North island report

Just got back from kayak fishing the Port Hardy area.  This was my first saltwater kayak trip, although i've made about a dozen trips to the island to fish from boats.  Bottom fishing was very good and sole, greenling, rockfish, small lingcod, etc were easy to catch (doesn't seem to be any shortage of these).  Most were released (barbless jig, shallow water).  I ate fish that were caught in deep water that could not swim back to the bottom.  I came home with some greenlings and sole and a 12 lb yelloweye.  The salmon fishing was so-so.  I was hoping the salmon were going to be thick with lots of pinks and coho's and maybe a few big kings.  Unfortunately the numbers were not there yet.  I caught about 8 salmon, most of which were the smaller resident kings that were released.  I took home one 5# coho and 2 medium kings (14 and 20#).  The two bigger kings I lucked into were quite a bit of fun from the kayak and pretty much topped off the excitement of the trip.  I brought a downrigger (cannon easy troll2 with boom chopped in half, spectra line) but preferred the deep six #0 instead. Mostly drag-free flashers and hoochies or apex, or apex alone.  The barbless hook rule caused me to lose almost a dozen coho though.  I started with a 7 ft. baitcaster, but ended up preferring the 10' mooching rod instead (better for barbless I think).  A linecounter reel and 10' salmon rod may have been even a better choice for depth estimation. 

All in all it was a great trip with some rain and sun.  Lots of whales, eagles, etc.  I'm very sore after 6 half days of fishing (10-15 miles/day) and was ready for a break.  I may post a few pictures if I can figure out how to do it as my computer wont seem to paste an image to the message, not does the  "insert image" part of the website seem to do anything.

mike

Sounds awesome FHMike! The salmon catch sounds pretty damn good!

I took home one 5# coho and 2 medium kings (14 and 20#)

I'll take that anyday!! Thanks for he report. BTW which island are we talking about?

Z

Z,

Sorry I forgot to mention Vancouver Island.

Mike

Here's some photos:

Nice report and photos. I've never gotten that far up the island. Someday.

I think you're right about using a long limber rod with barbless hooks. Or, if you like mooching bait, use circle hooks. They hold a lot better, during the headshakes.

Now those are some fish! Good on ya Mike! and thanks for the pics! I'll be hitting up Moutcha Bay  for the derby... ooooh can't wait!!

Z