Top 10 Langara Salmon Fishing Tips
Culled from years of experience, here are the top ten fishing tips from Oak Bay Marine Group’s Langara Island fishmasters.
Get to where the fish are!
Although it may seem obvious, it’s often overlooked. Oak Bay Marine Group Resorts are strategically positioned throughout British Columbia to be on top of the major salmon runs thundering down the British Columbia coast. From the Queen Charlotte Islands to Rivers Inlet, from Campbell River to Barkley Sound, it’s saltwater salmon fishing at its finest!
Check your bait often!
Look out for seaweed. Make sure your bait has plenty of scales left; scales add flash and increase visibility. Check that the bait still turns nicely.
Keep your eyes on the rod.
For such a large fish, salmon have surprisingly subtle "strikes."
Always fish the tide changes.
Fish become more active in slack water because they do not have to fight against current. On a trip to one of our resorts, the Marine Centre or Fishmaster will always have up-to-date information at hand. If you’re fishing around your home, you can check the tides right from your computer before you hit the water. The Canadian Hydrographic Service has an excellent site for Canadian tidal information.
If you miss a strike, don’t fret.
Very often the first strike is the salmon attempting to injure the herring by tail-slapping it. They will then turn around and expect to see a stunned herring sinking toward bottom. To make your bait imitate a stunned herring, shift the motor into neutral and feed out four or five feet of line.
When a salmon takes the bait, set the hook. Hard.
No, no…harder than that. I mean, SET THE HOOK! HARD! Reel your rod tip down until it touches the surface of the water, then with one fast strong motion, point your rod tip straight up at the heavens. Hang on, this maneuver usually drives the hook into the roof of the salmon’s mouth and makes them very angry.
For the duration of the fight, keep your rod tip up.
Pull up on the rod until it bends over into a "C" shape. This will ensure tension on the line. Keep repeating, "Tip up, tip up, tip up.…" BC sportfishing regulations require that all salmon hooks be barbless — maintaining a tight line greatly reduces the chance of the salmon spitting the hooks.
Do not try to "horse in" a salmon.
If given the opportunity they will easily break 25 lb test line. Don’t hurry — big King salmon love a slow presentation. Loosen up on the drag, let the salmon run as many times as it wants. The only way to beat a salmon is to let it tire itself out. As a general rule of thumb, one pound of salmon equals one minute of fight. A fifty pound salmon will probably take an hour to land.
When motor-mooching for salmon always troll in the same direction as the tidal current.
Motor mooching involves trolling with bait, usually a cut-plug herring. A line weight of 4 to 10 ounces is tied in before the leader and allowed to sink to a depth of between 10 and 100 feet. The motor is clicked in and out of gear, allowing the bait to rise and lower in depth. Trolling against the current will force your bait to rise the surface and out of the strike zone.
Don’t be too anxious with the net.
This is very important, because your fishing partner is depending on you. During the course of the fight you will have the salmon to the side of the boat numerous times. Don’t attempt to net the fish until it shows you its belly. Salmon usually have one last thrash in reserve.
To get the fish to release this last bit of energy, put the net in the water and shake it in front of the fish’s nose with no intention of actually netting the fish. This should spook the fish into spending its final ounce of strength with a short "desperation" run away from the net. Since salmon can’t swim backwards, always net them head first.
Remember, after landing a big fish, the sun shines more brightly, food tastes better, and day to day concerns are much less stressful. After seeing our chef’s monster salmon catch earlier this week, it’s time to get out fishing and get a slab of my own. Until next time…