AS THE DAY GOES ON...

You were out at the crack of dawn. Your lines were set, the anchovy was rolling perfectly, the water is calm, still no fish in the box. Sometimes this happens and there are things to keep in mind for the latter hours of the morning and into the afternoon.

SUN UP FISH DOWN

When you start out in the morning, generally you should be fishing shallow. The fish have risen up during the night due to the cover of darkness and can be as shallow as 20-30'. However as the day goes on, lower your lines a bit at a time. In the summer at first light off Sooke, often I will fish one line at 30-35' for big springs, and many times have hit them there. However after a couple hours I will be fishing around 50-70'. As the fish see the sun rising and the sky becoming lighter, they will take cover by swimming deeper.

Evenings

The opposite goes for evening fishing. As the sun lowers, fish shallower. The fish can detect where the sun is in the sky and as last light nears, you should be fishing only slightly, but definitely, deeper than first light. (the fish will move up in the water column even more throughout the night). Although evening bites will rarely be as good as morning bites, they can still be good. The benefit of the morning is that the fish have generally not been eating all night and are ready to feed, whereas at night they have been feeding all day. However there are some places and days that yield the best fishing in the afternoon-evening. A late fishing friend of mine who was a guide himself once explained to me "an excellent evening is about the same as a good morning". The wind is often the enemy as well in the afternoon due to daytime heating, and not until dinner time does it die down enough to be able to fish.

WHALES

If you feel you are in prime location, have good gear running but are still not getting any bites, and notice that nobody is, have a good look around. There may be killer whales in the vicinity, or there has been recently. I recall last summer on a June day off Sooke, we boated 2 springs over 20lbs. I took out a family member from the southern US the next day and we were skunked. It turns out there was a large pod of Orcas that came through the evening before, pushing all the fish through. This was especially bad early in the season when the springs tend to come in waves.

If there are whales in your area, move. The salmon will not be interested in biting for hours when they know there are Orcas around. If it is just 1 or 2 whales, porpoises or sea lions, it may not effect the area for too long, but rarely have I seen less than half a dozen Orcas at a time. In this case, pick your gear up, and find somewhere else. If you are fishing somewhere such as Clayoquot Sound, there are many inlets and islands to move to. However most places consist of fishing a coastline. Your options are to either run down the coast far ahead of the Orcas until they get there, or run in the direction the Orcas came from, as the whales will not likely turn around. In either case, whales most certainly turn off fishing for a couple hours. It is usually a good time for a coffee or line check. Baleen Whales Orcas are the only whales that will be feeding on salmon. Many times fishing, especially off the western side of Vancouver Island, you will run into baleen whales. They do not feed on fish, nor have teeth. I do not know for a fact if the salmon completely ignore them but I have never noticed an impact on fishing due to them. If you encounter them, enjoy them, keep your distance and keep on fishing.

WHAT THE FLEET IS DOING

As the day goes on you will notice what all the other boats are doing. Most often they are all concentrating on specific areas at first light. On good days the boats will keep pounding the same areas as this is where the fish are biting. However, on the slow days, you will notice how the boats start to spread out and wander around. This is a tell tale sign that the fishing has been slow so far that morning. When I see this it tells me that whatever we are all doing right now, is not working. I can either change tactics or change location.

If you do start to see a bunch of boats congregate again, for example off a certain point. Someone has likely landed a fish, if not more. If it is feasible try and troll over there and give it a shot yourself. However do not become to concerned with this. Sometimes it is just an indication that there is a bite coming on, and as long as you are around the same area your chances are good.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many of these boats have radios, and they talk. When I was guiding we would all be monitoring the same channel. When I fish now I do not have a VHF radio, but I know that seeing a bunch of boats pick up their gear and all head to the same spots likely means something is going on. This can be a bite has come on down the coastline or perhaps the Coho fishing is good offshore. Just be observant.

EXPERIMENT

If it has been a slow morning and not much has been happening with the standard techniques, and you are set on keeping at it, try switching things up. Sometimes the salmon aren't feeding on your standard anchovy or herring sized baitfish. Some days I have found nothing but needlefish in the belly of fish. In this case try a hootchie or a squirt even. It will look more natural to what the salmon are already feeding on. Once you are trying a hootchie, give it an hour or so and then try a different colour, try a glow one, try a UV / Purple Haze one, and so on. Some days you need to try a few things before you find the winning ticket. Maybe a spoon is the trick? 3.5" or 4.0"? Or maybe your bait was too small in the first place and the fish are feeding on large herring? Some days the fish aren't feeding on fish at all, but shrimp. I have seen full size prawns in the stomach of Chinook. For example in the Vancouver area the Army Truck hootchie is a good pattern to try when the springs are feeding on small shrimp or plankton. Of course this relates back to getting some local knowledge first before you head out.

Try switching up the leader lengths too. If you are after big late summer Chinook and have been running around with 6' leaders all morning, try 8-9' leaders and see what happens. Perhaps the salmon were a bit gunshy and didn't want a bait so close to the flasher.

Try deeper or shallower. If you have been trolling around all morning at 40-60', drop one downrigger down to 90'. Last summer this was the ticket for us one morning. We had nothing until we lowered the bait to 90', quite deep for summer Chinook. However on this morning it would have been the difference between a nice fish in the boat and nothing.

If not anything else also vary your speed. Not by too much, but sometimes the underwater currents can do funny things. Your bait or lure may be not moving quick or slow enough for the fish down at depth. I usually start slow on the calm water and once the wind has picked up a bit, and if the fish haven't been co-operating, try adding 1mph or so to your troll speed. This is especially true for Coho and Winter Chinook.

CHANGE LOCATION AND SPECIES

As we have already mentioned, sometimes the fish just won't bite that day. In this case, a decision to move must be made. If it is summer time then the odds are that there is the opportunity for other salmon species to be caught. This often means moving offshore to fish for Coho or Pinks rather than sticking to the shore trolling for Chinook. This can save a day. As a guide we used to call Pink salmon 'charter savers'. To many customers a salmon is a salmon, especially if they had not seen any 20lb springs. Many of the people you will be taking out will be just as happy to be having some action on the line, no matter what species.

If it is winter or any season/location where only one species of salmon is available, go somewhere else. Use your knowledge of tides and where the salmon are migrating to try and find another good spot.

All salmon are fun to reel in. Don't be afraid to consider all options to make your day enjoyable!