June 29, 2017

Fishing Report June 29

They’re here!

Fishing here in Barkley Sound has been outstanding as of late. The winds have been up from the northwest but the action has been at Effingham, Austin and Cree Islands which are beautifully protected from the winds.

On Monday June 26 and Tuesday June 27 I fished with long time fishing pal Glen Montgomery from Flyguys Fishing Adventures. We were on the water each day with gear down by 6:30 am. We trolled the pinnacles by Austin and Cree with the gear at 60 and 50 feet on the downrigger. On Monday we fished my fav purple Kingfisher spoon behind a purple uv haze farbetter flasher. It hooked us up to our first three hits of the morning. On the other rigger we fished a green and white skinny g by Gibbs–Delta behind a Gibbs green uv moon jelly flasher. This rig then went nuts! We hooked up the next 13 springs and some coho all on this outfit. Many were shakers but we managed 4 springs in the 10 to 15 lb range and 4 lovely coho from 4 to 8 lbs. The next morning it was all about the skinny g. Purple had completely shut down but the green and white skinny g was awesome. Once again we limited out on spring salmon from 10 to 16 lbs and coho from 4 to 8 lbs.

On Wednesday, June 28 I fished with guests Dad, Andrew, and son Ross, along with Grandpa, Jim. Jim is visiting Canada from Scotland and had never held a fishing rod in his hand until now. It was great fun having all three boys on the water bonding and enjoying our spectacular west coast.

Once again we fished Austin and Cree Islands. We dragged the green and white skinny g alongside a green, yellow and red skinny g behind a lime green farbetter flasher.  50 and 60 feet on the downriggers were still the magic depths. Both rigs were deadly combos as we were into numerous double headers. We had the gear wet by 6:15 am and had 8 spring salmon from 12 to 18 lbs in the box along with 4 coho by just after 10:00 am.

Now I know that fishing is fishing, and some days are diamonds and some days are stones, but I gotta say that this has been a great start to the season and I am very excited as to what’s to come next.

Beale and Little Beale have also been productive but have been challenging on the ebb tide once the current hits the incoming westerly swells. It really makes for an uncomfortable chop and some very difficult fishing. The Wall continues to give up some nice fish and is never a waste of time. The nicer fish have been as shallow as 35 feet, much like August. Small 3.5 spoons have been the most productive lure of choice. Many of the salmon we have cleaned have been full of immature herring less than an inch long. Small spoons have been the best to mimic such bait. I have not heard much from Kirby or Flemming as the northwest winds have made both places a tough troll.

Off shore has been spotty at best, mostly because the winds have been up from the northwest making offshore not very fishable. I did manage to get out on Saturday however. Doug and Shayne, from Clairsholm Alberta, were my guests as went off on a hali hunt on the bank roughly 10 miles out. The tides have been huge as of late making fishing challenging to say the least. We managed to hook up 5 hali during the day, keeping 3 from 26 to 44 lbs. The weather was spectacular however, almost too hot for the day. It was a great day and reminded me once again at what a joy it is to live on the west coast!

The Canada Day long weekend is almost upon us which really signals the start of summer. Fishing is going full swing and the weather looks great long term. We now have some openings next for guests to stay at the lodge and for charters if need be. We would love to see you here to enjoy the Harbourside Lodge experience. As per usual we are well stocked at the tackle store.  Come in, fuel up, get some bait and tackle, or just come by for a coffee and we can fill you in on all the local hotspots.

Till then, tight lines and full boxes…

Coach (aka Jonathan), Aussie John, Tom and Brett…