Well just finished a whirl wind tour of Esperanza and Nootka Sound, just some comments after reading some of the recent posts.
Fished Esperanza from June 23 to the 26th. Stayed at Port Eliza and totally agree with everyone regarding the hospitality of Robert and crew at his operations. It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get from Critter to Port Eliza, this was with totally flat water and running at about 25 mph.
I did the BYOB route and the accommodations and food was great. The first fishing grounds are about 10 minutes from the dock (inner Black) and I fished this mostly as the coho and chinook fishing was good and it was quiet (only a few boats would come and go). The early morning bite was really good, with Skinny G's working fine for me (No bananas and Cop Car). I also used bait (cut plug), however, I was fishing alone so when the bite was on I couldn't keep both rods fishing so I switched back to artificial (first world problem). Once the morning bite subsided I moved outside the bay and trolled towards the outer rocks. I never made it that far as there was always something willing to keep me busy. Some of the other boats were doing good at Tatchu and Grassy, Pin Rocks had some good slots but Ferrier didn't seem to be producing while I was there. I would agree that one can get addicted to this area as it is more technical than the outside fishing accessed from Critter. Will be definitely going back and check out the other traditional area as it is an amazing place. Thanks again Robert for all your assistance with getting me familiar with the area.
After Esperanza I headed to Critter for the Shakedown. Fished the Shakedown from the 27th to the 30th. Most of my success was at Birdwood, right against the wall and outer Wash Rock. The boys did well on coho but never did catch any chinook over about 15lbs but the fishing was always entertaining and the accommodations and hospitality at Critter were awesome. Skinny G,s and spackle back hootchies (green, white and silver insert) worked fine.
After the Shakedown I was honored to participate in the Kid's Heart Fund Weekend @ Critter. I will post more about that later. If you folks have any questions that I may be able to answer: "have atter".
Cheers,
Itchy
