Final Bamfield report of the season for me. Got in last-hurrah's this past week. Spent the beginning of the week around the Broken Group with my wife and kids. Had a couple of decent weather days Monday and Tuesday until the monsoons hit on Wednesday afternoon and we ended our family trip a day early. Highlight of that trip on Monday morning was my 10 year old pulling in a 25lb spring on a Zinger jig using her spinning rod/reel combination she won as a kids prize at a local derby this year.
Had some buddies out Friday to Sunday. Rain reminded me of several months living in SE Asia several years ago -- heavy warm and very wet that just wouldn't stop. Got blown off 10-Mile bank by noon on Friday but did manage to scratch up my personal largest fish of the season at ~27lbs however, the fishing was extremely slow. Worked Meares/Effingham at first light on Saturday and got rewarded with a couple of over-unders. Had a monster Coho snap the shank off my favourite Coho-killer taken off a flasher waiting for reload at the side of the boat -- that spoon produced so much for us this year that it should be put out to stud. Given the flat-calm waters we ventured off to 10-Mile to see if we could get some larger fish or halibut. Got a couple smaller springs and couldn't land our only halibut bite of our drift runs.
First light again on Sunday morning landed us a slot-worthy 12lb spring at The Wall with a couple of shakers and hit-n-runs that didn't stick. Dropped my buddy off at the dock at 830 and began our venture home to Victoria in the boat. Very lumpy at Cape Beale to Pachina Lighthouse but as we started to angle east, the waters flattened right out and stayed that way all the way to Cadboro Bay. Stopped for a 45 min fish at Nitnat -- lots of boats and bait on screen but didn't see a single net out or fish caught (although we watched a couple guys in a Whaler chase down a Sealion that snatched their herring). Stopped again at Renfrew and worked the beach -- no springs, but did bag a large Ling for our 45 minute effort.
Overall, this past weekend seemed quite a bit slower than previous weeks. Not a single hit on the Bucktail inside or outside (we'd generally average at least 3-4 hookups per day with 3x as many hit-n-misses). Both Coho and larger springs seemed to slow down considerably outside for us with only 3-4 hookups all day (rather than per 5 minute period). I heard and saw some good Coho catches around Sanford/Fleming but didn't make it there myself. Figure the change in weather has played a big part in stirring up the fish. Hopefully will pick up again soon.
Absolutely smooth running home with the tide flood giving us a 3-5Mph push to almost 30kts right past Race Rocks. Made it home in record time and barely needed to touch the wheel other than to dodge the odd kelp bed.
Anyhow, was a great 6 weeks of running back and fourth to Bamfield and seeing friends out there. Looking forward to the next trip and enjoying the fish we were able to catch.
Here's Friday's big catch in the rain -- looks like the fish is having a leak on my leg:
Here's our "best-5" out at 7 Mile from a couple of weekends back:
