Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: rymack on August 19, 2014, 06:57:12 PM
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Hey Guys
Have a friend in town and we were looking to do a little salmon fishing.Were thinking of renting a boat to fish off of Richmond but it seems like most of the rental companies are a no go for taking a boat down there. Does anyone know of any rental companies that allow you to takes boats there?Is it tricky making it out there from the Vancouver side? Never actually fished over that way so I am curious.
Also whats the chances of finding sockeye near Bowen or in west van? Slim to none?
Last question is there anywhere online you can see accurate underwater maps online for the Vancouver area?
Thanks in advance
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I would charter;
5 hours with Bon Chovy two guys $500.
Fill the cooler with Sockeye, maybe a spring or two and Crab and have feasts later.
Worth it on so many levels over trying to DIY as a one of. Considering it is like $100 per hour to rent a boat with no gear + gas.
http://www.bonchovy.com/charters.php
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Yah I'm pretty torn about going with a charter. Will see how the rental goes . I've done quite a bit of salmon fishing up north so I have all the gear and I'm confident that if there are fish around I'll have a shot at them. Just never had the chance to fish the mouth of the Fraser so I'm not aware of where there are hazards and structure etc.
I'm tempted to take the rental boat outside f the rental area but its probably not worth whatever penalties I would incur if something went sideways. With the luck that my friend has something would certainly go sideways if we went out of bounds!
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The charter sounds like a no brainer.
The mouth of the river isn't something to try out the first time out in the rental boat.
Maybe a member going out by themselves would welcome the company for the day?
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I would charter;
5 hours with Bon Chovy two guys $500.
Fill the cooler with Sockeye, maybe a spring or two and Crab and have feasts later.
Worth it on so many levels over trying to DIY as a one of. Considering it is like $100 per hour to rent a boat with no gear + gas.
http://www.bonchovy.com/charters.php
It's not $100 an hour to rent a boat. You can get one for 4 hours for just a little over $200 at Sewells Marina . Check the rates here :
http://www.sewellsmarina.com/boatrentals.html
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Do the math on run/gas time to where fish are and where he says he wants to fish.
Its akin to saying you can rent a Kayak for $10/hour.
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Do the math on run/gas time to where fish are and where he says he wants to fish.
Its akin to saying you can rent a Kayak for $10/hour.
I've rented a boat from Sewell's before with a 40hp on it and it hardly used any gas straight cruising for 2 hours around Howe Sound . And that was back when they had 2 stroke outboards on them . You don't work for or are associated with one of the fishing charters by chance ? A boat for $203 plus gas is not going to come anywhere near the $500 plus $100 tip for a local guide .Or $1000 plus big tip for a full day compared to $406 and not much more gas than a half day if you are only trolling . I would guess if you used one with a 40 hp you would probably be under $30 in gas . You save over $500 dollars a day by renting a boat. There , just did the math ;).
To the original poster , one way to find out what it's like to rent a boat is just try it , but yes you will need your own fishing gear and know how . But the savings over a charter will allow you to buy lots of gear that you will have next time you do it .
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Dont have any experience in a power boat but have sailed there and with a keelboat you are much more aware of plotting and charting and the outflow of the fraser current , which they say is 7-8 knots .
You would have to have a chart or pay attention to the markers for which mark sandheads,these are tidal and at a low tide are drying or 12 inches of water or less.Very treacherous even for a power boat .Probably the reason that the rental companies dont want you to go there .
Someone correct me but I am assuming since the sockeye only return to the Fraser that bowen or howe sound you would not find any ?
A charter sure sounds like the best bet ,unless you have experience in the area.
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I doubt there are downriggers on these rental boats.
$200 for a rental to go catch Sockeye is wayyyyyy low on the estimate.
By the time you add in the running time down to the fishing area and back plus a few hours fishing you are now looking at a full day rental which is $500.00
Catch a crab trap with your line and there goes another ?
If you want to go and rent a boat to goof around in that's one thing.
Renting a boat for a few hours and expecting to hit Sockeye at the mouth is another.
Book the charter and save money as well as put a bunch of fish in the cooler.
Your welcome. :)
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Plus, if both of you drink you can have a few extra and enjoy the day even more.
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I doubt there are downriggers on these rental boats.
$200 for a rental to go catch Sockeye is wayyyyyy low on the estimate.
By the time you add in the running time down to the fishing area and back plus a few hours fishing you are now looking at a full day rental which is $500.00
Catch a crab trap with your line and there goes another ?
If you want to go and rent a boat to goof around in that's one thing.
Renting a boat for a few hours and expecting to hit Sockeye at the mouth is another.
Book the charter and save money as well as put a bunch of fish in the cooler.
Your welcome. :)
$200 is not an estimate , it is the actual price for a 15 foot boat from Sewells for 4 hour rental and no, a 40 hp four stroke will not use a couple of hundred dollars in gas to do it . Lot's of nice pitches for the local guides here it seems . Guides are charging $1000 dollars a day and expecting a huge tip on top of that . how is that saving any money ?
Yes if you don't know what you are doing it may not be your best bet to go it alone , but the original poster did ask if it it was possible to rent boats to get out fishing , and he gets a bunch of pitches for the local guides instead .
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So you think a 4 hour rental will get the job done but it will take a local guide who is on the water every day a whole day to catch some Sockeye?
You must be in the boat rental business.
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I am in absolutely no way affiliated with any guide ( I wish I was).
The original posters says he wants to fish for sockeye at the mouth of the Fraser and you are suggesting he should rent a boat from Sewell's with a 40hp.
I feel like i'm taking crazy pills here.
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You're dreaming if you think $200 bucks is all that this trip will run you.
It'll take you quite a while to run from Sewell's out to the mouth of the Frasier, quite a bit longer than you think, there goes between 1/4-1/2 of your half day trip, and quite a bit of gas. So a full day trip is probably your best option, which brings your total up to $500. (Not to mention I don't think you're allowed to take a Sewell's boat out that far)
Assuming you already have all the necessary gear for Sockeye (Rods, Hoochies, leader, etc). Those boats still don't have downriggers, so you would have to run sliding weights, or mooching weights to get down there (or a diver), which if you've never done it before, is very annoying. Your line will be quite a distance behind your boat, so you have to be extremely careful to not get tangled up with one of the millions of other boats out there. This is not ideal, especially if you're not an experienced boater. I'm not even sure if those boats have rod holders, and holding on to a rod while trolling in the chuck is not the most fun way to experience the sockeye fishery.
Why not get a half day guided trip, which would run you about $600 plus tip, you're guaranteed to limit out on Sockeye, you might even get a chance to target some Springs, and you don't have to worry about ANY of this crap. So you get a stress-free trip where you can knock back a couple of brews, and you're guaranteed some awesome fishing that your friend will be telling all his friends at home about.
I'm not affiliated with any guides, just trying to help. There is a VERY high chance that if you rent a boat that is ill-equipped for fishing, that you'll have a day full of tangled lines, frustration, and may come off looking like an idiot for your out of town visitors.
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OK I used to rent from Sewells to fish the Sockeye run all the time.
Had my own manual downrigger so that saved $10 you can use Deep Sixes to catch Sockeye we did it last week in fact off the North Arm.
Anyway it's a maximum 20 minute run from Horseshoe Bay to the Bell Buoy which is as far as you need to go for the next few weeks-there's no need to take an hour rud down to Sandheads (where you're not supposed to take the boat).
FWIW-when the bite is on a monkey can catch a Sockeye all you need a a small Pink hootchie 22" behind a Flasher no need even for a net just grab the Flasher and pull him over the gunnel.
No need for guide/handholder just get out there and Have some Fun!
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e60/A_Fisher/Sockeye%20Aug%202010/IMGP3499_zpse06a5e7c.jpg)
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e60/A_Fisher/Sockeye%20Aug%202010/IMGP3504_zps187dfdcd.jpg)
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So you think a 4 hour rental will get the job done but it will take a local guide who is on the water every day a whole day to catch some Sockeye?
You must be in the boat rental business.
Never said that , and nope . Just keeping the facts straight , boat rentals are about half the price of guides .
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I am in absolutely no way affiliated with any guide ( I wish I was).
The original posters says he wants to fish for sockeye at the mouth of the Fraser and you are suggesting he should rent a boat from Sewell's with a 40hp.
I feel like i'm taking crazy pills here.
The 15 foot with 40 will do the job , but they also have 17 footers with 60 for not much more than the 15's which I would get myself , still way less than a guide . People fish from 17 ft boats in the chuck all the time .
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OK I used to rent from Sewells to fish the Sockeye run all the time.
Had my own manual downrigger so that saved $10 you can use Deep Sixes to catch Sockeye we did it last week in fact off the North Arm.
Anyway it's a maximum 20 minute run from Horseshoe Bay to the Bell Buoy which is as far as you need to go for the next few weeks-there's no need to take an hour rud down to Sandheads (where you're not supposed to take the boat).
FWIW-when the bite is on a monkey can catch a Sockeye all you need a a small Pink hootchie 22" behind a Flasher no need even for a net just grab the Flasher and pull him over the gunnel.
No need for guide/handholder just get out there and Have some Fun!
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e60/A_Fisher/Sockeye%20Aug%202010/IMGP3499_zpse06a5e7c.jpg)
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e60/A_Fisher/Sockeye%20Aug%202010/IMGP3504_zps187dfdcd.jpg)
Thanks dogbreath for your sensible post . Of course a rookie will catch more fish with a guide , but , there is fun in learning and will save lots in the long run .
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I think trying to relate the concepts of fishing and money is a bad idea. This thread is testament to that. BTW, my vote is for going guided.
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Looks like I sparked a interesting debate!
We ended up renting a fishing boat from boatrent.ca out of mosquito creek. 350 for the whole day rate plus taxes and gas which wasn't too bad. We didn't get in to any sox ( or coho at the cap later in the day) which was disappointing but off all the boats out there who we talked to it seemed no one else did either.
All in all we were pretty happy with the boat which was a 17 foot aluminium with a 90 Hp motor on it. It had manual riggers , sounder , net all in working order. I have all the gear we needed for rods and flasher etc so we only spent money on the hoochies and a couple packs of chovies.
The map in the boat marked there boundaries as Spanish banks but we may have drifted past that. I can see how a inexperienced boater could try and cut too shallow and run aground around there. All in all a good learning experience but a little disappointing the bite wasn't on.
We did manage to c and r a small ling cod at the cap as well as a few dogfish. Saw one coho taken there in 4 hours from 10 boats even though there was multiple jumpers. I assume the jumpers were coho as I don't imagine a huge concentration of sockeye got lost and ended up there. Also was very surprised that the coho were lock jawed as every experience I have ever had with coho has taught me they aren't fussy in the ocean. Maybe these are stale fish waiting to get up river?
All in all great to be out on a boat for the day and have the anticipation of a salmon bite. Makes me think I should get a boat!Though I'm sure the wife has other ideas. Maybe a better investment to rent a couple times a year to get my fix.
Might do a guide at some point in future as I generally believe that its one of the best ways to learn to fish a area.
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I think trying to relate the concepts of fishing and money is a bad idea.
Might be for those that got lots of money , not so bad for those who have less money and still would like the experience of getting out there . To some $1000+ fishing days are not doable .
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Looks like I sparked a interesting debate!
We ended up renting a fishing boat from boatrent.ca out of mosquito creek. 350 for the whole day rate plus taxes and gas which wasn't too bad. We didn't get in to any sox ( or coho at the cap later in the day) which was disappointing but off all the boats out there who we talked to it seemed no one else did either.
All in all we were pretty happy with the boat which was a 17 foot aluminium with a 90 Hp motor on it. It had manual riggers , sounder , net all in working order. I have all the gear we needed for rods and flasher etc so we only spent money on the hoochies and a couple packs of chovies.
The map in the boat marked there boundaries as Spanish banks but we may have drifted past that. I can see how a inexperienced boater could try and cut too shallow and run aground around there. All in all a good learning experience but a little disappointing the bite wasn't on.
We did manage to c and r a small ling cod at the cap as well as a few dogfish. Saw one coho taken there in 4 hours from 10 boats even though there was multiple jumpers. I assume the jumpers were coho as I don't imagine a huge concentration of sockeye got lost and ended up there. Also was very surprised that the coho were lock jawed as every experience I have ever had with coho has taught me they aren't fussy in the ocean. Maybe these are stale fish waiting to get up river?
All in all great to be out on a boat for the day and have the anticipation of a salmon bite. Makes me think I should get a boat!Though I'm sure the wife has other ideas. Maybe a better investment to rent a couple times a year to get my fix.
Might do a guide at some point in future as I generally believe that its one of the best ways to learn to fish a area.
Sounds like a good day . As far as sockeye are concerned , there have been lots of commercial openings that have put a huge dent in the numbers . Even in the river it has been very spotty or dead at times with big holes in the fish runs . A friend recently took his boat out of Richmond for a full day and no one was catching socks that day in the prime areas . You probably will do better in Howe sound/ English bay when all the fall fish are present and the commercial fleet has been out of there for a while .
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Good for you for giving it a go.
That sounds like a very reasonable rate for that boat and it also sounds like it was well equipped.
Too bad the fish didn't co-operate for you but that's fishin.
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The bite is on in the am to 12 noon & after that socks barely bite even though there's big numbers stacking up at Sandheads.
Am boaters get their limits PM guys come in looking disappointed.
Check the tides & winds as Sandheads can be a rather nasty place to sport fish at times.
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The fishing for socks was better for me and a buddy in the morning when the weather was calm.
As soon as the commercial guys showed up and the weather and tide changed ,no one caught much.