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[penn]

So you think a 4 hour rental will get the job done but it will take a local guide who is on the water every day a whole day to catch some Sockeye?
You must be in the boat rental business.

Never said that , and nope . Just keeping the facts straight , boat rentals are about half the price of guides  .

[penn]

I am in absolutely no way affiliated with any guide ( I wish I was).

The original posters says he wants to fish for sockeye at the mouth of the Fraser and you are suggesting he should rent a boat from Sewell's with a 40hp.

I feel like i'm taking crazy pills here.

The 15 foot with 40 will do the job , but they also have 17 footers with 60 for not much more than the 15's which I would get myself , still way less than a guide . People fish from 17 ft boats in the chuck all the time . 

[penn]

OK I used to rent from Sewells to fish the Sockeye run all the time.

Had my own manual downrigger so that saved $10 you can use Deep Sixes to catch Sockeye we did it last week in fact off the North Arm.

Anyway it's a maximum 20 minute run from Horseshoe Bay to the Bell Buoy which is as far as you need to go for the next few weeks-there's no need to take an hour rud down to Sandheads (where you're not supposed to take the boat).

FWIW-when the bite is on a monkey can catch a Sockeye all you need a a small Pink hootchie 22" behind a Flasher  no need even for a net just grab the Flasher and pull him over the gunnel.

No need for guide/handholder just get out there and Have some Fun!

Thanks dogbreath for your sensible post . Of course a rookie will catch more fish with a guide , but , there is fun in learning and will save lots in the long run .

[4TheKids]

I think trying to relate the concepts of fishing and money is a bad idea. This thread is testament to that. BTW, my vote is for going guided.

[rymack]

Looks like I sparked a interesting debate!
We ended up renting a fishing boat from boatrent.ca out of mosquito creek. 350 for the whole day rate plus taxes and gas which wasn't too bad. We didn't get in to any sox ( or coho at the cap later in the day) which was disappointing but off all the boats out there who we talked to it seemed no one else did either.
All in all we were pretty happy with the boat which was a 17 foot aluminium with a 90 Hp motor on it. It had manual riggers , sounder , net all in working order. I have all the gear we needed for rods and flasher etc so we only spent money on the hoochies and a couple packs of chovies.

The map in the boat marked there boundaries as Spanish banks but we may have drifted past that. I can see how a inexperienced boater could try and cut too shallow and run aground around there. All in all a good learning experience but a little disappointing the bite wasn't on.

We did manage  to c and r a small ling cod at the cap as well as a few dogfish. Saw one coho taken there in 4 hours from 10 boats even though there was multiple jumpers. I assume the jumpers were coho as I don't imagine a huge concentration of sockeye got lost and ended up there. Also was very surprised that the coho were lock jawed as every experience I have ever had with coho has taught me they aren't fussy in the ocean. Maybe these are stale fish waiting to get up river?

All in all great to be out on a boat for the day and have the anticipation of a salmon bite. Makes me think I should get a boat!Though I'm sure the wife has other ideas. Maybe a better investment to rent a couple times a year to get my fix.

Might do a guide at some point in future as I generally believe that its one of the best ways to learn to fish a area.

[penn]

I think trying to relate the concepts of fishing and money is a bad idea.

Might be for those that got lots of money , not so bad for those who have less money and still would like the experience of getting out there . To some $1000+ fishing days are not doable .

[penn]

Looks like I sparked a interesting debate!
We ended up renting a fishing boat from boatrent.ca out of mosquito creek. 350 for the whole day rate plus taxes and gas which wasn't too bad. We didn't get in to any sox ( or coho at the cap later in the day) which was disappointing but off all the boats out there who we talked to it seemed no one else did either.
All in all we were pretty happy with the boat which was a 17 foot aluminium with a 90 Hp motor on it. It had manual riggers , sounder , net all in working order. I have all the gear we needed for rods and flasher etc so we only spent money on the hoochies and a couple packs of chovies.

The map in the boat marked there boundaries as Spanish banks but we may have drifted past that. I can see how a inexperienced boater could try and cut too shallow and run aground around there. All in all a good learning experience but a little disappointing the bite wasn't on.

We did manage  to c and r a small ling cod at the cap as well as a few dogfish. Saw one coho taken there in 4 hours from 10 boats even though there was multiple jumpers. I assume the jumpers were coho as I don't imagine a huge concentration of sockeye got lost and ended up there. Also was very surprised that the coho were lock jawed as every experience I have ever had with coho has taught me they aren't fussy in the ocean. Maybe these are stale fish waiting to get up river?

All in all great to be out on a boat for the day and have the anticipation of a salmon bite. Makes me think I should get a boat!Though I'm sure the wife has other ideas. Maybe a better investment to rent a couple times a year to get my fix.

Might do a guide at some point in future as I generally believe that its one of the best ways to learn to fish a area.

Sounds like a good day . As far as sockeye are concerned , there have been lots of commercial openings that have put a huge dent in the numbers . Even in the river it has been very spotty or dead at times with big holes in the fish runs . A friend recently took his boat out of Richmond for a full day and no one was catching socks that day in the prime areas . You probably will do better in Howe sound/ English bay when all the fall fish are present and the commercial fleet has been out of there for a while .

[firstlight]

Good for you for giving it a go.
That sounds like a very reasonable rate for that boat and it also sounds like it was well equipped.
Too bad the fish didn't co-operate for you but that's fishin.

[arimaBOATER]

The bite is on in the am to 12 noon & after that socks barely bite even though there's big numbers stacking up at Sandheads.
Am boaters get their limits PM guys come in looking disappointed.

Check the tides & winds as Sandheads can be a rather nasty place to sport fish at times.

[salmonrook]

The fishing  for socks was better for me and a buddy in the morning when the weather was calm.
As soon as the commercial guys showed up and the weather and tide changed ,no one caught much.