Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Stu on September 24, 2009, 01:46:05 PM

Title: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Stu on September 24, 2009, 01:46:05 PM
I would like to take my daughter for some Sole fishing and was wondering if there is any good spots to fish for Sole from shore (lol it rimes).
I was thinking about Ambleside park, Belcara, Stanly park, or White Rock? would any of this location be productive to keep a 7y old busy?
What bait and setup would be the best to use for the above mentioned fish?

Than you.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Double Underhooks on September 24, 2009, 02:20:36 PM
Heard (never tried) that its productive at Light House park in W. Van.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Stu on September 24, 2009, 02:25:38 PM
Isn't lighthouse park a no fish zone to protect the rock fish population?
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Scooterguy on September 24, 2009, 03:13:16 PM
Isn't lighthouse park a no fish zone to protect the rock fish population?
[/glow]

I heard about this 4 + yrs ago. I am not sure the no fish zone is still effect. It is a great place for family to hike and fish at the same time. You can try at the Barnet Park. I saw people caught a lot of Bull head there and crabbing at the same time.


For bait, I normally used worm from the garden.
Good luck
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Drunker on September 24, 2009, 04:42:29 PM
In the summer periods, soles could be caught off the ambleside pier with some prawns.  normally during this time of year, you may not get as much around there but if you hit the right tide, you could get some perch along the pier.  pound for pound, it's a much better fight.  If you fish where the totem poles are, you could get some greenlings but it's not as comfortable as the pier.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Rodney on September 24, 2009, 07:24:21 PM
Shoreline fishing is closed in Lighthouse Park by the Municipality of West Vancouver.

DFO's Area 28 regulations can be found at:

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/tidal-maree/a-s28-eng.htm

Scroll down to see no fishing areas, as well as designated rockfish conservation areas, where total fishing closure is in effect.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Stu on September 24, 2009, 08:41:36 PM
Thank you for the information,
I will probably try Ambleside for the convenience sake. As for bullheads I  just hate them, even my daughter is tired of them, they just swallow the hock too deep every tine so you have to unhook it from their guts or brig a bunch of hooks and cut the line every time. Does anyone eat bullheads anyway?
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Drunker on September 24, 2009, 09:37:30 PM
if you use a pair of hemostats, it's pretty easy to take it out of the mouth without too much injury.  if you fish at the other pier down the street from ambleside, on low tide from the rocks, you could catch perch there quite easily but be prepared to lose more gear if you are really sick of the bullheads.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: bbronswyk2000 on September 24, 2009, 09:46:07 PM
At Belcarra I have brought my kids and caught a bunch of sole. Not many bullheads at all.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Matt on September 24, 2009, 10:16:57 PM
IIRC flounder fishing always started to slow down in the fall.  By Thanksgiving, we never used to catch much from the shore in West Van/ Bowen back when that was allowed.  Why not try the Fraser for squawfish (some people call them pike minnows as well).  I guarantee they are biting because they stole all my bait last weekend ever cast.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Stu on September 24, 2009, 11:52:51 PM
IIRC flounder fishing always started to slow down in the fall.  By Thanksgiving, we never used to catch much from the shore in West Van/ Bowen back when that was allowed.  Why not try the Fraser for squawfish (some people call them pike minnows as well).  I guarantee they are biting because they stole all my bait last weekend ever cast.

I know the squawfish are biting but we would like to catch something that we can actually eat, that's why I thought sole would be a good choice. My girl is not strong enough to catch a salmon.
What is the best season for sole anyways?
I might try some worms with a floater @ Sassamat lake and try to get some rainbows.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Drunker on September 25, 2009, 12:07:27 AM
You can actually eat the squawfish, there's a bit more tiny bones and all but people do eat it.  my buddy caught a pretty big one the other day, close to a 1lb.  If you fillet it up and use a blender, the tiny bones are not even that noticeable (fish cakes).  i know i'm no chef and all but that's just one way to make it.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Matt on September 25, 2009, 12:22:27 AM
Squaws smell so bad I'm not sure i could stomach eating one... but i haven't tried.  Flounder I have tried fried in butter and herbs and its a big bland- its certainly not halibut.  Even a large flounder doesn't yield much meat.  I wouldn't keep one less than 10" at the minimum.

Fishing from docks and the beach for ground fish was always best for me in summer or late spring.  Never had much luck any other time of year.  It might be still alright due to the indian summer we're having though.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: doja on September 25, 2009, 08:29:19 AM
When I fish for sole I use sole. Yup they like sole and you can cut them up in to strips and hook it threw the top of the strip so when you reel in the hook is at the top of the bait and I leave only 1 point exposed. It's allot easier to remove 1 point of a treble than 3 points down deep. I also started to get allot less deep hooking this way.

Make sure you use a swivel some where in line.

I also caught allot of dog fish too which are pretty cool looking and fairly strong.

Good luck

Apparently the shore fishing slows down due to the rain creating less saliently in the waters near shore. That's what is said about crab so I would think it would also apply to bottom fish.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: BwiBwi on September 25, 2009, 10:04:30 AM
Belcarra is also good for sole, perch and at times herring.

Sole is usually good from mid June all the way to 1st week of Sept.  Once nite temperature starts to drop below 15C they start to move out to the deep.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: wgomer on September 25, 2009, 10:25:01 AM
I am going to head down to whiterock this weekend for some crabbing and planned on giving some bottom fishing a shot from the pier.  My plan was a jig head with a muscle and see what happens.  I will let you know the results...
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Matt on September 25, 2009, 10:40:54 AM
Best way I found to catch flounder was retrieving a foot or so off the bottom.  Attach two 1.5' pieces of mono to a 3-way swivel.  To one tag end, attach a bait hook and strip of herring and to the other just enough weigh to cast nicely.  Herring is good as it releases so much scent.  Retrieve slowly dragging the weight over the bottom.  A light  jig head with bait would also work.  Don't let it sit on the bottom- you'll do better retrieve as flounder are more ambush predators than scavengers feeding off dead stuff on the bottom.  Not sure I'd eat anything that spent its life on the bottom near a city of 2+ million though- that's a lot of sewage.

Have fun catching.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Bavarian Raven on September 25, 2009, 06:27:09 PM
belcarra is good for sole, but not off the dock. find a nice rocky point, bait a hook (worms work best) with a sinker and cast away. its not uncommon to catch 16 inchers there 8)
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Stu on September 25, 2009, 07:20:01 PM
belcarra is good for sole, but not off the dock. find a nice rocky point, bait a hook (worms work best) with a sinker and cast away. its not uncommon to catch 16 inchers there 8)

I wish you had posted that info before we headed out, we went to Belcara to the dock, what a HUGE MISTAKE!!!. The dock was full of people trying to catch crabs, there was no place to cast out without snagging someones crab rope or the traps. So instead of fishing we did some hiking.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Truecast on September 26, 2009, 08:32:18 AM
caught a flounder last year from my boat off white rock by jigging a small silver spoon. Did it out of bordom while crabbing. Ugliest flouder I have ever seen. Dark brown,  tough, slimy and gnarly, love bottom fish but wouldn't feed that fish to a dog.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Bavarian Raven on September 26, 2009, 11:51:44 AM
Quote
Quote
Quote from: Bavarian Raven on September 25, 2009, 06:27:09 PM
belcarra is good for sole, but not off the dock. find a nice rocky point, bait a hook (worms work best) with a sinker and cast away. its not uncommon to catch 16 inchers there

I wish you had posted that info before we headed out, we went to Belcara to the dock, what a HUGE MISTAKE!!!. The dock was full of people trying to catch crabs, there was no place to cast out without snagging someones crab rope or the traps. So instead of fishing we did some hiking.

sorry about that, replied as soon as i read the post. next time, hike down to the south or out to jug island and fish from shore. u'll catch some. the largest i ever caught from shore was 3 pounds (but i cant remember if it was a flounder or sole :-\), u'll also get the odd lingcod up to two pounds. best o luck
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: wgomer on September 26, 2009, 05:46:30 PM
Well, spent some time bottom fishing is Whiterock today.  I fished a small jig head and a small bottom bounce style rig with either a muscle or some Radiant Eggs.  Both were extremely productive, for bulllheads...There were endless bullheads there biting the hook every time I put it down.  We also had a crab pot down which was fairly productive.  The pier in Whiterock was extremely busy and it basically turned into a crab education day for all the kids and tourists as we emptied our trap and put the females back.  There were tons of females around, we caught only 2 males and both were undersized, although one was fairly close.  We also had a lady try to rent my girlfriends fishing rod from her, which we thought was pretty funny.

Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Matt on September 26, 2009, 06:53:48 PM
Try retrieving faster and something that actually looks like a small fish- ie: herring strip, curly tailed plastic grub etc.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: kodiak on September 27, 2009, 11:04:52 AM
I used to catch them all the time off the Dunderave pier in West Vancouver using pieces of squid on a jig head. Could be worth a try.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Truecast on September 27, 2009, 06:55:27 PM
White rock is a tough place to crab. I've spent many hours at the pier in white rock and crescent beach and never had much luck in that area until I got my Boat. You need to move around alot to find pockets of legal crab since the commercial fishery basically cleans it out every year. You catch a lot of crab -1/8 legal size
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Truecast on September 27, 2009, 06:58:01 PM
Best flounder bait ever..... those red featherd tube worm things....don't know why but they're like crack for flatfish :-X
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Stu on September 27, 2009, 08:48:45 PM
Best flounder bait ever..... those red featherd tube worm things....don't know why but they're like crack for flatfish :-X

What are those?
Where would we get those delicious worms form?
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Matt on September 28, 2009, 12:19:51 PM
pilings at the sides of docks are covered in mussels.  amongst the mussels are marine worms.  careful, they bite.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: Truecast on September 28, 2009, 03:47:11 PM
The worms I'm speaking of are in a tube upwards of a foot long,they grow on docks and pylons but are not easy to find, they feed with a red feathery fan like a barnicle.
Title: Re: Shore fishing for Sole and Flunder?
Post by: beansagain on September 28, 2009, 10:12:49 PM
I used catch them off the seawall in stanley park.  check regs though.
I think it is closed inside of lions gate bridge.
They used to really like strips of clam meat just off the bottom.