Salmon fishing with a kayak?

[fowlweather]

So i am going on a kayak trip in the Gulf islands near Gabriola island. I have heard that the fishing there is decent. So I am deciding to bring a rod. I have been Salmon trolling many times before but that was guided on a boat. What kind of equipment will I need? I have a collapsable rod and a spinning reel. I am willing to buy a new rod but I need to know what I need. Any help is very appreciated

[Peter Pepper]

You need to mount a rod holder on your yak. Also, get a mini crab trap. I've done that out of a yak off gabriola. Call one of the two localy owned tackle shops in Nanaimo (i work at one off them, but our competition are good guys too) for more advice closer to your fishing date.
And don't forget your fishing licence and safely gear.

[835]

Myself i wouldnt buy a new rod for one trip. It depends on what you have for rods now, Ie maybe you do more steelhead fishing and have a steelhead rod you can use or buy one of thoes. What im getting at is purpose built rods need to be used.
If you have a resonably heavy spinning rod that will do to.

Get some "point wilson darts" in the 2oz range and paddle into somewhere that looks good and jig. That would be the easiest
But you can also, i guess get some Coyote spoons ( glow/green, cop car, watermellon ) and some 2oz bananna weights and troll. Or if you have a idea how to cut plug a herring, that is your best bet.

To motivate you a bit,
The Campbell river Tyee club has some rules one of which is you have to be rowing

[MB_Boy]

So i am going on a kayak trip in the Gulf islands near Gabriola island. I have heard that the fishing there is decent. So I am deciding to bring a rod. I have been Salmon trolling many times before but that was guided on a boat. What kind of equipment will I need? I have a collapsable rod and a spinning reel. I am willing to buy a new rod but I need to know what I need. Any help is very appreciated

I see 835 chimed in as well as I was typing.....good points as well.



Hey Fowlweather.....there is a salmon fishing kayak group based on Van Island. They have a derby up every year in Alberni Inlet if I recall correctly. I'll dig on the fishing forums as they would be able to provide some info.


A few questions and comments;

Question for you.....when are you going as they will dictate how the fishing is.
How long are you going for?
What weight rod/reel/line is your set up? If it's pretty light you may want to beef it up a bit unless you are around the time of year for pinks.
Take note of the regs in that area as there are Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCA's) throughout the Gulf Islands that you can't fish for any finfish at all.
As far as what to fish with...."bait" is going to be tough to keep if you are on a kayak trip (again depending on how long you're going) so I would stick with buzz bombs, or spoons/hoochies on a weighted line if you were going to troll behing you. Not so sure you'd want to be using a flasher but you could try the smaller sized ones? I don't know how good a flasher would be in a kayak as it could certainly make landing a fish a bit more tough depending on your leader length.
I have some buddies who do kayak trips further up north and they always drag a line behind them; usually just a weighted line with a spoon on it and they manage to usually pick up some coho or even the odd spring on occasion.
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/tidal-maree/index-eng.htm

Depending on how far you guys travel....you'll likely be in area 29 or 17 for the bulk of it but if you do head down towards Mayne/Saturna at all you will venture into area 18. If you look at the link above you can see the regs and RCA's in all of those areas.

[fowlweather]

I am going mid-may I only have some collapsable rods with spinning reels and fry rods and reels

[835]

Are your "Fry rods" Ultra lite? :)

Do you fish much? Its in my eyes not a good idea to buy a "Salmon" rod unless you are going alot. Maybe put some thought to a heavier spinning rod, You may get under gunned for a 7-10 lb winter spring but you may use it more in general. A good spinning rod with 10lb test can do alot in the right hands.

[Salty]

I usually go with an 8 ft medium wt spinning rod and reel for the bit of kayak fishing I've done. I use 14lb test spider wire; you can cast a mile with this stuff. 1 1/2 oz chrome zinger, buzz bomb or the like. Cast at jumpers or just jig at all depths till you find fish.

[greenhorn]

If it were me I'd just borrow a stiff 9ft casting rod with a decent reel. I've kayak fished with most types of reels (levelwind, mooching, casting) and prefer the levelwind and casting. They're a bit more compact than most mooching reels and give you the ability to cast if you want.

A stiff 9ft casting rod will give you enough oomph to fight a decent fish, and I've you hook into a monster you can always finesse it if you have to.

For gear - I've used the normal size flashers with spoons and hootchies on various different leader lengths. If you decide to use a flasher, get the good ones with decent swivels, tangled gear is a friggen nightmare to sort out in a kayak. To get the line down, I use the weights that break away on a strike and can slip up and down your line. If you're going to use a flasher, you need to keep a decent paddling pace so the gear does its magic.

Other thing I'd recommend is a net with a long handle. Getting a salmon close to the kayak can be a bit of a challenge and big fish have a tendency to not cooperate. I'm remembering a dicey fight I had with a 9lb coho last year, it was pretty comical....

Good luck!