Salmon fishing in Sooke is EXCELLENT right now. Spring / Chinook, and Sockeye, are being caught in good numbers daily, there are some hatchery Coho and Pink Salmon being landed as well. There has been a very consistant Sockeye Salmon "BITE" come on daily, usually mid morning anywhere off Sooke in 100 to 500ft of water. The Sockeye are usually shallow, being caught anywhere from 35 to 90ft on the downrigger. Pink or red Squirts, Hootchies, and black hooks with red tubing trolled behind red or green flashers on short leaders are reported to work best. There have been many reports of Spring Salmon being taken on Sockeye gear in deep water at shallow depths. Spring Salmon have been caught at all the regular Sooke hotspots, although they will be there one day and gone the next. There has been some consistantcy at Otter Point especially with the afternoon flooding tide. We have found good bites on Springs at Secretary Island, Possession Point, the Bluffs, and Otter Point. The Springs seem to be hitting good on any green or green/glow head, as well as; Bloody Nose, chrome and red, blue/glow and Silver Betsy anchovy teaser heads Halibut seems to remain consistant out at Jordan River, although Salmon seems to be most anglers choice at the moment. Monday August 16th Bob in 2REEL2 took guests to Jordan River where they pulled a 32lb Halibut, and a couple of smaller Springs while trolling on the way back. Crabbing in the Harbour has been slow, although we have alot of crab bait for when it heats up again.

July 1st Afternoon Fished with regular guests Ed and Leyla for Salmon at Otter Point. Trolled anchovies through the area at about 1:45pm, had two strikes on the first pass of the afternoon. One didn't hook up the other did but was lost after it surfaced and ran across the surface showing its dorsal fin. Released a small Sockeye Salmon and landed a Pink Salmon which Ed and Leyla took for dinner.

July 2nd Fished with regular guests Shaun,Cory, and Don, from Victoria and Sask. Very slow morning, had word that Orca Whales had been through the area first thing in the morning. Had one Salmon hit the gear hard in the flooding tide at Otter Point at 70ft on the downrigger. Salmon was lost shortly after hooking up. Only one opportunity.

July 3rd Fished at Otter Point for Springs with Prago and John from South Africa. Reports of Orca Whales having just passed through the area. Consultants Derby was on and Otter was busy, saw three fish caught, mostly close to shore, maybe 60ft of water, probably 30 boats in the area. We had no hits, no fish.

July 5th AFTERNOON Fished Otter Point in the Afternoon with regular guest Denis. Again Otter was very slow, hooked into one Salmon on the first pass and lost it. No other strikes on the gear.

July 6th Fished with Frank and his Son Tommy between Otter Point and Sherringham Point, saw two or three Spring Salmon caught, no strike on the gear, heard many reports of same, some boats did get fish. Warm sunny day, wind from the SE making things choppy on the fishing grounds.

July 6th Afternoon Fished the afternoon with Mike,Mike, Frank and Pat for Salmon in flat water at Otter Point. Frank played and landed a 12lb Spring on the second pass by Third Rock at 80ft on the downrigger. Soon after Orca Whales showed up to feed off Otter Point. We continued trolling anchovies at 80 and 90ft on the downriggers and got into a double header off the point with Mike and Frank taking the rods and landing a 14 and 19lb Spring Salmon . Great action, good day, warm afternoon.

July 7th Fished with Ron and his crew from Sask. First time Salmon fishing, we trolled out off Secretary Island into 357ft of water, thinking of Coho but hooked into a nice 19lb Spring Salmon at 100ft on the downrigger. Had one other good strike at 90ft on the rigger that broke the leader on the strike. Great warm day, choppy in the morning, smoothing out by noon. Two nice crabs in the traps on the way in.

July 13th Fishing with Mike and Lucy,(who just got married in Sooke a few days before), for Spring Salmon at Otter Point. Incoming tide in the afternoon trolling west across the reef. Lucy played a Spring early in the trip that got away on the surface, probably 15lbs. Released a nice Sockeye Salmon, and landed a 6.5lb Pink Salmon. We were trolling a green and glow Krippled K style anchovy teaser head that has a black stripe on the top, behind a betsy flasher with a UV blade. Mike hooked into a nice 22lb Spring off the point with the gear at 75ft, to finish off our afternoon. Sunny flat day, good action.

July 13th 2REEL2 Bob fished the morning with Holly and Curtis. They were trolling at Otter Point, and hooked into and landed a 15lb Spring . They were using a blue/pearl Oki stlye anchovy teaser head with a black gator pattern on top trolled behind a Purple Onion flasher trolled at 75ft, in 140ft of water. No other bites.

July 14th Fished with Connor and Jenny staying at Salty Towers B&B, living in London. Connor had the pleasure of landing a 15lb Spring Salmon off second rock at Otter Point at around 1:30pm. No strikes in the morning. We were trolling a green and glow Rhys Davis anchovy teaser head at 70ft in 80ft of water, immediately after the Orca Whales past through. Great sunny weather with calm winds.

July 14th Afternoon Fished with Tasha,Hartly,Tiko and Hunter at Otter Point in the the incoming tide off the reef. Tiko landed a nice 11lb Spring with an anchovy trolled at 90ft, behind a green mist flasher. Wind, fog and choppy conditions from the South made for sloppy water for the first couple hours, until it shifted to coming out of the west, which was much better.

July 15th Afternoon Fished with Jay,Jay,Loyd,and John, who is getting married at Sooke Ocean Resort this coming weekend. The boys only had time for a short fishing trip, so we fished at Possession and Secretary Island for the afternoon. They had another group of guys on another boat and both boats had no strikes, no fish. Windy and choppy about half way through the trip.

July 15th 2REEL2 Bob fished with Devin,Paul,and Brandon at Otter Point for the last two days, no strikes or fish until the wind came up in the afternoon. They trolled back to the Harbour Mouth, and hit a nice Spring at the Trailer Park. They were trolling a Rhys Davis red and chrome anchovy teaser head behind a blue flasher with a yellow stripe on it, at 65ft in 100ft of water. The boys landed a nice 26lb Spring Salmon . Windy and choppy in the afternoon.

July 22nd Fished with Gord and his wife Leslie, at Possession and Secretary Is. Slow day no Salmon to report, could see Sockeye Salmon jumping on the surface.

July 23rd Fished with Gord again at Otter Point, landed one small Spring salmon about 8lbs. Slow day.

July 24th Fished with Karl, Wes,Ed, and Elaine for Spring Salmon. Started at Otter Point for Salmon and didn't see anything caught. Anchored for Halibut infront of the Sooke Bluffs, released a dog fish, (small shark), but didn't get any Halibut.

July 25th Fished again with Karl and his crew at Possession Point for Salmon, saw a few caught, had some good strikes inthe morning, that didn't hook up. Went to Otter Point for the afternoon flooding tide, saw a few more Springs caught, but didn't land any, another slow day.

July 26th Fished with Jim at Otter Point in the early morning and landed a 17lb Spring on the first pass while rounding the point. We were trolling a green flasher and a glow green anchovy teaser head with a black stripe on the top at 90ft on the downrigger. No other strikes to report.

July 27th Fished with Pavell,and his son Marcian and daughter Aniko, whom were staying at Salty Towers on the Sooke Harbour while here from the Netherlands. Saw one large male Orca whale surface near Secretary Island. Had five large salmon strike the gear, two of them close to the boat, but could not get any close to the net. Great day for action. We fished Possession Point and the Harbour mouth, 115ft of water with the gear at 80 and 90ft. Green glow anchovy teaser heads seemed to be the favored gear. There was another charter boat in the area, getting simular action, we did see them land at least one of thier Salmon.

July 28th Fished with my friends Henry and Gerrit, (you may have seen Gerrit on our website video from last year.) We started at 8:30am at Possession Point with the gear at 75 and 85ft on the downriggers. On the second pass Gerrit had a good strike that landed him a nice 25lb Spring Salmon after a great fight. Again the fish took green gear. No other strikes to report, we didn't see any other fish caught in the morning.

July 28th AFTERNOON Fished with Mel and Heather from Calgary, for Spring Salmon at Possession Point. Fished the same areas as the morning and the day before, infront of the Harbour mouth. Had three Salmon hit the gear and landed a 12, 16 and 20lb Spring Salmon. Great afternoon for action.

July 29th Fished with Larry, his son and fiance, at Possession Point, slow morning, didn't see many fish caught. We did land a small Greenling cod while looking for Salmon near Secretary Island. We also did land a small 7.5lb Spring in the afternoon in the fog near the point.

July 30th Fished with Brian , Larry and Don friends from Winnipeg. Had some good strikes off Secretary Island in the afternoon, morning was slow, didn't see many fish caught. We did land a large black Sea Bass, 6.5lbs off Secretary Is. Good day for weather, windy in the late afternoon.

July 31st Fished with Ed and Leyla from Calgary, and living part time in East Sooke. Entered in the Sooke Salmon Enhancement Derby as they traditionally do, we had a very slow morning at Possession Point. We didn't see any fish caught but did hear of two or three, and they were large fish.

Aug 1st Fished with Ed and Leyla for the Sooke Salmon Enhancement Derby, at Possession Point. Another slow day, didn't see any Spring Salmon caught, but heard of a short bite at the Trap Shack early morning.

Aug 2nd Fished with Hu, Jesse and his girlfriend Christie from Ontario for Springs in the Trap Shack early morning. Jesse played and landed a nice 23lb Spring after about 45 minutes of trolling a "Bloody Nose" Rhys Davis anchovy teaser head behind a green flasher between Secretary Island and O'brien Point, with the gear at 75ft on the downrigger. Saw two or three Springs caught at the same time, and had another good strike shortly after, that didn't hook up. Released a nice Sockeye about 12lbs that hit bait in a green anchovy teaser head.

Aug 4th Fished with Dave and his sons Ben and Brett, for Spring Salmon at Otter Point. The boys landed two Pink Salmon early in the morning and lost another at the back of the boat. We saw two large Springs caught, 40 to 45lbs. We hooked into a good Spring probably 25lbs, that broke the leader at the side of the boat just before we could net it, at 12 noon.

Aug 5th Fished with Alexis,Peter and thier father Mario from the Harbour mouth to Otter Point. A cold wind was up and the water was choppy. Sockeye was open, had a few Sockeye bites that didn't hook up, and it was to choppy for us to go out any further. Trolled to Otter Point and Alexis played a big Spring that took a long run and broke the leader.

Aug 6th Fished with Beau and Damen from California for Sockeye Salmon off the Harbour mouth out to about 500ft of water. The guys landed 3 Sockeye and a nice 15lb Spring Salmon that took the Sockeye gear, trolled at 65ft on the downrigger.

Aug 7th Fished with Bill, a local fisherman. We hit a nice 24lb Spring Salmon at 58ft on the downrigger in 450ft of water infront of the Harbour mouth, first thing in the morning. We later played a 21lb Spring into the net in 250ft of water, with the gear at 75ft on the downrigger. Soon we started catching Sockeye Salmon with the gear trolled at 60 to 75ft. We were trolling pink squirts behind red flashers, tied with 24 inch leaders, and large single hooks. Ended up limiting out with 6 Sockeye Salmon averaging 7 to 9lbs. Alot of boats were out fishing the area.

Aug 8th Fished with Bev and Geoff, two single fishers who shared the trip. Trolled for Sockeye outside the Harbour Mouth and off Secretary Island from first light until noon. Landed 4 Sockeye and 1 small Spring about 8.5lbs. Morning was choppy, but soon calmed down. Trolled same depths and gear as yesterday, although dropped the gear down to 100ft on the downrigger to catch the Spring Salmon.

Aug 9th Fished with Gavin and John from Alberta and Sooke, for Salmon at the Sooke Habour mouth and off Secretary Island. Fished for the full day and landed the boys limit of 8 Sockeye Salmon. Many of the Sockeye took the pink Squirts trolled at 47ft on the downrigger.A large pod of Orca whales came through the area about 2pm, about 20 animals. Great day for action.

Aug 10th Fished with Trent and his son Tyson from Victoria for Spring Salmon off the Sooke Bluffs early morning for Spring Salmon. Tyson played and landed his biggest fish with his Dad helping, a nice 17lb Spring Salmon, trolling a light blue/glow Oki head at 90ft on the downrigger. Spent the rest of the day trolling pink squirts on short leaders behind red flashers, and the boys picked up Sockeye and a Pink Salmon. Great action, calm sunny warm day.

Aug 11th Fished with Glenn and Shelly from Alberta, for Sockeye Salmon off the Sooke Harbour mouth. Trolling the pink gear the landed thier limit of Sockeye Salmon with one Pink Salmon and one 10lb Spring thrown in. The Spring came in off Otter Point trolling into the flooding tide later in the afternoon.

Aug 12th Fished with Trevor, Norm, and Ryan who stayed at the Sooke Harbour Resort in one of the great penthouse suites. Trolled up 3 Sockeye and one 10lb Spring off Otter Point. The Spring Salmon have been taking anchovy trolled in green/glow bait heads deeper then the Sockeye, 80 to 90ft on the downrigger.

Aug 13th Morning Fished with Andrew and part of his wedding party aboard three charter boats from Sooke Harbour Resort and Marina. The group only had time for a short trip in the morning so we departed at 7:30am and returned around 10:30am. Between the three boats 27 Sockeye Salmon were caught, on the sunny flat calm morning. The fish were out in deep water, started hitting them in 450ft of water with the gear at 47 and 57ft on the downriggers. We were using the small red squirts made by Radiant lures, trolled behind red or Silver Betsy flashers on short leaders 18 to 24 inches.

Aug 13th Afternoon Fished with Al,Kirsty,Rocky and Fin for Sockeye and Spring Salmon. Started off the Sooke Bluffs at 2pm, didn't find any Sockeye Salmon, but trolled into Otter Point around 4:30pm and hit three Spring Salmon on our first pass, landed 2 Salmon 16 and 27lbs. Rocky and Kirsty wanted fin to play a smaller Salmon, so I helped him reel in an 18lb Spring. Our Springs were deep, 260ft of water with the gear at 80 and 90ft. We were trolling green and glow anchovy bait heads behind green flashers.

Aug 14th Fished with Maja and her crew of friends, including her Dad. They had a nice sunny flat day to fish for Sockeye Salmon in the Straight of Juan De Fuca. We trolled into Otter Point for the late afternoon bite where Oliver played a 27lb Spring Salmon to the boat. We trolled the Sockeye gear at 47 and 57ft on the downrigger for most of the day, while the Spring took an anchovy trolled at 90ft in a glow/green Rhys Davis anchovy teaser head behind a green mist flasher.

Aug 15th Fished with Heinz and his wife Ann and kids Isabelle and Curtis for Sockeye and Spring Salmon in the Afternoon at Otter Point. The afternoon high tide bite was on and we were seeing fish being played everywhere at Otter Point. We hooked into one big Spring and lost it and Curtis landed one 20lbs. The family also played and landed five good sized Sockeye Salmon. Springs were being hooked into in close and off the point.

Aug 16th Fished with my friend Jamie and his Son Ryan in the early morning for Sockeye and Spring Salmon off Secretary Island. We fished in the fog off the reef at Secretary in a strong incoming tide, the bite came on hard, fast and furious for about half an hour, huge 8lb Sockeye smashing the rod tips into the water. Jamie and I ended up with a 17lb white Spring Salmon and four big Sockeye. Great morning, the Spring Salmon took a pink squirt being trolled behind a red flasher with an eighteen inch leader at 47ft on the downrigger.

Aug 17th Fished with Denis and his wife Shiela and thier grandson Tyson, on a windy afternoon at the Sooke Harbour mouth, for Spring Salmon. We hooked into five big Springs, four of which were lost mostly due to poor conditions, (wind and waves). Tyson ended up with a nice 20lb Spring Salmon that he played to the boat on his own. We were trolling anchovies in green teaser heads at 65 and 75ft on the downriggers in 80 to 110ft of water.

Aug 19th Fished with Chris from Calgary for Sockeye and Spring Salmon in the morning at Otter Point. Chris hooked into a good Spring Salmon early off of Third Rock and landed the 17lb fish. We continued to look for Springs but had Sockeye taking our gear. Chris limited out on three Sockeye and the Spring Salmon. We saw two other Spring Salmon caught besides our fish, everything else we saw was Sockeye Salmon.

Aug 20th Fished with Randy and his daughter Alison for Sockeye and Spring Salmon at Otter Point. Alison hooked into a nice 17lb Salmon early in the trip, which was the first Salmon she had ever caught. We were trolling in about 200ft of water off Third Rock heading East with the anchovies trolled at 80 and 90ft. Landed another smaller Spring, 2 Sockeye and nice 9.5lb hatchery Coho Salmon, which came off the Trailer Park first thing in the morning.

Aug 21st Fished with Randy and Alison again, this time we trolled out into deep water to intercept the Sockeye bite when it comes on in the morning. Alison stopped counting after playing about 15 fish. We were releasing small Spring Salmon and a really nice wild Coho around 10lbs, and losing some of the Sockeye. The two landed six Sockeye and one hatchery Coho. Good fishable mornings, some fog and low cloud, cool wind from the West.

Aug 22nd Fished with Geoff and Mike from the Island for Spring and Sockeye Salmon in the morning West of Otter Point. Didn't see many Spring Salmon caught, we caught one small Spring. Trolled over to Otter Point at 10am and trolled into the incoming (flooding) tide, the rods started bouncing and by 12 noon we had six nice Sockeye to add to the fish box. We were trolling Silver Betsy flashers infront of the pink squirts this morning instead of red flashers, worked just as well or better than the red flashers. We also had the most strikes at 67ft on the downrigger.

Good Fishing, Ron