Sooke Reports - Spring and Summer 2012

[sammyslabber]

AND IT RAINED...
It rained so much I was wet before I hit the boat, oh well at least it was warm.

If today’s outing proves to be the end of Coho season, it will have gone out with a BANG Son & I got into them from the start, we hit our 1[SUP]st [/SUP]a nice hatch. The 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] & 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] were also hatches then a double header, the first of many… While taking full advantage of the U.S. hatchery program, we hummed a few bars of the “Star Spangled Banner “ In all we hit a dozen or so hatches. We decided to take it easy on “the unclipped” keeping one around 10lbs.

On a negative note, we somehow lost our killer combo while releasing a wild, someone wasn’t paying attention to the open cross lock On a positive note we finished the day with yet another Humpback show.

BTW Reelfast the only chatter we heard all day had an American accent

 

[Tsquared]

"While taking full advantage of the U.S. hatchery program, we hummed a few bars of the “Star Spangled Banner “
I favour God Bless America.
T2

 

[reelfast]

funny that you guys are hitting the hatchery fish. the last trips i made to pack the freezer before pulling REELFAST were all unclipped. they could be fish from a tribal hatchery, you know they don't follow the rules for clipping, but it has been a pretty frantic and weird Coho season with unclipped far more frequent, maybe 25-1. i have not had this great a Coho season for decades. something different happened somewhere along the line, maybe less interception on the ocean, i don't know, but the abundance of fish has been astonishing. i really don't think this is a hatchery phenomena as the production at all of the hatheries continues to be reduced slowly and steadily because of the impact on ESA listed fish.

nice to hear my candian friends have hung up the party line mic and started focusing on fishing. not sure who is out there on this side of the line as the old hands have put their gear away for the season. but the ramp parking lots are still jam packed on the weekends so lots and lots of people cashing in on this crazy good season.

as an aside, they have now spotted pinks spawning in the Elwha. could this foretell pinks every year in the strait?? should be interesting to watch what happens in 2 years.

 

[Rockfish]

Lots of Hatchery Feeders out there right off Sooke. In the last 3 trips out for Coho we picked up a total of 6 with little effort and time and 3 of them were clipped . We were getting them in about 400 to 525 feet of water column but deep - down 145 to 195 feet on a 20 lb ball on both glow spoons and glow plastic. Have not even tried the usual winter style fishing - right on the bottom in 100 to 140 feet of water. The ones we have been hitting have been in the 4 to 7 lb range but heard of someone getting a 15 a couple of days ago. Still lots of nice big Coho out their but only hit two clipped in the last 3 times out. Have been using some large spoons at times to try and keep off the smaller 5 or 6 lb Coho. There also seems to be a lot of grilse around (both Coho and Springs), much more than a few years back so that looks good for the future.

 

[trendsetter]

i have not had this great a Coho season for decades. something different happened somewhere along the line, maybe less interception on the ocean, i don't know, but the abundance of fish has been astonishing. i really don't think this is a hatchery phenomena as the production at all of the hatheries continues to be reduced slowly and steadily because of the impact on ESA listed fish.

My theory is that the earthquake / tsunami in Japan in 2011 is the reason for the huge coho returns this year. A large portion of their fishing fleet would've been disabled for the summer 2011 fishing season allowing for much higher ocean survival. Same thing for the over abundance of 3 and 4 year old american hatchery chinook that returned along WCVI this spring and summer.

Of course that it just a theory....

 

[Chero]

Fished in the Derby Saturday, caught a picture of this guy after he rolled on his side within meters of our boat before his big dive. Caught one hatch 7lb and released a dozen wild between 6 and 8 lbs all on green glow and purple haze squirts anywhere from 60 ft to 110 ft out between 500 and 550 ft mark. Congrats to Richard, the Crab Shack and all the volunters for putting on this fundrasier. Great idea on donating fish to the food bank also.

 

[trendsetter]

Are there any significant numbers of coho left around these days? I'm considering a final trip out tomorrow if the winds die down. Probably fishing out of pedder bay to beechy.

 

[Tailspin]

550 to 600 mark Fraser to the Head was non stop yesterday, 55-90 feet. Numerous double and triple headers. Any glow hootchies did the trick! Coho to 12 lbs

 

[trendsetter]

View attachment 5082550 to 600 mark Fraser to the Head was non stop yesterday, 55-90 feet. Numerous double and triple headers. Any glow hootchies did the trick! Coho to 12 lbs

Awesome report! I think I'm gunna go for it. Thanks!

 

[GDW]

I think the coho will be there for another few weeks. Im not sure why everyone thinks the moment a rain drop falls they all disappear.

 

[trendsetter]

I think the coho will be there for another few weeks. Im not sure why everyone thinks the moment a rain drop falls they all disappear.

yeah I would expect they'd be around until the end of October like last year. Just wanted to check because it's an expensive trip for me to come from the mainland.

 

[007]

Thanks for the updates

 

[Lipripper]

Thanks for the updates

Why are you even here?

Wouldn't Q have better intel for you?

 

[Doug]

Fishing for Coho is still great, Lots of action with glow gear at 90'. out in the deep water, 450'+

Thanks Tail Spin for the up date, your suggestions worked great.

 

[trendsetter]

Spent the day in Sooke coho fishing. Lots of fun. Played about 15 fish from 8am to 3pm. Most action for me was down deep 130ft in 500-550ft of water off secretary. Out off beechy in 500ft of water 90ft was the key depth. Glow hootchies and bait got similar results but bait out performed by a slim margin.

Bonked 2 hatch hos, one wild and one hatch spring. Lots of shakers out there so check your lines often.

Beauty conditions today. Some big swells but no chop most of the day.

 

[Rockfish]

The rain has certainly not hurt the Coho fishing. In fact it is better than ever. Was out today and dropped the first rod down 60 feet in 200 feet of water. Could not even get the 2nd rod down before the first went off hard. It was like that all day and glow UV Plastic and 60 feet down work very well although we did get a clipped Coho down 165 feet while trying for Springs. Did not even go out past 400 feet. Early it was overcast but not foggy and flat with little wind. As the day went on some wide rollers came up and got bigger and bigger as the day went on and by afternoon were fairly impressive for Sooke, especially since there was little local wind. They were crashing on Possession and even the Spit and making high sprays. Surfed back in on them.

 

[Tailspin]

Fishing for Coho is still great, Lots of action with glow gear at 90'. out in the deep water, 450'+

Thanks Tail Spin for the up date, your suggestions worked great.

No Prob, I should have left the boat in as the Prawning in the inlet is awful! Not a prawn in 8 traps yesterday, thats a first

 

[wolf]

YES VERY good fishing for the last 2 days found depth from 49 to 125 ft was good got them on bait, hootchie and what was the best was the mini baitrix strip at 75 ft was good both days today bait not as good today but still hitting 20 + coho per day and they are a nice size just a ***** trying for hatchery releasing these wilds...

 

[GDW]

Don't you like it when the wilds loop your leader around themselves about 15 revolutions and tie a few knots in the process? I've had a couple fish I had to bring on board and cut the leader to pieces before removing the hooks and releasing the fish. The most memorable one the fish and the flasher were tied together and the clip off the flasher was bent straight open.

I've caught a few with deep marks obviously from being twisted in somebody's line so I suppose even those fish have a chance to survive. I don't mind the hatch only rule in general but DFO needs to be flexible. This is one of the bigger runs in recent history there are more then enough fish to allow the retention of some wilds and there has been all season. Why has there been no movement to allow more then 1 wild and why did wilds stay closed until oct 1st. Can anyone come up with a reasonable explanation? It sounds like even tiny creeks are getting good returns so far conservation is not the issue here.

 

[chris73]

Setting aside the discussion if the current rentention regs actually help conservation, wouldn't it be prudent to wait a few years and fish generations until such a coho abundance is a regular occurance before we start whacking them full tilt? Just saying, control your greed. Everyone despite the current regs should have caught plenty of retainable fish for personal use, not?