Moutcha 2007 Derby Reports

Quick report to start the day before I need to run off to work.  We had something like 40 participants in this year's derby.  First place went to Caroline with a 29+ pounder.  I believe Steve Zuluo3 tied for 2nd with a 26.8 pounder, knocking my 25.1 pounder out of third.

There were a lot of fish caught with some nice bright ones showing.  Here's one of the chromers I stuck.  I'll post more details and pics later this evening.

-Allen

Here's my report.. was insane to say the least.

After waking up 12AM and hitting the road we made it to Moutcha Bay at 2PM. First, the bay is literally in the middle of nowhere. We drove on gravel roads for 45 min. so there were no noises of any kind around us. The water was glass and followed Pole2 to the first spot. As I started to get closer I could see fish not only surfacing but fully coming out of the water... Chinook to what looked like 30 lbs..  It took no more than 3 seconds later that my FF lit up w/ a massive school. I dropped my jig straight into it and 5 min. later got an unbelievable tug. Completely bendo!!  It felt like it was well hooked and the sleigh ride began. It did the whole thing... bobbin' weavin' jumping diving. I wrestled it to the surface about 15 min. later and she was heeeuge. She split to the bottom and decided to run out fast. Top speed I clocked was 2.8 MPH.  After what felt like 20 min. she got a little tired and Pole2 gave me an assist to land the fish.. 25 lb. Chinook female!


OK right there the trip was a success for me. But it went on. I didn't notice it but the fish hadn't stopped jumping all around us. There were salmon everywhere. Later on I got myself another 4 chinook but released them all... none under 18 lbs. Some were pretty dark so decided to go after the lighter ones.

The next two days were pretty much carbon copies of the first totaling 4 fish from 18-25 lbs. The wife took the eggs from the catch and cured them w/ soy sauce and sake... unreal! Needless to say the fishing was off the heez but also the scenery was unbelievable. There were some really nice bear sightings as well as some eagles. Meeting NWKA'rs was also a real treat. Glad to meet you all and really look forward to fishing w/ you guys again. The people @ Moutcha Bay were also a class act and super helpful all the way. A definite not to miss tourney in this lifetime!

Z-

Here's a better pic of your first fish of the weekend.

-Allen

 That fish changed a bit of color when I landed it. But was bright orange on the inside! Guess that's all that counts. Thanks braddah!

Z

OK.  Here's the long version of the report.  Charles (charliefl66) and Pat (first time kayak fisherman) met me at my house and we were on the road at 3AM.   Made some good time with no wait at the border and was in the ferry line at 5:00, and proceeded to be second to last on the 5:15 ferry.  Woohoo, otherwise we would have waited until the 7:45 ferry.  Looks like Zeelander, Pisco Sicko, Fishin-T, and Matt_K had a similar morning as they were all on the ferry as well.

Stopped off in Campbell River to pick up supplies (food, beer, gear) which included some last minute jigs.  Settled on some 4 3/4 ounce Point Wilson darts.  Colors included all white, green/gold/chrome, and green/yellow/white.  I also grabbed a large Gibbs Minnow in green/white.  I would be fishing these jigs on a 10 1/2 foot Shimano Convergence Mooching Rod rated for 10-20 pound test and a single speed mooching reel spooled with 25# mono.  When in Canada, do as the Canadians.

We arrived at Moutcha Bay around 2PM I believe and I was fishing by 3:30 after a quick camp set up.  I could see the salmon jumping on the other side of the bay with a few kayakers working them so I made my way over there.  Met Caroline, the eventual derby winter, and she told me stories of her husband working a 30+ pound fish for 4 hours earlier in the day.  I settled into the jigging rhythm and got a couple of hookups but couldn't bring them to leader.  In the meantime Z got the one pictured above and Matt_K got this one which was a bit dark, so it was released.

-Allen

I finally managed to get a couple to the leader including one that pushed the 30# mark.  In the meantime, Fishin-T hooked up to a monster, the biggest one I saw all weekend.  It was probably pushing the 40# range.  After quite a while of fighting it, the hook just pulled loose.  Damn!

Got up early the next morning, and went to put a banana into Fishin-T yak.  But wouldn't you know it, that guy had already launched without waking up any of us.  He wanted to get the "first fish" honors.  But another early bird beat him to it!!!

We got out and fishing was "en fuego".  Here's Bill with a typical darkie, one of the many we hooked and released over the weekend.

-Allen

We weren't the only ones fishing.  This black bear was patrolling the shorelines every day.

-Allen

WaterWolfQCI (Jeff) showed up with his dog Creep.  Pretty cool outriggers kept them stable when Jeff was standing up.  Jeff had brought his dad, whose previous largest fish was a 2.5# largemouth bass.  I think he topped that this day.

-Allen

I had one of my best salmon fishing days ever today hooking up with 23 salmon.  I only managed to get 13 to the net, but as you can imagine I was busy all day.  Here's another shot of the same chromer as above.

-Allen

One downside of the day was that 2 yakers flipped.  It was calm water as you can see.  One was in a SIK and decided to dangle his legs like the SOT crowd does.  Bad move as his center of gravity changed and over he went.  He needed help from the power boat.  The other was a SOT that flipped when the guy got a big hit that didn't stick.  He was pulling back hard and you can imagine what happened.

Neither was dressed for immersion, so it was good that they were in a crowd.  I don't want to get up on FFTW's soap box right now, so consider this a gentle reminder.

-Allen

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday.  More fish.  And more rain too.  I came down pretty hard at times.  I was holding 3rd place most of the day until the afternoon session when Zuluo3 (Steve) landed this 26+ pounder that bumped me.  Charles was getting in on the action with this nice salmon too.

-Allen

There was a nice showing of SIK including this hand built Baidarka.  As you can see, it didn't slow Rob down from catching his share of salmon.

-Allen

I ended up catching 21 salmon over the weekend and losing at least that many.  With those sort of numbers I saw some definite trends and learned some lessons for next year.

1) Replace the hooks all all jigs with stronger ones.  I bent the hooks quite a few times and lost some fish due to it.  Tom lost his big one on Friday night with bent hooks.  I even had one treble literally come apart at the weld.
2) Replace the split rings on all jigs.  I had one pull out.
3) Make sure your hooks a sharp.  On Sunday I lost 8 salmon in a row, many on the first jump.  When I checked the hooks (why did I wait so long?) they were all really dull.  I replaced them and proceeded to land the next 5.
4) I liked the long rod and the slow action of the rod.  The rod was probably a bit on the light side if I was on a power boat, but on a yak, it was just right.  Man that thing can bend and still take a lot of abuse.  I like to put the wood to the fish and get them to the yak fast for a release.
5) I liked the slightly heavier jigs (~4 ounce).  Not too heavy as you'll be jigging them all day and it can wear you out.  Color didn't seem to matter too much as I used them all, but I had a definite preference for the gree/gold/chrome.
6)  Use your fishfinder and follow the schools.  I think Matt_K and I were more on the aggressive side in doing this and it definitely showed in our catch numbers.

The potluck and awards ceremony on Sunday was a blast.  More and more food kept appearing and it would get gobbled down fast.  We had fresh salmon, salmon shark, halibut, oyster, ikura and lot more.  Good stuff!!

On Monday we got up at 4AM to catch the 10:15 ferry from Nanaimo.  It was another long days back, but considering the weekend we had, it was well worth it.  I trust that the rest of you got home safe and sound.  Please post some more pictures ... please, please, please.

-Allen

That was too SWEET! Looks like y'all had a great time and stretched much line! Congrats to all!
Labor Day weekend 08 just got booked!

Hi all, I had a fantastic time meeting you all and fishing in that beautiful place.  Next year I hope to take a few more days to do a little exploring outside the bay.  I had intended to do that this year but salmon fever grabbed hold and there was no leaving the school! 

A highlight for me was watching Caroline being honored as the champ and especially the reaction of her kids when they realized she just kicked the butts of all those gruff looking dudes.  I thought her daughter’s eyes were going to pop right out of her little head!  The food on Sunday was fantastic.  Special thanks to Z’s wife for preparing the roe.  That was great stuff and inspired me to do the same at home (with the help of a friend).  A final highlight will occur today when I drop off a couple monster-size fillets at Jenson’s Smokehouse for cold-smoking.  Lox for breakfast! 

See you all on the water! 
Steve