How would you rate your Spring fishing this year?

[banger17]

2 springs all year in 4 days of fishing - slow going for me! Partially due to not caring as much, as had a newborn in July.

June - 1/1 on a spring at Pill point
August - 1/3 in 3 days of fishing in Alberni Derby

Overall for 4 total days, not good - oh well, beauty days on the water when i was out there - 4/4 on the sunshine and calm seas!

 

[NautiGirl]

Victoria was slower for me this year, and like the whole south end of Van Isle, size was down. One of the hatchery heads I sent in to DFO had a report sent to me saying that about 50-95% of chinook caught off Victoria in 2011 was a hatchery fish from WA state. I just went to the WA hatcher site and checked their 2008 production numbers and pounds of fish released. That explains it. They released the usual numbers, but held them a shorter time and released them very small, which results in more ocean mortality and perhaps smaller size too. http://wdfw.wa.gov/hatcheries/overview.html

 

[albernifisher]

Late june and early july was awesome for us in bamfield,mostly in the high teens.It slowed down a bit from the first week in july till Port alberni lit up in mid August,14 fish in one weekend and 10 in another

 

[uclueletcharters]

The trick was small 3.5" blue/chrome, green/chrome spoons and needle fish hoochies preferably green and glow speckle back. Right on the bottom was the place to be pretty much all summer offshore and when working the coast line 80 - 120 ft were good depths. The other trick was a fast troll 2.5 - 3 knots then every once in a while bump it into neutral. Worked very well. Lots of feeders 8 - 12lbs at Lighthouse Bank, Starfish and Long Beach great halibut fishing as well. A decent number of mid teen to low 20's right along the coastline this year red can to little beach. Big Bank late in the season during late August early September was the hot spot as the bait was way offshore this year.

 

[Whole in the Water]

Spring fishing overall this year was slow. Remember 2008 was a poor year as well. Did well fishing in Port Renfrew, but Sooke this year was definately slower for me.

 

[Wooly]

Fishing for my self was a bit above average on the North Coast (Rupert, Kitimat). I believe it was below average for most people around rupert but that is an assumption from hearing about other ppls trips out there. I Believe the above average fishing for myself was due to me expanding my area (trying new places) and also just fishing a little harder (more time off this year). A few trips we had 6-10 chinooks on the boat a day 15-40 pounds a few 30-35 through the year and a 39 being the largest. Other days we had to work hard to get 1 or 2. Should be some monsters next year up north, there were lots of 3 and 4 year olds out there this year. I'm still Looking for My Hog. Ive been fishing Ocean Hard for over 8 years now and Ive got plenty of Tyees but nothing over 40 on the Ocean. Next year I have a feeling, with all the 3 and 4 year olds this year and the new boat coming that I will get my Hog. Check out my boat build "Wooldridge 23' Super Sport Offshore PH "Boat Build"" Under the Boats, Motors, Trailers and Towing Rigs Forum.

Got a handful of fish over 50 on the rivers around Kitimat and Terrace but nothing in the chuck.

Halibut was unreal this year!

Wooly

 

[the fog ducker]

Agree with Nog.. large were just not in any numbers wcvi

someone said it was slow in the Spring ?? fishing in June and July were killer in the South Sound , Meares Kirby and the unblievable Bam Wall fishery was the best ive seen in some time.. limits in record time at the wall ...
we put in some good hours , July was loaded with 18-25lbs , the bait was off the charts , unbelievable whale shows , to close for comfort at times for some..
Definately a lower than average year , BUT , entertaining, was more of a hunt than a fish farm for sure..
ive never whacked so many between 25 - 29lbs... .. over 30's were almost non existant for me

August , well , definately slower than norm inside , rats nose had its share of young teeners , a few larger mixed in , only went out there 3 times , maybe others did better.. I know the charter fleet did well out there !! Hatch Coho was decent out there this year , good ratios....

cant wait till next year

in Sturgeon mode now , 5 last night in 2 hours , lower end...ON FIRE , get out there...

fd

 

[Doug]

For us it was the best Spring fishing year ever in the Sooke area.
We fished from June 18th to Sept 5th and caught springs every trip except for one trip when the whales came past then turned around and stayed. We also caught fish 30lb+ in June which we had never before. Great year and every client went home with fish.

 

[pescador]

I fished Sooke 16 days (5 trips) between May and Sept. I'd say it was slower than any previous year I've ever fished it. I started fishing there in 1973. We got some Springs in the 20-25 lb range, but far less than in previous years. I fished off Victoria probably 8 days (4 trips) and had reasonable good success with my largest fish of the year taken there first week of Sept. I spent 5 days at Critter Cove fishing Nootka Sound in mid August. That trip was the slowest I've ever seen Nootka after fishing there the last 6 years one week each year. We got no keepers till day 3 of that trip. That's not the norm in my experience. Over all it was not a great year Springs in my view.

 

[GWT75]

I fished Haida Gwaii for a week in early summer and a couple of day trips in Vancouver harbour/mouth of Fraser. The Spring fishing was average in the Gwaii - definitely seen years better, but also seen worse. Apparently after we left though, it was tough going up there. Fish averaged about 20lb when we were up there in early June. Vancouver area seemed slow compared to previous years - not a lot of quantity on most days, although there were times when bite certainly seemed on and there were obviously some fish coming through. Seals also a bit more prevalent too, but maybe we were just drinking too much beer and didn't do a good job in shaking them - lol.

 

[Curtis]

Sooke fishing was above average for springs up to 37 lbs this year. Best time frame was the middle of July. Bigger
ones, as always showed up mid August. It's all about location and time spent on the
water with your gear working properly. Spoons were very consistent in the smaller sizes.
Port Renfrew was great for chinooks both offshore and along the beach.

I can't wait till next summer!!!

 

[SerengetiGuide]

I thought it was quite good for June/July, then about average or below for August.