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susannem74
Guest
Jewel of the Pacific In the quaint fishing village of Ucluelet (U-clue-let), is the natural sheltered harbour of Barkley Sound, a two-hour drive from Nanaimo. The drive is a breathtaking route through the magnificent mountains of the Mackenzie Range to the west coast of Vancouver Island. I explored this jewel of the pacific with captain Steve Yakimovich of Ocean Rambler Fishing Adventures, aboard his 25-foot Bertram, the “Reel Addiction” in hopes of catching giant pacific salmon and halibut.Before heading out of the harbour, we watched sea lions play on the rugged rocks and bald eagles soared above our heads. The Bertram hull design is based upon the Deep-V and boasts a full, one-inch of fiberglass. This displacement makes for a smooth ride to the fishing grounds, 26 miles offshore to La Perouse Bank.Captain Steve pulled back on the throttles, the excitement made my stomach flutter. At the stern, he reached for the rods, then showed us his special lures, he explained how to set the lines in the downrigger clips and operate the downriggers to make them go up and down. Proper hand position is a must, having your top hand on the cork handle gives you the most leverage possible. He took the time to give us a thorough demonstration of his equipment. Steve had just finished setting the gear when the top rod popped off, “fish on“, Steve yelled. I held the rod tight as the Coho thrashed on the line. I sat back in amazement, watching Steve race around the boat bringing in the other lines and bringing up the down riggers as I fought this monster Coho. As the Coho raced by the boat Steve reached up and grabbed the net with one fail swoop the Coho was in the net. My prize catch was stored away in the fish cooler. Steve set the gear again and within minutes we had another fish on. Steve always spotted the rod first, I wondered how, “I don’t see it, I hear it” he replied.At thirty –five pounds we had the first tyee (a Chinook over 30lbs) of the day. It was our prize catch, or so I thought. Thirty minutes later I caught my last Chinook, weighing in at an incredible 44 pounds!It was time for a new location and a new catch. Steve fired up the twin Mercury motors and headed to his secret spot in search for giant Pacific halibut. We settled in with other lurking boaters.Time to change rods. Steve used what he calls “meat sticks,” heavy-duty rods for a heavy-duty job; two pounds of lead with a scented rubber grub to get to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean (175 feet), 150-pound main line on a 330 Penn will do the trick. When the bait hit the bottom, halibut took bite. The correct method for bringing up halibut is the pump and reel method which is exactly what it sounds like, you pump the rod up and reel down then repeat. Which works very well, as long as you keep steady pressure on the halibut to keep his head up. I struggled to keep the 90-pound fish close to the boat. Steve then speared it with a harpoon. When it finally emerged from the water, the captain hog-tied the estimated ninety-pound halibut. We caught our last halibut of the day and stored the fishing gear, what an amazing day. Before we left, Captain Steve gathered our crew for a group picture on the aft deck, a very happy bunch we were!Captain Steve’s motto, “we live here, we fish here and we know where the big ones hide”. And he’s right, as we motored into shore, we spotted Humpback whales jumping and splashing around, like children playing. The highlight of my Canadian travels was my charter with Steve’s Ocean Rambler Fishing Adventures. To contact Steve, check out www.oceanrambler.com Susanne Mulholland Ireland
