Hi All
Fishing Barkley Sound and the surrounding offshore waters continues to be productive.
I finished up with the Morgan group on Sunday. We fished Seabird Island and Little Beale over three days including a day offshore hali hunting.
Seabird was good last week and into the weekend. As per usual I fished a tight troll in and around the kelp and reefs. At times we had just 29 feet of water under the boat. We trolled Bon Chovy skinny gs at 27 and 39 feet in the rigger. When the bite came on it was frantic. We managed 4 springs in the box on an afternoon fish and another 5 the next morning. A very strong south easterly blew us off the rocks and we returned to the sound to fish in the lea of the wind at Little Beale. We also found a great bite going on here. Dropping the gear to 37 and 35 feet seemed to be where the action was. Once again skinny gs were the ticket.
I’ve made two trips offshore in the past three days to hunt halis. On board with the Morgan group and then again with Jaime and his son Chris. Chris works in Beijing so two days on the ocean here in Bamfield were a welcome respite from the heat and crowds of the big city. We fished them humps out at 12 mile. Fishing was slow with the Morgans. We released one oversize and that was the only hit of the day. Jaime and Chris were a bit luckier. We had 5 hali hits, released one oversize and kept two lovely fish in the 35 lb range.
I’ve noticed that the salmon fishing has slowed some the past two days. This is not uncommon as migratory fish are constantly on the move. Slowed down is accurate, but certainly it hasn’t died off. It is still very productive. Little Beale and ocean side just out from Beale are producing quality fish. So has Pacheena and Keeha Beach. I haven’t been over to Austin and Cree for over a week and really haven’t heard much from there. It’s going to blow northwest the rest of this week so that will have to be my destination. I’ll have more info up later in the week for Cree, Austin and Meares.
On a more urgent matter. Please read the important announcements regarding the fin fish closures for Swiftsure and La Perouse Banks. While doing what we can to help the struggling orca populations is noble and well worth the effort, it seems to me the closures will have no effect whatsoever. Start with the elimination of the herring fishery and the whale of the west coast would respond in rapid positive fashion. The Sports Fishing industry drives salmon enhancement and is the major reason we can still enjoy the wonderful resource. I for one would be happy to pay a bit more for my salmon tag if I knew that those finds would go directly to enhance our salmon stocks.
Anyway, enough of my political pontificating. Read through the details posted to our website and respond accordingly. Let’s try and get things done people!
In the mean time, Harbourside chugs along. Please, by all means come by and say hi. We would love to pass along the latest in fishing news with what and where it’s hot.
We have lots of gear in stock, fuel both diesel and marine gas, ice and snacks.
We’d love to see you.
Coach (Jonathan)
