Striking out big time

S

Sangstercraft

Well-Known Member
As a fisherman I hate to admit this, but I've been catching nothing but the bottom since I've been in Victoria. I may be young, but have been fishing my whole life. I've had luck off Parksville, Nootka, Kyuquot, but since I'm living in Vic I've been completely skunked. Spent over $250 on new gear, trying hard, but no luck. Seems like some of the others on this forum are having luck with the halibut. I've been using herring, squid, salmon, power grubs (glow and the white ones), halibut scent juice, glow halibut hootchies, and diamond jigs for the last two weeks but no luck. Been fishing 150-220 feet deep, aiming for slack tide usually. Generally afternoons and evenings. Guess they're really 'location specific', just move around and keep trying. Do you generally jig for 10 minutes in a spot before moving to a new spot, or stay put and the halibut follow the scent to you? Do they bite better in the mornings or evenings? I'd hire a guide for a half day, but that's probably outta my price range. I know how tight-lipped fishermen are so I'm not asking for any secrets, but is there something really obvious that I'm missing out on??
 
Don't feel bad, it takes a while to figure out a new area...
my suggestion, look at a chart and find a spot that looks good
anchor up and drop a herring or a piece of Octopus on a spreader
bar. check current tables.
Ask the locals that fish Constance,Race rocks etc.
Most times the bite is tide specific, I've been out for 4-5 hours and nothing and all of a sudden the tide swings and the bite is on !

just my 2 bits ;)
 
Thanks Craven, yeah there's a learning curve in any new area, just steeper than I expected! I have a 19' sangstercraft with 135hp I/O, sounder, two downriggers, new kicker, radio, lifejackets, etc BUT no fishing buddy yet.

Maybe your boat's still winterized or in the shop, and mine's ready to go, so if anyone wants to come out fishing with me and share some tips, send me a message!
 
Hi Sangster, Welcome to the forum. I know what you mean, I have tried to catch hali's for the last two years and the only one I caught was while trolling for springs. I live in Colwood so I like to fish mostly out of Cheanuh and Pedder Bay. I'm working on getting a anchoring system set up for hali fishing but until I get one I have been drift fishing only. It sounds like you have all the gear a guy needs so I don't think thats the problem. R.S. was talking about the tides and I think that has a lot to do with it. I believe most people who succesfully catch hali's have their own hot spots and gps themselves right on to their spots. drifting around doesn't seem to work for me either. Maybe what a guy has to do is head out during a hali derby and buzz around and punch in everyone's spots on the gps and then the next time out you can pick and choose where to fish....lol. A bit sneeky maybe but I bet it would work....lol.

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!
 
Thanks Ranger. Yeah a GPS is the next piece of equipment I should buy.

I think this weekend if it's decent weather I'll try bobbing around out off Constance bank for the first time, and try my luck there. I've heard both the W and the E sides can produce. I'm not going to anchor w/o a crew member due to the warnings I've heard here. I'll just aim for the slack tide. I might try a slow troll for them if the current's running a bit.

If it's blowing W I'll be on the East side of Discovery. I just use a compass, chart, and sounder at the moment. Not very precise!

I'm in a blue Sangstercraft, so if you see me out there say Hi!
 
I've tried to drift a lot of times for halibut without anchor in Victoria. It was no success. Victorians do well catching halibut with the anchor system and using GPS. I was on two different boats that caught some halibut: one halibut in Bamfield and 3 halibut northwest side of Queen Charlottles Island with success without anchor and GPS system in the past. Big comparison!
 
No Anchor eh. Find a long flat spot around 200 feet. Go out on a good slack. Pop the kicker in reverse to help slow you down. The bluffs in front of Sooke is good for this as well as Jordan River.
 
hey Sangstercraft , keep on plugging away. I am originally from Van but moved over here 20 years ago and went thru the same thing.I almost have the hang of it now! I fish out of Oak Bay ,if you want to go out one day drop me a email and bring lots of beer!

beemer
 
Sangstercraft If you want to head out this weekend I can show you some spots out on the bank, Give me a call if you want to disscuss or get out there 1-250-589-7877 names Bryce
 
Thanks guys, things are picking up.

Beemer took me out and showed me how to catch springs. Thanks man!

Today got 525' of line from an old prawn fisherman which will work fine for a halibut anchor line.

Went out with Bryce today and fished E and W Constance, not a bite. Saw an orca nearby. Trolled for salmon on the flood in but no luck. Beautiful day nonetheless.
 
Just keep pounding away at it. As the very experienced hali fisherman who showed me the ropes said, you just keep going and all of a sudden it just klicks. Keep it simple, you will never go wrong with Herring for bait, don't bother getting exotic until you get into a groove. Find pinnacles, anchor on them at tide changes, and you will be rewarded.

Last Chance Fishing Adventures

www.lastchancefishingadventures.com
www.swiftsurebank.com
 
yep, a familiar tune in the strait when fishing halibut, i sing it all season long myself.

i did attend a presentation by one of the authors of the 'how to catch trophy halibut' book. he did explain that halibut are a deep water spawning fish and that typically happens in the gulf of alaska. the eggs free float with the currents and as the fish mature drifting around the N pacific, they eventually find their way into the strait as youngsters, yes there are exceptions. they are looking for something to eat so tend to move around a bit until they find a spot that produces a food source. if they find such a spot, they tend to hand out for a bit adding poundage before heading back north.

given that, it would tend to lend some credance to why some folks guard GPS coordiates with strict silence, i know i would if i ever found such a feeding location. his advice was simple, you are fishing for individual fish which means you need to keep moving around to locate them. this is way different from fishing further N where anchoring up over good numbers of halibut can produce a catch rate that can be amazing.

i will be watching more intensly for the few boats i know seem to always come up with fish. they can run, but they can't hide :)
 
sounds good. I have a chart and my buddy's got a gps, so we'll try plugging in some coordinates. What sort of depth should the pinnacles be at? 180' - 220' range?

I've been trying the shallower bars that come up out of the deeps. I'll try the sharper pinacles and see how that works. Do you try to fish right on top of the pinacle, or along the side of it? I can't imagine a hali swiming around the top of a pinacle, always figured they'd like to be flat on the ground.
 
if you were a halibut waiting for dinner to drift to you, where would you choose to hang out? i would think edges on the down current side of whatever structure you find. so as the current flow shifts, you need to also shift to the 'other side' of the structure.

if you were a fish, slack current would provide an opportunity to explore a bit and sniff out dinner so having some sent on your drop might not be a bad idea.

any of you use the light sticks or UV lights on your spreaders?
 
hmm, saw some scent containers today at Trotac. I might pick some up next time and put one on the spreader bar. Does anyone have a favorite halibut scent/juice? I've used X-10 with no luck.

This whole thing is turning into frickin rocket science.
 
quote:Originally posted by Sangstercraft

hmm, saw some scent containers today at Trotac. I might pick some up next time and put one on the spreader bar. Does anyone have a favorite halibut scent/juice? I've used X-10 with no luck.

This whole thing is turning into frickin rocket science.
Click to expand...

I've used blue Smelly Jelly a little bit on my weight when in Renfrew, (It does not come off easily) but otherwise, my experience with secret sauces off Victoria/Sooke/Sidney is that hali make like them, but dogfish REALLY like them. Most of them have probably caught more fishermen then fish.


Last Chance Fishing Adventures

www.lastchancefishingadventures.com
www.swiftsurebank.com
 
Don't let it turn into rocket science put a herring on a hook and put it on bottom you can use scent but doesn't the bait your already using have a scent of it's own.
 
yep, doggies just love those big horse hering so the artifical scent we are putting in the current just makes it worse. only solution to doggies is MOVE or maybe switch to a jig.
 
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