Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[sizzles]

Hello
Well after 2 years of reading your posts I have finally created an identity, and it's quite an exciting moment! Clearly, there seem to be quite a few of you on this forum who are quite skilled at this passion of mine called fishing, so any kind of help and advice you can offer me will be appreciated.
Over the years i've been going out with my friend (who is as skilled as me) to the ocean in West Vancouver, Cap River, and to the Vedder (based on your reports) in search of my first Salmon. I was armed with a 6 ft. shimano with a Quantum Snapshot reel purchased at Canadian Tire, but to no avail despite the ferocious setup, in many, many attemps i have yet to receive a bite. For moral compensation we head out to the lakes around the Whistler/Squamish area with worms and catch rainbow trout, no problem. Anyway I told myself that this year when i get back to BC from school, things WILL be different. I've saved up money, and this brings me to my first question..... Rod, and Reel. I want to buy something universal, that would work for bot ocean and river targeting Salmon, all species if possible. What sort of suggestions would some of you have? My budget will be around $250-300... Then once i have a suitable rod, what kind of things do I put on the end of my line?? before i was using big buzzbombs, and half the time they would snap my line during a cast (i figured something was not right). Then when out on the Vedder one day, we noticed some guy who was decked out in fishing gear (looking very professional) was casting little peach plastic balls with black hair under a float with a complicated looking setup. We tried our best to copy him and arm our equipment in similar fashion, but of course nada... I am so frustrated, so many trips, so much money on useless lures, and worst of all so much hope has brought no success! My uncle who loves fishing, but also knows nothing about it is visiting me this summer, I really don't want to disappoint him and myself. I actually don't even know where to go with him (in July) to have the best shot of catching a Salmon. So if you guys could answer my questions, and offer any kind of personal insight, it'll seriously make my day.
Thanks!

[Fish Assassin]

First welcome to the forum Sizzles. In terms of what type of rod to buy you need to ask yourself what type of fishing do you plan on doing ? Judging from the information on your first post it would appear that you will be targeting salmon and steelhead in the local rivers. If that is the case I would recommend going with a 10 1/2' rod. My personal preference is Sage but you can get along well with a Shimano Convergence. I believe the latter can be had around $100

Alternatively, you can take advantage of the sale that Stryker is having.

[Jonny 5]

Hody sizzles, I am no pro, but I seem to remember being outfished by my friends on the cap many times.   They used a very light spinning set up (like the one you mentioned) with 4 - 6 lb mainline.  The secret deadliest lures are blue fox (size 0 in the most shocking colours you can find), panther martin (again with the fugly colours), and dicknites.  You may have to add weight to your line to be able to cast those things.

And by shocking colours I mean nothing near the standard pinks, blues and chrome.  Use your imagination, and if you cant buy them in the weirdest colour combos, buy some paint and paint the blades in multiple colours.  

You will see the fish following your lure, and when you can see them open their yap, get ready.

Good luck

J5

Oh yeah... As for where to go in july, I would like to say the cap. cause while everyone is out trying to get their whatever out of the fraser, there are always a few nice coho sneaking up the cap.   You will have most of the river to your self, and it is a nice place to be when the sun comes up.

[Spudcote]

Well, according to your budget, this would be the set-up that I would reccomend, I've been using a similar set up for a while now:

Reel
Abu Garcia C4 6500 - ~$170

Rod
Trophy XL Travel rod (10.5', 4 piece, rated 12-20 lb test) - ~$150

OR
Trophy XL TG6105LC (10.5', 2 piece, rated 8-17) - ~$100 (This rod is better suited if you're leaning towards steelhead and coho, it can take a chinook chum, but be prepared for a lengthier fight, as it doesn't reallt have the "spine" to turn a very large fish, it's better to use with lighter lines)

OR
Shimano Convergence Levelwind casting rod (10.5', 2 piece, various line ratings) - ~$100
(no pic)
Line

Lures
There is so much variety, but a few staples are used on the rivers, and ocean:
Gibbs Koho, Croc, and Kit-a-Mat

Blue Fox spinners
(minus the treble hook)
Buzz Bomb (this is used mostly in salt water)


Drift Gear
I'm not going to say anything about drift gear, because I don't realy know as much about it, so if you really want it, maybe someone else would be able to fill you in. BTW, that guy you met in the Vedder was drift fishing, if you ddn't already know 

Hope this helps a bit.

[Sam Salmon]

As for ocean fishing with a bait casting rod and reel, well it will work from the shore, but if you're trolling around in a boat, you need a mooching rod

Well actually no you don't-anyone can use any rod in the chuck and do well.
The rod/reel as shown by Spudcote is fine anywhwere anytime I used an AbuGarcia in the salt for years and years with an 8.5' Kunnan rod and caught all kinds of fish trolling with/without a downrigger and jigging as well.

Sizzles-if you want to get into some fish with your Uncle then take a Guided trip.
http://www.predatorcharters.com

[Spudcote]

A drift rod on a rigger is not a pretty thing to see  I tried this a little while ago when trying to stack riggers, and didn't have anough rods.

I forgot to say anything with regard to the salt/fresh water thing:
As Sam Salmon said, you can use pretty much any rod in the chuck, and will probably catch fish, so yeh, you could use the combo I described, but you may want to think twice about putting it on a rigger, and make sure the drag is VERY loose when you drop the gear. You can mooch relatively easily with this rig, and jigging shouldn't be a problem, I've jigged for ling-cod in Georgia Strait in the past with this and found it to be a very enjoyable fight, but be careful when pulling a fish vertically on such a long rod, snapping may become a concern.

[Gooey]

I fished drift rods on down rigger all the time when we were trolling lots...it really doesnt matter what you use when your down rigging.

My advice is stick with a rod around $100-$120.00: trophy XL, convergence, diawa algonquin etc are all good bets.  $180 for a brand new reel is plenty.

One thing..if you invest $180  in a new reel and rust it out in no time because you use it on the chuck, that is gunna suck.  Maybe try to pick up a couple nice 2nd hand reels, one for salt, the other for fresh.

I actually have an abu 6500 c3 on a diawa algonquin and it is a great rod to stick in a buddies hands on the fraser and huck 4oz betties, float for stinky whites on the vedder, or down rig for that matter.  

Think it thru gang...does convergence make a mooching rod...yes.  Does it make a drift rod...yes.  Are they the same specs (lenth, line rating, power) ...yes.  Only difference is the handle config...OF COARSE you can down rig a drift rod!

[redside1]

find your local tackle store, wait until they have river casting combo's on sale for the flossing fishery in the Fraser. You should be able to get a set up for $200.00 or less that will work just fine. Then go to the big box store we all love to hate (Walmart) and purchase a 10'6" mooching/rigger combo there for $100.00. You will just make it at the price level you hope to spend and will have outfits that work for both fisheries. I don't like to promote Walmart but they even have 10'6" casting combo's for $149.00 that will work just fine for most local applications. Local tackle stores can match these prices if they want to, but sometimes that does not happen

[Fish Assassin]

Berry's is having their Father's Day sale next week. You should be able to pick up a nice package there.

[Sterling C]

Since everyone is adding their input here's mine.

Get yourself a 10.5 foot drift rod. You can pick up a Berkly Kodiak or something similar for $80 at army and navy. I know other people are recomending the shimano convergnece but I own both rods and fish them side by side and the cheap Berkly owns the convergence every time.

As for reels, I reccomend the abu garcia c3 6500. However, do not buy locally. Either go to the U.S. to get one or buy it off the internet. No joking this will save you $60.

For line get yourself some maxima. Do not buy the spools from the tackle shop but rather buy the line in bulk. Get different line for different situations. For drifting fishing rivers such as vedder, chehalis, cap etc. use 12lb mainline. For large rivers like the fraser use 20lb.

BTW if your looking to get better the best advice I can give is to go out with someone who knows what they're doing. I'm around all summer and usually fish 3 times a week. If your out in the valley fell free to call me up.

[Fish Assassin]

Or check the Buy and Sell section on this and other websites. There are lots of tackles for sale.

[sizzles]

OK!
this is great, thanks to all. I guess i am now definitely set on finding a rod in 10,5 range (trophy xl, diawa or shimano), and yeah in terms of the ABU reels... is it worth spending the extra money for a C4 over a C3?
And yes if any of you have a rod/reel to sell, I am looking to buy an extra combo for my uncle, i will have a look in the classifieds.

But in terms of rivers to fish, i should be at the Cap? Ive always fished the area by the dog park, where it joins the Ocean... is it worth exploring areas up the river, or should i stick there? What about the Vedder?
Thanks again, this is perfect!

[Fish Assassin]

OK!
 Ive always fished the area by the dog park, where it joins the Ocean... is it worth exploring areas up the river, or should i stick there? What about the Vedder?
Thanks again, this is perfect!

The Vedder is closed til July 1st. The mouth of the Capilano is best from July to late September/ early October.

[johnny]

Hey there, another Shimano Convergence fan here.. it's a great rod for the money IMO and I have used them for ocean and drift fishing and they work great for both applications.

Where I differ from others here is the Abu c3 recomendation.. pure crap IMHO. I had 2 that never even lasted 1 season(yes I fish hard BUT...). My father in law and brother in law both have similar stories... I would stay far away from them as possible. Even my 2 quantum iron's(much cheaper) have lasted years before the worm gears needed replacing. Not sure what reel I would recomend, but I certainly know what I wouldn't!

[Sterling C]

What about the Vedder?

Can be very intimidating at times. If you've never had success before don't waste your time in the summer. My best advice it to fish it september and october. The pinks the show up in september should be a great warm up for later in the season once the springs and coho enter in greater numbers. Another great bet is the stave in november. Chums aren't the greatest easting fish but they will get you practice with baisic drift fishing techniques and provide steady action.

Am I the only person here who thinks that shimano convergences are way OVERATED!?!?!