How to Catch Sockeye

[Brandonkop]

The Fraser River Sockeye run has been opened to recreational and commercial harvest this year, 2018. My other boat is out of commission so I have been going out on my 16 foot aluminum Spectrum. It works fairly well out in this area, just have to watch out for the winds picking up and head in before it gets too messy out there. I fish four rods and stack dummy flasher below my rods. Check out my set up in the video. I go through everything in detail at the beginning. I am no expert by any means. This was from my third time out this year. Since then I have been out 6 more times and I think I have been getting better every time out with how to handle the fish on the line and even learning the sockeye flop. Thanks to all the help I got online. It really was a game changer for me out there.

The fishery is still open for now and there are still guys getting their limits of nice fish. So if you want to hit it come on down, because it doesn't happen for another four years.

https://youtu.be/vQ90NgzSqzs

[dodgeboy1979]

awesome vid, looks like alot of fun out there

[SNAPFisher]

Brandon, thanks for posting this. I've read about the technique but seeing the video really helps. To summarize:

- You have the 3 part flasher at the ball
- One more dummy single flasher about 5 ft from the ball
- Then the rod line, with flasher in-line, about another 5 ft up from the single dummy

60-70 feet down and bob's your uncle

I'm sure taking the motor out of gear would be bad for the follow-up tangle-fest so it looks to me like you kept some momentum going to prevent that.

Looks like all rods caught to and you did lose a lot. That was impressive to see you fighting 2 at once. Good work!

I might have to get me and wifey out there the next time this comes around.

[StupidityKills]

Yeah, sockeye fishing is a bit different than the other species. It's also usually insanely crowded, whether it's at the Fraser or Alberni Inlet so you pretty much have to stick to your course while you fight the fish.

It's not uncommon to have 4 on at a time if you hit a good spot, they do have a pretty soft mouth so with the barbless hooks there can be a few fish lost. It's a great fishery to take a bigger to because there is usually constant action, and they will be able to learn quite fast what they need to do to properly fight the fish.

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

Brandon, thanks for posting this. I've read about the technique but seeing the video really helps. To summarize:

- You have the 3 part flasher at the ball
- One more dummy single flasher about 5 ft from the ball
- Then the rod line, with flasher in-line, about another 5 ft up from the single dummy

60-70 feet down and bob's your uncle

I'm sure taking the motor out of gear would be bad for the follow-up tangle-fest so it looks to me like you kept some momentum going to prevent that.

Looks like all rods caught to and you did lose a lot. That was impressive to see you fighting 2 at once. Good work!

I might have to get me and wifey out there the next time this comes around.

Yup and I also clip a second rod about 8 to 10 feet about the first rod. So I put stops on my downrigger wire at 5 feet, 10 feet and 18 feet so I can easily place my clips on. I've lost two of those triple blades this season. One snagged on bottom. One the downrigger line broke on my buddies boat. So you can just run a single flasher off the ball too three feet behind. Works pretty much just as well from my experience.

Yeah they do have soft mouths and some days they kill the hoochie and they're hooked deep and you may lose one or two. Other days feels like they're barely biting and you can lose 50% or more. Thats quite typical sockeye fishing if you ask a lot of people.

My first time out with the wife and kids though I went 9/10. Then went out couple days later with a friend and I think we lost the first 8 hits in a row. Was bad that day.

[singleshotom]

Brandon, great video It appears you could use a lil help on the boat. Sockeye in my opinion are the absolute cream of the crop in the salmon world. I’m not a fish eating lover but sockeye are the ones I targeted in the Rupert area. Smoked or candied they are superb! Great job.
Tom

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by singleshotom

Brandon, great video It appears you could use a lil help on the boat. Sockeye in my opinion are the absolute cream of the crop in the salmon world. I’m not a fish eating lover but sockeye are the ones I targeted in the Rupert area. Smoked or candied they are superb! Great job.
Tom

Yeah this was the only day I was out alone... It is a little bit of a challenge running all this and navigating through boats and currents by yourself.

[-JR-]

I think this is your best video.
I was very surprised that you are using 4 rods at once.
Are there other fishermen in the boat or is this legal iN BC ?

[Jamie]

Brandon.. Awesome video..
I love the passion.

Could you do us all a favour and put on a inflatable PFD?
So much confusion on that boat and your buy yourself...

Hate to see you go in the drink.

Keep em coming.

Jamie

[StupidityKills]

Originally Posted by -JR-

I think this is your best video.
I was very surprised that you are using 4 rods at once.
Are there other fishermen in the boat or is this legal iN BC ?

No limit on rods for fishing in the ocean. I usually only fish 1 per side if I'm by myself though, as it can get extremely chaotic.

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by -JR-

I think this is your best video.
I was very surprised that you are using 4 rods at once.
Are there other fishermen in the boat or is this legal iN BC ?

You really think this is my best video? you've watched all 400 of them. I'm always surprised to see what people like. Thanks for the comments.

Yeah technically this is not BC, this is Canadian Tidal waters fishing. As long as every person on board the boat has a license you can use as many lines as humanly possible.

Originally Posted by Jamie

Brandon.. Awesome video..
I love the passion.
Could you do us all a favour and put on a inflatable PFD?
So much confusion on that boat and your buy yourself...
Hate to see you go in the drink.
Keep em coming.
Jamie

Yeah you know its a bad habit of mine and I didn't even realize till after, that this was the first time I had ever been fishing on the ocean alone. I didn't even think about it till after. So you're right, i'll have to wear the life jacket. And pick up some inflatables. I am just so comfortable on boats and in the water I feel better without one, but the difference about to ocean is Its a long way to shore. Thanks for looking out for me. I think about 5 or 6 people have said the same thing already.

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

You really think this is my best video? you've watched all 400 of them. I'm always surprised to see what people like. Thanks for the comments.

Yeah technically this is not BC, this is Canadian Tidal waters fishing. As long as every person on board the boat has a license you can use as many lines as humanly possible.




Yeah you know its a bad habit of mine and I didn't even realize till after, that this was the first time I had ever been fishing on the ocean alone. I didn't even think about it till after. So you're right, i'll have to wear the life jacket. And pick up some inflatables. I am just so comfortable on boats and in the water I feel better without one, but the difference about to ocean is Its a long way to shore. Thanks for looking out for me. I think about 5 or 6 people have said the same thing already.

Awesome, I don't know who I would get my Salt water fix from if you turned into Hali bait...

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by Jamie

Awesome, I don't know who I would get my Salt water fix from if you turned into Hali bait...

Haha... well I was out by myself today, got my 4 sockeye limit again pretty quick. Got threatened by some Commercial seine netters to get off a school I had been fishing for two hour because they wanted to net it. Wore a life jacket all day this time since I was alone and did not end up halibut bait. Got some great underwater footage.

[Imagehunter]

Great video and great fishing.
Sorry if these are stupid questions but I didn't grow up here and have no clue
Aren't these salmon going up the rivers now? I thought they turn red for that but the ones in your video are silver. Do they only turn red once they get closer to the river where they spawned?
Also, we were at the Adams River a few years ago to see how they go up the creeks there and there were people fishing them but only catch&release. One guy told me they don't taste that great once they come up the rivers so people wouldn't keep them because of that. So does one fish for the ones to eat only in the ocean?
Would love to go salmon fishing again, did it once in Sweden and it was a real blast.

[SamShooter]

Awesome video quality! Feels like I'm right here with you fishing. Just subbed and I hope to see more of your videos.

[StupidityKills]

Originally Posted by Imagehunter

Great video and great fishing.
Sorry if these are stupid questions but I didn't grow up here and have no clue
Aren't these salmon going up the rivers now? I thought they turn red for that but the ones in your video are silver. Do they only turn red once they get closer to the river where they spawned?
Also, we were at the Adams River a few years ago to see how they go up the creeks there and there were people fishing them but only catch&release. One guy told me they don't taste that great once they come up the rivers so people wouldn't keep them because of that. So does one fish for the ones to eat only in the ocean?
Would love to go salmon fishing again, did it once in Sweden and it was a real blast.

They usually only start to change once they are closer to their spawning grounds. Some will be noticeable in the ocean, but the ones going up the Fraser are usually travelling a long way up through the North Thompson and in to Shuswap Lake and Adams Lake. I've caught Chinook that were in an edible state in Little Shuswap Lake before.

The salmon will stop eating once they return to fresh water, so they strikes you get in the river are usually just because your lure happens to be right in front of them. The pigment in their flesh transfers to their skin as they travel to spawn, and the flesh ends up white and pretty inedible.

[Imagehunter]

Thanks a lot for the explanation!

[barbless]

Wow as always awesome vid and a challenge for sure with that amount of rods. Yup those soft mouths and the flop and jump sure make it hard to keep on the line but sometimes that's part of the fun. Wish I was there to help ya . We usually fish for their smaller land locked brethren. The kokanee. Same soft mouth and lose lots but still fun. Keep those vids coming they are great to watch

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by SamShooter

Awesome video quality! Feels like I'm right here with you fishing. Just subbed and I hope to see more of your videos.

Thanks I appreciate it!

Originally Posted by Imagehunter

Great video and great fishing.
Sorry if these are stupid questions but I didn't grow up here and have no clue
Aren't these salmon going up the rivers now? I thought they turn red for that but the ones in your video are silver. Do they only turn red once they get closer to the river where they spawned?
Also, we were at the Adams River a few years ago to see how they go up the creeks there and there were people fishing them but only catch&release. One guy told me they don't taste that great once they come up the rivers so people wouldn't keep them because of that. So does one fish for the ones to eat only in the ocean?
Would love to go salmon fishing again, did it once in Sweden and it was a real blast.

I think most of your questions were answered. I find it interesting people were catch and release fishing them in the Adams. From what I've known that is illegal unless there is an open season they usually say no fishing for sockeye. People fish for them on the river as well as the ocean. This year there was an opening on the Tidal portion of the Fraser and the freshwater portion above Mission. The limit was 2 a day above Mission and there were thousands of people lined up daily along the bars catching their limits by bottom bouncing, aka Flossing. Which is basically snagging fish in the mouth. Thats not my cup of tea. I tried one day fishing away from the crowd. Didn't get anything and wont join that gong show again.

There is an interesting Sockeye Salmon Fishery in Osoyoos lake most summers. These fish come all the way up the Columbia river from the USA and you can actually fish for them in the lake with downriggers just like in the ocean with pink hootchies and they do bite! Its great. They are a bit colored up by then but still quite edible.

Check out this video from my first time ever fishing that fishery.

https://youtu.be/oJRnQ3Gjmfo

Originally Posted by barbless

Wow as always awesome vid and a challenge for sure with that amount of rods. Yup those soft mouths and the flop and jump sure make it hard to keep on the line but sometimes that's part of the fun. Wish I was there to help ya . We usually fish for their smaller land locked brethren. The kokanee. Same soft mouth and lose lots but still fun. Keep those vids coming they are great to watch

Yeah we enjoy fishing for kokanee as well in Wood lake and Kalamalka lake in the summer. Lots of fun and tasty. I usually try to find a buddy to go with since it is difficult to run so many rods.

[HookedOnKokanee]

-- if you are looking to increase your buddy list ... two words ... Doyle Hansen ... haha ...

[Nystiri]

Pure chaos! Lol

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by HookedOnKokanee

-- if you are looking to increase your buddy list ... two words ... Doyle Hansen ... haha ...

I thought you (if you are Doyle) were going to come out. Should have. It is still wide open season and they are calling for light winds the next three days. Excellent time to come for sockeye, coho and chinook off the mouth of the fraser. I see small crafts out there all the time. It really is surprising. I mean I consider myself in a 16 footer a small craft.

[SNAPFisher]

Wish I could do it this year but I will have to wait. This is definitely on my list. Maybe I'll get some other species practice off the Fraser next year or year after.

If you get out again, post back on how you did.

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

Wish I could do it this year but I will have to wait. This is definitely on my list. Maybe I'll get some other species practice off the Fraser next year or year after.

If you get out again, post back on how you did.

Well I was out on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday was with a newer angler and we got out 8 and lost a bunch. Limitted out by 10:47. Thursday went out alone and got my first three fairly quickly and was losing a bunch too. I was on an excellent school when a commercial seine fisher actually threatened me and told me to get off the school so they could set their net. So I complied since they're much bigger and I wanted to go for chinook anyways. Tried an hour and a half for chinook for nothing. So dropped back down sockeye gear and within 10 minutes had my limit by just after 11 am. Then Friday went out with another buddy who'd never been ocean fishing before and we got out a bit later and got out 8 fish limit by 2pm. A lot less fish around and had to do some playing around with depths but we still got them.

I think I'm done unless I have time to go out one evening after work maybe tomorrow.

DFO just released an update today and said they are keeping it open but a closure is likely to come within the next two weeks and there will only be a 48 hour notice of closure.

[SNAPFisher]

Nice!! Other than the commercial fishing annoyance but good for you being the smaller boat but bigger man

I hope you enjoy the fish. Thanks for the great thread here. One of the top threads / UTube watches for me on here.

[petecatch]

Awesome video. Were you fishing 29-6? Where were you launching from?

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

Nice!! Other than the commercial fishing annoyance but good for you being the smaller boat but bigger man

I hope you enjoy the fish. Thanks for the great thread here. One of the top threads / UTube watches for me on here.

Thanks. I'll put my other solo day video together sometime and get it up as well as other highlight videos from the season eventually.

I went out with the pastor again after work on Tuesday and fish were jumping like crazy, ocean was calm and the sun was shining. Current was really blowing hard making fishing hard. Landed three sockeye and released a wild coho. Lost so many that weren't staying on long enough for us to even grab the rod. Still plenty of fish. The underwater footage is insane!!! Check this out. I'll be making a video with more footage. It's insane you'll love it. This video doesn't even show the mega school we passed. It looked like a solid ball of bait fish but it was all salmon.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn5heU8n...d=ksmxcjqluzfu

Originally Posted by petecatch

Awesome video. Were you fishing 29-6? Where were you launching from?

Thanks. We have been fishing in areas 29-4 and 29-3. I believe 29-6 is south and what people refer to as the banana. Nobody fishes down there at this time. Can't keep chinook and I don't know how many sockeye are down that way.