Sooke Reports - Spring and Summer 2011

[Englishman]

Started out today off Secretary. Not a touch after 90 minutes so went further out looking for Pinks opposite the bluffs. Not a thing (what a contrast to two days ago!!) . Abandoned that and headed for Otter at 10:30am and en route my daughter caught a very small hatch Chinook. So having avoided a skunking we took this as a good omen and set up at Otter at 90’ and after 20 minutes got a big hit. Thing was pulling hard and then when the downrigger came up – horrors! line was wrapped once round the cable. Reached for the snubber to try a quick up and over but Bang too late…and the fish plus terminal gear was gone. Another beginners lesson for me I suppose….. LOL . Anyway day was finally saved from near disaster, by another hit 30 minutes later and managed a short, very fat, 11 lb’der. Also released a small wild Coho, but mystery where the pinks were today?

 

[yo mama]

Hey Englishman,

After Spring fishing we went strait off of Secretary to 500ft and limited on them in 15 minutes at 40 and 50 ft on the rigger on the standard pink gear. I think if you start there and keep trolling south till you find them. Also once you get a few double back on the spot on the GPS as they seem to be schooling up right now where you are up to your elbows in them and 100 yards away nothing.

 

[Englishman]

Hi Yo mama,
Sounds like they are very localised then. Our mistake was trolling SW from Secretary into "Sooke Bay" where the water is only 140-180 feet. Went that way because they were there last week. Next time will head due south LOL.

 

[wolf]

Another good day out there taking pics of MAMA and his crew with her daughters first salmon I sent them to him maybe he will post. got a tyee(31) which a 13 year old reeled in and did a great job and got 3 high teeners bit tougher day but managed to find them.
good luck Wolf

 

[sammyslabber]

Yep always an idiot in the crowd even the odd Pro who figures he knows exactly where he thinks your fish should be ,witnesed it the other day get a fish on ppl take it as an invitation to dive into the spot & snag another fish that may or not be there...fishing rules & common sense mean little to them when there's a fish to be caught...sammy

 

[Tsquared]

Fished from 10:30 to 2ish today. 1 on the ebb at the trap and 1 at possession on the beginning of the flood, lost another nice one there. Looked like possession was going to be good for the rest of the flood. Bait has been working for me but so has a party doll hootchie--glow white with pink spots.
T2

 

[yo mama]

Yep proud dad 6 year old girl got her first spring a 21lb. with help from grandma. Pics to come later thanks Wolf nice shots

 

[addicted]

Atta boy mamma! Good job on the fish and i guess you won that derby.... lol. Took a while for us too but managed to get my 8 yr old an 18 out west... Thanks very much to all the boats that gave her room and cheered when we netted it. I'll never forget the smile on my daughters face when it came into the boat! Who says everything has to be a tyee to have fun!?

 

[profisher]

Had a short 4 hour trip yesterday afternoon from 2 till 6. 8 springs total and 4 pinks - 27, 21 the rest mid to high teens. Shallow and aggressive, 2 doubles. Released a sock and 3 or 4 smaller springs. Lots of action in 4 hours!

 

[profisher]

Just a note about the previous post about getting close to others with fish on. It is one thing to be paying attention to what is going on around you as much as you can. Watching the other boats, knowing who is playing fish, which side the fish is on, which way the boat is pointing and where the fish is most likely to go (opposite to the direction of the boats direction) and the opposite. Guys out there who drop the gear open a beer and cruise through the crowd with no regard to what is going on around them...and they don't give a **** to boot. How many times have I had to try and steer my fish away from boats coming up behind me or turn and chase the fish knowing I'm giving the guy on the rod more slack than he could ever take up....more often to loose the fish. All because the guy behind wasn't watching and continued straight up our butt. I hate having to yell at people but so often have to....all is just an attempt to just get their attention that we are playing a fish. Here is a tip...if your behind me I'll point the bow in one direction as a fall sideways....treat it like a arrow (stay in front of the bow) ...I'm making the fish go the other way..you can pass my bow within 5 feet, the fish will be off my stern and probably 2 or 3 hundred feet behind. The first thing I do when I hook up a fish and there are boats behind is look at where most are...outside or inside me and will turn the boat towards them, making the fish go away from them. Most inexperienced guys will assume that they should go behind me....that is where I put the fish!!!! I'm trying to help YOU by staying out of your way so you can stay on tack as much as possible and carry on fishing. I hate getting tangled up, that means chopped or lost gear and too much down time while a bite is on.

 

[addicted]

Yup Rollie... the thanks was directed at you cause I gave you a yell and you turned around immediately... Thanks again cause we are out there a lot together and see a tonne of silly things going on regularly..... I realize that when boats get packed into one place accidents can happen, but common sense says if a guy is standing at the back of his boat with a bent rod, get the hell out of dodge and the screaming match won't happen...

 

[combover]

i had a encounter last season off possession when i hit a nice fish and screamed out right towards a boat that was fishing beside us i hollered fish on just to let the guy driving know hoping he could turn off but instead he jumped up and immediately brought both rods and downriggers up i swear the fish went right under his boat and i would have lost it for sure. i yelled thanks but really he should have got a six pack or maybe an award after see how others are so blatantly ignorant. its a simple courtesy and its to bad more guys out there don't do the same when in tight.

 

[profisher]

Thx addicted, I hate being the cause of a lost fish on someone else's boat more than my own. If I do screw up I will always do what ever it takes to get the fish and gear clear so the fish guy with the fish gets it in. Even if in a worse case scenario where I have to net it and pass it over. With the hours I spend out there in the crowd it happens once in awhile but I have saved more than I've cut off. I've chased guys down who dragged me, fish and gear a 1/2 mile without even turning around to acknowledge they have me around their riggers. Out in the morning I hope this amazing fishing continues for a long while yet.

 

[marula]

went out from cheanua today and hit solid fog all day with the in-laws from alberta. They brought a salmon to the boat on the center rod and it was a nice fat sockeye so i said "don't net it, i want to release it in the water" .. just as i finished the sentence a large sea lion swoops in right at the back of the boat from no where and scooped it, peeled the gear and snapped the leader, only to come back later for more ! Between that and the whales it was a good show for them. got back to cheanua around 12:30 and two DFO were checking all the coolers for sockeye and writing tickets. Some pretty sheepish fisherman out there. DFO said an an additional announcement should be made soon about an opening or not.

 

[highlights]

Yep proud dad 6 year old girl got her first spring a 21lb. with help from grandma. Pics to come later thanks Wolf nice shots

Good to see your getting good use of that ride. Damn , boy........

Told you it was great to be off the tools ( even if it's only once in a while )

Between gynastics, dance, swimming, beavers, lacrosse and hockey it's a good possibility that I may never get to relive the glory years LOLOL.......

Fishing has been great though! the times that I have made it out this year have been well worth the wait. Insane! Top of the island down. If its any indication, Sooke should be hot for a while yet.

Enjoy.

Roy...... dont give away all those secrets

 

[profisher]

I think a couple of sea lions took fish from someone at Otter yesterday as well.

 

[sammyslabber]

Out with a farther & son(7yrs old) today plus their friend ...the day started in a heavy blanket of fog decded to ride the ebb for a while getting the guests into some pinks to warm them up...out of the fog appeared a familiar site with one wave of his gigantic mitt i knew i had reached the promised land. My guest Tom quickly realized there before him stood Roy a long time buddy from school days...Tom's banter quickly shifted to Jovial accounts of his & Roys hunting & fishing trips gone awry ... our laughter was soon replaced by the sound of the rod as it snapped off the rigger & the squeals of a young boy as he proudly watched his father reel in a spring almost as big as him.The happy trio finished the day with a pair of nice springs & a bucket of pinks too boot...sammy

 

[wolf]

YES it was good to see "LUMPY" again been a while I could only imagine what stories he told did he tell you about the time we went x-mas tree hunting????? ask him about that one............

As for fishing still really good finished my clients off (2 day trip)with another GREAT day 4 springs again 17 to 24 lbs to go with there others yesterday including there tyee.

Looks like its going to be a tad bumpy today though....

Wolf

 

[sammyslabber]

X-mas trees?? don't recall that one...the one that really stood out was a hunting trip with your Pops ...something like his bed spinning out of control!!... maybe as a result of too much libation... "Lumpy" ending up in your Pop's bunk with the usuall result of too much/too quick...oh maybe also getting Pop's VW stuck & the ensuing after-math of a winch & rather Lrg. screwdriver being propelled @ mach1 (ouch)...Tell me has he been asked to take part in any further family trips??...sammy

 

[Karma-Kazi]

Well the fish are out there but again having a hard time keeping them on the line going 0/8 the last three trips all on fish that were high teens or bigger. Landed a fw smaller springs in the 10-14 pound range and let them go, over 15 sockeye and 6 wild coho and more pinks then I can count. Been one of my most sucessfull summer of fishing but my Hit to land Ratio seems down more then other years? Could this be somthing to do with the amount of bait that is around? Are the fish just not feeding agressivly? Strange well im going to try Dummy flashers and shorter leads from the rigger. We shall see.

Even had a beauty spring rip the line from the downrigger while I was dropping it right around the 50 ft mark and it came to the surface and was splashing behind the boat for a minute or two and got off.

-Steve Back out this weekend to tweak the system!