Can 6 People Catch Their Coho Limits on a 25-Foot Boat?

0:00 | Six People, One 25-Foot Boat

Six people fishing on our 25-foot boat.

And once the coho started biting, things got a little crazy.

We had double hookups, tangled lines, and at one point we were catching fish while trying to make a video for Ranger Tugs.

It was chaos, and it was a blast.

0:20 | Going After 12 Coho

We’re getting toward the end of coho season, and we have the shrimp hater with us.

And we have our favorite cousins, Bobby and Izzy.

Today we’re hoping we can have as much fun as we had yesterday when we didn’t record catching coho.

What do you call it? Coho chaos?

Yeah, we’re hoping for some coho chaos.

So we’ll ask for your predictions. We each get two. What do you think?

“I’ll get two.”

You think you’re going to get two? What about you?

“You’re getting two.”

What about you guys?

“Oh yeah, we’re getting limits.”

Okay, you’re going to get your limit.

“I’m going to get my limit.”

What do we have on here? Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve. We’ve got a lot of fish to catch.

So we’ve got a boat limit of 12. We’re going to work at it. We’re after 12 coho today.

And I want a 10-pounder.

“Oh, are we?”

That’ll probably be the one Jasmine pulls in.

1:21 | Getting Everyone Set Up

Before we could even think about catching 12 fish, we had to get six people set up and fishing.

And we weren’t changing anything today.

We were using the same crazy coho setup that’s been catching fish for us all summer. If you’ve seen Derek’s setup video, you know this thing has already caught resident coho, Chinook, and plenty of coho later in the season.

But today was a little different.

We weren’t just fishing two rods with the two of us anymore. We had a full boat, people learning the setup for the first time, and a goal of 12 fish.

So first, everybody needed to know what to watch for, which rod to grab, and what to do when one went off.

And with six people packed into the cockpit, we also needed everyone to know where to go when things started happening fast.

Because if this setup worked the way it usually does, things could get busy.

Very busy.

And it didn’t take long.

2:15 | The First Fish

Reel it. Oh, it already popped off.

Oh, that’s a fish. That’s a fish. That’s a fish, baby.

All right. Come on, Jasmine.

“I don’t want to reel.”

Start reeling. Just start reeling. There you go. Reel.

Okay, I’m going to let go. If you need help, say something.

All right, Derek, you’re up. Out of the way.

I guess you watch that one because when they start biting, they start biting.

Wow, you’ve got a good one. Wow.

3:11 | Learning as We Go

The first few fish were definitely a team effort.

We were still reminding everybody what to do when a rod went off, when to reel, when to slow down, where the other lines were, and where not to stand when somebody suddenly needed the net.

But every fish was making everybody a little more comfortable, and it wasn’t taking very long.

All right, well, they’re bringing that in.

This one’s been bonked but not bled. Why don’t you come out here?

You come out here and I’ll drive.

Grab my gloves right up by the steering real quick.

All right, Bobby, you come out here. I’m going to drive, and you’re in charge of that one.

“Okay. I’m in charge of this.”

4:54 | Coho Chaos

And then things started happening a lot faster.

The rods were going off, fish were coming into the boat, and every time we reset, it felt like another one was right behind it.

This is also about the point where six people on a 25-foot boat starts to get interesting.

There was always somebody reeling, somebody grabbing the net, somebody resetting gear, and somebody trying to figure out where to stand.

At one point, we had someone taking care of one fish while two more people were fighting fish.

Total normal fishing operation.

Very organized. Professional.

6:48 | They Didn’t Need Us Anymore

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, something changed.

We weren’t telling everybody what to do anymore. They were watching the rods themselves.

They knew which one to grab, how to fight the fish, and how to stay out of each other’s way.

Well, mostly stay out of each other’s way.

And by this point, they really didn’t need us.

They’d gone from learning how we fish to just fishing.

8:12 | Tangled Lines and Another Fish

Oh. Yep, you’ve got one.

Oh man. Chaos.

No, no. Is it caught in this line?

Okay, that’s okay. Here.

All right, we both caught it.

Bobby, let your line out a little bit, and then I’ll try to untangle this.

Let’s see if we can get this untangled.

Let’s see what is happening here.

Let’s try to get the hook out. Maybe when we undo the hook...

Oh geez.

That was a heavy one. At least it’s hard to pull.

Stop it. You’ve got a hook in your eyeball.

Oh my goodness gracious.

All right, let’s see if we can untangle this real quick.

Oh, how weird is that?

Okay, you can get this one back in, and then I’ll take this one.

There we go.

Oh, there’s a fish on this one.

“Oh, I thought so.”

That’s funny.

I saw it strike. I’m dumping this one out then.

9:54 | Trying to Film for Ranger Tugs

Hi, I’m Sarah.

Hi, I’m Derek.

And we’re from Drops in the Ocean.

And apparently all of that still wasn’t enough going on.

It was the last day of the Boats Afloat Show, and I’d offered to put out a quick message to let our viewers know Ranger Tugs was there.

They texted back that they loved the idea and told us to go for it.

So naturally, we decided right now was the perfect time to record it.

And because the timing couldn’t have been more perfect, right in the middle of our nice little Ranger Tugs message, another rod went off.

So now we’re filming a video, I’m fighting a coho, and everyone else is trying to keep this whole operation moving.

At this point, this was pretty much a normal day.

And yes, we actually finished the message while we were netting the fish.

Very professional again.

11:23 | Nine Fish and Building Water

We were having one of those days where it felt like we could just keep catching fish.

And we were getting close.

Nine fish.

Only three away from limits for all six of us.

But the water was building, and at some point catching three more fish just isn’t worth staying out there.

So we called it.

Nine coho was going to be our number.

And honestly, looking around the boat, nobody seemed too disappointed.

12:31 | What We’ll Remember Most

We came out here hoping to catch 12 coho, and we came pretty close.

But when I think back on this day, I don’t think nine fish is going to be the part I remember most.

I’ll remember the six of us squeezed onto this boat, laughing, getting lines tangled, and trying to figure everything out together.

And I’ll remember watching our cousins go from needing our help at the beginning of the day to doing all of it by themselves by the end.

One of the things this boat has given us that we never really expected is an excuse to spend days like this with people we love.

We talk a lot about the places this boat can take us and the things we’ve learned along the way.

But the best part isn’t always where we go.

Sometimes it’s just who’s sitting beside you when you get there.

Fish are great, especially nine of them.

But days like this are better, and those are the memories we’re really hoping to collect.

13:52 | The Crazy Coho Setup

If you want to see the crazy coho setup we used to catch all these fish, we’ll tag it at the end of this video.

And subscribe if you want to come along for the next one.

We’ll see you out there. Have a good one.

14:05 | Drops in the Ocean

We took a leap and bought a fixer-upper on the Hood Canal, and an empty dock meant one thing.

We needed a boat.

Now we’re building our dream home and our dream life, one adventure at a time.