Tales From The Tyee Pool......2021..

A short report this morning as we have a new Tyee, number 20.

Also had five or six unders come in last night.

My rod-holder and I retained our perfect record of hooking up every time he has been in my boat, although we lost the one tonight boat-side, but no big deal as we would have released it anyway. It was a low 20's fish but a scrappy little devil and Merv seemed to enjoy himself immensely.

We also had to cut off our plugs twice as there was some problems with a boat and a fish on not making much effort to tow their fish out of the pool the first time. We got our plug back and they finally got their fish, a 28 pounder.

The other time was again having a fish run back inside and cross our line so again we quickly sorted things out and cut off our plug to expedite the hooked-up crew's ability to continue on fighting their fish.
Don't know if they got it or not as I was trying, unsuccessfully, to tie one of the plugs back on.
Couldn't do it in the dark and forgot I had a flashlight in my kit.

And here they are, a new member for the club and it was that Mike Stutzel guy again and this time he rowed his Dad, Walter.
33 lbs. and taken on a plug.
Good stuff Mike.
You are hot his year.
Tyee20.jpg



Take care.
 
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Been busy all day so far and just now getting caught up, only to discover another Tyee registered late last night.

Congratulations to new member Bob Barrett for finally making it in with a nice little 31 1/2 pounder.
Bob was rowed by Rick Joubert, who got the first Tyee of the year, and their fish fell for a plug.

Good going men.

Tyee21.jpg

That is Tyee number 21 for the season, and a nice one too.




Take care.
 
Here we are at another Hump Day and we finally had some action from my boat insofar as hooking up goes.

I've already mentioned the hook-up but lost at the boat fish Merv and I enjoyed Monday evening, and last night proved every bit as much fun plus we got a fish in the boat, first one this year.

I had two old pals out, one already a member and one not, so I gave the not a member my best plug while the other guy tried out a plug given to him by another old pal, as a sign of respect for it being a gift.

As we approached "bitey time" we were fishing well and my good plug was working well, so it was not a surprise to get a good hit on it, immediately countered with a good strike and we were on, but not for long as the line clearly broke when Bill applied some pressure trying to snub the initial run of the fish.
I was dismayed at this having happened as I have new line and had just tied on that plug a couple of hours earlier, so it should not have been that easy to break off. I was both puzzled and pissed off, but these things happen so I quickly recovered.

A post-mortem revealed that Bill had somehow fumbled the last weed check and the weight must have fallen through a loop in the line, resulting in a knot in the line that was the weak spot that broke.
I despaired as I couldn't spot our plug floating anywhere and it was getting darker quite quickly.
In a very fortunate twist, a neighboring boat spotted our drifting plug, rescued it and brought it back to us.
A very big THANK YOU to that crew and apologies for not getting your names.

So, we had the good plug back but no fish and, after an hour or so of towing the gifted plug, I switched my other rod-holder, Karl, to my other good plug and we got back in the pack and continued on.
Nearing nine o'clock Karl allowed as to we could look at jagging it in for the evening, to which I responded that a bit longer would be great until I could find a seam we could row in through without disturbing the rest of the pack.
Less than two minutes later I pulled hard on the right oar, intending to turn towards the beach but before I could inform my crew Karl reared back at a good strike and we were hooked up again, and to a scrapper, too.

I noted it was just after nine, perhaps a minute or two past, and I got the pleasure of yelling FISH ON!! once again.
I rowed as quickly as possible out of the pool as we had a good clear area to go through and the fish simply ran, and ran, and ran.
We seriously thought we had a good one, perhaps even a Tyee.

15 minutes later and the fish was still fairly distant and fighting deep down, as opposed to an earlier fish we saw hooked that jumped four or five times less than 20 feet from the boat that had hooked it before coming loose. It was a small fish but fought like it was an offspring of Leaping Lena, a fish lost from my boat a few years ago after five jumps. It was great fun to watch.

But back to Karl and his battle with our current fish.
Another five minutes or so and it was clear Karl was winning, although the fish was stubborn as could be and came close a couple of times before running away again, but always in a sounding manner. No jumps.

Eventually the fish came near enough I thought I'd have a good chance at netting it, if only I could see it.
Did I mention it was dark?

With keen help from Bill, if not a keen eye, I spotted the fish as Karl led it alongside and I scooped it on the first try.
Bill helped and we hucked it into the boat where it landed at my feet.
I knew it was too small to be a Tyee but the length of fight and strength of the fish made it seem that it had to be bigger to my pals, and they thought it might be close, but I knew better.
Not wanting to land it at the clubhouse and bug Bob over an obvious under I convinced my crew to motor us back to our mooring spot and then they could take the fish over to be cleaned and all that, so that's what we did.

On the hand-held scale it came in at 23 or 24 lbs. which is not noteworthy at all, except it was only the second fish in my boat the past two years, something I'm irked about a bit, but all I can do is keep on trying for myself and then hope that that Mike Stutzel guy stops catching Tyee that were possibly destined for my boat.

So, not a Tyee but lots of fun regardless and here is my happy pal with his little one from last night.
RSCN6875.JPG

I feel so much better to finally boat another fish that I think I'll row a Tyee tonight to celebrate.

It could happen.




Take care.
 
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Thanks for the good wishes. I appreciate them.

Last evening was a nice row but nothing for us, but some more "newbies" scored as we now have 22 Tyee on the board with the one from last night boated by new member Rob Austin, who was rowed by rookie rower Mark Trenholm. Their 32 1/2 pounder was fooled by a spoon early in the evening at a bit after 7:30.

And here they are with their beauty catch.

Well done men.

Tyee22.jpg

Aside from that, we saw a couple of other hook-ups but no other Tyee.

We also witnessed a neat scuffle between two Sealions fighting over a nice chrome Humpy that one had captured.
The other one tried to snatch it away and there was much splashing, flailing, baring of teeth and appendages flapping in the air.
Reminded me of a couple of rod-holders I've had trying to get out of my boat.
Fun to watch but probably not helpful to the fishing, having a couple of those brutes in the pool, the Sealions, not my rod-holders.

Weather permitting we'll take another whack at it tonight, with the eternal hope that TONIGHT is the night. LOL

Story of my life.




Take care.
 
first time fisher in the pool last night, rowed by guide Rick Hackinen. great experience, was next to the boat who caught the tyee when the fish hit. they peeled out fast and the fight was hard as you could hear the reel screaming and the fish was jumping and thrashing at the surface around the boats at quite a distance before it was brought under control. focused back on fishing and a short while later heard the bell and the numbers and Rick said, it was the boat next to us. wish it was us instead but an exciting night out there.
 
Saturday morning but little to report regarding new Tyee as none were registered last night or this morning so far.

But, Bob just told me about a fish that came in last night after the angler had bled it.
It weighed 29 lbs. and 14 ounces on the scale.
Would the weight of blood lost have made the difference?

We'll never know, but he may not bleed his next fish now. LOL .

Anyway, had a mysterious cut-off last night as shortly after letting line out and getting back into rhythm Sharon suddenly announced we'd touched bottom, something impossible given where we were at and length of line out. I was puzzled momentarily and then baffled, as the pull of the plug and the four oz weight suddenly was gone and when Sharon reeled in there was nothing left.
I have no idea what cut off our line so neatly, but there it was.
Fortunately a nearby crew spotted our plug and returned it.

A big THANK YOU to them. Much appreciated.

Hoping for a bit less wind tonight as it's a flood tide 'til after dark and a following wind doesn't help at all.

That's it for today so far.

Take care.
 
Good morning all and some more good news for you.

We have two new Tyee registered, #23 and #24.

Number 23 created another new member for the Tyee Club insofar as Shane Roberts had not caught one before.
I must also give him an enormous shout out as he was astute enough to choose that Mike Stutzel guy as his rower, something numerous of my rod-holders now wish they had done.

Anyway, Mike's fourth Tyee of this season so far weighed in at just enough over 30 lbs. and was taken on a plug.

And here they are.
Note the needle on the scale, but it was over 30 and much larger than the one we didn't catch last night.
More on that later.
Tyee23.jpg
Well done men and specially Mike, who has now rowed four Tyee this year and seems a shoo-in for the Dr. Richard Murphy Trophy.

Next we have the 24th. Tyee of the season, caught by Rob Austin who was ably rowed by Mark Trenholm, who obviously has a hot spoon as both Tyee he has rowed have been taken on a spoon and both boated by Rob.
It weighed 35 lbs. Note needle on scale.
Good going guys.

Tyee24.jpg

I had high hopes for my boat last night as I'd hooked Merv up on Monday and then Bill and Karl on Tuesday, struck out on Wed. with Owen, didn't row Thursday, struck out on Friday with Sharon, although she did absorb her boat handling lessons well and didn't smash into the dock when we came in after dark.

But in my mind's eye I felt Saturday night would be a good one as I had a rod-holder from last year who hooked up his first time ever out in the pool and might still have a vestige of beginner's luck left as we'd lost it boat-side so technically hadn't caught one yet.
With less wind than the previous couple of nights it looked like everything was falling into place for a big Saturday night showing and I even mentally rehearsed how we'd take our fish from the boat to the scale, Garner carrying it of course.

Alas, despite my usual magnificent job of rowing us about without ramming anyone or getting our line tangled with someone who had a fish on, my rod-holder failed me and we had nary a strike. Tried both plugs that had worked Monday and Tuesday, worked them both ways, against the current and with the current, but nada for us. I'm obviously jinxed this year.

Despite our lack of strikes there was no shortage of them when the "bite" came on and we were close to a couple of boats that hooked up so had a front row seat while witnessing the different ways rowers react when they get bit.
It might have been Ken Marr that hooked up nearby and rowed strongly without stopping in order to pull their fish from the pool, but it was a great example of how to do it once you've hooked up. A tip of my hat to you.

I cannot say the same for another rower who I don't know the name of, but taking a few hard pulls on the oars and then stopping rowing so you can watch where the fish is going while shouting warnings is only half of what needs to be done, you need to continue rowing out, preferably at a bit of a diagonal into the current while your rod-holder pressures the fish as best they can.
It's a rare fish that cannot be moved out of the pool and I'd like to see more effort put into getting them out asap after hooking up.
Next, I've noticed and encountered a couple of situations where someone is hooked up but there was no cry of FISH ON to alert nearby rowers and I've almost rowed into their field of play.
When you hook up please don't keep it a secret.
I will row away and pull our lines as quickly as I can when alerted, but we need to be alerted.
It's as simple as that.
Lastly, I can't help but notice a few still think that motoring in after dark means they can flash up while still 100 feet offshore rather than rowing in to the beach where it's legal to motor.
Blatant offender last night but I don't know who.
Sad when a few can't follow pretty basic and straightforward rules.

Anyway, despite my lack of success regarding Tyee, I still have people willing to endure a couple of hours in my boat trying to break my dry spell so will venture forth once again this evening, wind permitting of course.

That's all for now.



Take care.
 
Good morning all and some more good news for you.

We have two new Tyee registered, #23 and #24.

Number 23 created another new member for the Tyee Club insofar as Shane Roberts had not caught one before.
I must also give him an enormous shout out as he was astute enough to choose that Mike Stutzel guy as his rower, something numerous of my rod-holders now wish they had done.

Anyway, Mike's fourth Tyee of this season so far weighed in at just enough over 30 lbs. and was taken on a plug.

And here they are.
Note the needle on the scale, but it was over 30 and much larger than the one we didn't catch last night.
More on that later.
View attachment 69788
Well done men and specially Mike, who has now rowed four Tyee this year and seems a shoo-in for the Dr. Richard Murphy Trophy.

Next we have the 24th. Tyee of the season, caught by Rob Austin who was ably rowed by Mark Trenholm, who obviously has a hot spoon as both Tyee he has rowed have been taken on a spoon and both boated by Rob.
It weighed 35 lbs. Note needle on scale.
Good going guys.

View attachment 69789

I had high hopes for my boat last night as I'd hooked Merv up on Monday and then Bill and Karl on Tuesday, struck out on Wed. with Owen, didn't row Thursday, struck out on Friday with Sharon, although she did absorb her boat handling lessons well and didn't smash into the dock when we came in after dark.

But in my mind's eye I felt Saturday night would be a good one as I had a rod-holder from last year who hooked up his first time ever out in the pool and might still have a vestige of beginner's luck left as we'd lost it boat-side so technically hadn't caught one yet.
With less wind than the previous couple of nights it looked like everything was falling into place for a big Saturday night showing and I even mentally rehearsed how we'd take our fish from the boat to the scale, Garner carrying it of course.

Alas, despite my usual magnificent job of rowing us about without ramming anyone or getting our line tangled with someone who had a fish on, my rod-holder failed me and we had nary a strike. Tried both plugs that had worked Monday and Tuesday, worked them both ways, against the current and with the current, but nada for us. I'm obviously jinxed this year.

Despite our lack of strikes there was no shortage of them when the "bite" came on and we were close to a couple of boats that hooked up so had a front row seat while witnessing the different ways rowers react when they get bit.
It might have been Ken Marr that hooked up nearby and rowed strongly without stopping in order to pull their fish from the pool, but it was a great example of how to do it once you've hooked up. A tip of my hat to you.

I cannot say the same for another rower who I don't know the name of, but taking a few hard pulls on the oars and then stopping rowing so you can watch where the fish is going while shouting warnings is only half of what needs to be done, you need to continue rowing out, preferably at a bit of a diagonal into the current while your rod-holder pressures the fish as best they can.
It's a rare fish that cannot be moved out of the pool and I'd like to see more effort put into getting them out asap after hooking up.
Next, I've noticed and encountered a couple of situations where someone is hooked up but there was no cry of FISH ON to alert nearby rowers and I've almost rowed into their field of play.
When you hook up please don't keep it a secret.
I will row away and pull our lines as quickly as I can when alerted, but we need to be alerted.
It's as simple as that.
Lastly, I can't help but notice a few still think that motoring in after dark means they can flash up while still 100 feet offshore rather than rowing in to the beach where it's legal to motor.
Blatant offender last night but I don't know who.
Sad when a few can't follow pretty basic and straightforward rules.

Anyway, despite my lack of success regarding Tyee, I still have people willing to endure a couple of hours in my boat trying to break my dry spell so will venture forth once again this evening, wind permitting of course.

That's all for now.



Take care.
I think mr stutzle shall now be referred to as the ferrier as he has all the horse shoes firmly in place……. Ha … good going mikey you are on it this year buddy!
 
Good day everyone and I hope you all had a great weekend.

Bit of a mixed bag here and mixed emotions personally as I wimped out Sunday night as the wind did not make it look like fun out there so I opted to not go, even though my rod-holders had driven up from Victoria just to fish with me and then drive back home afterwards.
Fortunately, they are understanding types and were really kind about it and I will get them out later, but geeze I felt bad about that.

On a more uplifting emotion, we have another Tyee onboard, #25.
Rowed by Mike Mackie young Raeya, Mike's daughter, boated this 30 1/2 pounder early this morning.
This is not her first Tyee as Mike rowed her to one when she was even younger.

Good going gang!!

Tyee25A.jpg

Check the family resemblance just in those grins.
Great stuff!


Hoping the wind stays down so I can get back out tonight as I have the guy who caught the first Tyee from my boat back in 2012 on his first ever try, and his lady friend who has not tried before.
It would be so neat to get her one on her first try too.

What can I say?
I'm a romantic.




Take care.
 
Good evening all and we have another Tyee to report, #26.

In addition, the lucky angler is another new member of the Tyee Club, which blew my mind as her rower is also her husband so I had assumed she would have caught one before, given her husband is Jim Clowes, a well known and successful rower.

So welcome to the Tyee Club of BC Mrs. Diana Clowes, and a big WELL DONE to Jim for rowing her in.

Here's the happy couple with their nice little fish.


Tyee26.jpg

I had mentioned in my previous post about being a romantic, so this one seems even more special to me, given the man and wife combo scenario. Cool as can be in my book.

I also mentioned I would be having my pal Burt and his gal Jill out tonight and how neat it would be to get her a fish on her first try, like what happened with Burt back in 2012.
Alas, I screwed up and gave her the wrong plug, as it was the one I gave Burt that got bit just after 8:00 PM tonight, a strike among several we witnessed and all around the same time. At one time there were four boats outside the pool fighting fish, something we would have liked to join in on but our fish didn't stay hooked for very long so we didn't get out there.
Jill and I agreed it was Burt's fault the fish got away.
She has a warped sense of humor too.

But it was good to get a strike again and to see the number of fish showing from the bar all the way down the pool towards the old Argonaut wharf.
There has got to be one for me out there somewhere.

Tomorrow night I hope to have one of my original old pals from when I first moved here back in 1962 out with me.
He's born and raised here, a self-made successful businessman, (now retired) and one of the most interesting and hard-working people I know.
I want to get him a Tyee so bad I can't even find the words to describe it.

That's it for now from here.


Take care.
 
One of the always interesting things to me is the number of new members of the Tyee Club of BC that are created each year by virtue of them catching their first Tyee.
This year is no exception, as 16 of the 27 Tyee registered have been from new members, something I noted this morning as I gazed at the board, wishing my name was on it.

Wait a minute, I hear you saying, 27 Tyee?
I thought there were only 26?

It's true, we now have 27 Tyee registered and despite the preponderance of newbies doing just that, this morning features a couple of not newbies who teamed up and caught a nice 33 pounder early this AM, and on a spoon.
I present to you one R.D. Berger, on the left, the rodman for this morning's hijinks, along with Mr. John Woodward, no stranger to the world of Tyee fishing and both an adept angler and not a bad rower either.
Good going gentlemen and a big WELL DONE.

Tyee27.jpg

Hoping the wind stays away and we'll give it another try tonight.






Take care.
 
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