Coho back in the day

[CalCom]

I remember Miracle Beach had a cool way to put your boat in…they had a big front end loader with a trailer hitch…would hook up to your trailer and walk your boat in…the tide could be really low there so the loader would often have to take the trailer/boat way out but you were always guaranteed getting your boat into the water. For smaller tinnies, the loader had a forklift like cushioned cradle to take the boat (people included) out to a depth that they could make their way. Collecting boats after fishing was the same in reverse. Wild and fun times.
Clam digging in the evening….trying to pick up girls (I was 17), walking trough the park….simply amazing!
All this without a smart phone!

 

[CalCom]

before the downriggers came in we all used slip weights or released the ball weight from the line when we got the fish close to the boat.
I like to use a release weight with a bag of rocks from our local beach... the pic is the release I would use

Wow

 

[N2013]

Back in 50’s & 60’s, my Dad used to work at the various resorts along the water just south of Campbell River called “Little California.” He spent his time cleaning & launching boats. The Americans would come up and fish bluebacks all season. Canning their catch, shipping it home. Probably the reason for the demise of coho in the Straits.

His tackle box was filled with slip weights and bucktails. I’ll post some pics in the coming weeks of his setups. He’d always talk about fishing coho in the shallows off Quadra & Cortez with live herring. I caught the tail end of being able to purchase live herring and fishing with them. What a rush.

 

[John Ingram]

Back in 50’s & 60’s, my Dad used to work at the various resorts along the water just south of Campbell River called “Little California.” He spent his time cleaning & launching boats. The Americans would come up and fish bluebacks all season. Canning their catch, shipping it home. Probably the reason for the demise of coho in the Straits.

The government back in the day's allowed the seiners into Brentwood and Cowichan and that was the end of the coho there

 

[eroyd]

A couple of ounce rudder weight with a long leader with spoon, fly or a cut plug herring from one of the wharfs selling live bait. Sometimes no weight or skipping a polar bear fly in the boat wake. Still works when the fish are up.

 

[TMan]

Bit of trivia
I was fishing at Miracle Beach when both John Wayne and Elvis died

That a pretty solid alibi.

 

[TMan]

I used slip weights then last couple of years as I only have one downrigger. I hit coho and chinooks. Flat line out the back, weights or a dipsy/deep six out the side. Works pretty good. Not as advisable in a crowd.

 

[kaelc]

Son used a banana weight off the centre rod to catch the biggest fish of a trip to Bamfield a few years ago. Must have been 4, he’s 8 now.

Some good coho fishing last year on the west side, I only caught a few but they were a good size. I have slip weights some where in my disaster of a garage.

 

[Stizzla]

He should be
Do they still sell slip weights at Gone Fishing or Tyee Marine?
I suppose I could just drop my downrigger to 20 feet

Slip weights should be for sale at almost all tackle stores. I recently bought some at bass pro and saw them at my local home hardware in Sidney. Cut pluggers seem to buy up the 8oz so I got 6’s.

I sometimes like a middle rod up high out the back if I have a capable partner to help clear the gear.

 

[trophywife]

offshore deep trolling for springs and hali, the middle rod gets a 4 oz banana weight (30 pulls out), and anything bright. one of my favourites is a yellow bladed spinner. dad used to do the same around quadra in the 70's, but the outside deep lines had ridiculous 12 oz slip weights. they where bloody dangerous when the hook slipped beside the boat. grandpa took one in the forehead once, cut him for some needed stitches he never got. lol

 

[Adrenafin]

When in barkley sound i always run a middle line on the top with a small line weight like 2 ounces (just enough weight to get it under the surface) and a tomic plug just behind the prop wash a bit. Taken many nice coho this way and it always seems to be a very aggressive strike. Very fun.

 

[Deepaaaar]

Caught a pretty decent clipped coho a couple summers ago just casting a little jig while my buddy and I were trolling. We could see 'em hitting the surface, though, and I just led a school with the jig. That's typically what I do in my kayak when the smaller early summer coho are around.

 

[Eden Island]

My first fishing trips were with my grandfather in a 12' boat - from Kye Bay to the kelp beds near Cape Lazo, 4 and 6 oz slip weights, 30 to 50 pulls in what I now know was 30-50 feet of water. Coho were abundant. We seemed to leave at high tide and return at low tide when the boat could only be brought within 1/4-1/2 mile from shore. My job was to work the boat back to the beach over the course of the afternoon. Grandad supervised with a beer in hand.

Later we had one manual downrigger and one rod with a slip weight. Seemed to catch on both - mostly not in the Strait of Georgia, but I hear there are fish again at Lazo after many years.

 

[RiverBoy]

to the original post; i have always targeted coho in the direct middle of a channel, or strait. yes they can hug shores, but the vast majority run right up the middle.

so for your nostalgic reasons, especially what i encountered today, go do what you did at 17 and you will go home happy.

now : as an aside: i was raised in Black Creek Oyster River area, and all those resorts slightly north of Miracle Beach by Saratoga Beach were filled with Americans.
more important to me were their extremely cute daughters!mid eighties on my bmx. one of the resorts had a small arcade. there was candy. ice cream. man those were the days…

 

[onefish]

raked herring, 1 oz bannana weight, strip casting/motor mooching and sometimes mooching livies. That was coho fishing for me. Everything has changed now that the kelp is gone.

 

[Rayvon]

Seems like this thread is for old farts,so I better contribute.I would spend my summer holidays with my grandparents in Qualicum Bay in a trailer park,Eldorado I think.It was filled with Americans with their canning rigs.We would fish out of a tinny dragged down the beach and would only use bucktails dragged behind the prop wash.It was a riot,I don't think we ever came in without our limit.I'm sure some people kept their limit several times each day.Really the best memories I have of my grandparents,so take a kid pink fishing this year.

 

[CalCom]

Seems like this thread is for old farts,so I better contribute.I would spend my summer holidays with my grandparents in Qualicum Bay in a trailer park,Eldorado I think.It was filled with Americans with their canning rigs.We would fish out of a tinny dragged down the beach and would only use bucktails dragged behind the prop wash.It was a riot,I don't think we ever came in without our limit.I'm sure some people kept their limit several times each day.Really the best memories I have of my grandparents,so take a kid pink fishing this year.

Who you calling “old fart”?

 

[Howzer]

'Old fart' killer rig: 12 Oz slip weight, Abe n Al flasher and a Tom Mack silver and copper spoon or Tomic/Lucky Louie plug... lol

 

[onefish]

back in the day = old fart, pretty much by definition

 

[SpringFever2359]

raked herring, 1 oz bannana weight, strip casting/motor mooching and sometimes mooching livies. That was coho fishing for me. Everything has changed now that the kelp is gone.

Best times ever doing this at Grant's Reef..