Victoria 2013 Reports

[Andrew P]

There sure is a lack of report contributions considering how many people on the water...oh well here's mine.

My neighbor, his buddy and I went out off Oak bay for a hali anchor Saturday morning. We put in time but it paid off. 5 hours on the pick. Lots of doggies. We(our wives) had set the time limit for noon....about 5 minutes before it was over the buzzer beater hit and I managed a nice thick 35lb on my grampa's peetz. 13lb and 35. Great day.

 

[spring fever]

Nice fish-great persistence-glad to see you are trying LED's!!

 

[casper5280]

That 3rd picture looks like your trolling for seals or whales there.LOL

 

[GDW]

Nice fish on a peetz Andrew. Find yourself an original peetz roller rod to pair with it. 7-8ft one piece are nice but you might even find a longer one.

 

[Seafever]

Congrats!!......looks like one of those calm, totally west coaster fishing days.......I can almost smell the salt air....

That a wire leader you are running right through the hoochy?

 

[Shepnoir]

Started the morning going for the last of the winters in Whirl for an hour +, to no avail and then swapped over to hali east of Race. Three from 15-25 in short order. Fish taken on everything from belly to whole herring. Nothing huge but great on the Q last night. Took buddy and father in law for a anchor lesson which was perfect in the nice current and calm seas. Seemed like everyone was into fish back at the dock too. No doggies for us Andrew, must all be further east. Lots of boats anchored up in some new spots. Good to see people trying new holes and spreading out a bit more. That said, saw a couple VERY interesting anchoring techniques and of course the token absolute gong show at the ramp. Ah yes, good to have spring back!!

 

[fish stalker]

was out from 12-5 off oak bay. Second time out for hali Once I thought felt a good tug and thought I was 'setting the hook' but nothing either a snag or I ripped the hook out. Somthing was nibbling and tugging twice pretty good for a minute. I have never felt a bite or set a hook in a hali so not sure what to expect? I heard you have to wait for a tug then they swallow and take off, then set? Mabey I should use circle as they set themselves? using a J hook leadhead jig with squid tail. ALso fancy looking thing. Got caught in some nasty swells and wind on the way back in. I wasnt to worried until my boyfriend starting to freak out. People around seemed to be doing pretty well for salmon.

 

[reelfast]

circle hooks, 10/0! put the rod in the holder, when the tip goes down and stays down, take the rod out of the holder, start crankin', so simple even a cave man gets the idea.

 

[fshnfnatic]

Just back from a hali trip off Pedder Bay. On the pick and lines down by 8:30. Stuck it out till 1:30 when the wind picked
up,but no luck.Half a dozen boats around us,and only saw 1 small one caught all day. 0 for 2 now. Our time should be
due soon I hope! Still a beauty day on the water,so won't complain.

 

[jaymasta]

I was out on Friday with my dad 11-4 and nothing lots of boats out saw a small halibut at the boat launch and someone gutting a 4 foot long halibut in there driveway on my way home. We tried almost everything, I had an anchovy on one rod most of the time and was swapping out spoons, hoochies, baitrix, UV, Glo etc... Lol mostly fishing 20-40 feet off the ground but I started trying everything from 2-4 and switching out one rod every 20 mins. I really wanted to catch dinner, I would have settled for a pink that day lol 3rd time out this year and nothing yet... As fshnfnatic put it our time should be soon =)

 

[jaymasta]

was out from 12-5 off oak bay. Second time out for hali Once I thought felt a good tug and thought I was 'setting the hook' but nothing either a snag or I ripped the hook out. Somthing was nibbling and tugging twice pretty good for a minute. I have never felt a bite or set a hook in a hali so not sure what to expect? I heard you have to wait for a tug then they swallow and take off, then set? Mabey I should use circle as they set themselves? using a J hook leadhead jig with squid tail. ALso fancy looking thing. Got caught in some nasty swells and wind on the way back in. I wasnt to worried until my boyfriend starting to freak out. People around seemed to be doing pretty well for salmon.

I'm with ya fish stalker, I've tried drifting for halibut a half dozens times at least, I've probably burned through $100 worth of bait and lures or more, with nothing but a couple rock fish that usually get pulled up lifeless =( I've almost got an anchor setup complete though so I will try that soon and hopefully have better luck being able to anchor set lines sit and relax.

 

[NautiGirl]

busy on the water saturday. out at 730 off oak bay and just kept motoring past the parking lot of hali boaters until other side of shipping lanes. about 45 minutes in I decided to drop the rod and tap bottom. Put the rod back in the holder and it doubled over into the water and peeled some line off. wincher her up and a few short runs, then it was docile coming up beside the boat where if got a quick eyeball estimate aginst my hali limit duct tape line. My new crew made good work with the harpoon, snipped his gills and gave him a solid wood shampoo. High fives all around and it measured up at 47 inches and nice and thick. That might have been my 4 footer someone saw in the driveway near cattle point. It took awhile to slice and dice it. Anyway, after the hali, we tried a bit longer there, then went to constance for one pass along the west end to pick up a little cookie cutter feeeder spring, then we called it a day at 1.

Today went out on a friends boat east of Discovery, way too early at 6 because he wanter a special spot. tide was ripping too fast so I had coffee for an hour, then dropped lines. 2 hours that spot nothing. Got calls from 2 friends nearby they both had hali and heading in for the day. moved the boat over. fished another hour. another call from someone east of discovery got 2 hali and heading in. by this point my friend was getting a bit jealous. pulled anchor and decided to drift in 175 ft east of ten mile point. stopped the boat and my rod was first in the water with spreader bar, blue and yellow glow hootchie and 2 salmon bellies. tap bottom twice and BAM, fish on. and very pissed about it. Classic harpoon **** show as the tip got stuck and just punctured the fish twice before it worked. Several runs, but 24lbs more hali in the boat. Stuck around for a bit and no mor bites on the drift. Back to the ramp around 1.

This was my hali redemption weekend after my guests catching fish on my boat, but my guests also pooching the gaffing and harpoon jobs and losing my fish for years. I celebrated with a big bowl of halibut ceviche. Yum.

Spring jackass ramp action today as a boater had retrieved his boat and his trailer was so rusted that it bent near the bow of the boat. so he jacked it up and splinted it with driftwood and 1/4 nylon rope to hold it together. I later saw him drive past my house with this dangerous rig. If anyone saw a truck with half a trailer or a white hourston on half a trailer near an intersection in Victoria, that would likely be the guy as it looked ready to snap.

 

[jaymasta]

busy on the water saturday. out at 730 off oak bay and just kept motoring past the parking lot of hali boaters until other side of shipping lanes. about 45 minutes in I decided to drop the rod and tap bottom. Put the rod back in the holder and it doubled over into the water and peeled some line off. wincher her up and a few short runs, then it was docile coming up beside the boat where if got a quick eyeball estimate aginst my hali limit duct tape line. My new crew made good work with the harpoon, snipped his gills and gave him a solid wood shampoo. High fives all around and it measured up at 47 inches and nice and thick. That might have been my 4 footer someone saw in the driveway near cattle point. It took awhile to slice and dice it. Anyway, after the hali, we tried a bit longer there, then went to constance for one pass along the west end to pick up a little cookie cutter feeeder spring, then we called it a day at 1.

Today went out on a friends boat east of Discovery, way too early at 6 because he wanter a special spot. tide was ripping too fast so I had coffee for an hour, then dropped lines. 2 hours that spot nothing. Got calls from 2 friends nearby they both had hali and heading in for the day. moved the boat over. fished another hour. another call from someone east of discovery got 2 hali and heading in. by this point my friend was getting a bit jealous. pulled anchor and decided to drift in 175 ft east of ten mile point. stopped the boat and my rod was first in the water with spreader bar, blue and yellow glow hootchie and 2 salmon bellies. tap bottom twice and BAM, fish on. and very pissed about it. Classic harpoon **** show as the tip got stuck and just punctured the fish twice before it worked. Several runs, but 24lbs more hali in the boat. Stuck around for a bit and no mor bites on the drift. Back to the ramp around 1.

This was my hali redemption weekend after my guests catching fish on my boat, but my guests also pooching the gaffing and harpoon jobs and losing my fish for years. I celebrated with a big bowl of halibut ceviche. Yum.

Spring jackass ramp action today as a boater had retrieved his boat and his trailer was so rusted that it bent near the bow of the boat. so he jacked it up and splinted it with driftwood and 1/4 nylon rope to hold it together. I later saw him drive past my house with this dangerous rig. If anyone saw a truck with half a trailer or a white hourston on half a trailer near an intersection in Victoria, that would likely be the guy as it looked ready to snap.

Nice fish haha, if u need help getting rid of it pm me

 

[DE 185]

PM sent jaymasta

 

[Falcon]

Was out on the water yesterday straight out (almost) from Pedder Bay. Anchored in 250' of water, we hooked up with two little 16 pound chickens. Made for great fish and chips!

 

[Old Seadog]

Was out on the water yesterday straight out (almost) from Pedder Bay. Anchored in 250' of water, we hooked up with two little 16 pound chickens. Made for great fish and chips!

Nice Chickens, they are the best to eat.

 

[fshnfnatic]

Nice eaters there,Falcon.Sounds like you were around the same area we were yesterday.Like a lot of things in life,it's
all in the timing!!

 

[Adler]

Hey Jaymasta and Stalker, I too have been going hard at drifting for hali, trying some key spots and all the right gear, I think. Had some luck last year, with a chicken in the boat and a beaut lost at the boat, but in 6 devoted days out this year, nothing yet. Out yesterday near Albert Head and today off Oak Bay, heard lots were coming in and saw a few at Esquimalt Anglers. Thinking about looking into the anchor option (will need to do a lot of research and get some training!), but I can tell you, I"m sure looking forward to putting in some solid days for salmon in the next month.

 

[GDW]

Had good luck a couple months ago with an on the water report so lets try again. Out at 7 am crab traps down and off to oak bay.

4 hits for us so far but we lost a couple so still looking for more. One other boat was out early and they were getting good action from what we saw too. Just waiting for a double header....

Edit: well no updates unfortunately we didn't get any other action. And only 2 keeper crabs on an 8 hour soak.

 

[JustFishing]

Heading out tomorrow morning,

Is Oak bay a safer bet than constance right now?


I fished Oak bay on the weekend and ran into one fish in about 3 hrs. Pin popper but lost it. Seals were everywhere.


-JF