trophywife
Crew Member
what parking? lol
2024 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports
- Thread starter SFBC
- Start date
- Status
the fog ducker
Well-Known Member
just back , did a day trip to Bam for a lunch , parking is non existent right now , we had to park way up the hill , residents look annoyed , good luck !! if ya dont have a place booked , my advice , stay away.....
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
There is no parking and fishing is slow in Bamfield. It just sucks. People need to go other places. I hear Sooke is really good that is where I would stay if it were me. 
Whole in the Water
Well-Known Member
Got back yesterday from Bamfield. Fishing is definitely slower than last year right now. Last year the derby weighed in over 1000 fish, this year 389 with many folks skunked.
First 2 days we fished Beale and Whittlestone, slow! So were Kirby, and the Wall. Then we went to Cree and Austin Island and the fishing was good. With fresh, feisty fish. Hooked over 30 fish, lost 4 good ones, kept 12 springs and 3 coho. Springs between 12-25 lbs. The bait they’re feeding on is extremely small (2-4 inches) so only used Skinny G herring aid spoons between 40-80 feet. Most fish caught between 60-70 feet. Weather was calm with fog and overcast.
Guides say that the bulk of the springs are still feeding offshore and haven’t come inside yet. Feeding on big schools of larger herring and pilchards. Fishing should improve as time goes on.
First 2 days we fished Beale and Whittlestone, slow! So were Kirby, and the Wall. Then we went to Cree and Austin Island and the fishing was good. With fresh, feisty fish. Hooked over 30 fish, lost 4 good ones, kept 12 springs and 3 coho. Springs between 12-25 lbs. The bait they’re feeding on is extremely small (2-4 inches) so only used Skinny G herring aid spoons between 40-80 feet. Most fish caught between 60-70 feet. Weather was calm with fog and overcast.
Guides say that the bulk of the springs are still feeding offshore and haven’t come inside yet. Feeding on big schools of larger herring and pilchards. Fishing should improve as time goes on.
Last edited:
Shish-kebab
Member
They’re here!…report to follow!
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
There is something about finding spots yourself where no one is. That is the best. Not into bank fishing myself. Each to their own if that floats your boat.
Heading up tomorrow and there till mid week. See some of you up there.
Heading up tomorrow and there till mid week. See some of you up there.
Do you guys know if there any pay parking for a boat and trailer? Heading up on Friday for a week.
trophywife
Crew Member
p
paradise lost, parking area by the garbage recycle yard just before town.
trophywife
Crew Member
its seems to be far better for the first 3 hours of daylight. all the usual spots are producing. harbour entrance, swale, cree, kirby, ships..
i been rolling bait but still trolling fast, squids are still around so run some rubber too for sure.
King Crab
Active Member
We just came back from 4 days in Bamfield. (3 boat group) Definitely slower fishing than previous years but we managed 1-2 fish in the mid teens each morning off Beale first thing.
Offshore fishing was better on Wednesday. Skinny Gs and white hootchies 140-200 ft on the rigger in 200 ft of water was working well for springs and coho. We picked up 3 nice Hali drifting with swim baits as well at some random spot 7-8 miles out.
PM me if you’d like more info.
Offshore fishing was better on Wednesday. Skinny Gs and white hootchies 140-200 ft on the rigger in 200 ft of water was working well for springs and coho. We picked up 3 nice Hali drifting with swim baits as well at some random spot 7-8 miles out.
PM me if you’d like more info.
Deewar25
Well-Known Member
Bamfield Parking and Storage Vehicles Boats & Trailers | Bamfield's One-Stop Full Service Rentals & Adventure Shop
Off Street Parking in Bamfield in a gated and fenced yard for Standard Vehicles up to 21 feet and Oversize Vehicles, Boats and Trailers
bamfieldadventurecenter.com
Shish-kebab
Member
August 2nd-9th. Departed fr Tsawwassen for Duke Point on the 745am ferry. We usually get the 515am sailing, but I just can’t get myself to start loading the car at 1am anymore. Taking the 745 sailing felt like a real holiday. Easy 2hr 15min ride over and then headed up to Port Alberni. Halfway to Coombs I noticed a warning on the BC highway traffic condition board, Hwy 4 closed-update to follow. Oh S@&*! I said to my son, pulled in to the Snaw-naw-as Shell and called our group behind us. Goggle maps told us go thru Lake Cowichan. I moaned that’ll be a 5 hr detour and we won’t make the late afternoon tide. My buddies and I decided to regroup in Coombs and wait for the next hwy update. Picked up our usual sausage rolls at Goats on the roof and road update came in saying traffic stopped in both directions serious accident just outside the Alberni summitt. Eiyahh I cried, I was so looking forward to using the new Bamfield main road fr PA. Next update came in, single lane traffic, long delays. We marched on to PA and settled for the single lane traffic instead of back tracking. Finally made it to PA, gassed & lotto and we were good to go for Bamfield main road. Hit the last stop sign before the logging road begins. Kept on driving and driving and driving and was like when is the washboard gonna start. Before we knew it we were at the Bamfield Centennial Park. I drove the whole way flabbergasted with my mouth wide open. How is this possible I kept thinking. I really wanted to stop on the road, walk on it, touch it and kiss it. Can u even believe there was an RCMP hiding in a pull out with his radar gun. Anyways, it was that good, so I’m glad my taxes paid for something that I’m using in my lifetime. Not a spec of dust on the car. Little will any new traveller on that road know what we used to go through in the old days. We were a bit tired fr the day’s journey so we didn’t get to go for a troll. So let’s talk fishing now. Like I mentioned before in a previous post, we stayed at Centennial in 2020 due to some kind of virus and everything else was closed. We caught 6 fish that year, and things were shaping up to be very cyclical again. 4 days in this year, 5 fish. We were all like, do you think we can make 6 or are we gonna get stuck on 5 for the full week long trip and break a new all time low record. I read the reports coming in that evening, things were slow, derby had lower weigh ins, fish were off shore, etc. Basically it was a grind. Other reports, Sooke was hot, Tofino/Ucluelet was dynamite! Day 5 we made a plan, we’re trolling towards Ucluelet or bust. We head out our usual time 730am towards Effingham. First drop at Cree. Nothing! Kept trolling towards Ucluelet and then we hit the Howell Humps at Howell Island. Not quite Ucluelet but it seemed like it as we didn’t see a single soul. Trolled the humps, and in just a few hours we took in over 30 strikes and boated 11 fish, 4 springs (biggest 19), and 7 huge coho. All on small skinny g’s. Each fish had the smallest bait I’ve seen pouring out of their mouths as we netted them. Pure exhaustion & chaos for the 4 of us and then the thought of omg I’m the one dressing all these fish. Let’s go in I said as I knew I had an easy hour or more of cleaning. Got them all cleaned, marked and bagged on the boat and then the next thought popped into our minds, we don’t have room for them in our freezer at Centenniel. Off to poett nook we go. Saw some familiar faces there and we were able to put them in their freezer for a cost. Day 6 last tide, went out to the Howell Humps again. 0 visibility! We tucked in behind a convoy of radar boats to Gaylord Bluffs and then split off to Howell using our GPS maps. Thank you Simrads and Furanos but I didn’t know your call signs. Dropped our lines at the humps, same old thing. Fish on! 1 1/2 hr tide, kept 3 springs & 2 coho. Skinny g’s-no bananas and yellow herring. Enough I said let’s puller up, head in get the shish-kebab outta the water and relax at the campsite for our last nite. So all in all another great trip. Put your time in at places you’ve never tried before and good things will happen. However I do think all the fisher people out there starting today will have no trouble hooking them. Reports are they have moved closer to the inside. Hope you were able to slug your way thru my little report this year. Good luck and til next year. Look forward to reading your reports til the end of the season.
Umos
Well-Known Member
Just got done a flash fishing trip to Bamfield. Got in at 5 PM last night and headed out to Mears. Was very slow with only a couple of other boats there and no action. Then went nuts for about an hour and we got our six Chinook. Spent the night on the pick behind Effingham Island and then headed out for first light this morning. Was a slow start then again went pretty steady and we got 6 more Chinook, mostly 12-18lbs. Found no coho, and was a bit too lumpy for the kids to go for bottom fish. 50-75’, White UV hoochie the main performer. I haven’t been at this long, but this was easily the best salmon fishing I’ve seen so far.
Attachments
fish brain
Crew Member
We are going to be in Bamfield from the 16-19. We are contemplating a tuna run on the 17th or 18th and would like to join up with a buddy boat. Is anyone else thinking of heading out?
Islandgirl
Well-Known Member
We fished pill pt on Saturday, got 3 coho, nothing big and lost a Chinook. Not sure what size. 120 ft on the rigger was the ticket with a white/ green spoon and a coho killer.
- Status
