Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: No_way on June 23, 2005, 03:52:28 AM
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Hello,
This is my first post.
I just started dock fishing in Vancouver. I saw someone write about using live shiners as bait. How exactly do you rig to fish with live shiners as bait for bottom fishing? Hook size, etc? How big of a fish do you need to take a bait that sizeand what size should they be? I guess it depends on the type of fish.
Thank you, and GREAT SITE!
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Welcome No_ Way ! Your question brought back a flood of memories when I was a kid. We used to catch shiners off the local docks and use them to catch big ling and rock cods. You hook the shiner by placing the hook through the dorsal fin. If you are using a double hook setup (whether it is triple or single hooks) place the bottom hook through the dorsal fin and the top hook through the shiner's nose). It should keep the shiners alive for a very long time. Good Luck.
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I'm not particularly fond of the whole live bait idea, but no doubt it works, there are alternatives.
This is a "site" (if you dare call it that...) that I made a few years ago as a school project. I actually thought it had been shut down (little, to no activity), but your post made me remember it.
http://www.geocities.com/spudcoteuk/pierfishingindex.htm
Please keep in mind, I made this site in grade 9 (I think, maybe earlier), and my computer skills were pretty crappy at the time, and I never actually got around to finishing it. ::)
It may help slightly.
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This is a "site" (if you dare call it that...) that I made a few years ago as a school project. I actually thought it had been shut down (little, to no activity), but your post made me remember it.
http://www.geocities.com/spudcoteuk/pierfishingindex.htm
Please keep in mind, I made this site in grade 9 (I think, maybe earlier), and my computer skills were pretty crappy at the time, and I never actually got around to finishing it. ::)
It may help slightly.
:o Good thing you put that disclaimer up....My eyes!!!!! :o
;)
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Good thing you put that disclaimer up....My eyes!!!!!
Is that towards the presentation, or the info...or both, haha ;D
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First of all, thanks to all of you for your help, and I think it is a wonderful site Spudcote (I can't make a site at all so perhaps I'm easily impressed :o)
I live right by Crab Park and have been fishing from the little dock there. I know the fishing is not sopposed to be good there, but if lived a 10 minute walk from a fishing spot wouldn't you fish it? Fishing and catching are to different things. I didn't even know of Jericho pier, and it's only one bus from home!
But back to Crab Park (or Port Side Park as it is officially known). It's a fantastic place for perch (got some gorgeous striped perch and billions of shiners), bullheads (of course) tons of little flounder and a couple little cod.
The question is: if I got little flounders and cod, is there at least a chance of a larger on?
Also, at low tide i noticed a bed of Bull Kelp to the left of the pier, how much water do you need to get greenlings? I keep pulling in dungeoness crabs so I guess it gets pretty deep.
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The question is: if I got little flounders and cod, is there at least a chance of a larger on?
Most definitely, put in the time you will get one. There are some nice size rock cods and lings within a short distance of Crab Park.
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were abouts is crab park. I am just curious. Also, how small are the flounder? At belcarra park a big flounder off the dock is around 14 inches with most being around 10. You can catch bigger ones in a boat though.
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Crab Park is in downtown Vancouver near the Helijet pad (near the Pan Pacific Hotel)
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were abouts is crab park. I am just curious. Also, how small are the flounder? At belcarra park a big flounder off the dock is around 14 inches with most being around 10. You can catch bigger ones in a boat though.
So far I've only gotten ones that are about 5 inches; I've had bigger things on but I have no idea what they were. Funny enough I used to get flounders that size out of the Frazer by Fort Langley.
The tides haven't been good. The highest tide has been in the middle of the night. Does anyone have advice about the tides? I know that "fishing is aways better at high tide", but by how much? And how is best to fish when the water is low?
Thanks again everyone. I love this site.
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At belcarra we only seem to catch them consistently at the high tide as it brings them in to the bay to feed i guess. If you have a boat i don't think it matters too much as you go out deeper.
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At belcarra we only seem to catch them consistently at the high tide as it brings them in to the bay to feed i guess. If you have a boat i don't think it matters too much as you go out deeper.
I don't have a boat, that's why I'm dock fishing! lol.
Any advice on hooks and leader length? I use a bar rig a lot, so they tangle if the leaders are very long. I've been thinking of switching to a pencil lead in the swivel and a longer leader, but then the fish would have to drag the lead for me to see the bite. I don't know how brave these bottom fish are; feeling the weight of the sinker might scare them off, no?
Thanks
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I would catch the flounder by using pencil lead and a 16 inch leader with worms for bait. I would cast it out and reel it in slowly along the bottom stopping every so often. I found we caught more by reeling it in rather then just letting it sit in one spot. As for hooks it didn't really matter. I have used a size 1/0 to 8 depending on the type of bait used.
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You don't need to be too sophiscated when you're dock fishing. You don't need to use heavy weight. Just enough weight to hold the bottom is enough.
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I need some help with a few things. I have no idea what half of the things I've been catching are (always fished fresh water). In area 28 (Vancouver) we can't keep Lingcod, but I keep catching cods and since I don't know one cod from the next I throw them all back. Not that they were big or anything, but if I throw something back it should be by choice not ignorance.
The DFO fish identification pictures are a joke and 2/3 of what I catch aren't even pictured. Does anyone know where on the web I can find good pictures of native fish?
I caught several cod at Jericho today, what kind are they? How can I tell? And what are those really long, smooth things with the spiny dorsal fin running the whole length (eels?)?
It's a little frustrating, and most the other people I meet on the pier are totally ignorant of the regulations, let alone fish identification.
Help!
Thankyou
PS
At times the water at Jericho was so thick with herring I could have walked out on their backs. How do I catch them; I love pickled herring :-*
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The eel like thing is most likely to be pacific sand lance.
At jerjico you really don't need to worry too much. Haven't heard a lingcod been caught before.
What you are catching there is a close relative of lingcod and they are called sculpin and occationally
you'll come accross a cabezun. If really lucky you just might get tom cod and kelp greenling.
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PS
At times the water at Jericho was so thick with herring I could have walked out on their backs. How do I catch them; I love pickled herring :-*
Get a herring pole... they are long poles with needle like spikes running along it and u just poke them into them by running the pole through a school...
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If you don't know what they were, how do you know that it was cod ?
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Does anyone know where on the web I can find good pictures of native fish?
this site has some nice pics that are categorized by physical characteristics
http://www.northwestdiver.com/creature_feature/
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WOW! thank you everyone.
BwiBwi, though sculpins were not in short supply there as we caught many and I've caught them before, these were different. The heads were much smaller than a sculpin's and the mouth wasn't nearly the size. I've seen pictures of cods, I've seen them in stores, this was a cod or a greenling I guess but the colour was was not bright (as a hear greenlings are). They were quite sleek and sandy in colour with very subtle greeny/browny spots on the flanks.
From what I can guess they were "tommy cod". Does anyone have a pic of these so that I can be sure?
Thanks for the site Eagleye, great pictures.
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Is this (pic to follow) what you got?
Lingcod has huge head similar to cabezum and sculpin.
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Try also http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/msfindx1.html
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Pic posted for BwiBwi.
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/pic/pic050630.jpg)
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The body shape is exactly right, though the colour of the 5 I saw pulled out was quite a bit lighter. I guess that that's it. Thank you very much, and sorry for the all the trouble. I just wanted to be sure. Kelp greenlings it is. I guess they are quite common fish then.
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No problem. I've fished herring at the Cates Park in Nov. Do you recall when you saw herrings at Jerico?
You can fish for them the hard way, one by one with mussel or you can do it with herring jig, and then there is the cast net or dip net way for catching herring.
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No problem. I've fished herring at the Cates Park in Nov. Do you recall when you saw herrings at Jerico?
You can fish for them the hard way, one by one with mussel or you can do it with herring jig, and then there is the cast net or dip net way for catching herring.
The herring were there just on wednesday (two days ago), and by the BILLIONS!! Is this an unusual time for them to be there? At this point I won't swear that they were herring (given my less than stunning fish identification of late), but i'm pretty sure.
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Smelts ?
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It's really hard to tell. In Indian Arms there is a number of spots where herring spawn end of Spring beginning of Summer.
Hmm, since Cates Park is closed to fishing, may be trying at Belcarra during the weekend :D
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I guess it could be smelts, how do you tell the difference?
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smelts is more brownish in colour and has small mouth and small scales thile herring has a bigger mouth and big silvery shiny scales which fells off easily.
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smelts is more brownish in colour and has small mouth and small scales thile herring has a bigger mouth and big silvery shiny scales which fells off easily.
Ok, I never caught one of them, but my vote is herring. They seem to be 8-10 inches long, very bright, and it seemed that the gill plates were made of mirrors. They sure didn't seem brown. Do smelts and/or herring schools seem well coordinated? These fish moved as one mass.
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Both smelts and herrings travel in schools
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Ok, I never caught one of them, but my vote is herring. They seem to be 8-10 inches long, very bright, and it seemed that the gill plates were made of mirrors.
These sound like herring
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I remember around this time last year we caught some herring at belcarra.
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No problem. I've fished herring at the Cates Park in Nov. Do you recall when you saw herrings at Jerico?
You can fish for them the hard way, one by one with mussel or you can do it with herring jig, and then there is the cast net or dip net way for catching herring.
I only have a vague idea what a herring jig looks like. Would it work from a dock? Does there need to be big schools for me to catch herring? And do I need to learn to tie them on my own or can I buy herring jigs from Army and Navy? I'm sure nets work better, but I really don't care to lug them on the bus on the off chance that there might be herring that day. :)
Thanks
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You can buy herring jigs from Army and Navy for approx. $3.00. The jigs are nothing more than a series of tiny hooks attached to a line. Add a weight to one end and tie the other end to your main line.
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You can buy herring jigs from Army and Navy for approx. $3.00. The jigs are nothing more than a series of tiny hooks attached to a line. Add a weight to one end and tie the other end to your main line.
Thanks
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Hhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm........
gill plates made of mirrors sounds to me more like anchovy
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HEY, i luv dock fishing :D i just went yesterday. i fished at jerico for a long long long long time b4 moving.
sounds like fishing got better over there. but i stop because of all the violations. anyways... the cod fish u said.. is probably a greenling. althought there are tommy cods there.*dont remember which type of cod. but is a true cod of some sort. one way to tell.. just check if it had scales... if u can feel like rough scales then is a greenling. if is a tommycod it should have no scale and thingy coming off its lower jaw. Hmm jerico doesnt have the best fishing... but they have alot of weird things.. hehe. ill let u have the chance of discovering them. but ya.
i really love fishing from a pier, love the feeling of casting out and trying to reach that extra feet for the next big one. but i fish mainly at ambleside now :D much bigger greenlings :P lol and bigger pier. better enviorment. if u have a chance check it out. as for direction i suck at giving them. so check with someone eles. but the pier is at 14th and marine in west van.
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rough scales eh? well they were most certainly greenlings then. Yeah, I never fished in the ocean before but I love pier fishing. There are a lot of crazy things that I've been pulling up: Bullheads aplenty, flat fish off all kinds, greenlings, sand lances and crabs. Thats not to mention the weeds, rocks, a bike tire and an old camera. Haven't got a dogfish yet.
It's odd, If I cast out into the deep water, all I get is bullheads. The shallow places right by the Pier is where all the action is. I do better at crab park then I did at Jericho. Off the end of the Dock at Crab park it drops off and gets VERY deep, but so far no luck.
BTW: is there any chance of hooking a Pink there when they start running?
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yep, i have no idea where crab park is. sounds fun thoe. but try ambleside!!!... i caught about 5 english soles. 5 flounders... 1 pile perch.. and 5 crabs. dont worry i had 3 guys with me so i wasnt taking over the limit ;) oh and a dog fish... 1 of them was so big it big through my 50lb tuff line.
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I'm facing a dilemma. I want to try using sea worms because I hear they are the best bait you can get; however, you catch them at low tide and fish at high tide. So how should I store them if I want to use them several days after I catch them? Just in water? In sand? Sand and water? Dirt? Moss? You get the idea. How long do they keep in the fridge?
Thanks
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I used to store them in seaweed.
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awesome, thanks
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I once heard that they can sting, or bit or something. Is that true?
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No_Way, yea they have this 'mouith' that will project out from it's mouth. So be careful when handling them! And does anyone know if Deep Cove and Cates Park are closed for fishing? And if u don't, do u know what number I should call, to get the info? And JiG_Head, what bait were u using at Ambleside? Adding on to that, would u recommend Ambleside or Deep Cove, if it isn't closed for fishing?
Thanks. Ian :D
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Thank you
The number for the Vancouver DFO office is listed in the regulations, I don't have it on me. I've called it, and believe it or not a real person answered the phone!
I've also been reading about jigging for greenlings. It's just that I don't know how to do it. I see bags of jig heads at the store, I assume that's what I use, but what else? It's pretty bad but all the stuff i find on the net about jigging just tells me to do it, but I don't know how. I know that you move it up and down, but is that it? And do these jigheads go on a leader or right into the snap? Can anyone give me the ABCs of jigging of a dock?
Thanks
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Thank you
The number for the Vancouver DFO office is listed in the regulations, I don't have it on me. I've called it, and believe it or not a real person answered the phone!
I've also been reading about jigging for greenlings. It's just that I don't know how to do it. I see bags of jig heads at the store, I assume that's what I use, but what else? It's pretty bad but all the stuff i find on the net about jigging just tells me to do it, but I don't know how. I know that you move it up and down, but is that it? And do these jigheads go on a leader or right into the snap? Can anyone give me the ABCs of jigging of a dock?
Thanks
I was fishing off my dock at my cabin and musta caught 20 greenling in like 2 hours. i was jigging with "deadly dicks" about small size. you can pick them up at army and navy. i just usea snap swivel to attatch them to the line.
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Thats it?! Right on. Thanks. BTW, how big to greenlings get? I've caught them about 12" before, is that it or can I expect bigger?
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I once caught a greenling around 8 pounds in the sunshine coast area. They seem to be quite a bit smaller around here. My biggest around here would be about 14 inches.
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oh well, not bad. But even fish get lost so you never know ;)
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i get them to 3lbs on average, which is an edible size
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Is it just me or does the DFO never visit public piers? I know I'm new at this, but in the times I've gone I've only had my license checked once--and that was by a security guard for the Vancouver Port Authority. I'd be impressed it 1/2 the people at Jericho have licenses, and people were catching buckets full of shiners! The limit is 8, and people were taking 10 times that. Are they just under staffed? Growing up fishing the Fraser we had our licenses checked every other visit. Maybe piers are just a low priority.
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lol i fish the piers for 9 years and only got my licence checked once at jerico...
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hey no_way,
I hear ya about the violations on the docks, esp at night.
Any given day, I see; unlicensed fisherpersons, multiple hook bar rigs, fishing multiple rods, overtaking limits on shiners, taking female and undersized crabs, taking over crab limits, giving away crabs to unlicensed onlookers.
I have to bite my tongue quite a bit, but last night I was out, I witnessed a fellow pull up a trap full of undersized crabs, and simply take all of them, no size check, no sex check, and he even gave a few away...
I went over to him and quietly reminded him of the fines for such actions, when he tried to waffle a bit, i cut him off and mentioned that I was standing right beside him the whole time and witnessed the whole thing.
I try not to get angry or confrontational, as many times, people are simply not aware of regs, and often, when you point out the error, they are thankful and comply right away.
It's the people that know better, yet come down day after day and rake up buckets and bags full of crabs that gets annoying.
It would be nice to see a DFO guy just drop by a couple times, hand out some warnings etc, to help remind folks that the regulations are there to protect the resource and it's in our best interest to abide by them.
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hi Jack..
i saw same thing 2 years ago at cates park. I reported 604-666-3500..
however , i had no idea what would happen to the poacher..
anyone know about next action of the DFO?
and one more
"It is requested that harvesters voluntarily release female crabs to protect stocks by allowing for maximum reproduction."
according to the fishery regulation, you can blame for females.. but, there wouldnt be legal problems.
actually, female crabs in legal size are very rare.
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try ambleside!!!... i caught about 5 english soles. 5 flounders... 1 pile perch.. and 5 crabs.
How can you tell? I'm catching flatfish quite regularly. I've seen at least 3 different species caught. The starry flounder I know, but the others, no. some are more elongated than others, and some have smooth skin with little scales, and others have lumpy skin that is VERY tough. Not that it matters according to the regulations or on the dinner table, but just wondering if anyone had any tricks for ID the fish... perhaps a rime?
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english soles have that elongated body ur talkin about. it also has a very smooth dorsal side ... feels it it has no scales. and english soles have a bigger mouth.
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english soles have that elongated body ur talkin about. it also has a very smooth dorsal side ... feels it it has no scales. and english soles have a bigger mouth.
thanks, the regulations only show one picture and the limits for flounder and sole are combined. How many different types of flat fish is whole likely to catch in these waters. As I've said, I've seen 3 but there must be more.
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Any of you people ever have luck fishing at night? I usually go home when it gets dark and the sculpins really come into their own. Sole and greenlings, do they feed at night too? I don't think perch do.
Thanks.