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[Emily]

Hey Ya'll!

I just joined the forum, and I've gotten really excited reading through much of the posts. I'll be living on Gambier Island, right in Howe Sound for the bulk of the summer. I'm brand new into fishing, and got really stoked on it doing a small amount up in the Yukon River last summer.

I have some hooks, line, and various bait which I acquired for free, but I need to invest in a solid rod and reel. I'm looking for something relatively beginner, but sturdy and sound. What are your best recommendations?

I'm also curious about experiences fishing around Howe Sound, and any best spot around the sound you can recommend. What types are fish are plentiful come July and August? I will be fishing by canoe.

Oh, and anyone ever set up any crabs traps in the area before?

Thanks a million,
Emily.

[Rodney]

For Howe Sound, unfortunately fishing opportunities are fairly limited, not because of a lack of fishing spots but a lack of fish. If you are fishing from shore, perch would be the only fish that I can think of. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, because they can be a lot of fun on light tackle.

Before I go any further on the shore fishing, a couple of things to keep in mind. In Howe Sound, there are 9 rockfish conservation areas set up and three of them are along the shoreline of Gambier Island.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/maps-cartes/rca-acs/areas-secteurs/28-eng.htm

Rockfish conservation areas were set up several years ago as an effort to recover the populations of rockfish and lingcod species, so fishing with a rod and reel is not permitted in these areas.

Beside these areas, there are also total fishing closures for rockfish and lingcod. That being said, expect to possibly see an opening of rockfish and/or lingcod retention in the summer. This is usually announced in May or June.

Now back to the fishing part, if the above regulatory information is not already too overwhelming. For perch fishing, you need a light spinning rod. Because most of these fish are between 0.5lb and 2lb, I like to use a spinning rod that is rated between 2 - 6lb test. The length of the spinning rod should be at least 6' if you are fishing from a canoe, preferably longer if you are fishing from shore. The long rod allows you to keep the fish away from all the rocks, pilings, kelp beds when you are bringing it to shore. For fishing line, I like to use 4lb test, but perhaps slightly heavier line is better because it gets scratched by rocks, weed etc when fighting perch. Perch have a tendency to deep dive and make large circles, so it's pretty often to have your line rubbed again something in the water when fighting the fish. For hooks, you need a small one for these fish due to their small mouth. Size 8 to 12 are preferred. For bait, sand worms, shrimps all work well. There are several perch species that you may encounter. Shiner perch are the smallest ones and they are the most plentiful. The only reach around 8" long and pretty often they are a nuisance when you are trying to catch larger species. Striped perch are pretty, pile perch look like the larger version of shiner perch but they are in fact two different species. Both striped and pile perch reach around the same size, 1 to 2lb.

This rod and reel setup can also be used later on for trout fishing in lakes if you decide to do that in fall and spring.

For salmon fishing, because this is a non-pink year, there will not be much in Howe Sound. During odd years, pink salmon begin travelling up Howe Sound into the Squamish River in late June. This year, the only salmon species that you are likely to encounter in Howe Sound during the summer months is chinook salmon, but most of this fishing is done from a boat.

Other species that you may possibly encounter include spiny dogfish, flounders and soles. For flounders and soles, if you can find an area where the sea bottom is sandy, then your chance of catching them is very big. You just need a large enough weight to keep the bait on the bottom. While you can use the rod/reel setup for perch to catch flounders and soles, a heavier rod is preferred so it can handle more weight that you put on the line. You can use natural bait like shrimp, fish flesh to catch these, but you can also use artificial jigs. The advantage of using jigs is that you can avoid catching dogfish, which love to grab onto your natural bait when you are trying to catch other species.

Hope this somewhat helps and gets you started. Good luck.

[Emily]

Thanks for all the wicked advice, Rodney!

I'll be on the north end of Gambier, so it looks like there are no rockfish conservation areas around there.

Good specs on the rod, any specific brand you might recommend?

For perch, what are your thoughts on artificial jogs? Also, I'm not very into catch and release -- how are perch for eating, be it striped or pile?

And for chinook fishing, are there any regulations on catches? If I'm fishing by canoe, any recommendations on best places to fish from? Closer to shore, or deeper out?

Emily.

[Rodney]

Because of the type of their diet (primarily crustaceans), it's pretty difficult to catch perch with artificials (sometimes it's already hard enough to entice them with bait). That being said, you can certainly catch them with small artificial flies that imitate shrimp, small shore crabs, etc. Tiny rubber jigs may also work on bigger fish as well. Look for those rubber jig tails that they use to catch freshwater crappies.

Personally I like to eat pile and striped perch, the type of flesh (white) is what Chinese preferred when it comes to eating fish. I like them pan fried. There is a daily quota of 8 fish. One thing to watch out for is that in late spring, early summer, you tend to find female fish that have a belly full of youngs (unlike other fish species, perch do not lay eggs, they bear youngs) so it's best to release those. It's pretty easy to tell when you catch one, a lot of times you'll see a few juveniles emerging from the female's cavity even just with a light accidental squeeze by hands.

For salmon fishing from the boat in that area, that's out of my expertise so I'll let others to answer that.

[Matt]

The most versatile rod you can have for fishing from shore in this area would be a 8' spinning rod and reel and maybe 10lbs line.  Spinning reels are not durable generally and the cheap ones will fall apart before the summer is over.  A spinning real made by Shimano will last a while.  That's your best bet.  Check the classified section on this website as they might have something used.  Better to buy something quality that's used than something mediocre that's new IMO.

All you need for perch is a tiny hook (say a size 10), a spool of line (say 4lbs test) and any small weight like a split shot.  Grab a mussel from a piling and stomp on it.  Use a broken piece of a mussel shell to scrape out white fleshy bit thats glued to the shell.  Use that as bait.  You can use a piece garden or deli shrimp (from Safeway) or garden worms too if you like.  Keep the piece of the worm used under 1cm or else the fish will bite part of the worm without a hook in it and it will steal your bait.  Perch hang out under docks and near rocky shorelines, they aren't out in open water where you'd be canoeing.  I had a tonne of fun when I was younger laying on my stomach over the side of a dock watching hordes of shiner perch swarming my bait.  Most of the time, I'd throw the perch back, but sometimes, not having any money to speak of back then, I'd keep them for use as bait instead of herring.  They dont' work as well as they aren't as smelly, but they did catch fish.

There are other types of perch, but I've never caught them near Bowen.  I have however caught hundreds of shiners before i had to work the summer.

Shiner perch


If you're fishing for rockfish and whitespot greenling *outside* of a conservation area, use something called a buzz-bomb.  You string it on the line as described on the package and drop it to the bottom in 15 feet or deeper of water and use it as per the instrucitons.  IMPORTANT:  Rockfish in Howe Sound shouldn't be caught any deeper than 30 feet deep or else they can't cope with the pressure change and it damages their organs.  Rockfish live a very long time, at least as long as humans, and it takes them a long time to grow big enough to reproduce.  If you kill a rockfish like the one pictured, its probably 10 years old.  Howe Sound, being as close as it is to Vancouver, is no place to keep rockfish, as the population can't sustain itself.  The one's in Howe Sound are too small to get more than 2 chicken nugget sized pieces of meat off of anyways.

Quillback Rockfish



"Buzz bomb lure"


"jigs" to be used with a piece of shrimp or herring


Whitespotted Greenling are also present and are caught in the same manner as rockfish usually, but can be found over sandy bottoms as well.  They're quite a bony fish, and not worth the trouble to eat.  They're pretty bland.  Another way to catch greenling is to get some frozen herring from a boat gas dock like Sewells or Union Steamship on Bowen and cut them up into small sections (ie 2cm sections of the herring).  Put these on a bigger hook (say size 1/0) and a couple of ounces of weight and cast them out from shore.  You can leave them stationary or slowing drag the bait in along the bottom (maybe moving like turning the handle of the reel once ever 5 seconds).  

White Spotted Greenling



Doing this, you'll probably catch flounder too.  They're lots of fun and you can eat the bigger one's.  The best way to catch flounder is to paddle out on a calm day into a bay where there are lots of bouys.  Tie up to a buoy so you don't drift around and cast a buzzbomb out with a piece of herring on the hook and reel it is along the bottom.  The "jigs" Rodney was speaking of can be found at some Canadian Tires or Walmarts but not as often at fishing shops as they aren't popular to use for trout in this part of the country.  They might have them at tackle shops but they'll be high quality (read: expensive) ones for steelhead in rivers.  I included a picture below.  Put some herring on the jig and you'll catch lots of stuff bouncing it slowly along the bottom.

Flounder (they're usually 6- 12" long)



Herring bait


The most fun I had fishing on Bowen in the summer was fishing for dogfish sharks.  They grow to be quite big (12lbs is large) and pull really hard compared to everything else you'll catch from shore on Gambier.  They like sandy/ muddy bottoms like where you'd find flounder but swim around a couple feet above the bottom.  The best way to catch them is to tie a swivel to the end of your line, then tie a 6 foot section of line with a weight at the end to the swivel and a foot of heavy line (as strong a fishing line as you can buy from a tackle shop, sharks have sharp teeth and will bite through ordinaty line) with a big hook attached to the swivel so you have three pieces of line total coming off the swivel.  Drop this straight to the bottom and wait for a dogfish.  Flounder will bite too, but you'll know you have something big on when you catch a dogfish.  IMPORTANT.  The easiest way to release a shark is to cut the leader with a knife leaving the hook in its mouth, they've got two spines on their back by their fins and very sharp teeth.  You can also use pliers at pull the hook out, but be careful.

Spiny Dogfish