Sooke Winter Springs

[Jim Prawn]

Anyone been fishing winter springs off Sooke lately? I was out today for a few hours, lost a nice one at the Bluffs on a coyote spoon at 112 feet, then lost another one to a filthy bloody seal by the trailer park at Otter point. That one was on anchovie at 120 feet. Hoping to hit it again tomarrow and maybe a few more times over the next week or so, hoping for some inside information. Also got skunked on crab just outside of Sunny Shores, 2 traps, 40 and 50 feet.
JP

[Wood butcher]

Not workin Prawn?

[Jim Prawn]

as little as possible.

[jeff]

i usually dont start winter springing till feb . but defenetly curious how the dec ,jan months are doing..last feb we got a 26 ,and a couple 18lbs ers

[coach]

December can be very good in the Beacher Bay area, Jeff. I used to head there with my grandpa a few years ago. We used very small herring in teaser heads.

[jeff]

December can be very good in the Beacher Bay area, Jeff. I used to head there with my grandpa a few years ago. We used very small herring in teaser heads.

thanks coach ,,but i do all my salt water fishing in barclay sound ..we have a family owned float cabin down there since 1975 ...

[jeff]

ive always found during the winter spring fishing ,to catch them you need to be deep ,like 140 to 200 ft .and gear seems to work better than bait ..black and white works for me ..the skunk hootchie or cop car spoon ..

[coach]

Bait works but many areas have dogfish issues. Deep is right. Sometimes we bounce the canon balls right off the bottom (gotta be sandy for that tactic - lol). It's been a few years, Jeff. Grandpa Stan's been gone a while now. I miss those days..

[jeff]

Bait works but many areas have dogfish issues. Deep is right. Sometimes we bounce the canon balls right off the bottom (gotta be sandy for that tactic - lol). It's been a few years, Jeff. Grandpa Stan's been gone a while now. I miss those days..

i no bait still works ,just my preference for winters is gear ..sorry to hear about your gramps .. do you have any buddies with a boat down on the coast to take you fishing

[coach]

Thanks, Jeff. My grandpa was a big influence on me. We fished a lot, hunted all over the Chilcotin and killed a lot of beers together. Yes on the boat, I've got a friend in Qualicum with a Bayliner. We fished Bamfield last summer. Looking forward to going again in 2012. Prior to moving to Kelowna, fishing was my life outside of work. I've got a 16.5' Hewes and still hit the Fraser on a regular basis during summer.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?70295-Fraser-River-report-for-Aug-6-and-7

[jeff]

Thanks, Jeff. My grandpa was a big influence on me. We fished a lot, hunted all over the Chilcotin and killed a lot of beers together. Yes on the boat, I've got a friend in Qualicum with a Bayliner. We fished Bamfield last summer. Looking forward to going again in 2012. Prior to moving to Kelowna, fishing was my life outside of work. I've got a 16.5' Hewes and still hit the Fraser on a regular basis during summer.

right on coach ..soon as the guns are hung up ,the rods come out .well maybe with a couple month break so i can save a few bucks to go on those fishing trips ..how did you make out in bamfield last year .anything big..crap ,last year we did pretty good ,lots of sockeye ,some decent springs ,nothing really huge though ...crabbing was phenominal last year..im planning a trip in feb...cant wait

[coach]

Nothing big, Jeff, but we ate well..

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy154/coach108/Snapbucket/7C49B4AF.jpg

[jeff]

sweet ..its all about just getten out there .the feast is a bonus .. between the crab ,prawns ,oysters and clams ,the first day is usually alota work but well worth it ..i got a beach where oysters are 1ft deep everywhere ,baby clams take half hour to fill a five gallon bucket . ok this is really makeing me crave some seafood

[coach]

Ha ha!! Yup - it's the one thing I miss about living on the coast. Would be nice to be able to bring a freezer full back. Nothing better than deer back straps with prawns, crab and a good bottle of wine.

[jeff]

i got a few pics im trying to find ..ill post em in a few

[coach]

Post 'em up, big fella.

[jeff]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/fish.PNGi got alot more, but none of us computer no it alls, can figure out how to make the pics smaller

[coach]

Nice fish! You still aren't using photobucket?

[jeff]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/fish_.PNGno .i have a photobucket account ,but i find i do better with the gallery thing.

[Philcott]

Secret tip.........Constance bank Bounce off the bottom and come up about 10 -15 feet. Nice feeder springs.

[knockturnal]

Check this page out

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/showthread.php?17187-Sooke-Reports-Fall-and-Winter-2011-2012/page24

[weatherby_man]

I was in Sooke fishing this past Monday/Tuesday. Monday we did really well, Tuesday we battled the seals all day. Weather was fantastic. This was the best one of the 2 days, had to really work hard to get this one from the seal!

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/steely_crazy/DSC_0043.jpg

[oceanboy]

Nice female crabs there..

[jeff]

Nice female crabs there..

your right ,atleast 2 are females..

[lip_ripper00]

Let try to keep this thread on track "Sooke winter springs" so I don't have to edit every thing, Start your own threads!

[Gumsehwah]

ive always found during the winter spring fishing ,to catch them you need to be deep ,like 140 to 200 ft .and gear seems to work better than bait ..black and white works for me ..the skunk hootchie or cop car spoon ..

I used to favor army truck.

[jeff]

I used to favor army truck.

absolutly,army truck is always a go to hootchie ..ive used army truck as my fail safe for many years..one thing is i always remove all mylar strings from all my hootchies ,,its crap

[coach]

Let try to keep this thread on track "Sooke winter springs" so I don't have to edit every thing, Start your own threads!

Fair comment, lip_ripper. My original post here was about small herring in teaser heads working well in that area. A lot of guys like spoons, plastic or anchovies. I learned this technique from a local guide who knows the area very well. Hope this is useful info for someone.

[Jim Prawn]

Back out today, another 4 hours or so with The "Darkside". Bonked one barely legal spring out of desparation and got one good Dungeness (or however you spell that). Spring was at 120' on a coyote spoon along the bluffs. Also saw another guy I know get "sealed" in the exact same spot it happened to me yesterday. Be a shame if something happened to that bugger one day....
JP

[thunderheart]

mmmmmm soon here too

[jeff]

Back out today, another 4 hours or so with The "Darkside". Bonked one barely legal spring out of desparation and got one good Dungeness (or however you spell that). Spring was at 120' on a coyote spoon along the bluffs. Also saw another guy I know get "sealed" in the exact same spot it happened to me yesterday. Be a shame if something happened to that bugger one day....
JP
jim ,what cyote spoon you useing ,and are you trying hootchies ..get a skunk hootchie .not a glow one..if it has mylar take it out..fly it deeper..i fished between 90 to 120 all wekend without even a sniff ..heard on radio to go deep and use black and white .
not 5 mins later we had 3 fish on board ..went to 160 on one side and 180 on the other..and also ,dont no if you beleive in it but the stuff called smelly jelly works really well ..anchovie flavor,soak the hootchie in it ..i can tell you this . it defenetly works for me

[Jim Prawn]

jim ,what cyote spoon you useing ,and are you trying hootchies ..get a skunk hootchie .not a glow one..if it has mylar take it out..fly it deeper..i fished between 90 to 120 all wekend without even a sniff ..heard on radio to go deep and use black and white .
not 5 mins later we had 3 fish on board ..went to 160 on one side and 180 on the other..and also ,dont no if you beleive in it but the stuff called smelly jelly works really well ..anchovie flavor,soak the hootchie in it ..i can tell you this . it defenetly works for me

Thanks for the info Jeff, I'll try anything at this point. Another 4 hours today, 2 smallish strikes and yes we had actually finally decided to try deeper and hit them at 160 and 170. Been trying everything in lots of different colours, hoochies, spoons, anchovies, plugs, baitrix, apex. Next time out I'm going to head east instead and try Beacher Bay & Whirl bay see what happens.
JP
Oh and been using 4" Coyotes, got one on a sort of pilchard looking pattern and one on a blue halogram, nothing on the cop car.

[lorneparker1]

I dont know tons about winter spring fishing but we do ok. We put the downrigger ball in the mud and come up 5 feet and fish like that all day.

[jeff]

I dont know tons about winter spring fishing but we do ok. We put the downrigger ball in the mud and come up 5 feet and fish like that all day.

the only time you can do bottom bouncing with your downrigger is with a flat sandy bottom .i dont recomend it unless you no the area well .unless you got lots of extra cannonballs ..dont get me wrong ,it works ,but you need to no the bottom.just cuz your sounder shows its flat doesnt mean its flat..