What am I doing wrong

[Eastmon]

Hey, I'm pretty new to fishing for salmon here in BC. I've read it all, and I think I've tried it all and can't seem to get any consistant bites.
For a while here it seemed I wasn't the only one, but now when I go out I see guys pulling in fish all around me.
It's got me beat, you wouldn't put a bet on that I'd spend this much time out in the boat following all the basic fundamentals and only catch 2 fish. The funniest thing is guys seem pissed at all the pinks they are catching, I'd be happy with that problem.

 

[Dogbreath]

1-speed it up

 

[capt. crunch]

Go out with a guide or someone you know that has no problem catching. When and where and what you're fishing all make a difference.
Once you got the basics nothing beats time on the water. Cant catch em if your hooks not in the water and I seem to learn something everyday.

 

[capt. crunch]

Go out with a guide or someone you know that has no problem catching. When and where and what you're fishing all make a difference.
Once you got the basics nothing beats time on the water. Cant catch em if your hooks not in the water and I seem to learn something everyday.

 

[capt. crunch]

Do you bring bananas on board? Haha

 

[Eastmon]

Im thinkin they made my boat with some aluminum/banana alloy

 

[Seafever]

Tell us where and how you fish...what you're using etc.....

 

[ericl]

Aluminum on it's own is bad enough; aluminum+saltwater+downrigger cable/ball equals a battery which equals voltage that CAN repel/attract Salmon. This is probably not your main problem though. Depending on where you are fishing, Pinks CAN be difficult to catch.

More information as to where you are fishing, what you are fishing for, how you are fishing (down rigger trolling, mooching, jigging) and what you are using would be helpful.

If you are down rigger trolling, easiest thing to use is a spoon. Troll about 2.5 - 3.5 mph Fish at a depth you see bait on your sounder. If you see no bait, you are either in the wrong spot or have a crummy sounder.

While not quite as foolproof as a spoon, Flasher & Hootchie will usually out fish everything. The rotating Flasher imparts some action.movement to the hootchie. It is my strong opinion that a heavy leader of 50 - 60 lb test be used. At that line test, I use a leader length of 4 time the Flasher blade length which will usually be 44 inches. I also like a single 5/0 Mustad number 95170-ss hook connected to a barrel swivel then the leader. The mylar skirts in UV/Glow colors also help. You should think of the Flasher as adding movement to your lure/bait, and the sound/sight of a feeding Salmon. There are a gazillion colors of flashers out there now, back in the day we only has green & red. I rarely fish Flashers these days, but when i do i use a UV Purple Haze Plaid.

The best tip is to go fishing where the fish are seriously biting, that way you can quickly see if it is you or the fish that is the problem. I got 4 springs to 22 lb on one rod in 45 minutes at the Campbell River hump last August fishing about 200 feet deep. Ucluelet can be phenominal; I have has several days of 30+ quantities on 30+ size that keep me going back every year. Sadly my last year of 30+fish was 2009; back in the 80's - early 90's it was every trip.

 

[mikeyman]

You r not catching many because u r not on my boat...lol...sorry...do your research when u catch a fish think about what u did and repeat it...use braid downrigger cable fish 25-45 deg angle on riggers. Spread your rods at different depths...use anchovy salted and hootchy on other side. 6 ft leader on chovy...40 inch on hootchy. Fish where the fish r.

 

[Kisinana]

fill in some of the blanks and we will see maybe where you might be going wrong,
Where are you fishing?
How deep is the water? Are you following any contours i.e. reefs or shelves
How deep are your lines?
What tackle are you using?
What speed are you doing?
If deep lines how far from release clip to terminal tackle?

 

[chris.heatley1]

There are lots of myths about how dissimilar metals work while fishing. You can rest assured that there isn't a "voltage" or "field" that is relevant to fishing.
I've spent my career working with external corrosion and the galvanic potential most definitely doesn't do what is suggested.
The aluminum and steel will have dissimilar voltages, and if you wire them together you could get a weak DC current, but nothing noticeable

 

[profisher]

Don't tell that to the entire west coast troll fleet... they all had some form of voltage regulators on each gurdy and I've heard many a story about how guys couldn't catch squat until they isolated a short or made some kind of adjustments with zincs etc. I've seen it first hand more than once. One morning in Bamfield and a major all morning bite going off around Brady's beach, 20 plus boats all hitting fish after fish...Gary Mawer couldn't get a sniff...we ended up with 9 springs. Checked his boat for him that afternoon at the dock...he was reading .95 of a volt. Sent him off to Ostrom's with a shopping list and got him down to below .70 without pulling the boat...he caught fish that afternoon. It's happened to me...3 days in a row not a sniff and fish being caught...finally caved and brought my trailer to the marina in the morning...didn't have time to pull the boat for the morning trip...skunked.....told the next group to give me 30 minutes to pull the boat up onto the ramp and start 30 minutes late...explained why...cleaned off the zinc's and made some other adjustments...caught 3 springs that afternoon. The people thanked me for holding them off until I did what I had to do.

 

[ericl]

I am with profisher on this one. I was at a resort where the owner had a Scotty black box on his boat, but his hired guides did not on the boats he provided for them - they complained that he always out fished them for that reason.

Myself, I set the boat up in a manner that minimizes/eliminates electrical relates issues (proper wiring/grounding/bonding in a pro-active manner.

 

[spring fever]

Switch to braid-isolate with a snubber-should be no worries.

 

[chris.heatley1]

Your definitely right when using steel downriggers which are electrically continuous with the boats hull (direct metal to metal contact)
For Scotty down riggers which are mounted on plastic there is no return electrical path. Without the completed circuit your current is infinitely low. I'm not saying there aren't unique situations where it's relevant, but I guarantee that 95%+ of black boxes are completely redundant.
Don't get me started on automotive corrosion modules.... it's the same broken "science"