CRAZY COHO!

A TRUE STORY OF HOT COHO ACTION!

Gerald called at about 10 am and wanted to know if I was interested in taking him for a half day of coho fishing. I was, as the day was awesome, without a hint of wind and the sun was already high in the sky. I told him I would be ready to leave the dock at Rushbrook Floats in about thirty minutes. Within an hour we were skimming along on plane. We had set the crab traps on the way and it looked like a great day on the water. The surface of the North Pacific was as smooth as it ever gets, and we sighted a large pod of about twenty Orcas traveling north through Chatham Sound. One after another they blew spouts of mist into the clear day, the extra large dorsal of the the bull was easy to distinguish from the smaller curved ones of the females and juvuniles. We watched as they disapeared into the distance. Thirty five minutes later I cut the engine and allowed the boat to silently drift into position. I then dropped the anchor near a kelp bed where we had seen coho swirling on the surface.

Eleven foot rods fitted with single action mooching reels were soon baited with tiny anchovies. The bait was lowered into the clear green sea water. The anchovy's silver scales flashed in the sunlight as the tiny weight pulled it beneath the suface. One.. two.. three pulls, is all it took to put the shiney morsel ten feet down beside the anchored boat, it was clearly visible to the anglers above. I could feel the rush of anticipation as I watched the bait, slowly working the rod tip to give the anchovy a fluttering spiral action. Five minutes passed, and I had that thought, "what kind of suicidal salmon is going to come within a few feet of the boat, close enough to see the pinstripes, and even my face peering down? A hungry coho feasting on the baitfish taking cover in the nearby kelp beds, thats who!"

Soon a silver streak appeared near the bait.. then was gone! I quietly notified Gerald who was fishing the other side of the boat. My heart raced! Suddenly not one, but two coho circled the bait, so near to me I could easily see the dark little spots on their greenish backs! One swam up and simply chomped the bait, I raised the rod tip, and feeling the telltale resistance and the arcing of the limber rod, I announced "Fish on!". The single action mooching reel screeched out it's song as the hefty fish plunged for deeper water, only to emerge from the surface ten yards away in a breathtaking series of leaps. I turned to see if Gerald was enjoying my fish's acrobatic display just in time to see the arc form in his rod, and hear him say, "Fish on! Double header!" I could hear him laugh over the sound of the two reels, as my fish headed for open water and his made for the kelp, not more than 30 yards from the boat. Gerald palmed the reel a little to slow the run, I head the thunk..thunk of a finger in the handles of the reel. "Ouch!" he said, still laughing! "That is why they are known as knuckle dusters!"

My fish slowed down in deeper water so I began to take back a few yards of line and I had a chance to glance at the fight taking place on the other side of the boat. Gerald was putting preasure on the fish and it was putting on a battle just below the surface, causing a bulge as it raced against the tight line. My fish turned towards the boat and I cranked as fast as I could to keep the slack from the line "Reel!...Reel, reel!" I said to myself, as I could feel the rod straighten as the fish made speed towards the boat. Finally it turned and I could feel the tension start to build in the limber rod. I released the handles just as the reel began to spin backwards, releasing most of the line I had just taken up. I began to wonder how this was going to end, with two fish on and only the two of us in the boat, it would be interesting to see how the netting would go. I glanced at Gerald again, as I had heard him take in quite a bit of line. His fish leaped high, dangerously close to the boat, thashing in the air. I could see the anchovy dangling from the corner of it's mouth! "At least it's away from the kelp", I thought. "Yours is not ready yet", I said aloud to Gerald " I'm going to try to net mine." I was steadily reeling in my fish and I reached for the net on top of the boat. I decided to try to net my fish as soon as it came near the boat. When the fish was fifteen feet from the boat I stopped reeling with the rod tip near the water, the net over the side was clenched under my right armpit. I raised the rod to bring the tired salmon nearer the boat. It gave little resistance after the feirce battle, and I easily slipped the net under it's body and guided it in. The fish thrashed wildly when it felt the net, turning over and over burying the hooks into the net. I put the rod into a holder and striped out a few extra yards of line. I would have to net Gerald's fish into the same net with my fish still attached to the line! I crossed the boat just in time to see his fish thrash weakly then turn to the side.

"Perfect, Gerald" I said as I dipped the net and the fish slid in right beside mine. I turned to him, his grin was as big as mine as we shook hands, laughing aloud. What a rush! I rebaited hooks and lowered the baits into the clear water. Soon a fat coho was seen harssing the bait. The action continued for several hours until we each had a limit of mint silver coho packed on the ice. A seal poked it's head from the water nearby and looked at us with it's oversized eyes and long whiskers. It was clear that there was so many fish nearby that the marine predators hadn't even affected the fishing. Seals near Rupert almost never steal fish from the sports angler.

We decided to fill out the coolers with rockfish, so we pulled the anchor and set up the rods for jigging. I set the boat on drift and gave Gerald a quick demonstration on the jigging action. Before I could drop the lead jig to the depths, a bright coho flashed from the depths and grabbed the lure! Gerald's rod bent over too, and I knew we each had another salmon! As we were limited out on coho, I released both fish at the boatside. The next time we lowered the jigs very quickly to try to avoid the marauding coho. As soon as the jigs hit bottom we felt the sharp tugs of the powerful little rockfish. One after another we reeled up the spiney, colorful fish utill we reached our limit. It was time to fire up the engine and head for home!

 Gerald snoozed on the return trip. It had been a long day for him already, as he had traveled from the Queen Charlotte Islands overnight. The ocean was smooth, and the boat moved along at a good pace, leaving a set of long white curls in the wake. It had been one of the most enjoyable trips of the season, and the shorter days were signaling the begining of the end of a great summer. I didn't even wake Gerald when a huge humpback whale surfaced and blew it's misty spout high into air. The sun glistened from the broad tail when it raised high into the air, dripping streams of bright seawater as the mighty beast sounded a hundred yards from our port side. It had been a fine day, indeed.

Fish On!

River Bullies

Crazy action on local rivers!

One of the most exciting times for fishing the rivers here in western Canada is when the young salmon smolts make the journey from the safety of the rearing areas in rivers, downstream to the ocean. The tiny smolts travel in large schools with thousands of individuals grouped together. Large preditory fish gorge themselves on the finger length smolts. Frightened schools of the shiney little salmon can be seen popping out of the water to escape the large, hungry hunters. The sight of large swirls on the smooth water surface or even a dorsal fin or broad tail breaking the surface will reveal the preditory species that lies in wait.  Bull trout (a Char species) will continue to chase the tasty little morsels long after they have filled themselves, the hapless smolts are smashed into the air as the excited Bullies chase them right out of the water.
Last season we fished this situation with three of us in a boat, we caught and released about a dozen 6-9 lb fish in about an hour! Mad fishing! We cast to feeding schools of big fish slashing into the little minnows, targeting specific fish. We often had two fish on the lines at time. Once, all three of us had fish on at the same time! Anything under five pounds was released at boat-side to resume fishing quickly. Some of the larger fish were brought aboard for a quick photo before release.
Each season it seems we have to try out a bunch of tackle to find what they will take. This year we tried all the old favorites without a lot of success, then somebody tied on a tiny jig with a twister tail. Bingo!
Soon my spinnerbait had action! The large fish destroyed all the little jigs and spinnerbaits I had on board!! Darkness came all to soon and shut us down.

See the Big Splash lures page for plastic baits that outsmart these great game fish, or book a guided fishing trip and get in on the hot action this spring. Trips for bull trout start as low as $250.00! and take place in April and May. The time frame is very limited, so book early to reserve your adventure!

Nice snapper, Richard!