Wow. July has come and gone and we are heading towards the home stretch. Seems just last week I got up here and got started. It’s been such a great season so far. Great fishing and great people. I expect exactly the same as we go through the rest of August.
It’s just about time for our local Somass fish to show. As of today they have not, at least in any sort of numbers. I have noticed some changes that typically occur this time of year and they bode well for the rest of the month. It’s a bit of a transitional time but soon, very soon it’s going to go off, and when it does, you should be here.
This past week with I had Jason Lee, Francis and Jimmy up for three days and then finished the week with Jeff and his son Chris.
We fished Seabird as per usual and managed some nice springs. Once again skinny gs have been the ticket for me over there. We decided to do an offshore day and I made my way to the Big bank and the Rat’s Nose for the first time this year. The amount of coho out on the Banks is very encouraging. It’s extremely difficult to get the gear down for a shot at some springs as the coho often pop it off on the way down or while you are hooking it up to the riggers. We had tons of fun with the coho and a few small springs. We then decided to make our way back towards home and stop for a hali hunt. We dropped the anchor at 13 mile on a hump that comes up to 197 feet. We sat on the anchor for the next 4 hours. We had three hali takes but no hook ups. While we were anxiously waiting for a hali strike we jigged with MacDeeps and hooked up with countless coho and the odd spring. A great way to while away the time waiting for halis. We were fortunate to have an amazing humpback ahead show all around us and were also visited by a large pod of orcas. Absolutely awesome!
The next day I did a one day charter with Fred from Manitoba and Frank from Creston. They were wanting an offshore experience and were eager to tangle with some halibut. I returned to my spot for the 2nd day in a row. Once again, I was blanked. We sat on the hook for 9 hours and did not hook up a single halibut. Was the day a waste? Hardly. While we waited the boys jigged springs and coho at 30 pulls. On after the other. So much fun! When the coho are that thick, don’t fight it and worry about the springs. Take off the flashers, stop the boat and jig. Use buzz bombs, MacDeeps or any 3 inch or so jigs. Snap it up and down and wait for the chaos to begin. It’s a deserving way to fish these marvelous salmon.
While we were jigging coho we had two blue sharks show up to play. One was almost 10 feet and the other pushing 8. One of them took a coho we were playing and the other grabbed our hali bait when we pulled it up. Darn they are strong! I managed to pull the fish alongside the boat and try to unpin it. It rolled in the line and snapped us off. Marvellous and beautiful creatures. Very cool for the boys on their first ocean fishing experience! By the way, one of our guides went out to the hali humps yesterday and killed it. 3 nice flatties along some springs and coho made it a great day. Hopefully the hali are back!
This past weekend was the Bamfield Fireman’s Derby. What a great job they did. I went to the awards ceremony on Monday afternoon, it was a very cool event. Keep it on your calendar for next year’s August long weekend.
I fished the derby with Jeff and his son Chris. We went hawg hunting down at Seabird last Friday to scope thing out. We fished at 24′ and 26′ using a Bon Chovey skinny g on one side and an Irish Cream on the other. We have a very productive day. We had 10 springs to the boat and took four for the boys. They were all between 18 and 24 lbs. Saturday was the start of the derby. We once agin made the trip down to Seabird. The morning started off well with 3 hits early and one in the box. Then the switch sort of went off. We fished the next 4 hours with nary a bite. Low slack came and a small bite came on. We had three more hits and Jeff landed a beauty 24.6 lber. We took some time in the afternoon to jig up some ling cod and called it a day.
Jeff’s fish was officially weighed in at the weigh station and he took over the leaderboard. His fish lead day one and day two but dropped to 2nd place as the Pederson Clan from Poet Nook took over the number one position with a 26 lber.
Everything held up through Monday and Jeff’s fish took 2nd place. Disappointed in losing top spot, but we were pretty happy with 2nd. Once again, keep these dates on your calendar. It’s a great weekend and a ton of fun.
Back to fishing. Seabird has really cooled off. It might be the end for it this summer. The Nitnat fish will have gone by. Now it’s time for our Somass fish to show. I think they will any day. Swale, Harbour Entrance, Gibralter, all over in the Broken Group might be good spots to try. While it’s not time to put the skinny gs away just yet it is time to start dragging some meat. Anchovies become the hot ticket here in August.
I’ll spoon it on one side and drag an anchovy on the other. In a week or two I’ll be using just anchovies.
I have the day free today to clean the boat and tie gear. My next group, Donny, Randy and Brock arrive later tonight.
The lodge and the docks were very busy this past weekend but during the week it is a bit quieter, so take some time off work and get out here. It’s going to be an amazing August.
The docks are very busy keeping everyone stocked up with fuel, ice, bait and tackle.
Till next time…
Coach…. (aka Jonathan.)
