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[blueback]

I went out solo yesterday on my last vacation day to try for some sockeye. I didn't get out until the afternoon as I spent the morning (unsuccessfully) trying to convince one of my children to accompany me. The marine weather said the lightstaion wind was minimal but when I got to the launch in Steveston, it was blowing pretty steadily but I decided I would chance it anyway and go out there. It was quite bumpy out there when I arrived, and I joined a large fleet of other sporties as well as a comercial troller in the pursuit of sox. It was quite a challenge to get the downriggers flashers and rods rigged up and to depth while trying to keep my boat from continously turning sharply because of the wind and waves, but I managed to get it done (and at the same time answer urgent texts from my wife  ). I ususally run four rods when chasing sox, but today it would have been to much to handle, so I went with two rods.  It didn't take long (maybe 10 minutes before I hooked (and lost) my first fish. Playing the fish and trying to steer was fun too! In speaking with other fishers out there, I got the impression that the day was quite good and that alomost everyone had a few fish, which was good news. The day remained bumpy until evening when the water flattened out, and the bite went on and off all afternoon. I tried using my net to get the fish in the boat, but couldn't manage it with the wind and trying to steer, play the fish, and net the fish all at once, so I resorted to just hoisting the fish over the transom and into the boat. This method worked OK but I lost a few doing this as well. In the end I took three fish home and lost five. Fun and productive afternoon.         

[Damien]

Good report!

How far out did you have to go?  How deep?  Pink squirts?  Dummy Flashers?

Details, I need details!!!
 

[capman]

Glad you had a good day Blueback. North Arm and T10 was extremely quite. Fished from 6 AM to 2 PM with no hookups. Only saw 2 fish being caught.

[blueback]

Ok Damien, here it comes ; I hooked all my fish Sunday at 70ft (the shallow rod at 30ft. produced nada) using a glow head pink hootchie. I use two dummie flashers hooked up end to end on each downrigger with approx. 4ft of line between them and approx. three ft. of mono between the wire and the first flasher. I always make sure that the rod's mainline with the flasher and the hootchie are no more than 5/6ft behind the transom, so there isn't much line after the downrigger clip. I see alot of guys trailing their mainlines a long way behind the clip like in spring fishing but this doesn't provide for a tight enough roll and also tends to get hung up on other guys gear as you pass other boats closeby sometimes. Sockeye like a tight roll right behind the boat.
As far as where I was trolling, I was all over the place. When the tide was slack-ish a bunch of us picked up sox on the boundary between fresh Fraser water and the salt. When the tide was running hard I went in close in only 120ft or so water and got some there. It all depends upon the tide you are fishing. I prefer low slack and dropping tides myself. I hope this helps
Capman; sorry to hear that North Arm and T-10 were slow for you. As I mentioned in a previous post, I like to fish the Fraser mouth because I know that the commies are going to put a big dent in the moving schools so I try to target them when they slow down to acclimatize to the fresh water before entering the river and hence stack up a little bit. I hope this helps as well.     

[SkagitDreamer]

Great job solo, blueback - especially with the traffic and wind. Damn fine report!

[canso]

Nice work blueback, we struggled on Sunday.


I was also out Saturday and Sunday. Sat. was on fire most boats getting quick limits and the radio chatter was talking the same. We were back to the launch before 10am with 8 in the cooler.

Sunday was a different story, fish were very sparse, we would get a double then troll an hour with nothing. Saw the odd net in the water through out the day but not on fire. Even the guides were complaining. Finished the day around 3 pm with a few in the cooler, and the same number lost at the side of the boat.
I've had 6 sockeye trips this year and Sunday was the first tuff day fishing.
Back out on Tuesday. See you out there.

[blueback]

Thanks SkagitDreamer and Canso!

I would have gone out on Saturday as well, but it looked according to the marine weather like it was going to be really windy, so I didn't plan on going out there. As it turned out, the marine stations reported very little wind. The weather  reporting and actual weather hasn't been very much in agreement, much of the time of late. Ya, Sunday was off and on the whole time I was out there Canso. I wish I could go out there Tuesday, but I am back at work again so I am back to being a weekend warrior!   

[Noahs Arc]

I won't be impressed until you start taking selfies with the fish when you're by yourself.
J/K nice report!

[blueback]

Ha! Just need one more arm and I might be able to do that Noahs Arc Thanks!

[DionJL]

I was out yesterday as well. We struggled to get our sockeye. A lot of bites, but not a lot of hook ups. We got three in the cooler, and I also landed a Pink which was a little weird.

[bluenoser]

Hey Blueback what size boat are you in?

Im impressed your going solo because Ive been out a couple times and even with 2 of us its chaos when we get multiple hits trying to play the fish, steer with the kicker then land the fish.

Watched a couple guys that went all over the place while trying to land a fish because no one was steering the boat.


BN 

[blueback]

A pink? That is strange DionJL. I am hoping that by the weekend the area will be 'restocked' with lots of late run sockeye  .

Thanks Bluenoser! I am in an old 17ft'er. Fortunately, I haven't yet had to contend with multiple fish when I am alone in the boat, so far this year. I have been on alot of trips where we get all four rods going, but I have always had company on those occassions. When all four are going it's a real panic as we try to attend all the bouncing rods. On those occassions it's been the big Adams river fish too, or sometimes the smaller Alberni sox. Lots of fun! Guys running around the boat with a rod in each hand and fish flopping around the deck, and lots of laughing! I am looking forward to that shortly around here again soon! So far, I have been lucky this year in that whenever I've hooked fish, no other boats have been very close or on collision course. The real test will come when the biggies show up in big numbers out there. Hopefully then I won't be alone, but if I am; let the fun begin!