Hi All
I’m writing this in the dining room at Harbourside Lodge. It’s 6:30 am on a Monday morning. The fog has moved in over Bamfield inlet and has obscured the east side.
The weather the past two days has been outstanding. Sunny, warm and inviting. It’s been few and far between it seems that I’ve been able to ” t-shirt and flip flop it” on the boat this summer. Yesterday, however, was amazing. Those are the kind of days come December / January that you dream about. Yup it’s good to be alive and living large in Bamfield, even in the fog.
So how’s the fishing? Well it’s still productive if you happen to be in the right place at the right time. I fished Saturday morning at Seabird Rocks. Trolling skinny gs once again. Glow green and white at 27′ and gold and silver at 25′. It wasn’t fast and furious but we managed two gorgeous springs in the high teens and lost two others. The bite at Seabird is sporadic. One can go hours without seeing bait or arches on the sounder then bang bang it comes on hard and fast. Such has been the case lately. It has been the most productive on the flood tide. Typically an hour or two before slack. That said it’s never a waste of time on the ebb. Stick and stay and make it pay. I usually give Seabird a 5 or 6 hour window and it always seems to pay off.
Fishing in the sound has slowed some. There are still fish around but you must put in the work. Little Beale and Beale have given up a few fish. Austin and Cree has been solid, especially on the early morning bite. Try fishing at 50′ to 70′ amongst the reefs and pinnacles. I typically fish deeper here than elsewhere in the Sound. Beale and Little Beale seems to shallower. I fish them at 30′ to 35′. Edward King, Kirby have been slow for most but good fish are still taken there. The Wall, Agular Point and Brady’s Beach are actually producing rather well. 30′ to 40′ on the rigger will work well here. Skinny gs and or rolled anchovies will get it done. It just proves that here in Bamfield you really don’t need to go far to stand a good shot at a quality fish.
Things are happening offshore. We spent an epic day 12 miles off shoe yesterday fishing the humps for halibut. While anchored and waiting for a hali to pull we noticed small immature squid all around the boat. And cruising for a feed were salmon all over the surface. We tied on 90 gram MacDeeps on our salmon rods. 20 to 30 pulls and was it ever game on. The surprise was we were hitting springs as well as coho. In fact while we waited for hali hits we limited on springs to 16 lbs on light tackle and an anchored boat. It was chaos of the good kind! We also released countless wild coho and put a number of hatchery in the box to boot. What a blast! There are not many better easy to catch pacific salmon than that. The water was still, the sun was shining. It was a wonderful reminder that the sea can be forgiving and gentle every once in a while.
My next group comes in this afternoon. I am thinking a return to Seabird will be on the agenda. Before that, however, the tying of gear, boat cleaning etc all have to happen.
This week will be a little quieter at the lodge. Still some room and space should you suddenly get the urge to call in sick to work! Aussie John has been a fixture down at the gas docks, and no doubt keeping everyone entertained as they stock up on fuel, bait and tackle. Stop by, give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to give you as much info as we can about the goings on here in Barkley Sound.
We will talk again in 3 or 4 days.
Coach… ( aka Jonathan)
