2020 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports

I posted the pics earlier at the end of June from our trip with the family. Finally got the video edited for Day 2 which had the most action.


Ucluelet, British Columbia fishing Barkley Sound with the Kids for Coho and Chinook salmon while surrounded by Humpback Whales and Huge schools of Bait. Whatever this day lacked in fish size it made up in crazy constant action and double headers. Not to mention a fabulous show from some of the largest mammals on earth, the humpback whale. For some reason the Sound was just a 100 percent changed from the prior day, so much life and the coho had moved in probably by the thousands. They were even taking spoons that were skipping along the surface. We even caught a couple nice Chinook after weeding through a lot of coho and undersized chinooks. We limitted on Coho early on and then we dropped the gear deeper to try for Chinook. It was hard to get awar from the coho though. I even put a camera down but the water was a beautiful color on the surface but had quite limitted visibility below unfortunately. I'll keep trying and hope we get some clear water for some great footage later on this summer. I can't tell you how much fun it is seeing the kids enjoy a day of fishing. I love watching them get excited to pull in a salmon. This was the first time Sierra really wanted to get on the rod and pull in some fish. Cali really surprised me getting to the rods, releasing off the rigger and getting the rod out of the holder. She's getting quite skilled quick. I hope they keep coming out with me for a long time and get more and more into it. Well I know this was a very long video, but I love every minute and in the end this is a piece of my life and memories for years to come. Thanks for coming along with our family on this spectacular day of fishing!
 
Ever have one of those mornings where your boat should have the Benny Hill theme song playing? That was us this morning, and anybody that was around Effingham this morning: I hope you enjoyed our slapstick revue! Arrived early to some sloppy choppy seas. I had one other friend aboard who is somewhat new to fishing. We started our track heading SW into the wind. Anchovy with purple teaser head. Rocks on the right, boat trolling on port rear quarter. As anybody who has a light aluminum boat you will know that heading directly into the wind requires fairly active driving to avoid the nose swinging around. Cue foreshadowing. About five minutes in we had a nice hit and my friend grabbed the rod. I ran back quickly to get the downrigger out of the way but the bow started swinging to the rocks on the right. Run back to helm to correct. Ran back and had to swing the downrigger forwards as buddy was in the way. Bow starts swinging again. Normally in these situations I would bring us around to run with the wind but boats were trolling to the side and rocks on other prevented it. Back to the bow. Buddy gets fish close to the boat so I run back and grab the road, but it hooks into the eyelets of my Islander rod and reel which is up in one of the arch holsters. Bow starts swinging. Drop net and rod. Back to helm. Buddy doesn’t know how to get fish away from the main which we are trolling on as the kicker has died. Run back to untangle net, bow swings hard left and luckily (thank you whomever you are) the port quarter boat moves out of the way. Buddy slips and falls, luckily his backside lands on cooler. Net gets tangled into components of swung-forward downrigger. Get untangled. Talk buddy through bringing the fish in and land a nice high teens chinook. Phew!

Also managed to get into some lings including the most Vulcan-blooded blue/green one I’ve ever caught.

So, for all those that enjoyed the show I hope we brightened your morning. We are the boat with octopus tentacle decals all over it and “Salty Alice” on the side. I swear we normally know what we are doing.

We will be back out there this week. Look for us to enjoy more idiocy.
 
I hear the Broken Island group is closed to camping for the rest of the year. Is anchoring still allowed as long as you don’t go on shore?
 
Sir Reel said:
I hear the Broken Island group is closed to camping for the rest of the year. Is anchoring still allowed as long as you don’t go on shore?
Click to expand...
I believe anchoring is OK just not camping on the shore. We were checked today by a Parks Canada crew and they informed us that camping is not allowed on the Broken Group islands.
 
Slow weekend of fishing in the sound. Tried Pachena Bay area on Saturday morning. Very quiet there so pulled the gear and headed to Whittlestone. Landed a nice low 20s spring on a anchovy. Fished Swale and Meares Bluff area too but no luck just shakers. Found it odd that there weren't more boats around for this time of year.
 
SaltyAlice said:
Ever have one of those mornings where your boat should have the Benny Hill theme song playing? That was us this morning, and anybody that was around Effingham this morning: I hope you enjoyed our slapstick revue! Arrived early to some sloppy choppy seas. I had one other friend aboard who is somewhat new to fishing. We started our track heading SW into the wind. Anchovy with purple teaser head. Rocks on the right, boat trolling on port rear quarter. As anybody who has a light aluminum boat you will know that heading directly into the wind requires fairly active driving to avoid the nose swinging around. Cue foreshadowing. About five minutes in we had a nice hit and my friend grabbed the rod. I ran back quickly to get the downrigger out of the way but the bow started swinging to the rocks on the right. Run back to helm to correct. Ran back and had to swing the downrigger forwards as buddy was in the way. Bow starts swinging again. Normally in these situations I would bring us around to run with the wind but boats were trolling to the side and rocks on other prevented it. Back to the bow. Buddy gets fish close to the boat so I run back and grab the road, but it hooks into the eyelets of my Islander rod and reel which is up in one of the arch holsters. Bow starts swinging. Drop net and rod. Back to helm. Buddy doesn’t know how to get fish away from the main which we are trolling on as the kicker has died. Run back to untangle net, bow swings hard left and luckily (thank you whomever you are) the port quarter boat moves out of the way. Buddy slips and falls, luckily his backside lands on cooler. Net gets tangled into components of swung-forward downrigger. Get untangled. Talk buddy through bringing the fish in and land a nice high teens chinook. Phew!

Also managed to get into some lings including the most Vulcan-blooded blue/green one I’ve ever caught.

So, for all those that enjoyed the show I hope we brightened your morning. We are the boat with octopus tentacle decals all over it and “Salty Alice” on the side. I swear we normally know what we are doing.

We will be back out there this week. Look for us to enjoy more idiocy.
Click to expand...


Lol I think we’ve all been there a time or two.
 
Just got off the phone with my buddy ken who was up fishing the past 4 days. Said it was a grind. Managed to get 1 or 2 Chinook each day. Large herring were the ticket. Pill Pt was the best spot for him. He got a couple coho one evening at swale.
 
Yesterday morning was a wash for us. Started behind Pill in Blood bay. Trolled to the mouth of Useless, part way to Allen Point then back to Pill, down to Ecole, across to Cross point and finally pulled up at Fullerton. Very thick fog. Great day to get some practice on the Radar. For those that run small aluminums and zodiacs consider investing in a radar reflector. I had very good target definition on the other boats but for the zodiac the only reason I knew you were in front of me was I could see I was following in your wake.

Father-in-law’s boat netted another two (10&8lb) for their 9hrs on the water.

We went back out for an afternoon jig and pulled up a nice size ling.
 
SaltyAlice said:
Ever have one of those mornings where your boat should have the Benny Hill theme song playing? That was us this morning, and anybody that was around Effingham this morning: I hope you enjoyed our slapstick revue! Arrived early to some sloppy choppy seas. I had one other friend aboard who is somewhat new to fishing. We started our track heading SW into the wind. Anchovy with purple teaser head. Rocks on the right, boat trolling on port rear quarter. As anybody who has a light aluminum boat you will know that heading directly into the wind requires fairly active driving to avoid the nose swinging around. Cue foreshadowing. About five minutes in we had a nice hit and my friend grabbed the rod. I ran back quickly to get the downrigger out of the way but the bow started swinging to the rocks on the right. Run back to helm to correct. Ran back and had to swing the downrigger forwards as buddy was in the way. Bow starts swinging again. Normally in these situations I would bring us around to run with the wind but boats were trolling to the side and rocks on other prevented it. Back to the bow. Buddy gets fish close to the boat so I run back and grab the road, but it hooks into the eyelets of my Islander rod and reel which is up in one of the arch holsters. Bow starts swinging. Drop net and rod. Back to helm. Buddy doesn’t know how to get fish away from the main which we are trolling on as the kicker has died. Run back to untangle net, bow swings hard left and luckily (thank you whomever you are) the port quarter boat moves out of the way. Buddy slips and falls, luckily his backside lands on cooler. Net gets tangled into components of swung-forward downrigger. Get untangled. Talk buddy through bringing the fish in and land a nice high teens chinook. Phew!

Also managed to get into some lings including the most Vulcan-blooded blue/green one I’ve ever caught.

So, for all those that enjoyed the show I hope we brightened your morning. We are the boat with octopus tentacle decals all over it and “Salty Alice” on the side. I swear we normally know what we are doing.

We will be back out there this week. Look for us to enjoy more idiocy.
Click to expand...
Great description! My sympathies. Been there. Glad to know we aren't alone!
 
Fished Wednesday afternoon to Saturday AM last week. Due to wind we fished inshore on Wednesday and Friday. Thursday and Saturday we ran out to the big bank.

Inshore at ukee harbour mouth on Wednesday picked up a 10 pounder and couple rockfish. Cree-Meares area and the red can on Friday we lost a couple springs and got a ling and a couple rockfish.

Thursday we limited on slot sized Chinook and also our hali at big bank plus got into a bunch of hatchery coho (surprisingly they outnumbered the wild ones that day).

Saturday we picked up the rest of our Chinook and hali at big bank again, but zero coho (even wild).

Variety of gear and depths worked on the bank but cuttlefish hootchies hit the majority of the springs, main thing seemed to be just getting on top of the schools of fish.

Tons of little paddle hali's out there to weed through to find some decent ones.
 
Heading up the inlet Friday afternoon, trolled just outside of Bamfield while we BBQ some steaks with no love. Anchored at Effingham and ran out at 4am Saturday to to what we thought was the rat's nose only to find deserted seas and slim pickings. 1 Hali and 2 nice size springs and one small spring. White hootchie and anchovy. Must have been in the wrong spot as no one there was no boats anywhere near us. Chop was so bad and I spent so much time looking at the screen I blew chunks after my buddy lost the hali with poor gaffing. Anyone willing to share the tac out there? I only make it to Bamfield once a year so I won't steal any of your fish.

Got our halibut in the middle of the bank, all chickens. Lots of squid in the bellies of the Springs.

Sunday fished Beale and only had one small keeper, ran around to Keeha and had the fish of my summer/life almost on a chovie/dumby flasher. Fully cleared the water with a jump and its turns in the morning light highlighting it's colour was amazing. Lots of runs and then put her in the boat. Just over 20 lbs but fought as well as a 30lber on a flasher.

Boat handled the rough water well, I'm thinking Tuna may be in my cards this year but new infant, logistics and size of boat will make it tough. Fished Tuna 20+ years ago commercial and itching to get back! Posted pictures in the Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/122351524580745
 
kaelc said:
Heading up the inlet Friday afternoon, trolled just outside of Bamfield while we BBQ some steaks with no love. Anchored at Effingham and ran out at 4am Saturday to to what we thought was the rat's nose only to find deserted seas and slim pickings. 1 Hali and 2 nice size springs and one small spring. White hootchie and anchovy. Must have been in the wrong spot as no one there was no boats anywhere near us. Chop was so bad and I spent so much time looking at the screen I blew chunks after my buddy lost the hali with poor gaffing. Anyone willing to share the tac out there? I only make it to Bamfield once a year so I won't steal any of your fish.

Got our halibut in the middle of the bank, all chickens. Lots of squid in the bellies of the Springs.

Sunday fished Beale and only had one small keeper, ran around to Keeha and had the fish of my summer/life almost on a chovie/dumby flasher. Fully cleared the water with a jump and its turns in the morning light highlighting it's colour was amazing. Lots of runs and then put her in the boat. Just over 20 lbs but fought as well as a 30lber on a flasher.

Boat handled the rough water well, I'm thinking Tuna may be in my cards this year but new infant, logistics and size of boat will make it tough. Fished Tuna 20+ years ago commercial and itching to get back! Posted pictures in the Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/122351524580745
Click to expand...
20200720_164837.jpg

Was out there Thursday and Friday. Big Seas on Friday.
 
Friendly reminder , easy to miss , Coho reduction limits now in effect for Bamfield area 23 [ 4 - 11 ] Please read F N 0693 , basically gone to 1 wild and 1 hatchery per day .
Again please read it , in case i got it wrong .
 
Just got back from Bamfield. Stayed at Mills landing and the wife loved it. Which is good news for me, I can go back. Mills was awesome,was first class fishing cabins. The fishing very slow for us. We fish around Cape Beal a Fair bit. Today we arrived at 4:55 and had a 29# in the boat by 5:40. Yesterday we got two smaller guys in same place before 5:55. Either day no bites after 6:30. But 5:00-6:30 was good. If you could get to big bank the guilds and larger boats limited out easily. I guess we need a bigger boat. Or bigger balls.
 
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