SIDNEY HOTSPOTS AND TACTICS

SIDNEY HOTSPOTS AND TACTICS

Most of the feeder Chinook fishery throughout the winter is concentrated around Coal Island, Moresby Island from Point Fairfax to Seymour Point, Sidney Channel and Hamley Point. Most are shakers during the October slow season. Other areas worth checking out include Dock Island, Imrie Island, Colburne Passage, Shute Pass from Knapp Island to Shute Rock, Miners Channel between Sidney Spit and Forrest Island, Cordova Channel, the Red Can Buoy at the north end of Sidney Channel, and Wain Rock in Saanich Inlet.

Downrigging deep -- within 10 feet of the bottom -- is the standard winter tactic, with fishing conducted out in the mid-channels, especially along steep drop-offs into deeper water, or over deep flats. Herring and needlefish are the main winter forage, so bait preferences lean toward herring strip and small anchovies. Tom Davis recommends a Tiny Teaser with strip, and an Anchovy Special with anchovies, either of them in Green, Glow Green or any of the Chrome series with green in them. Trail them 42 to 60 inches behind a Hot Spot or O’Ki flasher. 2.He said green and chartreuse are key colours in most Sidney area waters, which is reflected in the hoochies and spoons that anglers generally turn to when bait isn’t working.

It’s a tough assignment to write of September fishing at the beginning of July. The difficulty is to outline thoughts of a September river, the September ocean or a September lake, when all that is July consumes me.

First there is the initial arrival of summer steelhead in the Campbell River and other points northward on this great Island. Second is the weather: Heat of sun, despite the wind; dryness of air, despite the rain; and the scents of full summer – quiet yet pervasive, solid and yet permeable to an old nose that has waited twelve long months for them.

And then there is my garden.

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