2022 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports

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Just got back from another stellar trip to Bamfield. It started off on the wrong foot when Mills Landing called the day before to cancel our one day charter because Jerry was sick but we were optimistic about our prospects on our own so away we went. We exclusively fished salmon at the usual places inside and although the water was fantastic we never even bothered going out to try for bottom fish.
We caught that same afternoon bite at Sanford as Sir Reel and dmurph and got a couple of mid-teens there ourselves. Whittlestone produced the most for us with some decent coho in the mix. Action was steady there on Thursday but after a morning bite on Friday things went dead. We headed back to Mills Landing to process our morning catch and the ones we had gutted on ice from the prior evening before popping over to Sanford for the afternoon. We tried a few of the other popular spots but they weren’t producing when we were there. We released a few smaller (slot size in the straight) springs and coho or we would have easily taken our three man possession limits home.
Flashflies were the hot ticket over needlefish or spoons so we ended up with them on both sides in different colours after the first day.
There were literally hundreds of boats fishing between Barkley Sound and Alberni Inlet so I’m glad we planned to take the boat out at Clutesi at around 11:00 am. I know they weren’t all coming out at Clutesi but it was still busy and I can imagine it would have been a zoo in the afternoon and evening.
Bamfield has its hooks in me now and I anticipate a couple of trips there every year while I can still do it.
 
Just got back from another stellar trip to Bamfield. It started off on the wrong foot when Mills Landing called the day before to cancel our one day charter because Jerry was sick but we were optimistic about our prospects on our own so away we went. We exclusively fished salmon at the usual places inside and although the water was fantastic we never even bothered going out to try for bottom fish.
We caught that same afternoon bite at Sanford as Sir Reel and dmurph and got a couple of mid-teens there ourselves. Whittlestone produced the most for us with some decent coho in the mix. Action was steady there on Thursday but after a morning bite on Friday things went dead. We headed back to Mills Landing to process our morning catch and the ones we had gutted on ice from the prior evening before popping over to Sanford for the afternoon. We tried a few of the other popular spots but they weren’t producing when we were there. We released a few smaller (slot size in the straight) springs and coho or we would have easily taken our three man possession limits home.
Flashflies were the hot ticket over needlefish or spoons so we ended up with them on both sides in different colours after the first day.
There were literally hundreds of boats fishing between Barkley Sound and Alberni Inlet so I’m glad we planned to take the boat out at Clutesi at around 11:00 am. I know they weren’t all coming out at Clutesi but it was still busy and I can imagine it would have been a zoo in the afternoon and evening.
Bamfield has its hooks in me now and I anticipate a couple of trips there every year while I can still do it.
Saw you out there Squire. Nice boat! Glad you had a good day. We have one more day then back to Vancouver tomorrow. Been a grind but we have salmon, Ling, and Hali - but all on the smaller size.
Always next year!
This is the JDF teaser head we were running. Countless hits and fish on and still ticking

BA9D513D-9E23-4E1E-9B08-97503EA45379.jpeg
 
Saw you out there Squire. Nice boat! Glad you had a good day. We have one more day then back to Vancouver tomorrow. Been a grind but we have salmon, Ling, and Hali - but all on the smaller size.
Always next year!
This is the JDF teaser head we were running. Countless hits and fish on and still ticking

View attachment 83547

I’ll take the compliment from the guy with the cleanest Commander on the water!
Good luck the rest of your trip.
 
Ripped home today after trolling Whitestone to Beal and then the wall down to Danvers. We didn’t even get a single hit, kinda strange. We did mess around a the wall for quite some time jigging on some big anchovie schools that were getting smashed up to the surface and saw coho jumping but couldn’t get a hit with the jigging or trolling, just a few anchovies on sabiki rigs. Was a bit of a real grind for fish, we did manage to fill a cooler most with luck and lots of time put in. We didn’t run off shore and mostly fished Sanford, Fleming but did hit othered as mentioned as well as small troll off Kirby. Highlights for us was my son and I landing good fish on a double and jigging the salmon in real tight obscure spots. Checked out the wreckage is was good food, went for lunch which timeframes with the lady rose crowd do try to avoid that as real busy, we’ll be back though. Hrs time, I think a grind for most and not all the favourite spots are holding, kinda gotta luck into them or be really networking with the local pros who are on them daily and networking with each other, can’t wait to get back
 
I won't be in the Sound till early Sept, but out of pure curiosity, are the pros scratching it out or running offshore mostly?
 
Heading up on 22nd morning,got a house booked in Grappler for the week.
Hope things are still good..
 
I won't be in the Sound till early Sept, but out of pure curiosity, are the pros scratching it out or running offshore mostly?
I know some are fishing inside for sure, Trevor on no bananas was fishing Fleming when I was there on 2 occasions and it looked like he had rolled in from inlet side, so maybe he was fishing even further into inlet? He’s obviously a great guide and connected with all other guides and locals so I’m sure that helps to know where to target right now as all spots don’t seem to be holding a mass of fish, scratching. Sounds like offshore has be fairly consistent, but I’m sure most prefer fishing tight to the rocks out of the fog and swell if given the chance. Not gonna lie I was happy to see one of the top guides was in the same area, but don’t think he did much better there so definitely scratching it think, point is he’d probably fished the morning on a spot he knew produced the previous day and just checked Fleming on the way back to see if it’s holding fish like it should
 
Got 2 teeners at Kirby for the low tide this morning then moved up to Fleming on the flood and bagged another. 2.5" west coast tackle spoon with a 8" flasher
 
We explored most common fishing spot and this tackle is what caught most of our fish. I recycled the labels so I have no idea what the names are.
I was surprised when a 15lbs spring took it at the surface while setting the line.
The regular spoon was very productive too for cleaning all 9 salmon!
 

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We explored most common fishing spot and this tackle is what caught most of our fish. I recycled the labels so I have no idea what the names are.
I was surprised when a 15lbs spring took it at the surface while setting the line.
The regular spoon was very productive too for cleaning all 9 salmon!
I thought about throwing an old spoon in the boat for that purpose. The upward pointing skinny blade and point when using the spoon on the end of the filet knife just doesn’t seem like the best idea.
 
Great day in the sound today. Came home with 5 springs and 5 coho. Biggest at 18 pounds. Lost a few and released a few smalls. Herring aide skinny g and anchovy at 60 and 70 feet. Also a 5 inch tomic plug out the middle on a long line which accounted for 2 nice coho. Srarted at pill point and only went as far as diplock.
 
Great day in the sound today. Came home with 5 springs and 5 coho. Biggest at 18 pounds. Lost a few and released a few smalls. Herring aide skinny g and anchovy at 60 and 70 feet. Also a 5 inch tomic plug out the middle on a long line which accounted for 2 nice coho. Srarted at pill point and only went as far as diplock.
That’s really cool with the tonic. How much weight did you have on it?
 
I'll be fishing out of Bamfield next week, second time I've been up there. Are there still lings in the sound that would be willing to take a snack or is this a bit too in between the season for them now?
 
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