Barkley Sound Report....

[opp-i-ottan]

Were in Barkley Sound during Labour Day weekend but did not participate in the Derby. Good thing... got skunked! Fished Friday afternoon, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. We did not fish anywhere in the inlet but we tried Effingham, Gibraltar, Sattelite Passage, "The Wall" at Bamfield, Junction Passage, Kirby, Numakumis Bay and even a few miles off shore! Tried Hoochies, Spoons and Plugs of different colours (did not have any bait). Tried every depth from 25 to 125 feet. Total... 2 released Jacks Springs, one meal size Coho lost by the boat, and a small Yellow Eye which I gave to an eager Eagle - all taken at Bamfield "Wall" on Saturday morning.

We did not see ANY big fish landed and we heard basically the same story from everyone we talked to - including the attendant at the boat launch in Alberni when we pulled out on Sunday morning.

Warm water (60) and big tide changes may have played a roll but I don't think that there's much doubt that the number of fish in the sound is less than usual! Hopefully the runs are late and will pick up in the coming weeks. If I went there again this year I might try looking for a stretch (hopefully weekend) with minimal tide changes.

Does anyone have any good fishing stories from the Derby weekend in Barkley Sound?

Highlight for the weekend, for us, was sighting three bubble net blowing Humpbacks gobbeling herring at the entrance to Imperial Eagle Channel, and a pod of Dall's "torpedoes" chasing "something" off shore - they are a wonder to behold!



Hans Forssander
North Vancouver, BC

 

[Steelheadman_04]

yeah wasnt to great only managed 3 springs and 2 coho, with afew lost springs and coho

 

[opp-i-ottan]

Still... sounds like you - Steelheadman - did a lot better than us! How big were the Springs and Coho's? What depth... lures... location... etc...?

Hans Forssander
North Vancouver, BC

 

[slingshot]

On Saterday we decided to try are luck fishing Whittle Stone and after draging the lines for 7 hours we packed up with nothing to show for it. We then decided on Saterday to fish Pill Point were we landed 15, 17, 14, 24 and 10 pound springs and relised 2 small jacks. Then on Sunday we landed a 23 and 16 at Home Island.

 

[IronNoggin]

Rather slow for our crew too. A few to hand, and a handfull lost. Sea lion got one biggie, a drunken AH drove the wire over another (but don't think I've forgotten your boat buddy!) and another simply let go. Sad that DFO let the commercial fleet and FN's pound it so hard in the same week of the Derby, but just might offer an explanation of why there weren't many large about inside.

One of the more memorable moments of the weekend came about Sunday afternoon. As we settled into the swarm of boats at Blood, we noticed an aluminum open boat, three nutbars dancing and air-drummin' to their LOUD tunes, all three wearing rubber ConeHead costumes. We roared watching their antics, but it was about to get better. A couple of young rowdies in likely "Dad's" bright and shiney fishing machine cut the ConeHeads off hard, and were rewarded by the splat of a paintball on their hull! That initiated a cursing like you ain't heard in a while, and then the rowdies pulled their gear, and commenced to circle the aluminum at a very high rate of speed (The Circle of Fear!!). All the while the guys in the circling rig were flying the finger, and shouting all kinds of pleasantries. And... all the while they roared around the tinny at point-blank range, we could hear the sound of automatic paintball gun fire!!! Budda budda budda... splat splat splat splat!! With their white hull now approaching purple, the rowdies decided to cut their losses, and roared off towards Bamfield! The ConeHeads continued to entertain, but we did notice everyone giving them a WIDE berth, and thus no more paintballs filled the air. Kinda an interesting sidebar...

All too soon, the gong sounded, and the Derby was over for another year. First for this ol' boy not weighing anything in! Man, Brutal hardly describes what we went through in terms of fishing success! Not a lot of good fish taken, and the Derby winner was under 40 pounds for another first! Seems the commercial openings just prior to the Derby had their suspected results, and the numbers right reflected that.

On the positive side, our team had a LOT of FUN even though we couldn't seem to act much better than amatuers! The boat, kicker, riggers, electronics were all outstanding in performance, and I found it very sweet not to have to run into a dock each eve. The boat certainly did her part, but today, each of our crew is chewing down a good chunk of Humble Pie! And it was also great to see so many folks from here out and about! Chatted with BlueOrca, SteelHeader, SaltwaterCowboy and several others. T'was indeed a fun time, dispite our limited results on the Derby end of things!!

Heard a few wandered in yest, likely out to chase them shortly now.

Cheers,
Nog

 

[Saltwater Cowboy]

Hey Nog was good to see you out on the pond in your new machine! I know the feeling as this is season one for the "Knuckle Buster" Man is it fun to be out on the water and seeing good people all enjoying fishing! Appreciate the gear removal on my fish that came to your boat as well! That's that good old code of the fisherman and it's great to see it happening out in the DERBY, and low and behold it's a FishBC and SportfishBC member! What a surprise! The ride looked pretty sweet and I'm sure she'll get plenty bloody in the months and days to come! Maybe we'll hook up during the chum derby this year and shoot the breeze! Remember to laugh when we have a triple header of 20lb chum going haywire and the chaos at a high!! Have a good one and good luck with your new guide business!

As for the derby we managed 11 fish in all, the biggest being 22lbs and the smallest 8lbs. Pretty small and pretty slow for the time and energy we put in! They should hold that derby in Winter Harbour!! Then you'd see the 70lb slab!!
SW COWBOY

I do the Fishing, God does the Catching!

Edited by - Saltwater Cowboy on 09/06/2005 21:42:21

 

[opp-i-ottan]

Didn't know about the commercial opening just prior to the Derby... what a drag! Still... good to hear some of you guys caught something! It was our first time in Barkley sound, so we should have been expecting to eat Humble Pie! When the pickings are slim, I guess it comes down to area knowledge and experience.

Hans Forssander
North Vancouver, BC

 

[5-Salt Fever]

Glad I canceled a Bamfield return trip planned for that weekend - could not secure suitable accomadations. It would have been a $1,000 USD wasted on no fish.

Bright spot is there is some good chinook fishing down here in Oregon right now. As well the ocean was 1-2ft swells at 12seconds and no wind wave all weekend. Talk about your running a 30mph in a jetsled on the ocean - I never had it so good.

Any expectation of Barkley fishing picking back up over the next few weeks?