Campbell river 2014
- Thread starter opto55
- Start date
Adler
Well-Known Member
We're heading up to Campbell River for a day or two over the long weekend. We normally fish Sooke, but it's been so slow we hardly have anything in the freezer. So this weekend is our attempt at putting some fish in the freezer for the winter. Happy with Sockeye or Spring or Coho. Having only fished the Victoria area in our boat before, I'd appreciate tips on 1. Where to launch (see Brown's Bay is popular if fishing up the channel), noting that I only have 2 wheel drive truck so a decent ramp is required, and 2. Where to fish. There's a great map of all the fishing areas for Sooke by local names, is there a similar map for Campbell river? My google efforts have not turned one up yet. Any thoughts appreciated, and happy to do by PM. Thanks.
Adler
Well-Known Member
Wasn't sure if I should put this in reports or elsewhere, but since I asked the question here, I'll provide an update here as well. Sorry for the highjack opto55! This is a few days old now.
As a result of this post and asking questions around Campbell River, we got some great information and took the chance at running with the boat up for 3 days over the long weekend. First evening we arrived we were directed to Kitty Coleman (stayed at Pacific Playground, Oyster River), and thought it would be fun to try a run down there. It was a perfectly calm and beautiful on the water. Found the hump, but unfortunately all we dragged-up was 3 dogfish. Only 2 other boats in the area that day. Missed one hit that looked good.
The next day, we drove up and launched at Brown's Bay. First time there, had to check it out for myself, and we were quite impressed. The resort staff were great, helpful, and the launch is not too steep. Yes, it's unfortunate that it's missing docks, but in that way, it kept the traffic moving at the dock on what were some very busy mornings. But went very smoothly. We decided to moor overnight there to make it easy for the second day too, which was awesome! So much faster to drive back and forth without loading the boat etc.
OK, the fishing report: We followed the leaders over to Deepwater Bay with all the others. And what a blast! Fish were jumping everywhere we looked, and we got our fair share. Lost more than that too!
Didn't quite limit out (hard to do when you're whole family of 4 have licences), but we ended up with lots of fish both days. One was a chum, the others all sockeye. First time I've caught either of those species, so now I know what to look for in both. I had read about and looked at the defining features in advance, and looked at pics (keeping those DFO salmon ID tags on the boat too), but until you see them, it's hard to know.
Weather on Sunday was great, Monday was a little foggy and drizzly at first, but turned out just fine. It sure was busy, but no busier than in Sooke. The only differerences being that the commercial guys (as many as 4) were tolling among the others right in close and everyone had to be respectful (and largely were, we only saw 2 near misses, only one with a trawler where the sport boat seemed to have lost power or gotten tangled or something). The other difference was that when the bite was on, it sometimes seemed to be focussed in one very small area. Or that's what all the boats thought, and so they all came into and packed that small area! It got a little too cramped for me at times, but we did get a number of fish at those moments too, so worth it!
Overall, a great experience for the first time we've picked-up the boat and tried fishing another locale away from home waters. Beautiful area up there, I'm looking forward to going back to explore a little further up and down the inside of VI, I'm sure there's lots more than those few bays to see. Best part - knowing that when fishing may be a little slow in your area, or if you need a change of pace/species, we have options!
As a result of this post and asking questions around Campbell River, we got some great information and took the chance at running with the boat up for 3 days over the long weekend. First evening we arrived we were directed to Kitty Coleman (stayed at Pacific Playground, Oyster River), and thought it would be fun to try a run down there. It was a perfectly calm and beautiful on the water. Found the hump, but unfortunately all we dragged-up was 3 dogfish. Only 2 other boats in the area that day. Missed one hit that looked good.
The next day, we drove up and launched at Brown's Bay. First time there, had to check it out for myself, and we were quite impressed. The resort staff were great, helpful, and the launch is not too steep. Yes, it's unfortunate that it's missing docks, but in that way, it kept the traffic moving at the dock on what were some very busy mornings. But went very smoothly. We decided to moor overnight there to make it easy for the second day too, which was awesome! So much faster to drive back and forth without loading the boat etc.
OK, the fishing report: We followed the leaders over to Deepwater Bay with all the others. And what a blast! Fish were jumping everywhere we looked, and we got our fair share. Lost more than that too!
Didn't quite limit out (hard to do when you're whole family of 4 have licences), but we ended up with lots of fish both days. One was a chum, the others all sockeye. First time I've caught either of those species, so now I know what to look for in both. I had read about and looked at the defining features in advance, and looked at pics (keeping those DFO salmon ID tags on the boat too), but until you see them, it's hard to know. Weather on Sunday was great, Monday was a little foggy and drizzly at first, but turned out just fine. It sure was busy, but no busier than in Sooke. The only differerences being that the commercial guys (as many as 4) were tolling among the others right in close and everyone had to be respectful (and largely were, we only saw 2 near misses, only one with a trawler where the sport boat seemed to have lost power or gotten tangled or something). The other difference was that when the bite was on, it sometimes seemed to be focussed in one very small area. Or that's what all the boats thought, and so they all came into and packed that small area! It got a little too cramped for me at times, but we did get a number of fish at those moments too, so worth it!
Overall, a great experience for the first time we've picked-up the boat and tried fishing another locale away from home waters. Beautiful area up there, I'm looking forward to going back to explore a little further up and down the inside of VI, I'm sure there's lots more than those few bays to see. Best part - knowing that when fishing may be a little slow in your area, or if you need a change of pace/species, we have options!
Good report Adler.Glad you made the trek and had success
There have been some lean years on the East side and we have had to travel elsewhere ofton too so I get what you are talking about. There are a lot of great places to fish on this island and getting out and trying a new area is enjoyable
There have been some lean years on the East side and we have had to travel elsewhere ofton too so I get what you are talking about. There are a lot of great places to fish on this island and getting out and trying a new area is enjoyable
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