Vancouver Salt

[Fishallspec]

Getting pretty discouraged here!!! Went out yesterday to the Cap. all the boys were there,Predator etc. I only saw one fish caught. The charter boys were mostly fishing shallow I'm thinkin' Coho but I saw no keepers. Not a sniff all day,granted wind was up and water was pretty brown. These fish have to show soon. The North Arm had a couple guys out there in some pretty lumpy water.Wonder how they did? I am in Steveston,I haven't heard yet how the Native opening is going , but man, no fish and they are letting (anyone) commercial fish is just SAD.On a positive note we got a few crab and cooked 'em up and ate them right in the driveway in the front yard the fresh crab smell had alot of people walking by hungry I'm sure!!

 

[fishin_magician]

Hey Fishallspec. I was out yesterday. Yes..the boys were all there, and the charter boats where whining on the radio like the ocean was a desert. Well....there were plenty of fish to be caught and I have another boat that was fishing in the area with me--Montego...buddy..that was fun yesterday morning... I bagged a high teens, lost a high twenties/low thirties (got a fantastic look at it about 30 feet from the boat early in the fight) after 10 minutes on the double header--had to scream at another boat to turn off ---I put the rod back in the holder...reel just howling...netted my buddies 19, went back to the other rod...gained tons of line...but then never did catch up fully..and a head shake with a bit of slack...and bye bye (man was I ticked off!!!!).....I won't post the rest of the stats as it's enough to make most people out there sick..but I witnessed 6 other boats catch fish..mind you I was focussed on fishing and waiting for the next bite. The size of the Coho has tapered off. I also hooked and released a 6lb Sockeye..and there were some pinks in the mix there too.

Notes, I was fishing 6 rods, 3 per downrigger, 3 hootchies, 3 small Gibbs Gypsy spoons. Colour selection was key... Action was best between 7 am and 12 pm. We got the springs after 11 am. I had 4.0 Coyotes on in the same colours...didn't do nothing with those, moved to smaller size lures. My buddy was rolling 'Chovies for kicks, and he was doing fine as well. Montego reported a quad of Cohos right around the time we packed it in, having left the drinks and eats at home...DOH!

Going to have to get the radio fixed, it won't receive!

Fishallspec...one of the keys...don't tail the boats around that are catching nothing in the pack...move away from them..fish some different water, everyone was fishing in the WRONG depth!

Back at the launch I know why a few of the guys aren't catch anything...not with hootchies on 42" leaders on 20 lb test you're not..you gotta be moving at 3.5 to 4 mph with that set up for Cohos.
Shorten the leaders up quite a bit!!!!! Cohoes at West Van like lots of action...especially when they show up! When I gave them a friendly bit of advice, they blew me off like I was some kinda bozo...well..enjoy catching nothing JERKS! I was trying to be helpful and sporting!

By the way guys, make sure you're netting a Pink or Spring before you net those fish, there are a few wild Coho out there with unclipped adipose fins!

Can hardly wait to get out again...

 

[TheBigGuy]

Hi, FM.

Glad to hear someones getting some action. I went out Friday afternoon by myself. Had three fish on that I lost (not very big 3-5 lbs) and landed two undersize springs (3 lbs). While I was playing one of the fish I noticed my rigger cable starting to pull out line. WTF, I was thirty feet off bottom, how was I hooked up. Looked around, fifty feet away was a commercial crab float. Damn those commercial traps, I guess the line was well off bottom between the traps they had strung along the bottom. Landed the fish, released it, then had to try and get my gear off the stringer line. Luckily I got my gear back. Sure made life interesting, as I had no one to help out. That was unfortunately the most excitement for the day.

FYI, it also looked like they had the nets out off the North Arm. Keep your eyes open for nets if your running off the river mouth.

 

[Fishallspec]

FM what boat were you on? One guy held up a nice one to show us @ around 10:30 .I was fishing in the 50-100' range. Talked to a local "expert" buddy of mine and he came up with a similar suggestion, my leaders (4-5') were all toooooo long he said . I was running 4 rods with chovies,purple haze hootchie,and cop cars. Sometimes it's like winning the loterey out there.I was on my 18'Boston Whaler Outrage named" AMAZUR" give me a shout next time if you see me. Theres always next weekend......

 

[Nerka]

So FM what are the right depths?

nerka

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by Nerka

So FM what are the right depths?

nerka

Ummmm...most people were fishing too close to shore...that's what I meant by that.

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by Fishallspec

FM what boat were you on? One guy held up a nice one to show us @ around 10:30 .I was fishing in the 50-100' range. Talked to a local "expert" buddy of mine and he came up with a similar suggestion, my leaders (4-5') were all toooooo long he said . I was running 4 rods with chovies,purple haze hootchie,and cop cars. Sometimes it's like winning the loterey out there.I was on my 18'Boston Whaler Outrage named" AMAZUR" give me a shout next time if you see me. Theres always next weekend......

I saw you guys out there. The other boat that got one I think was Mongoose Striker...heard he or another Horseshoe Bay boat tagged a decent spring yesterday as well. I was the only boat fishing 6 rods ....now there's a test of observation for ya.....musta looked like a porcupine!

When I joined the forum, someone asked me the same question and unfortunately I declined to answer at that time because I'd rather remain anonymous on the water. Goes back to couple of people who decided they'd violate my privacy and follow me around and before I knew it..there were 40 boats on the area when there would have been 3 boats..got to love radios and word of mouth. Since that time I've never divulged what boat I have or what boat I'm fishing on. Sorry.

 

[Salmon Smoker]

I was off Ambleside Sunday morning. 9am caught a 30lb spring. (got the burn on my palm from the reel to prove it)
I need a bigger net and a bigger cooler! Had to go into the gas bar and buy 7 bags of ice.

One more bite around 11am, then I had some boat problems and went home to clean my fish.
I'm not the first to hook the fish. In it's stomach was an anchovie rig. I'll tie on some fresh leader and add that to my gear.

 

[Despy]

FM,
I`m curious how many fishing on your boat with 6 lines out and are they all stacked on 2 downriggers? Got to look like a firedrill if you hook into one and I`m sure you must be running electrics at least ?
Going to give it a try tommorrow and see if any more salmon have found there way into our Van waters. Out last sunday and lost a coho close to the boat and a spring in the teens that took the trailing hook with him . Maddening to get them that close to the net and lose them. But that`s fishing !!!![]

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by Despy

FM,
I`m curious how many fishing on your boat with 6 lines out and are they all stacked on 2 downriggers? Got to look like a firedrill if you hook into one and I`m sure you must be running electrics at least ?
Going to give it a try tommorrow and see if any more salmon have found there way into our Van waters. Out last sunday and lost a coho close to the boat and a spring in the teens that took the trailing hook with him . Maddening to get them that close to the net and lose them. But that`s fishing !!!![]

It's quite a bit more work. I'm running electrics, otherwise there's NO WAY I'd even bother...and autostops are appropriately placed. I stack 3 per rigger. When I first started trolling 6 lines in this fashion, there were a few screw ups, ie. fish getting tangled in other lines, etc but after a while you figure out some of the subtleties. You definitely have to change a few things, and you NEVER stop moving unless you're going to net the fish (in certain situations)...even if it's at a total crawl with the throttle all the way back. For Cohoes, you don't have to worry too much, and I don't touch one side of the boat, I leave that rigger and all those rods be. When you get a big fish on, you try to clear the one rigger and if you don't manage to get that done before the fish presents a netting opportunity, tilt the boom up, get the cable out of the way and use that net handle to reach for it if it's ready.

On Saturday, we still had 4 rods fishing, we landed the first spring, had the other rod in the holder just peeling out the line with the second fish on..., and would have been close to landing the 2nd fish as well as it was charging for the boat but I couldn't quite catch up (few precious seconds putting down the net and grabbing the rod) and that gave the fish a bit too much slack.

Turning the boat one way or the other to bring the fish to the side of the boat is key...even hitting neutral for a few seconds.

I've had a few people on board and even fellow guides have said...this is ridiculous...it can be a LOT of work. I've been on charters where we had a double header of springs and I had every person on board with a rod in their hand in an attempt to clear the back of the boat to give 'em a chance to land the fish. Call it organized chaos, a firedrill...or just too much work. When fishing for Sockeye I fish 6 rods all the time, but sockeye are easy..they just reel right into the boat.

 

[flytyer]

did everyone get home yesterday and ice up all those bruises from the waves. Giddy yup cowboys. That was also alot of crap in the water to steer around. Sounded like we were at war yesterday as channel 16 was screaming with cries for help. Just another fun day on the water

[8D][8D]

 

[walleyeguy]

Fishin Magician thanks for sharing the good information!

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by walleyeguy

Fishin Magician thanks for sharing the good information!

You're welcome. Here's some more information. There's still plenty of Cohoes off West Van. We limited last night. Anchovies and Casper the Ghost between 32 and 44 feet. Have a confirmed report of a 30, 22, and 23 this morning at those depths as well on 'Chovies!

 

[flytyer]

Well it was a good day out in West Van today. Saw many fish landed in the boats around today as well as my own. Found chovies, green spoons and lime green squirts worked great. Found the depths between 30 and 46 were the hot zones. I saw a guy out in a 8 foot with an old seagul on it lay into at least a 30, that was fun to watch as he was on a spinning rod. His smile said it all.

[8D]

 

[Dan The Man]

Any reports from the Sandheads??