LOCATION / CONDITIONS

The location and conditions under which you fish most certainly impact the outcome of the day. Certain locations will work better under different tides. As far as conditions go, always be sure to think about the sky cover, moon, and time of day.

GOOD AND BAD LOCATIONS

A good location for salmon, when we are talking about structure, is anywhere that the fish can be lazy. Behind points downstream, behind dropoffs, anywhere that th salmon can sit and wait for things to be washed over and provide a free meal. Many places have definative hotspots, year after year, and these are often due to it's relation to the underwater contours and structure. It always is a good idea to pick up a contour map or the charts for your GPS before fishing an area. Not to mention you will likely see boats already congregated in these locations.

As far as bad locations, ask yourself this, if I were a fish, would I be here. Whether it be the tide is running quickly, there is little shelter or structure, or a number of other reasons, don't fish here. Over the many years since I first started fishing off Vancouver Island for salmon, which was about 14 years ago, of course I have caught many fish in random spots, where one would not expect to find fish. However I have learned that it is usually best not to waste time here. I remember bucking the tide (trolling as fast as the tide is moving) one morning off Beechey Head, Sooke, 3 - 4 miles out, and after an hour I caught a Sockeye. This fish must have just happened to been swimming by. If I could go back, I would pick up, relocate, which would take about 10 minutes, and spend the other 50 minutes of the hour fishing where I want to be. Bottom line, if you feel you should be somewhere else, move!

OFFSHORE LOCATIONS

Offshore locations is what I am going to call all the fishing that is done in open water. This is applicable to Coho, Pink, Sockeye and Chum in general, as these species tend to school more than Chinook. (although, again, anything can happen). These species are on the move towards their native stream, and you generally need to intercept a school of them.

Luckily, this isn't always very difficult. Depending on where you are, these fish can be right in shore or many miles out, but when you do find a school, note where it was because often if you stay with them, more fish will end up on your line. This type of fishing is some of my favourite. Alot of the time there is little to do but point the boat yonder and wait to hit a school, but when you do hit them, double and triple headers are not uncommon! Point being, when you hit a school, or you see other anglers' rods going off, make sure your gear is 100%! When the fish are holding offshore, you will notice the other boats drifting around out there. This, on many summer days, means that anglers have stopped pursuing Chinook and have started fishing for Cohos, Sockeyes or Pinks.

TIME OF DAY

The time of day, along with the tides generally decide when the best fishing is. It's simple, first light is best, last light is good, morning and evenings are decent, and mid day to afternoon is generally slow. My typical fishing morning in the summer months lasts from first light until around 1030 to noon.

In the winter, time of day is completely irrelevant and the tide change is the time to fish, an hour before and after or so.

SKY COVER

The sky cover does come into play somewhat in the summer months (i.e when fishing for fish that run shallow, which is generally everything except Winter Chinook). If it is a hot, sunny day, the fish will be moving deeper. If it is a cloudy day, they may stay up at 40-50' all morning. Things to keep in mind.

Another thing to keep in mind is lure choice. I will say I have noticed that Purple Haze teaser heads work well on sunny days, but I have caught fish on them on cloudy days too. In general though, it does seem to make sense that on a sunny day, using a clear, purple haze or chrome teaser head would be appropriate; versus on a grey cloudy day, fishing with glow in the dark lures might make the lure a bit more visible in the low light conditions. This is a fishing technique I generally adhere to, although many things can work on any given morning. For example on a sunny day I would not be fishing all glow lures.

MOON

Should you encounter a clear night with a full moon, and then you are out at first light in June, at 05:15, and are wondering why there is not a significant bite, it is because the fish may have already been feeding throughout the night and the sun coming up doesn't make as much of a difference to them.

I have heard both theories on this, that salmon do feed at night, and that salmon don't feed at night. However my personal opinion, and experience, has led me to believe they probably do, and all that we can take away from this is just to not lose hope should a bite not occur right away at first light. Not to worry, give it an hour or two and the fish will bite again.