Non-Fly 2023 - Dirtbag PS Salty Salmon Fishing
- Thread starter ThatGuyRyRy
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Man, severed herring heads always have such a sad facial expression. Smile more, bud, it could be worse!
Just wrapped up a trip to Sekiu from Thursday night to Sunday. This was my first coho rodeo and boy I didn't know what I was getting into.
We fished coho every morning limiting by 9am Friday, 10 am and noon Sunday. Each day we had to weed out our hatchery coho out of 20-30 coho. We used a combination of downriggers and bucktailing rods to catch our fish. Today in the windchop, the bucktail rod really shined.
We also caught two pinks and several Mackerel as well. Looking forward to trying those based on some other posts on here.
We also did bottom fish, calling it with 14 rockfish, one 27.5(!) Lb lingcod that was a hitchhiker, 1 halibut, 1 True Cod (new species for me), 4 back cod, (new species) for me and a couple flounder to the boat. We called it early for deep water bottom fish after I reeled up a 50 lb skate from the depths.
Overall, it's been a great trip. We saw whales were out, otters, porpoises not to mention the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises that we are able to experience.I was able to take my son out with my Dad and I and I think we made some lifelong memories.
We fished coho every morning limiting by 9am Friday, 10 am and noon Sunday. Each day we had to weed out our hatchery coho out of 20-30 coho. We used a combination of downriggers and bucktailing rods to catch our fish. Today in the windchop, the bucktail rod really shined.
We also caught two pinks and several Mackerel as well. Looking forward to trying those based on some other posts on here.
We also did bottom fish, calling it with 14 rockfish, one 27.5(!) Lb lingcod that was a hitchhiker, 1 halibut, 1 True Cod (new species for me), 4 back cod, (new species) for me and a couple flounder to the boat. We called it early for deep water bottom fish after I reeled up a 50 lb skate from the depths.
Overall, it's been a great trip. We saw whales were out, otters, porpoises not to mention the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises that we are able to experience.I was able to take my son out with my Dad and I and I think we made some lifelong memories.
Ok I know o asked this a couple of years ago but never pursued it. Jerry had some input. But I’m not going back to that site that has no name. Anyhoo. Got a gear gig coming up and want to use my inherited FIL’s rod….but I have no reel for it (my other outfit is an eagle claw mitchell 300 old style.
Looking for some ideas on a reel for 100ish at most? Any thoughts. Thanks.
And I have been using this combo since 1979.
Looking for some ideas on a reel for 100ish at most? Any thoughts. Thanks.
And I have been using this combo since 1979.
Paige
Wishing I was fishing the Sauk
They're practically giving those away on eBay.
NIBOk I know o asked this a couple of years ago but never pursued it. Jerry had some input. But I’m not going back to that site that has no name. Anyhoo. Got a gear gig coming up and want to use my inherited FIL’s rod….but I have no reel for it (my other outfit is an eagle claw mitchell 300 old style.
Looking for some ideas on a reel for 100ish at most? Any thoughts. Thanks.
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And I have been using this combo since 1979.
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Really fun day on the water with a good friend! Tons of surface action made me wish I packed the fly rod. We had one of the larger fish of the day take the lure at the surface. The bigger fish don't seem to be in yet, largest fish of the day was probably around 5 or 6 lbs, while the average was in the 4-5 range. I parked the boat at a few baitballs and tried jigging some up. The first stop picked up a decent sanddab, the second caught the largest dogfish I have ever seen. It was at one of these stops that we came across a runaway crab trap, which we boated and succesfully made contact with the owner. I would have liked to mooch herring today, but seeing as this is a mark selective fishery where almost all the fish I am encountering are unmarked, I felt uneasy about using bait, will definitely be coming up when it goes to non selective. That herring wasn't cheap and I intend to use it! We missed two strikes that looked like they could have been larger fish. Nothing but wilds all morning, bite in Area 9 died around noon. We caught and released no less than seven coho, and decided we just wanted to boat a fish and call it good, so we headed down to ten. Found a tide rip and boated a 4lb buck and what looks to me to be a jack in no time at all. Funny enough, they were both clipped.
The largest fish of the day
I seriously am wondering if this was one of the fish I released last week. My 3/0 stinger took out his eye (Downsizing to 2/0 has completely eliminated my deep hooking problem, yes I get more short strikes but when the fishing is this good I don't really care) and he is the exact same size as that fish was.
This dogfish was close to 3 feet long. I don't enjoy "fighting" them and would never eat one, but I think they are a very cool underappreciated fish. Always makes me sad to see how some anglers handle them.
The two keepers. Any thoughts on whether the little guy is a jack or a smaller rezzy?
Tons of Porpoises out today, and the bird activity was nothing short of incredible. Always a blessing to be out on the water
The largest fish of the day
I seriously am wondering if this was one of the fish I released last week. My 3/0 stinger took out his eye (Downsizing to 2/0 has completely eliminated my deep hooking problem, yes I get more short strikes but when the fishing is this good I don't really care) and he is the exact same size as that fish was.
This dogfish was close to 3 feet long. I don't enjoy "fighting" them and would never eat one, but I think they are a very cool underappreciated fish. Always makes me sad to see how some anglers handle them.
The two keepers. Any thoughts on whether the little guy is a jack or a smaller rezzy?
Tons of Porpoises out today, and the bird activity was nothing short of incredible. Always a blessing to be out on the water
Local report now. Bait was suspended deep and the marks were right on top of the bait. Fished 100 ft on the wire. Some good size to the hohos now.
I would say most of the fish I catch in late August-early September are in the 4-5lb range, kinda like the smaller fish in that photo. I always wonder what percentage are rezzy's, and what percentage are smaller ocean fish. Same thing with the 8-10lb Chinook during the summer season. Considering that rezzy's are a relatively small portion of the hatchery fish released, and an even smaller portion of the wild stocks, it would surprise me that they are such a large portion of the catch, especially while ocean fish are around. If the smaller fish are rezzy's, I wonder if the ocean going stocks are much later timed than most anglers realize.
To my knowledge BC doesn't have the net pen releases that we do, yet they also have coho all summer long. I wonder if some of our larger summer fish and smaller fall fish decided to spend time up there rather than in Puget Sound or in the big pond
To my knowledge BC doesn't have the net pen releases that we do, yet they also have coho all summer long. I wonder if some of our larger summer fish and smaller fall fish decided to spend time up there rather than in Puget Sound or in the big pond
I'm getting bored of towing flashers and really want to look into other ways to target coho. I'm targeting them on the fly off the beach as often as I can, and while I am sure I could do so on the beach, most of the fish I am seeing around are pretty deep. I've tried mooching before and loved it, but the studies on the CNR mortality of that technique leave me hesitant to try it until we are allowed to keep wilds later this month in area 9.
Have any of you experimented with mooching artificial lures? I've tried the brads cut plug to no success. (I might try trolling it on the rigger next time I am out though) Last trip out I worked a 4 inch buzzbomb and a 6oz Crippled Herring to no success, but that Crippled Herring looks a bit on the big side for silvers. What's the usual technique for jigging silvers?
Have any of you experimented with mooching artificial lures? I've tried the brads cut plug to no success. (I might try trolling it on the rigger next time I am out though) Last trip out I worked a 4 inch buzzbomb and a 6oz Crippled Herring to no success, but that Crippled Herring looks a bit on the big side for silvers. What's the usual technique for jigging silvers?
Many coho died back in the day trolling nothing but a 4-6oz banana weight and a cut plug herring.
If you want to get deeper, just kick the motor into neutral, just like you would if you were motor mooching.
Just good old mooching is effective as well.
SF
If you want to get deeper, just kick the motor into neutral, just like you would if you were motor mooching.
Just good old mooching is effective as well.
SF
There is a lot more diversity to run timing to Puget Sound coho than most folks realize, in general, for all life stages.
