Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Steely on August 20, 2012, 10:01:09 PM
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Well, I hit the beach again in the greater Vancouver area ;) Got the shock of a lifetime when I was expecting cutthroat, I ended up with an 8 pound spring ;D this beach has given me some nice cuttys, some smaller and larger coho and a chum once but never a spring. I went down with some buddies today again with some spoons and buzz bombs, we managed 3 more :o One a keeper around 15 pounds and two under sized around 3-5 pounds each. Also managed a 16" cutthroat and a 3 pound coho. Anyway, enough of the report, my question is, is it common to catch chinook off the beach? We know they hit spoons and buzz bombs but what about flies? How would I go about targeting them flyfishing? Fly patterns? We're catching them in about 8-10 ft of water and 50-100 ft from the beach. I'll try and post a pic of the one I got the first time, it was just big enough at 65cm. I was just wondering cause I prefer the fly rod on the beach. Tight lines :)
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That is certainly a rare occasion as chinook tend to stay pretty deep. They must have followed a ball of bait fish into the shallow water, which they can do at low stack tides. I have seen them roll in fairly close to shore up at Fury Creek while fishing for pinks. For patterns, try a silver thorn.
(http://home.online.no/~jfuruly/salmon/fly24.jpg)
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Ya, it seemed quite odd. It was actually high tide at the time I was fishing as that's the best time for this area. The chinook I kept had 3 fry in its stomach so it was defiantly feeding on the fry in the area. The hard part is because they don't show themselves like coho and cuttys they're harder to locate but they seem to be feeding there in good numbers.
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I've caught a chinook from shore off West Vancouver. Happens once in a while, certainly not often
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Certain times of year on certain beaches can be down right hot for chinook.
I have a couple beaches on the island where I get around 6 a day during the right tides/times, etc.
Best pattern for me was one I developed, and they didn't seem to touch much else (even in the way of spoons).
Seems to work best in green, even though the blue one imitates needlefish more closely, so not sure what gives as I know that's what they are keying in on.
Also picks up a tonne of flounder, cabezon, coho and cutties when the spring fishing is slow.
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/47159_428403721611_3863997_n.jpg)
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/47394_427855026611_4774079_n.jpg)
Works in rivers too in a smaller size... probably my best producing fly for coho and cutties too...
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/61174_432285036611_4430907_n.jpg)
Cheers,
Dan
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Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll give it a shot and see if I can get lucky :)
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Certain times of year on certain beaches can be down right hot for chinook.
I have a couple beaches on the island where I get around 6 a day during the right tides/times, etc.
Best pattern for me was one I developed, and they didn't seem to touch much else (even in the way of spoons).
Seems to work best in green, even though the blue one imitates needlefish more closely, so not sure what gives as I know that's what they are keying in on.
Also picks up a tonne of flounder, cabezon, coho and cutties when the spring fishing is slow.
Going to share the fly recipe or do we have to work it out? ;)
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Rod might delete this as it links to another site (sorry Rod)... too lazy to write up a new recipe though for now...
http://fishtactics.com/ViewFlyPattern?patternID=71
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Thanks for posting that everyday, this month is your best chance for hooking those bad bad boys in the shallowist water. i guess it's because the feed being so close to shore. Past expierence has been some incredible action on the west of the island in really shalllow water. :) Glow in the dark bead head fly's worked well.
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Thanks EveryDay. I'm always looking for new flies to add to my fly box. I'll have to tie up a few.
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Well, I owe a big thank you to you Dan. I went down to my spot on the beach yesterday for the last couple hours of daylight. I started off throwing flies for cutthroat as they were surfacing and following the schools of fry. Managed to entice 2 to a silver muddler, one around 14", the other around 16". A couple hours prior to going I tied up a couple of your patterns or as close as I could get to them. I had my gear rod with me to but I decided to give the fly a go. Tied on one of the freshly tied flies and flung it out. Instantly I had a take, a monster sculpin liked the pattern and hammered it :P I moved with the fry as the chinook seem to be following them in nights previous. 10 minutes later I was into another fish, a coho around 4 pounds, only my second of the year in this area. It was wild so it was sent on its way.
So far so good for the new pattern. The next hour I got nothing, not even more sculpins. I saw numerous cuttys but I stuck by my new fly, I had convinced myself it was my last cast as I could hardly see anymore. After letting the fly sink I stripped it back hard through the fry, the fly stopped and felt like it was caught in a rock. I was pulling and yanking to get it free when the rock took off :o I was into my backing in seconds and then the fish turned and came back and dogged it at my feet for a bit. A bright chinook turned on its side and gave up. Looked to be 7-8 pounds, out came the measuring tape. 3cm over the legal limit ;D it was dispatched and I headed for home. Thanks again for the pattern Dan, it worked great :)
(http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac204/steely16/photo.jpg)
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I am very curious as to where you are fishing? I'm not asking for your spots but do you mean Ocean beach fishing? As in like where? Burrard inlet type thing? Capilano? I am so confused and didn't even know you could beach fish for salmon that is awesome!
Yes, as in ocean beach fishing. I just got really into it this season, something different and it can be a blast or really frustrating. Where is up to you to find. It took me a lot of driving and searching to find these spots but the Capilano mouth is a popular spot for coho salmon off the beach. This is not where I am but similar idea. Many beaches near river mouths or in the general area of them will produce fish most of the time.
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It doesn't have to be right near a river but that rises your chances of finding fish. These salmon are staging, preparing to enter the rivers. Sometimes they sit there because the rivers are to low to enter. Other times it's just because they're not ready to head up yet. The fish I have caught have had fry in them so they are feeding.
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Well done Steely!
It is a delight to beach fish on the west coast. When I got home from the beach last night, I looked into my fishing journal and was amazed to see that my first time beach fishing for cutthroat was exactly 19 years ago... Aug 21, 1993. I caught the bug that night (and a 12.5" cutthroat), and still have it (the bug, not the fish) :)
I never tire of sea run cutthroat and fish them steadily from May onwards, but I love the late summer/fall when the salmon mix it up and you never know what you are going to tangle with.
While I enjoy catching salmon or trout in the river, it is a much greater thrill to catch them as predators in their marine environemt, contending with tide, wrack, and waves while enjoying and exploring our stunning BC coast on foot. In my mind, nothing compares.
Have a ball!
PS If I was you I wouldn't be quite so vocal about my success, but maybe we're just different that way...
Cheers
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Yep, estuary fishing (google it). It's great. No boat required and no trees, bushes or cliffs in the way. It can be very relaxing. But it takes time to figure out. I still have a long way to go. Sounds like Ed and Steely are doing well. Most of the time fish stage before going in to the river but the trick is to find them. On the Island the Cowachin fish usually stage at Cherry Point which is a fair distance. Also the fish move around. This year the Cap fish are in front of the Pink Palace. Last year the were in a different location.
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Yep, estuary fishing (google it).
Not to be a nit picking hair splitter, but not all beach fishing is estuary. Cutthroat can range several miles (once source I read said up to 10 miles) from their natal streams so a productive beach will have the right conditions but not necessarily be in the estuary. Same for salmon.
But speaking of estuaries, IMHO Steve Raymond's "The Estuary Flyfisher" is excellent and holds a spot in my own library.
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Steely that's awesome! Thanks for the feedback on the pattern, and glad it worked as well for you as it did for me.
First time I ever used the pattern off the beach is was experimental. I ended up landing 6 springs off the beach that day plus multiple flounders, cutties, cabezon, and like you a coho. Right then I know I had a winner. Has produced constantly off the beach for me and I can't remember a time being skunked while using it.
I originally was just trying to do my own version of a "Christmas Tree" pattern (you can see that from the recipe list of colours - gold, green, red), but the colour when wet in the water was different and almost a translucent fishy colour that I could see from far off (and the coho/cutties loves it). Worked as a small flash fly in the rivers originally. For springs off the beach I kinda imagine a hootchie and went with that. I knew this colour combo worked well so I tied it into a hootchy style fly that was long. Noticed in the water it made a perfect needle fish pattern and when tied in blue almost matched the colour perfectly. It worked and that's all that has mattered.
Good job on the beach springs, probably one of the hardest fisheries to accomplish and do well at IMO. Took me a long while to figure it out.
Cheers,
Dan
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Yes, it is a great pattern Dan. I have always been partial to the blue needlefish patterns and hearing this I thought I would give the green a try tonight. Three small fish hooked in a couple of hours before dark at high tide. I had thought the first was a sea run cuttie but and took this picture:
(http://teacherweb.com/BC/HDStaffordMiddleSchool/Sandquist/IMG_0293.jpg)
I know it is a lousy picture, but I was perched precariously on a rock and did not want to drop my iPhone in the water. After releasing it I hooked another about the same size, and I took a closer look. No orange slash, very few spots and clearly white gums...these were small immature coho. All three were under two pounds and all caught on a green needle fish pattern.
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Hey Sandman!
Glad to hear of the success!
I was always partial to blue since the colour of this fly with blue flash (I can post the variation materials if you guys want) literally looks exactly the colour and length, and even the shape of the needle fish I've seen on the beaches and in the bellies of fish. Ever since switching to green though, and the success I have had with it off the beaches and in the rivers, I keep going back to it and the blue is on the back-burner.
Maybe it is something to do with how the needle fish's sides reflect under water (maybe it's more of a greenish reflection under water, rather than the bluish/grey tint we see above?), or maybe it's just them seeing something different that has the right size/profile. Maybe it just annoys them? I guess I'll never really know but it does really catch their attention.
The one thing I have noticed is that the small BLUE pattern out fishes anything else I've ever tossed for chinook in the RIVERS. I have literally had 5 or 6 chinook peel off schools on the first pass fighting over who gets it. Like I said however, beaches for some reason the large green one is the best for everything, and in the rivers the small green is best for coho, chum, cutties, etc. One of those weird things, that I've tested over and over but always had the same results.
Cheers,
Dan
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I'll have to tie some up for coho in the chedder this fall and see how they do. Maybe I'll try some variations of it.