There are lots of big herring off of Spanish Bank, look for them on the fish finder and jig them. Anchovies are harder to find but there around too.
Have fun, Jason
Have fun, Jason
where do you find Herring or Anchovies around Vacouver ?
I was thinking about trying to catch my own bait and wondered if anyone know's of any schools of herring or anchovies hanging around docks or places to fish from shore ?
thanx in advance,
thanx in advance,
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
I noticed the bait schools on my depth sounder last trip to the bouy but was not sure if they where needle fish or somthing else... usually 3-6' deep. Always hard to stop trolling to chase bait..lol that's why I was wondering if there were any around docks or shore.. someplace they gather at night..??
Just wondered if anyone has seen bait (swimming) around any of the local marina's or beaches ?
Saw about 10 of them swimming in a pack in the freezer at the local petro can...... :beerchug:
Sorry for the sarcasim but one thing to remember is that "caught yourself" bait is best used fresh. With home freezers it is hard to duplicate the quality of the post frozen bait, brining doesnt work as well with bait that is fresh either (if thinkin of freezing in brine)
Sorry for the sarcasim but one thing to remember is that "caught yourself" bait is best used fresh. With home freezers it is hard to duplicate the quality of the post frozen bait, brining doesnt work as well with bait that is fresh either (if thinkin of freezing in brine)
Hey Jasonbigjay said:There are lots of big herring off of Spanish Bank, look for them on the fish finder and jig them. Anchovies are harder to find but there around too.
Have fun, Jason
I never jiged for herring before what would you use? Just in case I get bored one day and want to try...
[/quote]
Hey Jason
I never jiged for herring before what would you use? Just in case I get bored one day and want to try...
[/quote]
A half dozen treble hooks about 12" apart with a mooching weight below all that works pretty good. We use to catch all our own bait as kids for sea run cuthroat & salmon. We would ay the hearing out carefully on wax paper seperated from each other on cookie sheets and then put them in the big freezer. After they are rock solid put them into freezer baggies. Cutting your own strip and freezing in brine (saltwater) also worked well.
Hey Jason
I never jiged for herring before what would you use? Just in case I get bored one day and want to try...
[/quote]
A half dozen treble hooks about 12" apart with a mooching weight below all that works pretty good. We use to catch all our own bait as kids for sea run cuthroat & salmon. We would ay the hearing out carefully on wax paper seperated from each other on cookie sheets and then put them in the big freezer. After they are rock solid put them into freezer baggies. Cutting your own strip and freezing in brine (saltwater) also worked well.
ronin2024 said:Hey Jasonbigjay said:There are lots of big herring off of Spanish Bank, look for them on the fish finder and jig them. Anchovies are harder to find but there around too.
Have fun, Jason
I never jiged for herring before what would you use? Just in case I get bored one day and want to try...
You can buy commercially tied herring jigs for catching herring. Commercially made rigs string six or so small single hooks on a leader. These hooks are usually dressed with glow beads or plastic tinsel to attract herring. A weight is usually attached to the bottom of the herring jig.
I would not rig six treble hooks as suggested by the earlier post. If stopped by fisheries they might not like this type of rig. That type of rig is not designed to attract fish. Angling is defined by attracting a fish to bite a hook on line. Snagging is frowned upon by the fisheries inspectors and could result in a ticket. A herring rake is permitted for use in the regulations, but I have never known anyone who used one.
Around Vancouver, I'd recommend just buying your bait. Not to say that it can't be done, but fishing bait out is taking away from valuable mooching/trolling time.
What I did in 2003...
If anyone's truly a committed bait fisher, then head on down to the Commercial Docks @ Granville Island in mid-late March or April. Take a couple of 5 gallon pails. Flip the commercial dude $20 and walk on out with all the bait you'll need. Most of them will be large, and have roe but they're awesome for fishing whole herring, cutting making strip, cut pluggin', etc.
However, when you can just go to Berry's an' buy a couple of cases of cured, flash frozen, PRIME bait that'll outfish your homemade labour intensive afternoon of fixing it all so it'll keep, it's definitely the way to go..BUY your bait.
After all was said and done that summer, I still had TONS of left over bait, and to be honest, I wouldn't waste my time again unless I were going to be cutplugging for days on end.
What I did in 2003...
If anyone's truly a committed bait fisher, then head on down to the Commercial Docks @ Granville Island in mid-late March or April. Take a couple of 5 gallon pails. Flip the commercial dude $20 and walk on out with all the bait you'll need. Most of them will be large, and have roe but they're awesome for fishing whole herring, cutting making strip, cut pluggin', etc.
However, when you can just go to Berry's an' buy a couple of cases of cured, flash frozen, PRIME bait that'll outfish your homemade labour intensive afternoon of fixing it all so it'll keep, it's definitely the way to go..BUY your bait.
After all was said and done that summer, I still had TONS of left over bait, and to be honest, I wouldn't waste my time again unless I were going to be cutplugging for days on end.
"Big guy" - This is from the regulations:
"It is illegal to:
fish for finfish and/or shellfish without a licence.
catch and retain salmon if your licence does not have a valid salmon
conservation stamp attached to it.
wilfully foul hook or attempt to foul hook any fish other than herring,
northern anchovy, Pacific sand lance and squid. "
Ps: I know where to buy herrring already and that was not my original question. If you have some real info to contribute I'm all ears.
"It is illegal to:
fish for finfish and/or shellfish without a licence.
catch and retain salmon if your licence does not have a valid salmon
conservation stamp attached to it.
wilfully foul hook or attempt to foul hook any fish other than herring,
northern anchovy, Pacific sand lance and squid. "
Ps: I know where to buy herrring already and that was not my original question. If you have some real info to contribute I'm all ears.
Sorry about the confusion regarding snagging herring in the regs, but I didn't think it was legal to snag them unless using a rake. Sorry if I insinuated you were doing something illegal. Legalities in the regs have a lot of grey areas. You never mentioned hook size in the six treble rig. Many people read these posts on an open forum. Someone might read these posts and think it is okay to rig 6 large treble hooks and start snagging off the Fraser river mouth. I don't think we want to encourage that. I've found rigs off river mouths with treble hooks bigger than I would use for halibut attached directly to large weights. We have enough problems with people using dodgy fishing methods already.gutchucker said:"Big guy" - This is from the regulations:
"It is illegal to:
fish for finfish and/or shellfish without a licence.
catch and retain salmon if your licence does not have a valid salmon
conservation stamp attached to it.
wilfully foul hook or attempt to foul hook any fish other than herring,
northern anchovy, Pacific sand lance and squid. "
Ps: I know where to buy herrring already and that was not my original question. If you have some real info to contribute I'm all ears.
Regarding contributing info, Ronin2024 requested info on what to use. I answered his question. I didn't post the nice picture of the Sabiki rig that dogbreath did, but I did make an attempt to answer his question. If you read my posts you will see that I always try to contribute something useful to the conversation. Again, sorry if I offended you.
No offence taken. The size of the trebles I'm using depend on the size of the bait. Snagging sardines off the west coast a few months ago I was using 2 ott. For herring and squid a #2 or 4 works well. The amount of weight depends on the hook size 1 - 2 oz seems to work well.TheBigGuy said:Sorry about the confusion regarding snagging herring in the regs, but I didn't think it was legal to snag them unless using a rake. Sorry if I insinuated you were doing something illegal. Legalities in the regs have a lot of grey areas. You never mentioned hook size in the six treble rig. Many people read these posts on an open forum. Someone might read these posts and think it is okay to rig 6 large treble hooks and start snagging off the Fraser river mouth. I don't think we want to encourage that. I've found rigs off river mouths with treble hooks bigger than I would use for halibut attached directly to large weights. We have enough problems with people using dodgy fishing methods already.gutchucker said:"Big guy" - This is from the regulations:
"It is illegal to:
fish for finfish and/or shellfish without a licence.
catch and retain salmon if your licence does not have a valid salmon
conservation stamp attached to it.
wilfully foul hook or attempt to foul hook any fish other than herring,
northern anchovy, Pacific sand lance and squid. "
Ps: I know where to buy herrring already and that was not my original question. If you have some real info to contribute I'm all ears.
Regarding contributing info, Ronin2024 requested info on what to use. I answered his question. I didn't post the nice picture of the Sabiki rig that dogbreath did, but I did make an attempt to answer his question. If you read my posts you will see that I always try to contribute something useful to the conversation. Again, sorry if I offended you.
Herring should be showing up around well lit docks this time of year... at least they use too.. I've got a new cast net on it's way and I can't wait to try it..
Good luck with the casting net. Cool to hear someone's into giving that a try. Sorry to say it, but it's not very often you see bait balls on the surface any more.
We sometimes get the odd Herring in the smelt net when fishing off the Jericho dock in the summer. Maybe during the winter or the early spring there may be more herring around the Jericho dock. Let us know if you are successful with harvesting your own bait locally.
We sometimes get the odd Herring in the smelt net when fishing off the Jericho dock in the summer. Maybe during the winter or the early spring there may be more herring around the Jericho dock. Let us know if you are successful with harvesting your own bait locally.
Hey Gutchucker,
are you talking about west coast of Vancouver Island regarding squid, or?
Squid is an excellent live bait.
are you talking about west coast of Vancouver Island regarding squid, or?
Squid is an excellent live bait.
I have seen squid fishing of nitnat before and have jigged and caught them in Maple Bay on the east coast. Good bait and good eatingBarba said:Hey Gutchucker,
are you talking about west coast of Vancouver Island regarding squid, or?
Squid is an excellent live bait.
Gutchucker,
if you want bait definatly go out around this time. If you have the time pick a day that's flat calm. If not I would try the drop off at spanish bank. the back eddy the RVYC makes in flood, and the drop off at the end of point Grey on an ebb.
English bay is wicked bay for producing life, however, seals have fucked the salmon fishery in the winter and the bottom fish have long since been caught.
Have fun, Jason
if you want bait definatly go out around this time. If you have the time pick a day that's flat calm. If not I would try the drop off at spanish bank. the back eddy the RVYC makes in flood, and the drop off at the end of point Grey on an ebb.
English bay is wicked bay for producing life, however, seals have fucked the salmon fishery in the winter and the bottom fish have long since been caught.
Have fun, Jason
Thanks Jason... just wondering are you seeing bait at the surface or on the depth sounder..? I tried jigging last month close to the bell bouy for some of those bait balls that show up on the depth sounder and nothing..?? Not sure what's setting off the depth sounder.. somthing to small to snag..bigjay said:Gutchucker,
if you want bait definatly go out around this time. If you have the time pick a day that's flat calm. If not I would try the drop off at spanish bank. the back eddy the RVYC makes in flood, and the drop off at the end of point Grey on an ebb.
English bay is wicked bay for producing life, however, seals have f**ked the salmon fishery in the winter and the bottom fish have long since been caught.
Have fun, Jason
Thanks in advance,
Steve
When I was young I used to do a lot of jigging at Active Pass for Salmon. We often caught Herring while buzz bombing there. Granted, there was a lot more bait in those days. Just thought I'd mention it, at least while jigging a buzz bomb you might catch a nice Salmon.
Mostly I see them on on the surface but you need a nice glassy day for that.
Have fun, Jason
Have fun, Jason
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
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