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Search:		Sockeye Strategies by Bob Waldhaus Every June and July we head to Port Alberni to fish sockeye. This is a fantastic fishery which attracts hundreds of anglers every year. The sockeye returns these past few years have been fantastic and we have had many great days catching these wonderful fish. Last year was an exceptionally good year. We would head out on the water around 5 am, with 4 people on board it took no time in filling our 16 fish limit. We would spend no more than 2 hours on the water and we would be done for the day. The strategies I use to catch sockeye have stayed consistent through the years. When fishing sockeye you must get as much gear in the water as possible. I will run 2 dumby flashers (A dumby flasher is a flasher with no leader or hoochie attached) and 4 rods. That gives me 6 flashers in the water with 4 having gear attached. To start it is very important to use dumby flashers on both downriggers. The flashers are usually setup 10 feet behind the boat and are clipped on just above the cannon ball. From there you drop down 10 feet and attach your first rod and ensure the distance to the flasher is 10 feet behind the boat. You then drop another 10 feet and attach another rod and flasher, again 10 feet behind the boat. This setup with give you 3 flashers 10 feet apart with the top 2 having gear attached. This is my most effective way to catch sockeye. From here you would determine what depth to fish. My rule of thumb is to have one side 5 feet deeper than the other. For example having one side at 55 feet and the other at 50 feet would give your gear depths of 45,40,35,30 feet. The gear I use again doesn’t change much year to year. MP15 Bubblegum hoochies, Blue - Pink hoochies and White-pink hoochies have been very productive every year. Some folks will run just black hooks or red hook with great success as well. My Leader lengths range from 18inches to 23 inches with 23 inches being my most popular. I use green or red Hotspot flashers as well as pink haze. My trolling speeds vary between 1.8 and 2.0 knots. When the fishing is really good, as it was last year, it is pretty easy for most folks to have great success catching sockeye using almost any techinique. When the sockeye fishing is slow as it has been so far this year I find the techniques I use can increase my odds dramatically. These past few weeks have been very slow due to the colder weather, with most folks not catching any sockeye at all after many hours on the water. I have yet to have a really poor day. I have managed to catch at least 4 sockeye every trip. When the sockeye are not schooling up it becomes very challenging to get them to bite. I find that trolling very slowly and varying my speeds periodically can trigger a strike. Once you get one sockeye on your rod watch the other rods because it is very common to have one or two more strikes while reeling in the first fish. When fishing is slow it is also very important to quickly get over the same area you just caught that fish. I will plot the spot on my GPS where I caught the fish and perform a figure eight trolling pattern over the same spot a few times. I have had much success doing this and on slow days can double or triple my catch very quickly. While on the water always watch what other boats are doing. Sockeye school up and if you see someone fighting a fish there is a good chance that person is over a school of fish so head in that direction. Many times when you get to that spot the action will start. If you get a chance to get to Port Alberni to fish sockeye try some of these techniques. Sockeye fishing is also the perfect fishery to introduce kids to salmon fishing. With warm weather now upon us the sockeye fishing should be fantastic in the coming weeks. Sockeye fishing in Port Alberni is good from mid June until early to mid August. Click here for larger image by Bob Waldhaus General Articles All Categories   Article Topics Date 1. Spring Fishery Updates 2013 Fishing Area Outlook Mar 2013 2. Fly Epoxy Chum Fry Flys Feb 2013 3. Best Fishing Story of 2012 Feb 2013 4. Salmon fishing outlook for 2013 Fishing Area Outlook, Salmon Jan 2013 5. Fly Tadpoles Flys Jan 2013 6. Fishing Outlook for 2013 Fishing Area Outlook, Salmon, Sturgeon Dec 2012 7. Fly Steelhead Muddler Flys, Steelhead Dec 2012 8. Fly Bacon n eggers Flyfishing, Salmon Dec 2012 9. Keeping a journal Technique Dec 2012 10. Fly Egg-sukin leech Flyfishing, Flys Oct 2012 11. Fly Steelhead Madness Flyfishing, Flys Oct 2012 12. White Lake Fishing Area Outlook Aug 2012 13. Fly Orangesicle Flyfishing, Flys Jul 2012 14. Fly Blue Morrison baitfish Flyfishing, Flys Jul 2012 15. Fly fishing the Estuary (Amundson Thompson Chaser Fly Rod Review) Flyfishing, Tackle Jul 2012 16. Sockeye Strategies Salmon Jul 2012 17. Ultimate Squid TUBE Flys Jun 2012 18. Roche Lake Flyfishing Jun 2012 19. Fly Coho Blue-zer Flys, Salmon Jun 2012 20. Flies Webflyzers Flys Jun 2012 21. Vancouver Island's Esperanza Inlet Halibut, Salmon, Vancouver Island May 2012 22. Fly Purple Peril Flys May 2012 23. Trolling for trout Trolling, Trout Apr 2012 24. Fly Blue Note Flyfishing, Flys Mar 2012 25. Fly Kalumlow Flyfishing, Flys Mar 2012 26. Fly Skeena Scar Flyfishing, Flys Mar 2012 27. Fly Polar Express Flyfishing, Flys Mar 2012 28. Sturgeon fishing in Vancouver British Columbia Sturgeon Mar 2012 29. Strategies for Catching Sturgeon Sturgeon Mar 2012 30. Fly Copper Gammarus Flys Mar 2012 31. Fly Alley Alevin Flys Mar 2012 32. Fly Hilton Boss Flys Mar 2012 33. A Guided Steelhead Trip on the River Steelhead Feb 2012 34. Fly Polar UV shrimp Flys Feb 2012 35. Egg-sukin Beaver Leech Flys Feb 2012 36. Fly Chardolas Bait Flys Feb 2012 37. Don't be afraid to try anything Steelhead Feb 2012 38. Best Fishing Story of 2011 Ryan Spannier Feb 2012 39. Best Fishing Story of 2011 by Bob Waldhaus Steelhead Feb 2012 40. Best Fishing Story of 2011 David Sandquist Kids, Salmon Feb 2012 41. Fly Reeds Spey Flyfishing Feb 2012 42. Jet Boat Maintenance Boats Dec 2011 43. Smoked Salmon Recipe BBQ and Honey Recipes, Salmon Dec 2011 44. Poached Italian Cod Recipes Dec 2011 45. Fly Blue Charmer Flys Nov 2011 46. Fly Muddy Waters Flys Nov 2011 47. Fly - The Excursion Leech Flyfishing Nov 2011 48. Herb and Garlic Crusted Halibut with oven roasted ratatouille Halibut, Recipes Oct 2011 49. The Banner Season Fishing Area Outlook Jun 2011 50. voteforsalmon Conservaton, Salmon Apr 2011 51. Votesalmon Conservaton, Salmon Apr 2011 52. Rivers Inlet Hatchery Program Conservaton, Salmon Apr 2011 53. Mayday for Wild Salmon Conservaton, Salmon Mar 2011 54. Contest 2011 Fishing Story David Sandquist Flyfishing, Steelhead Feb 2011 55. Contest 2011 Fishing Story Honourary mention Ron Gibson Feb 2011 56. Contest 2011 Fishing Story Bog Waldhaus Steelhead Feb 2011 57. Contest 2011 Fishing Story Brian Wong Salmon Feb 2011 58. Does Fish Cooking Techniques Matter Recipes Jan 2011 59. Mediterranean Fish Fillets Recipes Jan 2011 60. Virus Killing Fraser Sockeye Conservaton, Fish, Salmon Jan 2011 61. Halibut Fishery Conservaton, Hallibut Dec 2010 62. Salmon Virus watch Conservaton, Salmon Nov 2010 63. Disease Information Conservaton May 2010 64. Sea lice kept secret Conservaton May 2010 65. Catch the Dream Halibut, Salmon, Trolling May 2010 66. Oak Bay Marine Group Newsletter Salmon Mar 2010 67. Quesnel Lake Trout Jan 2010 68. Art of Curing and Smoking Fish Smoking Jan 2010 69. Bradley's Famous Hot Smoked Salmon Smoking Jan 2010 70. Salmon fishery action suit Salmon Nov 2009 71. Save B.C. Salmon Conservaton, Salmon Nov 2009 72. Winner of the Giver on the River Free Charter Fish Sep 2009 73. Oven bbq salmon Recipes, Salmon Aug 2009 74. Poached Italian Cod Recipes Aug 2009 75. Salmon Creole Recipes, Salmon Aug 2009 76. Australia Fishing Salmon Aug 2009 77. Horseradish and Dill Butter Salmon Steaks Recipes, Salmon Jul 2009 78. Navigating a boat purchase Boats Jul 2009 79. Salmon with a Homemade Grain Mustard Crust Recipes, Salmon Jul 2009 80. Halibut with Fennel Broth Halibut, Recipes Jul 2009 81. Cedar Plank Salmon Recipes, Salmon Jun 2009 82. Islander Winner 2009 Tackle Jun 2009 83. Just Get In the Water Technique Jun 2009 84. Saltwater Night Fishing for Salmon Salmon, Technique Jun 2009 85. Steelhead & Salmon Warfare Salmon, Steelhead Jun 2009 86. Deep Running Giant Salmon Salmon May 2009 87. Salmon Scampi Recipes Apr 2009 88. Dandelion Stuffed Chaunigan Trout Recipes, Trout Apr 2009 89. Living Rivers - Georgia Basin and Vancouver Island Conservaton Apr 2009 90. Salmon steak recipe Recipes, Salmon Mar 2009 91. Chaunigan Trout Recipe Recipes, Trout Mar 2009 92. Best catch of 2008 Flyfishing, Kids, Salmon, Steelhead, Trout Feb 2009 93. The Great Chilko Bear Adventure Bears Feb 2009 94. Seasonal Outlook for 2010 Salmon, Seasons, Steelhead, Sturgeon, Trout Jan 2009 95. A Fishing Trip with REEL OBSESSIONS Vancouver Island. Salmon, Trolling Jan 2009 96. Carp fishing from a different angle Carp Sep 2008 97. Fish British Columbia With a Timeshare Accommodation Apr 2008 98. Hurt by aquaculture industry Salmon Nov 2007 99. BC wild salmon endangered by failure to contain sea lice from salmon farms Conservaton Sep 2007 100. Go Fish Aug 2007 101. Studies show harmful impact of BC coast salmon farms on wild Pacific salmon Salmon Aug 2007 102. Lynn's Fishing Adventure Sturgeon, Trout Jul 2007 103. Chilliwack River Action Committee Conservaton Apr 2007 104. Indian Candy Recipe Recipes, Salmon, Smoking Mar 2007 105. Fishing Articles and archived fishing posts Mar 2007 106. Curing Eggs Salmon Mar 2007 107. Fishing for Chum Salmon Salmon Mar 2007 108. Salmon Eating - After They Change Colour Salmon Mar 2007 109. A guides Perspective - The Fraser River Salmon, Seasons, Sturgeon, Trout Aug 2005 110. Smoked Salmon Recipe Recipes, Salmon, Smoking Dec 2004 111. Fishing in Harrison Hot Springs Aug 2004 112. Jet vs. Outboard Boats Aug 2004 113. Helpful Hints, Tips and Tricks Tackle Mar 2004 114. Uncle Wes - Farewell Old Friend Dec 2003 115. Cow Paddy Pond Trout Oct 2003 116. 12 Seasons of Fishing the Kitimat Flyfishing, Salmon, Seasons, Trout Apr 2003 117. Sara, Guardian of the Lake Jul 2002 118. Portrait of a Mountain Man May 2002 119. Carving the Salmon Pie Salmon May 2001 120. Spoon Fishing Lakes From The Bank Tackle, Trout Mar 2001 121. Vedder River Fishing “Fall options” Salmon, Seasons Mar 2001 122. Slippery Spotted Owls Salmon Jul 1998 Search: Everywhere   Gallery     Album Images Details Salmon Fishing Gallery Sep, 2012 151 Here is practically every type of salmon caught in B.C. Salmon/Steelhead Flies Jan, 2012 40 These examples are flies commonly used to fish for salmon and Steelhead. Steelhead Fishing Gallery Mar, 2012 73 The fantastic fighting steelhead.
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