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[Double Underhooks]

I'm sure everyone has heard many fishing stories and sometimes its hard to tell fact from fiction.
I think it would be interesting to post and answer some of these questions!

I'll start with some questions of my own:

1) Are sturgeon really attracted to WD-40? (don't think I'm going to try it as its toxic for the fish)

2) besides tides, does weather affect fishing? Some people think cloudy/overcasts are better times to fish than clear sunny days.

3) Are swirl pools in the water (where fast and slower currents meet) more productive?

4) Fish 'jump' because they are hunting or avoiding predators?

[Spudcote]

The weather thing is true, at least for me it is, when fishing clear rivers, fish are more likely to go deep on sunny weather to avoid the direct sunlight that isn't good for their scales. As far as the ocean is concerned, I don't think it really makes much of a difference, if anything, it would improve it slightly, fishign at deeper than 150 ft, there is very little sunlight anyway, and the slight raise in light wouldn't be enough to harm the fish, bu would give lures a bit more flash and make them easier to see. Can anyone else attest to this ?

I'm not so sure about rivers, but in teh ocean, the meeting of different "types" of water can churn up bait fish, and the bottom, so fish come in to feed right along this "tide-line," can be very productive sometimes.

Fish may jump for a variety of reasons, yes, I have seen them jump to avoid predators (seem a salmon jump clear of the water, to be followed quickly by an orca or seal. Another "theory" I heard from somewhere/one was that they are tryign to "see" where they are going in the rivers, I don't know how much truth there is to this, but in some places like the Fraser, with a visability of 8 inches, it may be slightly more believeable. My last idea as to why fish jump could be related to parisitesand "itches" that can sometimes be lost when the fish slaps back down on teh water's surface.

These are just a few of "my" reasons, but I'm sure there are a whole other set of theories as to why do the things they do.

[Sterling C]

1) Are sturgeon really attracted to WD-40? (don't think I'm going to try it as its toxic for the fish)

Ayup, I've caught sturgeon using that 

[2:40]

#3, in river fishing, these areas are indeed quite productive.

[BwiBwi]

#2 yes for freshwater fishing anyways. Quick downpours after a hot day would almost always guarantee bites. and has more effect on shallow water area too.
#3 yes that's usually where 'stuff' (insects, fruits, seed....) gather, so more food more fish
#4 has seen dolphins chasing flying fish and they 'fly' out water. ( but then that's how they swim anyways )

Another myth I've heard is that carp is more actively feeding during full moon. Anyone of you heard that before?

[newsman]

It is barometric pressure that affects fish feeding behavior not weather. A falling barometer will put trout off the bite in the spring and fall. In summer or winter after an extended period of high barametic pressure, a fast falling barometer that precedes a thunderstorm or snow can trigger feeding activity. While that holds true in fresh water it does not apply to Searun cutthoat in estuaries. The overcast sky that accompanies low barometic pressure allows searunn cutthoat to feel less wary, which can cause them to forage closer to shore. A falling barometer can also trigger moves by Salmon coming into the rivers to spawn, in that a falling barometer and low pressure systems bring rain; rain = rising water.

[Fish Assassin]

3) Are swirl pools in the water (where fast and slower currents meet) more productive?

They are often referred to as "slicks". Very good place to fish.

[blueback]

WD-40, I'm told, has fish oil as a component. Don't know if thats true, but the guy who told me was a top guide at Campbell River (can't recall his name but a very nice guy) and he was lecturing at a fishing show at the PNE grounds about 6/7 years ago. He was saying that after trying many different fish attractants (that cost alot more), he found WD-40 at least as effective as the best fish attractant he tried. Later that year, I sprayed a spin-n-glow with it and hucked it into the Fraser and was very shortly rewarded with a 32lber red spring. Seems to work in other fisheries as well.  

[fishingbuddha]

talking about fishing myths....

a few years ago i was fishing tunkwa with my wife and some friends in belly boats. those of you who know that lake can attest that there are lots of fish and big fish. they are also known to be jumpers. anyways, this one day i don't get a sniff of a bite, then all of a sudden a fish jumps up beside me and wham lands right on my bellyboat netting in front of me. i try to grab it but a fresh slippery 2 lber is hard to handle and it ends up slipping/fighting its way back into the water. told my friends about this story and they thought it was bs. anyways, the following year some of those buddies came fishing with me and wouldn't you know it a trout jumps up hits my buddy in the arm while paddling and the fish bangs on the side of the canoe and goes back in the water.  my question is two fold. one, has anyone else had a fish jump into their boat or hit them while fishing tunkwa lake. two, why are these fish jumping so much and so high? i heard that they were feeding and i also heard that they were jumping to shake lice out of their gills. does anyone know why. just curious.

[meca_357]

#1 no clue
#2 weather definately affects fishing... Fish tend to be in the colder water this is due to the fact that colder water holds a larger amount of oxygen here the fish are more productive and as any being would, they sit where theres lots of oxygen... Thats why example fly fishing in overcasts days fishing tend to be productive on the surface or only a few feet deep, on the other hand sunny hot days the fish sit at the bottom trying to get as much oxygen as possible... Spring is effective for fishing trout cus a "water temperature sandwich" is caused in the lake, the bottom is cold the middle is warmer and the top is cold due to flowing creeks with melted snow and such... all this ties into #3 swirl pools are usually caused by flwoing water currents from the stronger current of the flowing river, the fish sit in that area because sicne fish do not have lungs they respitratre with their gills by the flow of water going past them where they pick up oxygen. Thats why some sharks cant stop moving or they die, cus their gills do not move at all... sedidentary fish have muscles that make their gills pump allowing them to respirate. So the fish sit at the incoming current yet in the swirlpool it causes a "no nmans's land" (incoming water but its slow) hard to explain but pretty much it holds the fish in but the water is constantly moving and bringing oxygen into their gills. Also the incoming water has nutrietns and food from the upper river so the fish also feed in these areas too, hence good fishing. As well salmon in rivers do not feed as much as they do in the ocean, instead they strike at things that are invading their area or making them unconfortable which is why usually bright colours work in the rivers. Since the fish choose this area to sit and breath if you manage to put ur lure/ hook in there its gonna pass by a school of fish that are very defencive about their territory and they will strike...
#4 true about the predators (watch jumping salmon in the mouth of rivers or in the ocean theres usually a seal behidn them) and hunting (fly fishing with dry flies)
thats all i got...

[Fish Assassin]

talking about fishing myths....

a few years ago i was fishing tunkwa with my wife and some friends in belly boats. those of you who know that lake can attest that there are lots of fish and big fish. they are also known to be jumpers. anyways, this one day i don't get a sniff of a bite, then all of a sudden a fish jumps up beside me and wham lands right on my bellyboat netting in front of me. i try to grab it but a fresh slippery 2 lber is hard to handle and it ends up slipping/fighting its way back into the water. told my friends about this story and they thought it was bs. anyways, the following year some of those buddies came fishing with me and wouldn't you know it a trout jumps up hits my buddy in the arm while paddling and the fish bangs on the side of the canoe and goes back in the water.  my question is two fold. one, has anyone else had a fish jump into their boat or hit them while fishing tunkwa lake. two, why are these fish jumping so much and so high? i heard that they were feeding and i also heard that they were jumping to shake lice out of their gills. does anyone know why. just curious.

I have personally witnessed couple of salmon jumping into the boat at the mouth of the Capilano.

[HereFishyFishy]

reminds me of the sesame street skit where Bert and Ernie are fishing

this was like over a decade ago of course...

[Spudcote]

And how old are you ? 

[Eagleye]

myth or fact...   I was talking to a guy at the cap the other day and he said that the hatchery only needs so many salmon for brood stock and that they sell the others to the restaurants.  I found this kind of hard to believe but it made me think about what they do with the surplus of fish.  Do they release them to spawn naturally or do they really harvest them?

[Fish Assassin]

myth or fact...   I was talking to a guy at the cap the other day and he said that the hatchery only needs so many salmon for brood stock and that they sell the others to the restaurants.  I found this kind of hard to believe but it made me think about what they do with the surplus of fish.  Do they release them to spawn naturally or do they really harvest them?

Yes and No. Yes they only need couple of hundred cohos for brood stock. No they don't sell the surplus to the restaurants. I believe the surplus goes to make cat food.