Fishing Report for Week Ending October 19, 2014

 

 

 

SALTWATER

OVERVIEW – Coho fishing is. STILL GOOD in most areas with the fish running up to 15 lbs in size. A few winter springs up to 9 lbs have also been caught, but the mature spring salmon run is over. Some chum salmon are also showing up in anglers’ catches. Halibut fishing was GOOD this past weekend.

Visit our facebook page to enter our fishing picture contest, and see reports, news and videos by our guides and staff from their most recent trips! 

There are new openings for halibut and coho starting September1^st. For the latest updates in DFO regulations go to http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=search_results&lang=en&ID=recreational&Year=2014

SOOKE – Coho salmon fishing was GOOD this past week. The coho numbers have been good but the schools are more scattered than in previous weeks. Anglers were having their best success out in the strait in 500 to 600 feet of water and near the US border. We heard that the boats out the farthest produced the most coho. If you can locate the fish, you will catch a bunch, but it is important to try and stay with the school. That said, a few coho are also being caught close to the shore line, but not in large numbers. Spring fishing is virtually over and the winter springs have not moved in yet in any sizeable quantity. Choice of lures has stayed very similar to last week; Anchovies are working well with Green and Bloody Nose teaser heads being good colors choices. G-Force spoons in Irish Cream and No Bananas have been catching their fair number of fish. The most popular flashers recently have been the Gibbs Madi, the Outfitter and the Jellyfish UV.

BECHER BAY– Salmon fishing remains GOOD in East Sooke. Coho salmon are being caught in good numbers. Successful anglers are going out into depths as deep as 500 feet to find the fish. Most of the coho are being caught at 90-110 feet on the downriggers. Most of the coho have been wild, unmarked fish but there are enough hatchery fish that you can get your limit if you release some of the wild ones. Most anglers are having their best results fishing anchovies. Some winter springs up to 9 lbs have been caught, but not too many. The most productive teaser heads for anchovies were the Green and the Bloody Nose. For flashers the Madi and the Purple Onion have been very good lately. Spoons such as G-Force in the smaller sizes have been working as well, both in Cop Car or Glow/Green.

PEDDER BAY –Coho fishing has been GOOD out in the strait in 450 to 600 feet of water. Most anglers have been trolling at 90 – 130 foot depths, but we’ve also heard of fish taken as shallow as 30 feet. The majority of coho have been unclipped ones, but there are still come schools of clipped fish coming through. Chum salmon in the 12–16 lb size have also been caught. Spring salmon fishing was SLOW for winters, but a few up to 9 lbs have been caught. Anchovies were productive for springs UV Green and Purple Haze teaser heads being top choices in teaser heads. Anglers are getting coho while trolling 3” to 3.5” spoons. Coho Killers and G-force spoons with both glow and green have been working the best. Squirts are working too with Yellow, Purple Haze and Gray Ghost the best patterns. The best flashers have been the Silver Betsey, Green/Silver Hot Spot and Jellyfish UV.

Halibut – Halibut fishing was GOOD over the weekend.. Anglers that were fishing were using extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait. Berkley Gulp and Powerbait soft plastics also work very well. You can also use a large spoon fished off a spreader bar, Mudraker or Lucky Jigs or other large Jigs if you want to stay away from the dogfish.

VICTORIA – Fishing has been FAIR TO GOOD off Victoria.  A few days saw good numbers of coho being caught out by the Yellow Marker buoy and in 250-300 feet of water.  Anchovies have been working well in green and UV Chart/Flash colors. Good choices in plastic baits are the Cloverleaf, Purple Haze and the Glo Below. Gibbs Coho Killer, Kingfisher and Coyote spoons in green and glow colours have been very effective. 

Halibut – Halibut fishing was GOOD this past week out at Constance Bank and off Albert Head. Anglers are using extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait with octopus being the most productive bait this past weekend. Berkley Gulp and Powerbait soft plastics also work very well. You can also use a large spoon fished off a spreader bar, Mudraker or Lucky Jigs or other large Jigs if you want to stay away from the dogfish.

 



OAK BAY – Salmon fishing was SLOW for those trolling out on the Flats and in the Gap. Those anglers who went out to the banks for coho did well. There were very few winter springs being caught this past week. Anglers were using squirts, spoons, or tiny strip. The fish that were being caught trolling were caught on Coho Killer spoons and 3” to 4” G-Force & Gypsy spoons. Good squirts were the Pickle Green, J-79 and Jellyfish. Good flashers have been the Purple Onion, Green/silver or Green Jellyfish.

Halibut – Halibut fishing was GOOD this past week.  Anglers are using extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait with octopus. Berkley Gulp and Powerbait soft plastics also work very well. You can also use a large spoon fished off a spreader bar, Mudraker or Lucky Jigs or other large Jigs if you want to stay away from the dogfish.

 



SIDNEY- Salmon fishing was GOOD near Sidney this past week. Coho are being in good numbers near the Pender Island Bluffs. Most anglers are fishing here and there have been reports that a good numbers of fin clipped coho were staging in the area. Many anglers are fishing using anchovies in UV Green teaser heads. Squirts have been out producing hootchies recently and the hot patterns for springs now are Purple Haze, Glow Below and Electric Chair. Coho Killer spoons have also been working well, especially in double glow and 50/50 colors. 

Notable Catches – Trevor Webb, 16 years of age, caught a 43 pound, 114 cm halibut out by Zero Rock Saturday, October 18th on a herring with a glow hootchy.

 

Please send photos (in jpeg format) and descriptions of your notable catch to our email info@fishingvictoria.com

 

FRESHWATER

OVERVIEW – Fishing is GOOD on most lakes in the South Island area as the temperature cools. Remember that ALL wild trout must be released on all streams in region 1. Wild rainbows and cutthroats over 50 cm must be released in Cowichan Lake. The lower reaches of the Cowichan River have been closed to all recreational uses until further notice.

COWICHAN RIVER – Water levels on the river are still low. The water level in the river coming out of the lake is only 0.51 meters and downstream near Duncan it is 0.6 meters. The lower reaches of the Cowichan River have been closed to all recreational uses until further notice. The trout fishing in the mid and upper river is good to excellent, but it really stresses the fish to catch and release them now. Most anglers are staying off the river so as to not stress the trout.

TROUT – Trout fishing was GOOD on most lakes in the South Island area this past week The Vancouver Island Fish hatchery has started its fall stocking program and has so far released 32,688 catchable rainbow trout. On October 8^th, Durrance Lake received 2,000, Elk Lake 2,000 and Spectacle lake 250 catchable rainbow trout. On October 14^h, Kemp Lake received 500, Matheson Lake 500, Lookout Lake 250, Prior Lake 500, Thetis Lake 1,000 and Glen Lake 500 catchable rainbow trout. On October 15^th, Prospect Lake received 2,000 catchable rainbow trout.

Bank anglers are catching trout on Powerbait, Gulp Eggs, or worms while fishing from shore and right on the bottom. Yellow and Bubblegum have been good colours recently for Powerbait. Fly anglers are fishing Pumpkinheads, Wooly Buggers, Leeches and Micro Leech patterns on full sink fly lines. Trollers have been doing well with a variety of lures. The Rhys Davis Baitrix Trout lures and UV Mini Strip Teasers work well for larger fish too. Other good trolling lures are the Apex Trout Killers with the police car one of the best and the black with silver glitter spots taking second place. Flatfish and/or Kwikfish have also been effective in sizes 5 to 7 in Frog, Black with Silver Flake or Rainbow Pattern. Smaller Rapalas in Rainbow Trout or Brown Trout patterns also work well; the jointed Rapalas have also been great for larger fish. Larger Willow Leaf Lake trolls with a size 6 hook tipped with a small 1-2″ piece of worm always produce fish. The biggest trout usually come from Langford Lake and Elk Lake.



 

BASS - Bass fishing is GOOD. There have been good reports of fishing with spinner baits in Chartreuse, White and Black. During the day, soft plastics rigged Carolina style work well and crank baits can work well too. Crank baits have been effective too when fished with a fast retrieve. Soft plastics rigged “Carolina Style “is also a good choice when fishing drop offs and docks, most productive in 4” Yum bait colors Smoke or Pumpkinseed. Surface lures have been producing well in the evenings and mornings. Langford Lake, Shawnigan Lake, Prospect Lake and Elk and Beaver Lakes are the best local bass lakes. St. Mary’s Lake on Salt Spring Island is also a great lake for bass fishing.

CARP – Carp fishing is GOOD at Elk Lake. Corn and carp Boilies have been the best bait recently.

Notable Catches – Please send photos (in jpeg format) and descriptions of your notable catch to our email info@fishingvictoria.com

FISH TIP OF THE WEEK 

It’s time to go out and catch your chums, salmon that is, not your buddies. Chum salmon like black or purple hootchies, and most anglers will switch to using black hooks as well, to catch these hard fighting salmon. Troll very slowly and use a dodger instead of a flasher. 

Island Outfitters Leader Board 2014 

Salmon

1) 30.8 lbs – Lynn Pollard – Macaulay Point – July 13th

2) 30.7 lbs – Lance Foreman – Waterfront – July 10th

3) 30.0 lbs – Jesse McCullough – Otter Point – July 9th

4) 29.4 lbs – Al Teng – Macaulay Point– July 23^rd

5) 29.3 lbs – Richard Hanson – Sherringham Point– June 14^th

Halibut 

1) 70.9 lbs – Adam West – Zero Rock – May 10^th

2) 67.7 lbs – Tom Schmidbauer – Rock Pile – May 11^th

3) 66.6 lbs – Harvey Francis – Rock Pile – Herring – April 23^rd

4) 65.7 lbs – Allen Lacharity – Oak Bay - Herring– May 10^th

5) 65.7 lbs – Brock Heppell – Oak Bay – May 10^th

Trout

1) 4 lbs 12 oz – Jeremy Thomassen– Elk Lake – April 12^th

2) 4 lbs 10 oz – John Redlick – Duncan area – March 25^th

3) 4 lbs 6 oz – Robert Waldner – Langford Lake - May 12^th

4) 3 lbs14 oz – Ryan Rock – Duncan area – September 6^th

5) 2 lbs15 oz - Duncan Watts – Langford Lake- Powerbait – January 25^th

Carp

1. William Oliver – 75 carp weighed in, total 345.4 lbs


2. Dan Morris – 38 carp weighed in, total 227 lbs 10 oz


3. Blair Cox - 7 carp weighed in, total 102 lbs.


4. Brandon Boudewyn - 3 carp weighed in, total 33.9 lbs


5. Kory Haanen - 3 carp weighed in, total 35.4 lbs 5

 

2014 DERBIES and EVENTS

Island Outfitters starts and ends the year with the free for fun and prizes Salmon, Trout, Carp and Halibut Leader Boards. Simply weigh your catch in at Island Outfitters and the top five fish in each category on December 31^st wins a special prize. Everybody who enters a fish gets a prize! To enter, just bring in your catch to be weighed at our store.

See our event pages for details on upcoming events and like us on facebook!