elhewman
2011-06-05 22:05:25
Unfortunately I am a weekender for now and only fishing out of a 15' skiff. I really do not know any handtrollers and was wondering how you guys get info about general ideas of what is happening on the water. I suppose if I had a hotspot located I would not want to give it away as well, but then again if I was fishing way north or south I would have no issues telling a joe blow in a 15 food Lund where he might go.
I think my best bet is to ask charters anyway if you have any more advice it would be a great help.
Thanks
birdfeeder11
2011-06-06 04:06:53
You can go with the 'stick and stay and make it pay' method since the fish will eventually go through where you are. Since you are a weekender, listen to the charter guys on the radio and see how they are doing and where they are doing well as a starting point. Since you are in a mobile boat, you can fish a spot for an hour and two then move on.
SilverT
2011-06-06 20:42:31
Birdfeeder11 is right on with listening to the charter folks. They put us on a lot of fish. Stick and stay works as well. Information sources seem to be best focused on in the following order:
1) Friends (trollers and charters) who will call you when they are catching
2) Listening to charter fishermen and watching where they go in the morning
3) Old timers who know where fish should at that time of year
4) Walking the docks and talking with anyone who has a fish in their hold or hand
5) "Friends" who will call you after the bite is over and tell you how great it was
Friends will put you on more fish than the rest of the information sources combined. When you find a good friend, be a good friend. Or perhaps try it the other way around. We day fish and find charter operator's information and actions to be very helpful. The reason is that by the time a troller rolls in, unloads, gives us a hint as to where they were caught over the last five days and sends us on our way, the fish have moved. The charter fellows are fast and fresh from the latest hot spot. If they all head North first thing in the morning, check the temptation to head another direction.
You can ask a fellow troller when you are selling your fish and sometimes pick up a tidbit about where the fellow next to you was fishing. If he / she had a good load it might be worth a trip. Sometimes the internal boaster overrides the internal secrecy button and they just can't help but lay it all out there. Walking the docks and introducing yourself and sharing with other fishermen is probably the best way to develop friendships with trollers and charter fishermen. Having a partner boat or group of partners really adds quite a bit to the whole experience.
Best of success,
Lane
elhewman
2011-06-06 20:54:36
Awesome info guys. I will be heading out this weekend and will turn on my handheld this time instead of just using it for an emergency or weather. In the end sounds like finding a friend in the business will be the way to go.
Thanks again I'm pumped!
yak2you2
2011-06-07 02:52:57
All good thoughts here. Don't forget to look for the free signs from mother nature. Balls of feed, diving birds, porpoises working, etc. Also, as someone touched on, use what you have to your advantage. Speed. Keep running and trying new spots. Find the boats, there will be fish there, whether they're talking about it over the radio or not. A last thought, more often than not, you'll find salmon hanging around the same places that you've caught them before, usually for the same reasons. If there's a point they can hide in ambush behind out of the current, for example, they'll do it again, year after after year. Learn to fish a few spots exactly when and how they should be fished. Keep your eyes peeled when walking up and down the dock, see what kind of lures the pros have hanging in the pit. (note of caution!) some old dogs will hang up sucker lures for this very reason.
Good Luck!
Kelper
2011-06-09 15:35:19
hewman, what port? (I might have missed it)
The easiest way to find fish is to follow the charter boats. Get up really early, and go park yourself near one of the major charter routes. Wait for the first few charter boats to go running by to the hot bite, and follow them. Then, once you know where it is, get up earlier, and be there at first light to clean it out before they show up the next day. Also, they are usually done by 2pm on salmon, and you can have those spots all to yourself, and they can be very good in the afternoon/evening. If you wait for someone to tell you, you'll be showing up late for most of the bites, and the fish #'s will be in decline, and you won't have as good fishing.
When I was chartering, a local kid in a whaler set up for HT would be waiting for me off St Johns on the nice mornings, to follow me out to the fish, as I was the first charter boat to leave port. I'd get a kick out of it, and I made sure I'd go slow enough so he could keep up.
elhewman
2011-06-11 05:09:25
Hey Kelper I am from Sitka if that makes a difference. Thats some great advice to wait for a charter boat and then follow them. I think I am going to learn most of what I need to know from the charter fleet in all reality. I honestly would rather sportfish and make half the money than use gurdys at this point, but that will probably change in time when I have a bigger boat.