trophywife
Crew Member
havent touched a pink in 2 weeks. seeing the odd one at the tables. i think they are offshore and there has been no need to got out there. swelly as **** and the chins are in!
2023 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports
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MikePA
Well-Known Member
Had a great 4 day trip to Bamfield. Weather was perfect. Found the fish much more plentiful and bigger on average than last year (thanks Alaska troll fishery closure?) Also found the fish a little deeper, 55' seemed to be our ticket. Water was like a bath in certain areas. Can't wait for next year! Day one pictured below. 
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Doubletyee
Active Member
Just back from 2 days. Very hot the first day landing around 20 fishing mostly teenage chin. White hootchie and odd one on spoons. Fished Assits, Pill and Ritherdon. Everyone getting fish but not crazy fishing. Second day only landed 7 and you had to work for them. WeeGee did most of the damage
Skins88
Well-Known Member
On the ferry back from Bamfield. Another great trip in the books. Started our trip last Monday. Spent the night at the lovely bluebird motel in Port. Someone sleeping in the boat with the bonker close at hand. Got up Tuesday and launched once the tide came up a bit. We tried little Beale to start, but had no luck. Moved to cree and found a bunch of chins and a coho. Nice first day. Wednesday started at Swale and a bunch of small fish. Went through a pack of bait and then headed back out to cree. Got into some springs again, coho and a few pinks. 3 packs of bait burnt to get 5 chinook. Lots of work. Another great day. My buddy came over that night. He was on the 315 ferry. They got 200 feet off the dock and dropped the anchors when the engine crapped out. He ended getting to Bamfield at 1am. We were up at 5 and hit Sandford. Bite came on at 7 and it was one after the other on high teen chins. Went hunting coho after and really couldn't find them. Only managed 4 the whole trip actually. Friday we hit Sandford again and finished off our chinook limits. Jigged a pinnacle or two to no avail. Saturday was a sleep in and then hit whittlestone for coho, but all we did was release springs.
Most of the action was on bait. Bloody nose and Herring aid teasers, red or purple flashers and 47 to 66 feet. We did get quite a few on skinny gs as well.
Great trip. Too bad the wind was up offshore. No shot at hali. Nice to hang out at Mills with Jerry for a few days and tell stories. Already put in same dates for next year. Moving the trip from early August to later was a good play.
Most of the action was on bait. Bloody nose and Herring aid teasers, red or purple flashers and 47 to 66 feet. We did get quite a few on skinny gs as well.
Great trip. Too bad the wind was up offshore. No shot at hali. Nice to hang out at Mills with Jerry for a few days and tell stories. Already put in same dates for next year. Moving the trip from early August to later was a good play.
Grappler_UNIfLi
Member
Back from Bamfield after arriving Tuesday evening.
My folks, buddy and his pop were already at the cabin when my father-in-law and I showed up. My FIL fishes the San Juans hard and had just got back from Nootka with a crew. He was excited to get out on the salt with his own grady for the first time and I was pumped to show him what Barkley has to offer.
Fishing was hot. We started out at Gibraltar fishing cut plug herring as that's his go-to method. Saw a hundred fish pulled in to our one in the first two hours so we made the switch to hardware and never went back. We prolly caught 15 or 20 fish. Mostly 8-12 lbs. Released all but 4 or 5 and a silver,
With my dad on board as well we had a triple header where we boated 2 of the 3 for the biggest fish of the trip at 19 and 21. Besides the fishing being hot the weather was too. We were treated to a show on a blue and white bayliner with a topless lady out on deck avoiding tan lines #freethenip.
Fished Whittlestone that evening releasing a few but not bonking.
Also my FIL didnt know but the chip he had for his gps didnt cover Barkely Sound so we lost 2 downrigger balls out at Gibraltar. I ended up glued to my phone using my Navionics app to avoid the obstacles alot of the trip.
Day 2 same story we fished Gibraltar, sorted through the cookie cutters until we scraped up a few high teeners on the rocks and the wind finally made it too hard to fish. Moved to the wall and dixon and picked up another. Fished the wall that evening C & R on a few cookies but no toads.
PSA of the day - both recreational and guide boats need to be considerate. Getting out of the way of someone with a fish is good but not at the expense of blindsiding other boats. Also you dont have to always be the boat on the inside, sure you have clients but there are plenty of fish around let everyone have a turn.
Day 3 we attempted to go out and around Beale to find cod but the tight swells and wind were gonna make it too snotty. Trolled Little Beale, Lawton, and Whittle the morning let a nice 15 go and released a bunch more shorts and cookies. (We got pretty good at the gaff release this trip.) Trolled all the way in from Whittle to past Dixon releasing fish, then ran over to Robbers Passage, looked like a better class of fish being caught and in one pass we bonked a high teens and then ended up fighting a good one on the rocks, with the wind and no electronics we quickly had all three riggers stuck and lost another 2 balls and subsequently the fish. Usually I would be mortified, but my FIL has a good attitude and as long as fish are biting he really didnt care. After that we went and tried some inside spots for cod but came home with only a few.
Day 4 had us trolling coho gear from Aguilar all the way to Beale and around. We picked up my buddy and his wife from their boat as they had been wanting to go try bottom fishing but his dad wasn't up for swells and getting thrown around. On the way to Beale they C&R prolly 10 fish trying to find a coho but only springs would hit (caught 1 humpy too) . They had fun using knucklbusters for the first time. We were pulling cop car coho killer, white needle hoochie with a herring strip, and a herringaid spoon. Got around Beale and found a few lings, cabs, and cod.
That was the end of fishing for us. Hot depths for springs were 55-45 everywhere we went. Except hot depth on the wall was deeper at 75. We had best luck on wee-gees and skinny gees in kitchen sink and no bananas, as well as small needle fish hoochies and herring aid #3. I like the single barbless with this many fish around for releasing without handling. The double hook hoochies had a better catch rate but made releases harder on the fish and us.
All in all great trip. Lots of bears in grappler. Lots of boats in the inlet, and tons of fish. Wish the size average was a little bigger but they are perfect eaters.
The road delay wasnt bad on the way in and the way out was sunday so hardly a wait. The Duke Point ferry breakdown had us scrambling as our 2:00 reservation was canceled and they were ticketing the 5:45 at 10:30am on sunday. So we booked it down to Victoria and ended up catching the 2:30 boat there. Good deal.
Cheers.
My folks, buddy and his pop were already at the cabin when my father-in-law and I showed up. My FIL fishes the San Juans hard and had just got back from Nootka with a crew. He was excited to get out on the salt with his own grady for the first time and I was pumped to show him what Barkley has to offer.
Fishing was hot. We started out at Gibraltar fishing cut plug herring as that's his go-to method. Saw a hundred fish pulled in to our one in the first two hours so we made the switch to hardware and never went back. We prolly caught 15 or 20 fish. Mostly 8-12 lbs. Released all but 4 or 5 and a silver,
With my dad on board as well we had a triple header where we boated 2 of the 3 for the biggest fish of the trip at 19 and 21. Besides the fishing being hot the weather was too. We were treated to a show on a blue and white bayliner with a topless lady out on deck avoiding tan lines #freethenip.
Fished Whittlestone that evening releasing a few but not bonking.
Also my FIL didnt know but the chip he had for his gps didnt cover Barkely Sound so we lost 2 downrigger balls out at Gibraltar. I ended up glued to my phone using my Navionics app to avoid the obstacles alot of the trip.
Day 2 same story we fished Gibraltar, sorted through the cookie cutters until we scraped up a few high teeners on the rocks and the wind finally made it too hard to fish. Moved to the wall and dixon and picked up another. Fished the wall that evening C & R on a few cookies but no toads.
PSA of the day - both recreational and guide boats need to be considerate. Getting out of the way of someone with a fish is good but not at the expense of blindsiding other boats. Also you dont have to always be the boat on the inside, sure you have clients but there are plenty of fish around let everyone have a turn.
Day 3 we attempted to go out and around Beale to find cod but the tight swells and wind were gonna make it too snotty. Trolled Little Beale, Lawton, and Whittle the morning let a nice 15 go and released a bunch more shorts and cookies. (We got pretty good at the gaff release this trip.) Trolled all the way in from Whittle to past Dixon releasing fish, then ran over to Robbers Passage, looked like a better class of fish being caught and in one pass we bonked a high teens and then ended up fighting a good one on the rocks, with the wind and no electronics we quickly had all three riggers stuck and lost another 2 balls and subsequently the fish. Usually I would be mortified, but my FIL has a good attitude and as long as fish are biting he really didnt care. After that we went and tried some inside spots for cod but came home with only a few.
Day 4 had us trolling coho gear from Aguilar all the way to Beale and around. We picked up my buddy and his wife from their boat as they had been wanting to go try bottom fishing but his dad wasn't up for swells and getting thrown around. On the way to Beale they C&R prolly 10 fish trying to find a coho but only springs would hit (caught 1 humpy too) . They had fun using knucklbusters for the first time. We were pulling cop car coho killer, white needle hoochie with a herring strip, and a herringaid spoon. Got around Beale and found a few lings, cabs, and cod.
That was the end of fishing for us. Hot depths for springs were 55-45 everywhere we went. Except hot depth on the wall was deeper at 75. We had best luck on wee-gees and skinny gees in kitchen sink and no bananas, as well as small needle fish hoochies and herring aid #3. I like the single barbless with this many fish around for releasing without handling. The double hook hoochies had a better catch rate but made releases harder on the fish and us.
All in all great trip. Lots of bears in grappler. Lots of boats in the inlet, and tons of fish. Wish the size average was a little bigger but they are perfect eaters.
The road delay wasnt bad on the way in and the way out was sunday so hardly a wait. The Duke Point ferry breakdown had us scrambling as our 2:00 reservation was canceled and they were ticketing the 5:45 at 10:30am on sunday. So we booked it down to Victoria and ended up catching the 2:30 boat there. Good deal.
Cheers.
Aces
Well-Known Member
X2
SpringFever2359
Well-Known Member
trophywife
Crew Member
Something i didn't know, pinks are closed in 23.. creel survey friend told me.. they seem to have all passed now anyway.
tubber
Well-Known Member
I just read that yesterday on the app in prep for next week's Ukee trip. Also surprised. I'm sure I kept one inside Cree a few years back. Is there a local stream they are protecting?
trophywife
Crew Member
by protected do mean "netted up river"?
Ancient Mariner
Member
Some say you get better runs out the fish because the flasher is chasing him every were he goes. As far as releasing there is no difference with a flasher or without one.
TipUp
Well-Known Member
Fishing continues to be red hot out in the sound. The bait is very small so small spoons have been the ticket. The kitchen sink wee gee has been our top producer at 40 to 60 feet. All the regular spots seem to be producing with Whittlestone, Kirby, and Swale being the best for us. The springs are bigger on average this year with most being in the 15 to 20 pound range and also some fat coho in the mix.
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Charleygirl
Well-Known Member
Hi All
This is actually getting boring. Not the fishing but writing about it. I'm trying to come up with something new to say about what's been happening for the past month. I can't. There are no new things to tell, no new info, no new hotspot, no new hot tips. Fishing in Barkley Sound has been and still is awesome!. Go where you want. Kirby, Whittlestone, Beale, Harbour Entrance, Swale rock, Fleming, Diplock, Pill point, The Wall, Brady's Beach down to Danvers. It has been amazing fishing. To capsulate things I would say this:
Fish 35 to 50 feet on your rigger
Fish anchovies on 6 to 7 foot leaders
Fish glow white hoochies on short leaders (under 36 inches)
Fish spoons (skinny g's are still firings ur a variety of small spoons) on 6 to 7 foot leaders
Troll 2.5 to 3 mph
There! Done!
I am out. That's all you need to know.
Seriously folks. Wednesday morning I fished with long time guests, DJ, Bill, Brian and Steve. We limited out 8 springs before 9 am in the morning. And... we missed a few to boot.
Sometimes I like to think I am getting good at this but it was really just a matter of putting gear in the water. Anybody with a boat and a trolling engine could do the same. It's so much fun!
If there is any damper on things at all it's the coho situation has been spotty. Our local coho have yet to show in any kind of numbers. They are coming though. Often they arrive thick by early to mid september. These are big feisty fish that are just a blast to get into.
Hali fishing is still going ok. Not over the top but put in your time and you'll get a few flatties.
We had a blast jigging chub mackerel while on the anchor hali fishing the other day. They fight like crazy and are delicious smoked.
I have one more group to go and then I am back to school for 4 days next week. I'll be up for the long weekend to finally win the Port Alberni Salmon Derby. I am shocked I haven't won that thing already. This year though...
With that, folks, I am out!
This is actually getting boring. Not the fishing but writing about it. I'm trying to come up with something new to say about what's been happening for the past month. I can't. There are no new things to tell, no new info, no new hotspot, no new hot tips. Fishing in Barkley Sound has been and still is awesome!. Go where you want. Kirby, Whittlestone, Beale, Harbour Entrance, Swale rock, Fleming, Diplock, Pill point, The Wall, Brady's Beach down to Danvers. It has been amazing fishing. To capsulate things I would say this:
Fish 35 to 50 feet on your rigger
Fish anchovies on 6 to 7 foot leaders
Fish glow white hoochies on short leaders (under 36 inches)
Fish spoons (skinny g's are still firings ur a variety of small spoons) on 6 to 7 foot leaders
Troll 2.5 to 3 mph
There! Done!
I am out. That's all you need to know.
Seriously folks. Wednesday morning I fished with long time guests, DJ, Bill, Brian and Steve. We limited out 8 springs before 9 am in the morning. And... we missed a few to boot.
Sometimes I like to think I am getting good at this but it was really just a matter of putting gear in the water. Anybody with a boat and a trolling engine could do the same. It's so much fun!
If there is any damper on things at all it's the coho situation has been spotty. Our local coho have yet to show in any kind of numbers. They are coming though. Often they arrive thick by early to mid september. These are big feisty fish that are just a blast to get into.
Hali fishing is still going ok. Not over the top but put in your time and you'll get a few flatties.
We had a blast jigging chub mackerel while on the anchor hali fishing the other day. They fight like crazy and are delicious smoked.
I have one more group to go and then I am back to school for 4 days next week. I'll be up for the long weekend to finally win the Port Alberni Salmon Derby. I am shocked I haven't won that thing already. This year though...
With that, folks, I am out!
trophywife
Crew Member
trophywife
Crew Member
Pippen
Well-Known Member
Hey John,
Sent you a PM a week or so ago as a work colleague would like to look at booking you for next summer as they are just trying to finalize dates with McKay. Can you PM me your contact information?
Adeline1954
New Member
Any updates on fishing this past week? Heading up on Wednesday...
fishinforever
Well-Known Member
I was there friday morning, fished kirby for a couple hours and got 4 springs 12-15 pounds before we headed out to big bank for hali, which was awesome. Quick work of 4 under 90, a 110cm, a 118cm and let go a 150cm. Cruised into harbour entrance for a fast and furious late afternoon bite, four more springs and 5 coho, lost a bunch. Saturday am was tuna, 60 miles run for 5 fish, scratchy but some boats did better and others worse, nice day out there. Stopped at harbour entrance for four more springs, 12-14 pounds with an 18 in there too. Hit the wall early sunday morning to finish up our chinook limit, nice run back to port at 8am. The somas was boiling with chinooks.
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