Bamfield Fishing Report June 1st
They’re baaack…. And so are we! Not to compare Harbouside Lodge with Steven Spielberg’s iconic horror film Poltergeist but… it seemed somewhat appropriate.
The springs are back and so is Harbourside for the 2016 summer season.
We have been up Bamfield way the last two weekends getting boats and accommodations ready for what promises to be a banner year.
Early forecasts show that this summer could show the strongest spring salmon returns in the last 20 years! With river systems to the south of us, along with predictions of this summer’s Barkley Sound fish, showing numbers twofold last year’s returns, one can only tingle from the possibilities.
Alrighty let’s get to it.
The usuals are still the spots to go to first. The wall all the way down to Sarita is a great place for a first of the year troll. Keep your gear deep as even mature fish at this time of year tend to feed close to the bottom. Start with one rigger at 90’ and run the other just off the bottom. Pay close attention to your sounder and double back on bait balls you find along the way. Try and keep your gear 10’ to 15’ above the bait showing on your sounder. Same rules apply to Kirby Point, Edward King and over at Meares, Ausitn and Cree. Spoons are the hot ticket. I recommend the gold star 3.5’ and 4’ purple and silver. It’s really produced well for us early in the season. I find this rig out fishes bait as late as 3 weeks into July. Fish it 4’ – 6’ behind a purple haze flasher. As per usual you can’t go wrong with glow white hootchies. Green spatter back hootchies have been very productive also. Bait is always a good choice. Anchovies in purple haze, glow green and bloody nose teasers are also effective.
Off-shore has been the more consistent bet when the wind and swells have allowed the sport fleet to safely leave the confines of Barkley Sound. Turtle head, 12 mile bank and of course the “Rat’s Nose” at Big bank have been very productive for springs to 25 lbs. Most keeper fish off-shore have been in the 10 – 18 lb range but that will change as we head later into June. Coho have been showing up in good numbers already. I talked to one fisherman, who verified with pictures, a lovely 11 lb coho. What an awesome fish this early in the season!
Halibut fishing has been terrific. The flatties have moved in right into the sound. Anchor up just east of Folger in 200” or find the 160’ hump just south east of Meares. Salmon bellies are a sure thing but octopus, herring and mackerel are good choices also. My favorite spots are humps that come up on the 12 mile bank. Look for rises coming up to 180’ and anchor in an around them. Drifting can work too but it’s so much easier to keep your gear in the strike zone when you can sit on the hook.
If you are prefer old fashioned jigging, tip a 24 ounce mudraker with a salmon belly or chunk of octopus and bounce it along the bottom. It’s surprisingly productive.
I’ll be up at Harbourside more consistently come the middle of June as I finish up teaching for the school. Tom will be running the show most of June and Aussie John will be on board by the first of July. Please feel free to call the lodge or email us regarding accommodations and charters. One of the three of us will be sure to get back to you asap. It’s early and we do have prime time spots left for charters, lodge stays and moorage. Book it now as the word is going to get out on how great the fishing is going to be this summer and things will fill up very fast.
Till then, Tom, Aussie John and Coach (aka Jonathan) are out.