Scorpiofisher
Member
Lots of beautiful spots in the broken group to anchor. Effingham Bay has great sunsets if that's your fancy and close to both. Many people anchor around harbour entrance and Gibraltar as TW says.
2019 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports
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Paul Sadler
New Member
If you stay in Effingham, make sure you are not expecting a strong NW wind overnight. I got caught once and had to move out.
I’ve anchored in Robbers Passage the last couple of times. It’s a bulletproof place to stay. I’ve also anchored in Bamfield Inlet in the southern area in front of McKay Bay Lodge. It is an active area but very calm.
These aren’t in the Broken Group but close...
I’ve anchored in Robbers Passage the last couple of times. It’s a bulletproof place to stay. I’ve also anchored in Bamfield Inlet in the southern area in front of McKay Bay Lodge. It is an active area but very calm.
These aren’t in the Broken Group but close...
Olde School
Well-Known Member
The sound is still producing limits for many boats.
banger17
Well-Known Member
For sure it is, and it will be for the rest of the season if it is already like this... that post is like saying the sun rises in the east.
Share some details as to what you know? So that you can at least keep us interested in info and how it’s been happening, big fish tales, funny scenarios, etc!
Olde School
Well-Known Member
The sound was somewhat slower today; hope the coho haven't decided to head outside!
Banger17, my post is to let people know that if they go to the sound, they aren't likely to waste their time and gas. Comments like yours tend to inhibit people like me from posting, and are the reason there are so many lurkers. Please be more respectful. Please.
Banger17, my post is to let people know that if they go to the sound, they aren't likely to waste their time and gas. Comments like yours tend to inhibit people like me from posting, and are the reason there are so many lurkers. Please be more respectful. Please.
banger17
Well-Known Member
Never had thought of or meant any disrespect in the post - just wanted some more substance from your report so that I could live vicariously through the stories until it’s my turn to head out there in a few weeks.
Thanks for the posts and cheers!
Islander30
Member
Tides weren't very good today, hopefully it picks up again....I'm driving up in the morning and staying a couple days....should be on the water by noon !
Doubletyee
Active Member
Fished Pill this morning coming back from Ukee. Hit three coho up to 8 lbs and a pile of shakers in couple hours.
TipUp
Well-Known Member
Had a great weekend out in the sound. Launched at clutesi around 730 on Saturday morning and arrived at Pill Point for 9 AM. Had some decent action at Pill on small blue/silver spoons at 60 - 80 feet. Lost a few nice springs at Pill and boxed a nice coho. Moved to Meares for the afternoon but had zero action, so pulled up the lines and headed to Swale Rock which was full of shakers. Spent the night anchored in the Broken Group. Woke up Sunday around 7 and spent the whole day at Swale. Lots of action at Swale on the kitchen sink and green/white skinny G at 65 and 72 feet. Ended up with our limits of spring and a couple coho. Found that it worked to find the bait and stick to one spot rather then moving around. Most of the fish were around 8 - 10 pounds except for a fiesty 14 pounder. Surprised that the coho weren't as thick as reports indicated.
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willydw
Active Member
As they say. Should of been here yesterday.
brutus
Well-Known Member
The coho are heading up jdf in good numbers now
Islander30
Member
Fished Swale last night and got a legal spring maybe 10lbs at the most and couple coho. Went to WYA this morning and did much better...got 4 really nice springs over there. I'll try to post pics in the "Ucluelet" section.
SaltyAlice
Well-Known Member
Back from a fantastic trip in Barkley Sound. We fished Thursday through Sunday. Here's the deets:
Thursday - arrived in time to fish a few hours in the late afternoon and evening. The fishing was bonkers. We were at Swale and had success with nice sized coho and chinook running herring aid spoons and hoochies at 70-90'.
Friday - Not as bonkers as Thursday. Looks like things have cooled down a bit. We hit up Swale and had a few fish here and there. Moved up to Meares and got a few more including a nice coho at 42' before things went really quiet. Saw coho chasing bait on the surface near Cree which was fun to watch. We ran a bucktail off the middle for entertainment. Didn't get any coho this way but they came up close to check it out. Hopped over to Bamfield for fuel then worked from Beale inwards. There was a fair amount of swell and chop. We found a great looking school on the sonar in about 80' of water, I called out to the guys that I thought something was going to happen, then BAM double header chinooks on herring aid and hoochies again. One of the guys was resetting and attaching his line to the downrigger clip when his hand started getting resistance. A nice sized coho had taken the line on the surface, so he hand lined it to the boat. While the day wasn't as constant as Thursday we still came back with a nice mix of coho and springs.
Saturday - Offshore! Got some nice hali and picked up some coho and springs (within the slot) near Rat's Nose. Beauty conditions with hardly any wind or swell.
Sunday - We struck out! Had some nice hits at Meares and Kirby, lost one at the boat, and had shakers. Only had a the AM hours to fish before heading home. Probably a good thing as by this point we had run out of room in the cooler.
All in all a fantastic trip with beauty conditions, lots of beef jerky, some offside jokes, and a healthy amount of food to bring home for our families.
Thursday - arrived in time to fish a few hours in the late afternoon and evening. The fishing was bonkers. We were at Swale and had success with nice sized coho and chinook running herring aid spoons and hoochies at 70-90'.
Friday - Not as bonkers as Thursday. Looks like things have cooled down a bit. We hit up Swale and had a few fish here and there. Moved up to Meares and got a few more including a nice coho at 42' before things went really quiet. Saw coho chasing bait on the surface near Cree which was fun to watch. We ran a bucktail off the middle for entertainment. Didn't get any coho this way but they came up close to check it out. Hopped over to Bamfield for fuel then worked from Beale inwards. There was a fair amount of swell and chop. We found a great looking school on the sonar in about 80' of water, I called out to the guys that I thought something was going to happen, then BAM double header chinooks on herring aid and hoochies again. One of the guys was resetting and attaching his line to the downrigger clip when his hand started getting resistance. A nice sized coho had taken the line on the surface, so he hand lined it to the boat. While the day wasn't as constant as Thursday we still came back with a nice mix of coho and springs.
Saturday - Offshore! Got some nice hali and picked up some coho and springs (within the slot) near Rat's Nose. Beauty conditions with hardly any wind or swell.
Sunday - We struck out! Had some nice hits at Meares and Kirby, lost one at the boat, and had shakers. Only had a the AM hours to fish before heading home. Probably a good thing as by this point we had run out of room in the cooler.
All in all a fantastic trip with beauty conditions, lots of beef jerky, some offside jokes, and a healthy amount of food to bring home for our families.
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Olde School
Well-Known Member
Back from an overnighter in the sound with my lady and her 15yo daughter who hadn't ever fished before.
Concentrated our time near Swale and came back with near limits including one spring approaching 20lbs.
White hoochies, 60 to 80' down in 100 to 200 feet of water, 2.5mph.
Things have slowed down somewhat and the mix is about 50/50 coho to springs - very convenient.
Reports from all over the sound echo my previous line.
The first timer had a total blast, it was fun watching my gear hook things at both ends ;-)
Concentrated our time near Swale and came back with near limits including one spring approaching 20lbs.
White hoochies, 60 to 80' down in 100 to 200 feet of water, 2.5mph.
Things have slowed down somewhat and the mix is about 50/50 coho to springs - very convenient.
Reports from all over the sound echo my previous line.
The first timer had a total blast, it was fun watching my gear hook things at both ends ;-)
trophywife
Crew Member
what a mix the bait is on the outside surfline, bringing back chins with a mix of needlefish, lil herring, and still squid in the guts. i wish the sonar would tell what bait is under the boat... a couple hours the brown turd is producing on the basement, then the gold/chrome wee gee, then back to a white and green hootchie. been good fishing the past few days. keep mixing your presentations.
Caught the first ferry up Friday for what was a couples weekend with 10 adults and a couple kids . none of them fishers but all cabin drinkers. Got the first group in to the cabin and set out to the wall to get boat and gear dialed in while I waited for next group. Had just dropped the second rod when the first went off. Nice Scrappy coho to start things. Hooked 2 more coho and 1 spring in the half hour before I got the call that I had to play water taxi. Got them in and went straight back to the wall to look for a night bite.
Found it. Steady action for 2 hrs with a bunch of coho and a few springs mixed in. Couldn't wait to get out the next morning. Unfortunately as I woke at 530 to head out for a solo fish one of my wife's friends was up and still half drunk and insisted on coming out. I think her annoying voice and drunk bull **** put off the fish. Did manage a nice spring and a dinker before I'd had enough and went back to dock. My buddy had awoken and was on the dock so as the girl went to pee and get sun glasses I took off with him. She won't be fishing with me again. Went to whittlestone and got another coho and missed a few others. That evening took 2 couples to the wall and again there was fish. . The Sunday morning I took a pair of friends to ships and we had steady action for hoes. The fishing turned off for me on the Sunday evening and the Monday. The wall was quiet with nothing but a few dinkers. All fish on wall were stuffed with herring yet I caught most fish with my go to hootchie. Got a few more with kitchen sink skinny g. The springs averaged about 18lbs and had some nice mature eggs inside. Maybe first run of Robertson Creek fish. Up again next Thursday for fireman's Derby on the long weekend. Will report. Tight lines mo
Found it. Steady action for 2 hrs with a bunch of coho and a few springs mixed in. Couldn't wait to get out the next morning. Unfortunately as I woke at 530 to head out for a solo fish one of my wife's friends was up and still half drunk and insisted on coming out. I think her annoying voice and drunk bull **** put off the fish. Did manage a nice spring and a dinker before I'd had enough and went back to dock. My buddy had awoken and was on the dock so as the girl went to pee and get sun glasses I took off with him. She won't be fishing with me again. Went to whittlestone and got another coho and missed a few others. That evening took 2 couples to the wall and again there was fish. . The Sunday morning I took a pair of friends to ships and we had steady action for hoes. The fishing turned off for me on the Sunday evening and the Monday. The wall was quiet with nothing but a few dinkers. All fish on wall were stuffed with herring yet I caught most fish with my go to hootchie. Got a few more with kitchen sink skinny g. The springs averaged about 18lbs and had some nice mature eggs inside. Maybe first run of Robertson Creek fish. Up again next Thursday for fireman's Derby on the long weekend. Will report. Tight lines mo
Saltwedge
Active Member
Got back recently from our annual 4-day trip to Barkley. Beautiful scenery, amazing weather, light winds, small waves... whales, porpoises, eagles, sea lions, seals... plenty of fish. An amazing place for sure; hopefully next year we make it three in a row. There were 3-4 of us depending on the day... we kept ~20 fish and ate a couple of them with our dinners. Lots of shakers, like last year. Split/gave some fish away and still had to buy a moving dolly to push/pull the large cooler full of fish and ice through the ferry terminals. Most salmon were on a green/black/glow Skinny G, but some coho were caught on white or green/glow hootchies using a dipsy diver (!). Did not have much luck when we fished deep (150-200'), so we usually kept the two riggers between 40 and 90', with an extra rod or two at or near the surface for coho. The middle parts of the days when it was hot/sunny were not very productive... it did not help that we were also between low and high tides during those times. Our bigger chinooks were hatchery; thank you, USA. Coho were a mix of wild/hatchery... the bigger ones were hatchery.
Friday: Arrived in Port Alberni in the eve, launched boat, got ice, stayed with friends.
Saturday: Motored out into the Sound. Lots of shakers and lots of boats around Pill Point... left that scene and went to Austin, where we landed an 18-lb chinook on a 3.5" herring aide spoon. Cree was a bust, so back to Austin where we got a nice coho. Made our way to Swale and got 2 nice coho and a chinook. The two bigger coho hit our spoons on the surface before we had the chance to send them down with the riggers; I actually had to hand-line one of them for a while since it hit when I was putting the mono on the rigger clip! Fish dinner up an inlet at the cabin we stayed at, followed by an evening troll/jig; a few small fish... nothing worth keeping.
Sunday: Offshore day... went to the banks off of Beale. Flat seas and light breeze meant our jigs/spreader bars were horizontal with no anchor or motor required to reduce drifting. Caught a hali under 90 cm and a hali over 90 cm on a spreader bar with a big glow hootchie and salmon belly on a big circle hook... and caught a GIANT skate on a mudraker... man, skates are weird and ugly... had to take the big treble off the split ring to get the lure back from its ugly, leathery mouth! Tip: swap any big bottom-fishing trebles for a single siwash (or circle hook if using bait) on a short piece of thick mono leader or dyneema so you'll be able to cut the hook off quickly to get your lure/rig back easily from the mouth of a skate, 126-cm+ hali, big dogfish, etc. Bonus is the singles are less likely to snag bottom, especially if you rig them as assist hooks. Did some offshore trolling and saw a few coho in the water; managed to hook (and lose) a couple by casting from the bow of the boat... almost grabbed a fly rod from the cuddy to see if I could land a saltwater coho on a fly! Lost another coho trolling; another tip: ditch any [barbless] trebles on your salmon jigs/casting spoons for a single hook (preferably 2 single hooks if using bait or hootchies), as the coho rolls/jumps seem to be very effective at torqueing barbless trebles out of their mouths. Trolled in to Beale and caught a pair of keeper coho after having to release a couple of wild ones outside the 1-mile line. Fuel and ice in Bamfield and halibut dinner at the Seabeam Lodge; an evening troll on the Wall with a few shakers. Stayed at Seabeam that night.
Monday: Fished the Wall in the AM... got two nice coho on a white hootchie ~20-30 feet down on the back rod. Things died as the day got warmer... nothing at Kirby, so we found a couple of rocks and jigged for ling; caught a few undersize lings. Another nice coho at Austin, and a coho and 2 chinook en route to Swale; 2 coho and a chinook at Swale. Tried some jigging at a couple of rocks, but only a couple of undersized ling and a small rockfish or two... all released. Slept at the cabin up the inlet.
Tuesday: Last day... only had ~2 hours before heading back into Port Alberni. Tried a bit of trolling and jigging... released a few seabass and rockfish. Moved spots and quickly got a nice chinook and a nice coho west of Pill; great way to end the trip!
Thanks to the helpful responses and PMs over the last couple of weeks... I'll post some pics next.
Friday: Arrived in Port Alberni in the eve, launched boat, got ice, stayed with friends.
Saturday: Motored out into the Sound. Lots of shakers and lots of boats around Pill Point... left that scene and went to Austin, where we landed an 18-lb chinook on a 3.5" herring aide spoon. Cree was a bust, so back to Austin where we got a nice coho. Made our way to Swale and got 2 nice coho and a chinook. The two bigger coho hit our spoons on the surface before we had the chance to send them down with the riggers; I actually had to hand-line one of them for a while since it hit when I was putting the mono on the rigger clip! Fish dinner up an inlet at the cabin we stayed at, followed by an evening troll/jig; a few small fish... nothing worth keeping.
Sunday: Offshore day... went to the banks off of Beale. Flat seas and light breeze meant our jigs/spreader bars were horizontal with no anchor or motor required to reduce drifting. Caught a hali under 90 cm and a hali over 90 cm on a spreader bar with a big glow hootchie and salmon belly on a big circle hook... and caught a GIANT skate on a mudraker... man, skates are weird and ugly... had to take the big treble off the split ring to get the lure back from its ugly, leathery mouth! Tip: swap any big bottom-fishing trebles for a single siwash (or circle hook if using bait) on a short piece of thick mono leader or dyneema so you'll be able to cut the hook off quickly to get your lure/rig back easily from the mouth of a skate, 126-cm+ hali, big dogfish, etc. Bonus is the singles are less likely to snag bottom, especially if you rig them as assist hooks. Did some offshore trolling and saw a few coho in the water; managed to hook (and lose) a couple by casting from the bow of the boat... almost grabbed a fly rod from the cuddy to see if I could land a saltwater coho on a fly! Lost another coho trolling; another tip: ditch any [barbless] trebles on your salmon jigs/casting spoons for a single hook (preferably 2 single hooks if using bait or hootchies), as the coho rolls/jumps seem to be very effective at torqueing barbless trebles out of their mouths. Trolled in to Beale and caught a pair of keeper coho after having to release a couple of wild ones outside the 1-mile line. Fuel and ice in Bamfield and halibut dinner at the Seabeam Lodge; an evening troll on the Wall with a few shakers. Stayed at Seabeam that night.
Monday: Fished the Wall in the AM... got two nice coho on a white hootchie ~20-30 feet down on the back rod. Things died as the day got warmer... nothing at Kirby, so we found a couple of rocks and jigged for ling; caught a few undersize lings. Another nice coho at Austin, and a coho and 2 chinook en route to Swale; 2 coho and a chinook at Swale. Tried some jigging at a couple of rocks, but only a couple of undersized ling and a small rockfish or two... all released. Slept at the cabin up the inlet.
Tuesday: Last day... only had ~2 hours before heading back into Port Alberni. Tried a bit of trolling and jigging... released a few seabass and rockfish. Moved spots and quickly got a nice chinook and a nice coho west of Pill; great way to end the trip!
Thanks to the helpful responses and PMs over the last couple of weeks... I'll post some pics next.
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