Trolling Spoons for Chinook Salmon
I found a hot bite getting into 4 Chinook Salmon in about 45 minutes fishing off Nanoose Bay and the Strait of Georgia. I'm creating this journal to note the details of the tide, lunar timing and the gear I fished that morning.
I got out on the water roughly after sunrise which was around 5:45-6:00. I was trolling the Gibbs "No Bananas" spoon and flasher. I was fishing around some small islands that act as a current break along the Georgia Strait "fish highway" as we the locals like to call it.
I was fishing in water anywhere from 110 to 180 feet of water and typically fishing around 70 to 80 feet down on the downrigger. On my Old Town kayak, I troll around 2.5 to 3.0 mph and prefer to troll with the tide current as that's where I find most of my bites. Trolling directly into the current isn't as productive, and I think its because the lure doesn't look as natural as that's not what bait would typically be doing.
Trolling one Spoon & Flasher
On this particular trip, I only fished one setup and that was Gibbs "No Bananas" Skinny G spoon and the "No Bananas" Flasher. The leader line I use it exactly 6' long from knot to knot from the flasher (and 6-bead chain) to the spoon. The leader line is 30# fluorocarbon leader line by Seaguar. See gear in image below.
I was fishing with a 10'6 Kufa mooching rod and MR3 Islander mooching reel. The reel is spooled with 30# monofilament line. This setup is not common for Kayak fishing, but is more geared to boat fishing. Typically, on a 12' kayak a 8' to 9' rod is better suited and paired with a baitcaster reel. I admin my setup does not make the fishing easy, but I love it. And that's why I fish it.
Tide and Wind
I was fishing a dropping tide (highest point was 4.7m and lowest was going to be 0.7m, so a significant change. I was fishing the drop around 3.2m to 2.0m section (see tide image).
I focused my area of fishing off a small island that acted as a current break. I didn't see a lot of bait on the sounder but placed myself in this location based on the current and figured the bait and fish would be behind it.
The wind was low this morning blowing around 6-8 knots. There wasn't any big roller waves so it made for a fairly comfortable troll, which I was thankful for.
Video of this Fishing Trip
I vlogged this entire trip from start to finish. I made this a catch, clean and cook video on my BC Fishing Journal YouTube channel. Check it the video below and would love if you considered subscribing as well. Cheers! Jesse