2023 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports

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Heading up Monday morning, if anybody else is up there at the same time I would love to share intel with forum members. It's a big place lots of different spots to find fish!
 
My last couple of reports have been very similar, and nothing has really changed. Fishing Barkley Sound remains outstanding, stunning, ridiculous, stupid good, just add your own superlative...
And I am worried. What did you say? Yes, I am worried. It's been so good that it has to end, it's got to come down. This just can't last, right? Today is the first day I haven't been on the water in weeks. Maybe today it won't happen, maybe today the silver ghosts of Barkley Sound become elusive once again. But then... maybe not? It might just keep on coming! Old timers I chat with are saying they haven't seen fishing like this in 50 years. We have been truly blessed. And! It's mid August and I haven't had to fish bait once. Actually I tried it once last week during a bit of a lull. It was down only 10 minutes before we had a fish on. However it was the spoon on the other downrigger that went off, not the bait. I switched the bait out with another spoon and we kept on hooking up.
I just finished up with Nat, Franko and Donnie. Four straight days of laughter, incredible food and absolute chaos on the water. Nat and Franko are the owners and proprietors of the iconic Nat's New York Pizza on West Broadway in Vancouver. Their Italian heritage and love of good food kept us in good eats for four days! Not sure we have any better entertainment than this crew all summer. What a privilege to spend time with these guys on and off the water.
Fishing was, as I have previously stated, over the top good while they were here at Harbourside. We fished Little Beale, (the inside tack just before Cape Beale). I ran an Amundson Bon Chovy colored 4 inch spoon (skinny g knock off) behind a green guide series flasher with a 7 foot leader. The fish seem to be a little bit deeper so this set-up was very productive at 52 feet. On the other side I ran an Irish Cream Amundson spoon behind a chartreuse flasher at 42 feet. Both set-ups were equally effective for springs and coho. The springs averaged about 15 lbs with a few mid twenties in between.
I like fishing structure , so my tack was tight to the rocks and kelp beds. Lots of bait has been showing so stick with the bait and the bite will come on.
Now, I have been solely fishing Beale as it's been very good but there are reports of the same all over the Sound. Kirby, Flemming, Swale and Effingham have all produced.
Skinny g poons , glow white hoochies as well as bait have been the best bets. I tell people this all the time, fish what works for you. If you are fishing with confidence? Chances are your bait, spoon or hoochie will be in the water when the bite comes on. If you are constantly changing gear and traveling to another place, you might be missing the best bite of the day.
On another note we have a group of guys staying at Harbourside who are all fishing out of small tinnies with small outboards. Most of them fishing solo, and might I say fishing very well! These guys are pulling plugs and naked spoons and hooking up regularly. I've fished solo in my Grady and that's hard enough. A 14 foot tinnie is challenging indeed!
Good on these guys! It's why the charm of Bamfield is so appealing. There are not many places on the west side of the Island where Grandpa can put in his roof topper with a 9.9 outboard and stand as good a chance to land big springs as I do in my Grady. Gawd I just love this place!
Hali fishing has picked up. All the usual haunts have produced. Anchor up if you can. Spreader bars and salmon bellies have been very productive. We have been having a blast jigging coho on light gear as we wait for the hali bite to come on. Any jig will do. I especially like John Noble's Lil Nibs in the 2.5 ounce. Any colour combo will work.
Oh and before I sign off, we have been catching sable fish offshore in 300 feet of water. These might be one of the best table fare fish I have ever had. We use our hali gear with spreader bars and 24 ounce weights. I replace my tuna cord leaders and circle hooks with 40 lb fluorocarbon leaders and treble hooks. Bait them with a small 1 inch by 1 inch piece of salmon belly and take them down to the bottom. The takes are just a tap tap and the reeling up is a pain in the a.. but is it ever worth it!. Fillet them out and marinate them in miso paste and sake. After an hour or so pan fry them in a heavy cast iron skillet with a little olive oil and butter. Omg... so good... You gotta try them!
Anyway...I have a busy day of laundry, boat detailing, gear tying and what not ( hmmm... or maybe I'll go fishing solo later today?)
Please stop by Harbourside for salt ice, tackle, bait and by all means say hi or come to ask what are the latest happenings in the Sound.
In the meantime and in between time, I am out,
Coach, aka Jonathan...

--
 
Charleygirl said:
My last couple of reports have been very similar, and nothing has really changed. Fishing Barkley Sound remains outstanding, stunning, ridiculous, stupid good, just add your own superlative...
And I am worried. What did you say? Yes, I am worried. It's been so good that it has to end, it's got to come down. This just can't last, right? Today is the first day I haven't been on the water in weeks. Maybe today it won't happen, maybe today the silver ghosts of Barkley Sound become elusive once again. But then... maybe not? It might just keep on coming! Old timers I chat with are saying they haven't seen fishing like this in 50 years. We have been truly blessed. And! It's mid August and I haven't had to fish bait once. Actually I tried it once last week during a bit of a lull. It was down only 10 minutes before we had a fish on. However it was the spoon on the other downrigger that went off, not the bait. I switched the bait out with another spoon and we kept on hooking up.
I just finished up with Nat, Franko and Donnie. Four straight days of laughter, incredible food and absolute chaos on the water. Nat and Franko are the owners and proprietors of the iconic Nat's New York Pizza on West Broadway in Vancouver. Their Italian heritage and love of good food kept us in good eats for four days! Not sure we have any better entertainment than this crew all summer. What a privilege to spend time with these guys on and off the water.
Fishing was, as I have previously stated, over the top good while they were here at Harbourside. We fished Little Beale, (the inside tack just before Cape Beale). I ran an Amundson Bon Chovy colored 4 inch spoon (skinny g knock off) behind a green guide series flasher with a 7 foot leader. The fish seem to be a little bit deeper so this set-up was very productive at 52 feet. On the other side I ran an Irish Cream Amundson spoon behind a chartreuse flasher at 42 feet. Both set-ups were equally effective for springs and coho. The springs averaged about 15 lbs with a few mid twenties in between.
I like fishing structure , so my tack was tight to the rocks and kelp beds. Lots of bait has been showing so stick with the bait and the bite will come on.
Now, I have been solely fishing Beale as it's been very good but there are reports of the same all over the Sound. Kirby, Flemming, Swale and Effingham have all produced.
Skinny g poons , glow white hoochies as well as bait have been the best bets. I tell people this all the time, fish what works for you. If you are fishing with confidence? Chances are your bait, spoon or hoochie will be in the water when the bite comes on. If you are constantly changing gear and traveling to another place, you might be missing the best bite of the day.
On another note we have a group of guys staying at Harbourside who are all fishing out of small tinnies with small outboards. Most of them fishing solo, and might I say fishing very well! These guys are pulling plugs and naked spoons and hooking up regularly. I've fished solo in my Grady and that's hard enough. A 14 foot tinnie is challenging indeed!
Good on these guys! It's why the charm of Bamfield is so appealing. There are not many places on the west side of the Island where Grandpa can put in his roof topper with a 9.9 outboard and stand as good a chance to land big springs as I do in my Grady. Gawd I just love this place!
Hali fishing has picked up. All the usual haunts have produced. Anchor up if you can. Spreader bars and salmon bellies have been very productive. We have been having a blast jigging coho on light gear as we wait for the hali bite to come on. Any jig will do. I especially like John Noble's Lil Nibs in the 2.5 ounce. Any colour combo will work.
Oh and before I sign off, we have been catching sable fish offshore in 300 feet of water. These might be one of the best table fare fish I have ever had. We use our hali gear with spreader bars and 24 ounce weights. I replace my tuna cord leaders and circle hooks with 40 lb fluorocarbon leaders and treble hooks. Bait them with a small 1 inch by 1 inch piece of salmon belly and take them down to the bottom. The takes are just a tap tap and the reeling up is a pain in the a.. but is it ever worth it!. Fillet them out and marinate them in miso paste and sake. After an hour or so pan fry them in a heavy cast iron skillet with a little olive oil and butter. Omg... so good... You gotta try them!
Anyway...I have a busy day of laundry, boat detailing, gear tying and what not ( hmmm... or maybe I'll go fishing solo later today?)
Please stop by Harbourside for salt ice, tackle, bait and by all means say hi or come to ask what are the latest happenings in the Sound.
In the meantime and in between time, I am out,
Coach, aka Jonathan...

--
Click to expand...
Frank texted me the other day, sounds like he was blown away. I can't believe you can manage those guys for four straight days lol! I have Nat and Frank to thank for giving me the fishing bug 15 years ago 😊. I'm happy to hear they've renewed their faith in Bamfield, the last couple season were a grind.
 
Rain City said:
Frank texted me the other day, sounds like he was blown away. I can't believe you can manage those guys for four straight days lol! I have Nat and Frank to thank for giving me the fishing bug 15 years ago 😊. I'm happy to hear they've renewed their faith in Bamfield, the last couple season were a grind.
Click to expand...

Yes they are characters. :p
 
Pippen said:
Yes they are characters. :p
Click to expand...
I'll tell you a funny story and then back to reports. So Frank is my mom's second youngest brother (8 kids). When my twin brother and I were about 8 years old, (Frank would have been around 22?) my parents left us with him for a night. As we walked up broadway towards his apartment from my grandmas house, he pretended to steal the car we got into and drove it like a maniac the few blocks to his place. He raced us into the house screaming that the cops were right behind us. He didn't drop the act for the entire night, peeking out the window and even in the morning telling us to make sure we RAN to the car when my mom showed up. Now THAT'S some childhood trauma.
 
Charleygirl said:
My last couple of reports have been very similar, and nothing has really changed. Fishing Barkley Sound remains outstanding, stunning, ridiculous, stupid good, just add your own superlative...
And I am worried. What did you say? Yes, I am worried. It's been so good that it has to end, it's got to come down. This just can't last, right? Today is the first day I haven't been on the water in weeks. Maybe today it won't happen, maybe today the silver ghosts of Barkley Sound become elusive once again. But then... maybe not? It might just keep on coming! Old timers I chat with are saying they haven't seen fishing like this in 50 years. We have been truly blessed. And! It's mid August and I haven't had to fish bait once. Actually I tried it once last week during a bit of a lull. It was down only 10 minutes before we had a fish on. However it was the spoon on the other downrigger that went off, not the bait. I switched the bait out with another spoon and we kept on hooking up.
I just finished up with Nat, Franko and Donnie. Four straight days of laughter, incredible food and absolute chaos on the water. Nat and Franko are the owners and proprietors of the iconic Nat's New York Pizza on West Broadway in Vancouver. Their Italian heritage and love of good food kept us in good eats for four days! Not sure we have any better entertainment than this crew all summer. What a privilege to spend time with these guys on and off the water.
Fishing was, as I have previously stated, over the top good while they were here at Harbourside. We fished Little Beale, (the inside tack just before Cape Beale). I ran an Amundson Bon Chovy colored 4 inch spoon (skinny g knock off) behind a green guide series flasher with a 7 foot leader. The fish seem to be a little bit deeper so this set-up was very productive at 52 feet. On the other side I ran an Irish Cream Amundson spoon behind a chartreuse flasher at 42 feet. Both set-ups were equally effective for springs and coho. The springs averaged about 15 lbs with a few mid twenties in between.
I like fishing structure , so my tack was tight to the rocks and kelp beds. Lots of bait has been showing so stick with the bait and the bite will come on.
Now, I have been solely fishing Beale as it's been very good but there are reports of the same all over the Sound. Kirby, Flemming, Swale and Effingham have all produced.
Skinny g poons , glow white hoochies as well as bait have been the best bets. I tell people this all the time, fish what works for you. If you are fishing with confidence? Chances are your bait, spoon or hoochie will be in the water when the bite comes on. If you are constantly changing gear and traveling to another place, you might be missing the best bite of the day.
On another note we have a group of guys staying at Harbourside who are all fishing out of small tinnies with small outboards. Most of them fishing solo, and might I say fishing very well! These guys are pulling plugs and naked spoons and hooking up regularly. I've fished solo in my Grady and that's hard enough. A 14 foot tinnie is challenging indeed!
Good on these guys! It's why the charm of Bamfield is so appealing. There are not many places on the west side of the Island where Grandpa can put in his roof topper with a 9.9 outboard and stand as good a chance to land big springs as I do in my Grady. Gawd I just love this place!
Hali fishing has picked up. All the usual haunts have produced. Anchor up if you can. Spreader bars and salmon bellies have been very productive. We have been having a blast jigging coho on light gear as we wait for the hali bite to come on. Any jig will do. I especially like John Noble's Lil Nibs in the 2.5 ounce. Any colour combo will work.
Oh and before I sign off, we have been catching sable fish offshore in 300 feet of water. These might be one of the best table fare fish I have ever had. We use our hali gear with spreader bars and 24 ounce weights. I replace my tuna cord leaders and circle hooks with 40 lb fluorocarbon leaders and treble hooks. Bait them with a small 1 inch by 1 inch piece of salmon belly and take them down to the bottom. The takes are just a tap tap and the reeling up is a pain in the a.. but is it ever worth it!. Fillet them out and marinate them in miso paste and sake. After an hour or so pan fry them in a heavy cast iron skillet with a little olive oil and butter. Omg... so good... You gotta try them!
Anyway...I have a busy day of laundry, boat detailing, gear tying and what not ( hmmm... or maybe I'll go fishing solo later today?)
Please stop by Harbourside for salt ice, tackle, bait and by all means say hi or come to ask what are the latest happenings in the Sound.
In the meantime and in between time, I am out,
Coach, aka Jonathan...

--
Click to expand...
Thanks for the report! I’ll be at Harbouside in my tinnie on the 19th. Doing the solo thing as well, can’t wait.
 
would anyone agree that the good fishing has to do with the alaska break that their commercial fleet had to endure 2 months ago?
seems a bit ironic really. they miss 500k pieces, and here they are.
 
trophywife said:
would anyone agree that the good fishing has to do with the alaska break that their commercial fleet had to endure 2 months ago?
seems a bit ironic really. they miss 500k pieces, and here they are.
Click to expand...
It was the same in the Charlottes early in the season
 
trophywife said:
would anyone agree that the good fishing has to do with the alaska break that their commercial fleet had to endure 2 months ago?
seems a bit ironic really. they miss 500k pieces, and here they are.
Click to expand...
I was wondering if that's why the pinks are so hot on the inside as well.
 
Headed to Bamfield tomorrow. Im sure the Hwy fiasco will cause us a little trouble but we arent gonna stress out.
My folks and buddy are already up at the cabin in and say fishing is fast a furious. Lots of high teens nooks on white hoochies.
I will post a report when I get back but wanted to reach out to see if anyone had a general spot to dump a few shrimp pots. Not looking to load up or anything. We lost 4 pots a long time ago out in 200 fow. in front of Dixon and havent tried since. I shrimp often in the San Juans but am unfamilar of a relatively safe spot to drop some pots up there while we fish. Please instant message me .

Thanks in advance
 
I will post up something in a bit once I get pics loaded. Our group trip to from Wed to Sunday in Bamfield was probably one of the best salmon trips we had in years. They were just everywhere.

Bottomfishing was blah as we were limited to the inside. Didn't really concentrate on it honestly.

Chinooks 21 to 12lbs with full limits, and limits of good sized cohos.

As for gear the white hootchies just were not as effective this round. Really small weegee bon chovy spoons and 3.0 spoons outfished anhovies by far. If I was to go again I would ran those small firecracker anchovies instead of the larger ones. The bait is really small right now we found.
 
Grappler_UNIfLi said:
Headed to Bamfield tomorrow. Im sure the Hwy fiasco will cause us a little trouble but we arent gonna stress out.
My folks and buddy are already up at the cabin in and say fishing is fast a furious. Lots of high teens nooks on white hoochies.
I will post a report when I get back but wanted to reach out to see if anyone had a general spot to dump a few shrimp pots. Not looking to load up or anything. We lost 4 pots a long time ago out in 200 fow. in front of Dixon and havent tried since. I shrimp often in the San Juans but am unfamilar of a relatively safe spot to drop some pots up there while we fish. Please instant message me .

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
we've been going deeper, 300 plus but pickings are slim for sure. Hosie Islands was the last place we tried but the juice wasn't worth the squeeze
 
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