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[E]

Hey guys,

Been following the forum for a while, finally decided to sign up. I recently moved to Vancouver from the prairies and have decided to take up fishing as my newest hobbie. I have purchased a Sea Eagle Foldcat inflatable pontoon fishing boat that I recently tried out with great success trolling a fly on the lakes in Whistler. My next adventure will be to take the boat on the ocean; I have a 55lb MinnKota Riptide motor so the salt won't be an issue. I will obviously be staying relatively close to shore as the boat is not big and fairly susceptible to winds (not currents so much as it sits on top of the water).

I was hoping that someone could help me out with some beginner tips for saltwater fishing close to shore. I am not sure where to start, what species to target, or even what methods to use.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Ambassador]

Welcome, E!

Great purchase. That motor will have more than enough gusto to get you around, but make sure you have an extra battery on board as I'd bet it will drain the juice fairly quickly as my 40lb does (My Riptide does not have the digital maximizer - maybe yours does?).

If I were in your position, I would start somewhere mellow like Belcarra Bay. Lots of sea life and not so crazy tides and wakes to deal with. We have hit Barnet a couple times in my inflatable but found it a bit tumultuous with all the boats ripping by plus the substantial tide pull. You sit pretty high in your boat, and - while I would not worry about the stability - the barf factor may be high at Barnet.

For fishing, a simple setup with an egg weight, 2 foot leader to a smaller hook, and a piece of deli shrimp should land you some Flounder or a Greenling. While you are out, toss in a crab trap as you will do well with those in areas around here. Remember that Lingcod and Rockfish are off-limits in Region 29, so make sure you know what you have in your hands before you bonk it.

And don't forget to give everything a good rinse when you are home to wash the salt away.

[kanuckle head]

If I had this set up I'd hit Ambleside & target the mouth of the Cap for milling Hoes due to the lower water conditions that prevent the salmonoids from shooting up to spawn

Chuck spoons or fling fly's, your set up would be an advantage to the average beach caster
Besta luck

Kh
 

[TimL]

Sea worms are killer natural bait for flounder/sole, greenling, and sea perch. If you have the chance gather these at low tide by flipping rocks or digging.

[kanuckle head]

Another great area but chitty on boat accessibility (dump the battery & the Minkota and you'd be Ok )
Is thousand steps in between white rock & Crescent beach, this area is accessible to 3 major tributaries Serpentine, Little Campbell & the Nick
Should be hopping on SRC right now & have dun well on other predatory salmon fry species


Or dig up some sea worms & crack up some mussels for bullheads     

[E]

Thanks so much for all the tips guys. I'm beyond pumped to try my luck out there. Looks like I'll need a heavier duty fly rod (I currently have a 5wt for rivers and lakes). I was going to invest in an 8wt for the salmon run anyways - would this suffice for the areas you guys mentioned? As for throwing out natural bait and spinners/spoons, I have a relatively small Shimano spinning combo that I used for Walleye in the Prairies... is this maybe a bit light?

Finally, are the regulations fairly similar between ocean and freshwater fishing in terms of the number of hooks, rods, etc? I know in fresh water you're only allowed 1 barbless hook per rod and only one rod per person (unless you're alone on the boat in which case you're allowed 2). I'm only asking b/c it would be awesome to throw out a baited hook and do some fly casting in the meantime.

@ Ambassador - I do have the digital maximizer on my MinnKota. I also invested in a pretty heavy duty battery. I was out trolling around for almost 12 hours (overkill? no, excitement) on Sunday and had the battery down just below half. Great idea on the crab trap as well - any suggestions on where to pick one up?

Thanks again guys!

[Capt. jack]

Get the kayak size crab trap, got one my self and they work OK, plus take up very little room.
they re at army and navy.

[Ambassador]

Thanks so much for all the tips guys. I'm beyond pumped to try my luck out there. Looks like I'll need a heavier duty fly rod (I currently have a 5wt for rivers and lakes). I was going to invest in an 8wt for the salmon run anyways - would this suffice for the areas you guys mentioned? As for throwing out natural bait and spinners/spoons, I have a relatively small Shimano spinning combo that I used for Walleye in the Prairies... is this maybe a bit light?

Finally, are the regulations fairly similar between ocean and freshwater fishing in terms of the number of hooks, rods, etc? I know in fresh water you're only allowed 1 barbless hook per rod and only one rod per person (unless you're alone on the boat in which case you're allowed 2). I'm only asking b/c it would be awesome to throw out a baited hook and do some fly casting in the meantime.

@ Ambassador - I do have the digital maximizer on my MinnKota. I also invested in a pretty heavy duty battery. I was out trolling around for almost 12 hours (overkill? no, excitement) on Sunday and had the battery down just below half. Great idea on the crab trap as well - any suggestions on where to pick one up?

Thanks again guys!

That is awesome that you got so much time on one battery and charge! Maximizers are definitely the way to go and I will never buy another trolling motor without one.
As for crab traps, Army and Navy on Hastings has a great selection from casting traps to full-on metal cage ones. I usually tie in a drilled-out peanut butter container with a gross mix of salmon ends, chicken bits and sardines. Topper Poultry in Chinatown will sell you a big bag of chicken ends for $2, plus Kam Wai is next door for some cheap and delicious dim sum to nibble on as you are heading to the water.
As for your light spinning rod, the cohos around the mouth of the Cap are not overly huge quite yet so you should be fine fine with it - and also totally fine for the flounders and other fish you will encounter at the moment (unless of course a nice juicy Spring happens to be in the area and likes the look of what you are offering). Throw a 6 or 8 lb Ultragreen line on and you are good to go.

[firstlight]

I would pick-up a copy of the regulations because Tidal and Non Tidal are two different animals.

[4TheKids]

I would pick-up a copy of the regulations because Tidal and Non Tidal are two different animals.

X2 If you fish the mouth of the Cap, and other estuaries, the regs are designed to limit problems from shore fishing. I am not going to quote the regs because you really need to read them and understand them for yourself. However, make sure you know the local landmarks.

[Rodney]

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/map-carte-eng.asp

[ynot]

most b.c. lakes you can use barbed single hooks ,see  regs for barbless lakes.rivers are barbless.

[Damien]

I just finally repowered my boat after some POS stole the 20hp off of my 14 foot tinny.

I'm thinking about heading out midweek.  Either to Ambleside or Hole in the Wall area.  I've never really tried to fish the salt from a boat on my own before, i'm open to suggestions.  I have been given a couple of downriggers.  I understand that it is usually tough fishing out there at the best of times...but it is still alluring and I can still drop a crab trap down.

Conversely, I might just stick to what I know better and overnight on a lake outside of Merritt.