size of herring or juvenile salmon that these big fish eat it doesn't seem (to me) too unreasonable to have a cigar-shaped device in the stomach. Close to spawning time the fish aren't eating too much anyway.

 

[Stoisy]

At the stage of development that Chinook are in at the head of Rivers Inlet, they are no longer feeding, and their stomach is not being used. Putting a radio tag into their stomach cavity has no impact on their feeding, because they aren't. All the bites that occur at that point are simply reactionary, same as any salmon in the river. What's left hanging out of they're mouth is a thin gauged wire that allows the radio signal (they were radio tags) to be transmitted to receivers. This wire is maybe the same thickness as 40 or 50 lbs mono. This certainly does not impair their breathing/ventilation. But, still handled quite significantly, and still surviving.

 

[walleyes]

Well snarky or not fact remains those things aren’t made of glass like some would like others to believe. As well I also stated earlier that these particular fish in RI are very close to their spawning rivers in most cases just days away so some handling done properly is not an issue. Done properly it’s not an issue to any of fish. There’s more damage done to these fish from the battle of getting them to the boat than their is giving them a rest in your arms for a few seconds, common sense will tell you that. Many have stated it here before you don’t want to harm them at all stop fishing for them all together.

People keep up on sites like this banging the alarm bells for the anti crowd to view and it’s all going to come crashing down.

 

[Foxsea]

I also practice C&R fishing at times , although I do not bring the fish aboard.
It is always released at the side of the boat with a gaff.
I realize some people want a picture,but it is not really ethical in my mind.
If we want the privilege to continue fishing, it is likely best to keep the pictures
far away from the ENGO's who would sooner see sport fishing ended.

I agree with you. Some of the more skilled than me get pretty decent pictures of their fish in the water, just before release. I don't get the idea that it's okay to handle fish out of the water just for a picture. Google "salmon" for that.

The science on handling fish and mortality is very clear: taking fish out of the water increases mortality. Handling fish increases mortality. The longer they are out of water and the more they are handled dramatically increases the mortality rate. The big fish genes are increasingly rare and we should be doing everything we can, as sportsmen, to ensure that they can survive to spawn.

 

[Admin]

Time to check the title of this thread. Don't recall it being about catch and release practices. The OP asked if others target Tyee in specific ways.