Fishing San Juans / Gulf Islands

tom&shan · Joined: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 316 Photos: Dakota

A question for the fishing experts:
Background - Taking next week off work and planning on being in the San Juans and the Gulf Islands for the entire week. Taking my son with me - his first visit to the Islands - he lives in Hawaii so I don't see him a lot.
Question - What should we be fishing for - Trolling for Salmon (Tom E. showed me how to setup my downrigger at Bellingham Gathering), bottomfishing , etc?
What is this time of year ideal for as far as fishing? I get so confused with all the rules/regulations, want to avoid doing anything illegal, ...
If I get a Canadian license - hows the fishing up in the Gulf Islands, better/worse than the San Juans ?

No nonsense replies now, this is serious, we are talking about fishing.

Thanks
Tom

starcrafttom · Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 2:39 pm Post subject:

Oh when you need an answer its all serious now. .....

Well I dont know if the islands are open for kings still but there should be a lot of pinks and coho showing up soon. Can you brake away this week for a on the water lesson on pinks? ( yes mike I am whoring a ride under the thin vail of fishing lessons, shhh!) for pinks use white flasher boards and small pink hoothies. I tyed up 6 rigges last night for pinks and will try to get pic here later. Start looking for pinks at 40 ft deep and go deeper as the sun rises. There are pinks on the poss. bar now and should be getting good in the next week. Indian point on the west side of possison head is a good place this week to troll. remember to troll slow. .5 to .9 mph with the current. Thats .9 on the depth finder speed not the gps. When you get one in bonk it right away and cut all the gill plates on both sides so it bleeds out fast. Then get it on ice right away. TIP- dont put the fish on ice, put them next to ice. have some thing between the ice and the fish. I use the blue fish bags. insulated bag with a divider in the middle. Put the fish on one side and the ice or cold packs onthe other. your fish will be a better table fare if ou follow this advise. Tom call me if you ned more info.

gljjr · Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:33 pm Post subject:

Tom,

I've done just as well with my standard hootchie gear on Pinks. A Green Glow flasher with a double glow hootchie works just fine with them. I concur with the blue fish bags! Those are great.

starcrafttom · Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:25 pm Post subject:

You can use any color as long as its red or pink. In reality pinks are attracted to black. Red is the first color in the spectrum to turn black in water. At about 20 ft red stops reflecting in the water coloum. So I have thought of using black lures but no one makes a black hoothic squid. i have friends that like to use black or red f-4 flat fish, like the ones for trout fishing. the little F-4's also work really well for sockeye.

starcrafttom · Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:30 pm Post subject:

p.s. This has been a really good site for asking questions about the canadian side of fishing. Lots of good report form some top guides and locals. Feel free to ask them about runs and areas if fish. they are nice to americans, most of the time.

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2

gljjr · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:23 pm Post subject:

Tom,

Silver Horde makes black Hootchies. Now you just need to find a place you can order them from Smile

tom&shan · Joined: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 316 Photos: Dakota

Thanks Tom E. for the pointers. Sorry, have to work until Friday - then leaving with my son on Saturday, so no time for a free fishing lesson.
Another question though:
Is trolling with a downrigger the only way folks catch salmon? Does anyone jig for salmon, can you just drift along, or would that be a complete waste of time.

Thanks!
Tom

Squarehead · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject:

You can jig, I'm a Pt Wilson dart kinda guy, you need to find an established hole however. Look for bait & birds in the water.

As for drifting, mooching is the way to go there, here's a link on that subject:

http://www.how-to-fish.com/mooching_for_salmon_how_to.htm

Cutty Sark · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:47 pm Post subject:

You can jig or mooch, both will take salmon , but are mainly better when the fish are more plentiful. When the fish are sparser trolling will tend to produce more fish since you can cover some ground. I beleive the bottomfishing for rockfish is still open in the SJ's. It's a one a day limit if I remember but they are usually pretty easy to catch. Just find a rocky area or the edge of some kelp beds and drop a led head jig or even a dart( though more expensive when you lose them) A good start is the fishin maps that they sell at local tackle shops, west marine etc... They will lay out some good areas to start at and let you see the countours and bottom make up( about 8-9 bucks). For trolling I will say again coho killers seem to be my favorite, and the ace hi fly has been coming in pretty well lately too. I got into some pretty hot chinook action this week with a green splatterback version of both. I haven't fished the San Juans for Salmon but check here for basic info.
http://www.salmonuniversity.com/san_juans.html

Good luck!!

Sark

tom&shan · Joined: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 316 Photos: Dakota

starcrafttom · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:30 pm Post subject:

Tom, Take a look at this site for info about fishing the islands. Really good bunch of guys running this chapter. In the HOW TO and WHERE TO threads is a lot of info worth reading.

http://psafidalgo.org/smfforum/index.php

Cutty Sark · Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:28 pm Post subject:

Coho Killers are thin small spoons, so overdoing it would be easy, but if you just used a small cut just for scent I think it would be fine. I just use Herring smelly jelly, and smear a bit of that on the spoon and leader. Most of the chinook that we hooked were deep lately(120 feet of water right on the bottom), so spend some time fishing deep, if you're not getting them in the top 35-70 feet of water.

Good Luck
Sark

Beartrack · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:49 pm Post subject:

starcrafttom · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:48 pm Post subject:

Bear, thanks for the info. I dont have to wait for shipping, they are not far from my office. I never go in there even thu I hear that are good to guides. when I first moved here I went in there several times to check them out. I always go find the tackle shops when ever I move. Three time I went in there and all three times no one asked to help me or if I needed anything. Once I asked the two guys at the counter for areas to fish because I was new and they just stared at me mumbled something about possision, which was closed at the time, then went back to talking amount them selves. That was 4 years ago And I have not been back. I hear that the are the go to place for guides up and down the west coast but if you are not dropping 10k a year in the place dont bother. Iam glad they work for you but I go else were. to bad its a nice little shop.

Beartrack · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:10 am Post subject:

I've seen them that way too, but I've also seen them nice as pie... you may have just hit them on a bum streak. I do understand what you mean though... In all fairness to them (since they aren't here) I do have to say though that they get a lot of newbies (not speaking of you per se) that I think they feel like want to come in, spend 10 bucks and get the skinny on all the super secret hot spots that they and the guides have put in many, many hours to figure out. Not that the sort of behavior you describe is in any way acceptable, it's not. I guess I've just learned to tolerate it somewhat when it does happen, in return for the excellent selection, GREAT pearls of wisdom they give when they are in a good mood, and meeting a lot of very knowledgeable customers and guides in the store, some of which are VERY willing to give tips. I had a guide there last month who must have spent 30 minutes or so going around the store with me giving me tips on all the stuff he does. That sure isn't likely to happen as say, GI Joes. Just something to think about. Any way, good luck on those salmon fine sir!