ECVI French creek-Nanoose-nanaimo reports

backatit it was real 6-7 ft chop no exageration. My 14fter would have been sunk in seconds. We took my friends boat its a 22fter and it was just crawling through that stuff while takin waves over the bow. It was the north side of sangster about 6 boats workin the area with success. My neighbour limted with 2 fish in less than 20 min. Pics are bad i could only get them after the fish sat a long time and i didnt take a good pic with size reference. The fish are all mid to high teens. Man oh man. The one fish had a few herring but one was packed FULL with at least 10-15 5 inch herring and large shiner. Ill be at ballenas in the morn for the bite
nooks.jpg

nooks2.jpg
 
Great catch kelly, must have been fun in all that slop.
lots of those fish were hatchery im guessing?

fished the grande today, got a 11 on a copcar.
there were at least 7 fish being cleaned at the dock today.
over 20 boats fishing the grande for derby day.

all the fish were mid teens to low twentys
 
Hey Kelly I was at Sangster this morning too, what a blast!!! Was home by 9 with limit( 10 & 12). My buddies in another boat got three, biggest 18. Cheers
 
what boat were you guys running? greg, peter? you got outta there just before she blew up at 10-1030. they were all wild i think. just the camera angle/ ill check tmmorow when i take them out of the freezer. winds/tides look good for the morning
 
3 wild one hatch just checked. Greg did you lose any? thought i saw you play a few. I think i lost that one beside you. We were in the 22ft hardtop.
 
Got out this morning fished solo at ballenas. Battery was dead so had to fish blind. Set rods 140-160 with cop cars and tried to follow where i thought the 180ft contour was. 5 min in on the first pass i hit an 8lber which while netting i decided to release. Reached down and popped him off. Next pass hit a small 4lber which when i released got grabbed by an eagle. Next hour all i hit was some dogfish then had a soft hit and thought it was another doggy. The next 10 min were an absolute gongshow. I popped it off the clip and caught up to the fish and to my suprise it took off. I managed to play the fish and reel the downrigger up from 140feet. With a 6ft leader and being alone it made netting danm hard. I got him in the net and he rolled out and the hook caught on the edge. I dropped the rod and net and grabbed the leader. Luckily when he gave one last kick the leader held and i grabbed him by the gills. In all this commotion i droped the net in the water and it was gone. *&^%, Called it a day and headed in. Was pulling up the engine at the dock and my phone fell out of my pocket into the drink @%#@%. 300$ morning should have just hired a guide to do it for me.
nook4.jpg
16-17ish
 
nice fish, congratulations! Ballenas? This area once to have had best coho fishing in March-Oct about two decades ago that I fished with my father in a little 12 foot metal tin boat. Looks like chinook salmonfishing has improved dramatically this year in that area.
 
Nice Fish, I'm heading over there right now. It might be a bit windy for Sangster, I'll let you know later how we made out.
 
Fishspoon its been about 4-5 years since there has been a significant amount of coho. Maybe this year will be an improvment. Greg when i came in at 9 i thought your boat wasnt there? It is windy might be bumpy. Friend i was out wih yesterday limited out on fish over 20 today at sangster[:0]
 
Heck of a fish story kelly :D :D :D loved it but hey,,, atleast you didn't get skunked...
 
Glad you took a picture Kelly, I'd forgotten what a coho looked like. Been 4 years since I've seen a coho where you got that one[xx(]
 
Do you mean I should take a CLOSER look[:I]? Good Heavens! [:I][:I]:D For that matter I've only managed one Chinook in that area over the last couple of years. I'm more accustomed to seeing MUCH bigger springs:D

Tom
 
It does have the blue coho tinge but not many 16lb coho around right now. Rvp only one area is open as there is a RCA. They kept the good salmon fishing area open and everyone fishes the lighthouse on the north tip. No hali although in the late 1990s a 67lber was caught at ballenas from our marina.Saw pics
 
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