Well I do I start this month off, should we try and figure out where all our big Springs are or should we just leave that as water under the bridge and push forward to what will hopefully be a HOT and exciting July, seeing I’m the writer I’ll touch a bit on both.
June overall was a bit of a disappointment in the Salmon department, though I certainly don’t want to take away from quite a few good fish that did hit the scales during the month.
As a member of the SFAB we always here about the climatic changes and how it can greatly effect how fish migrate. It seems this year more than any other has shown us just how much that theory really is true. Well enough with the science side of it lets get on with what we can do to improve our odds.
First off what’s open now it’s July 1st:
- Chinook:
- 2 per day a minimum 18’ in length.
- Coho:
- 2 per day (Hatchery fin clipped only) minimum 12’ in length
- Pinks:
- 4 per day ****As long as you are only retaining Pinks**** other wise you can mix and match them into your daily total.
- Sockeye:
- 4 per day if caught as the specific species. It is always better to check prior to going out as this year will see time slot closures for conservation purposes.
- Lingcod:
- 1 per day and make sure that it is a good 26” just to be on the safe side. Lingcod may not be retained inside a conservation area so be knowledgeable of the areas in and around the Pedder Bay, Beechey head spots of (Area 20-5).
- Rockfish:
- All species with a few exceptions in the DFO regulation book (1) per day.
Now lets go fishing, the missing Springs of June have finally started to show up in our area. Pedder bay has been good of late even though a lot of boaters are running the gauntlet all the way up to Otter Point. The reason for this I believe is we’ve been blessed again with an abundance of bait holding in the bay. Areas such as Church, out front of Christopher at the pinnacle, Aldridge and the Head have also seen better size Springs
Coho are popping up just a bit off shore from the areas that the springs are being caught in. These fish are hitting on small Anchovy as well as squirts, spoons, and Hootchies. Most reports are that these frisky little guys are generally in about the same depth as the Springs but some guys are getting hook ups while sending their gear down.
For depths you can go with 65ft on one side while the other side should be deeper in that cooler water, try 100 to 120 feet. One other option I haven’t seen or heard about is the possibility of trying for Big Chinook further of shore. I say this only to back up my thoughts on warmer water temperatures keeping the fish further out. Food for thought if you find yourself out there and nothing seems to be working in close to shore.
Next up in July will be the Pinks of 2005 this years run is forecast as being one of the largest in 7 years and when they pass through our area you’ll want all hands on rod ,net, and gaff close by. Remember Pinks BBQ just as well as any other Salmon they only take half the time to cook. This leaves them tender and juicy just like a Coho or Chinook.
Pinks are partial to pink gear so pink squirts, Hootchies, spoons, and even anchovy in red heads will work well. Your leaders don’t need to be longer than 4 feet and a green or red flasher will work, for depths anywhere between 45 and 70 feet will be perfect. Hotspots are going to be behind the Race Rocks on a flood tide, just behind Church Rock working through Whirl bay on the outside ledge, and if you want to run that far the gap between Beechey Head and Church Rock about a ¼ to ½ a mile off shore.
This is where renting a boat comes into play as a perfect option for this kind of fishing. We can supply you with everything you will ever need and the best part of it is you won’t have to clean up the boat when you get in. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!! Fishing at a good price, no towing your boat all the way down here, and no cleaning the boat to boot.
The next salmon up is Sockeye. This year will be a hit and miss fishery with Sockeye due to “Conservation” measures that will be in place for the next five years because some one left the door open to illegal river fishing on the Fraser last year. For further information read the Fisheries and Oceans Williams Report. That will explain it better. Add to that the lack of water these poor fish face when they get up deep into the Fraser/Thompson system and last but not least the possibility that if we don’t save the Cultas Lake, Saginaw stocks we may see these fish go onto the endangered species list and that could make fishing Sockeye impossible.
For tackle choices I’d recommend orange spoons, fluorescent green spoons, pink hootchies and squirts, green mini squirts, Mcknight spoons, and pink #3.5 and #4 Coyote spoons.
JULY TIDES
Last but not least “Halibut” your Halibut tides for July look like this:
July 1st and 2nd would be fishing early on the low tide starting around 5:30 a.m. till say around 10:00ish.
The 3rd through the 9th would be Salmon fishing tides as they are running to fast to really try and anchor up.
Your next good batch starts around the 10th of July mid morning till 1:00, the 11th, late in the morning until around 3:00pm, the 12th, 5:00am till 8:00am then 1:00 till 4:00pm. The 13th, 14th, 15th are good all day from before daylight right through till 9:00pm at night.
The next week has seriously extreme tides in fact on the 20th thru 24th you have 3 days of minus tides so watch your travel in shallow areas. These are the kind of tides that will find yourself stranded at certain marinas because when you left it was all good but when you return there is no water at the ramp.
The 26th through the 28th look good again while Salmon fishing will good in between all other days not specifically mentioned.
Hey gang don’t forget we have camping and R.V.’s with hook-ups if you just want to get away for a weekend.
Till we meet again
Sean Moore; General Manager
Pedder Bay Marina & R.V. Park
