Nootka Sound / Esperanza Reports - Spring and Summer 2011

[tyeeking]

You guys are killing me. I'm going to miss my annual trip to Nootka/Esperanza for the first time in 5-years and it's driving me nuts reading these reports . . . . yet I can't help but check in each day. Sounds like an awesome year. Be safe all and keep those reports coming.

 

[SpringFever552]

Just came back from Nootka(my old stomping grounds)...I sure missed you!!!....Never have I seen the fishing SOOOO Good!!! in all the years(25-26)up there.....Tied up @ the Light House on Sat. and Sun......fished Off Shore both days....WOW!!! weather was AMAZING! thank you GOD!!!..... that was much needed R@R.... C@R at the Light...25-30 + lbs Springs.... no other boat there...LOVE IT!!!!..... Coho were insain..... Bajo was OK but found most fish to be on the inside of reef....went through 3 packs of anchovies in one day on 1 rod with second rod hitting just as many fish with Green and White "turd".....(thanks Gill)..... F^CK I NEEDED THAT!!!!..........:O)......


..P.S.... Hope the fellow that had the issue (DSC)at San Carlos on Monday A.M. was OK....hate to hear of sh#t like that.....

 

[directmule]

Grandson left today at 1:30, so it was a short morning on the inside at San Carlos, a little over 4 1/2hrs, but it was a good morning. Top one is a 25 1/2, second down a 19lb, third (darkie) a 18lb and didn't weigh the bottom one.

Dennis

 

[SeaWolf]

Hey Spring Fever, we were near Tofino and heard the CG end of a call. Was that the guy who had fallen and smashed his face?

 

[SpringFever552]

Hey Spring Fever, we were near Tofino and heard the CG end of a call. Was that the guy who had fallen and smashed his face?

yes thats the call..I was heading back in to Moucha Bay boat ramp from Bajo and had just passed SanCarlos 5 mins. before when the call went out from the other fellow on boat,he sounded, how would you say?.. quite frighten?..and rightfully so..... said his friend had just fallen to the floor for no aparrent reason?, was bleeding from nose/mouth area,was consicious and moaning on floor of boat but not alert....being a firstaid guy(at work),I had already slowed to a stop, but someone made it to said boat and offered help within mins., I didn't hear why he fell? ..did hear that he was being transported to GoldRiver for further medical attention....

one thing I thought about afterwords was? obviously hope the guy turns out to be A-OK, BUT...the fellow that made the call,had given his location to CG as being at SanCalos in a Bayliner Trophy close to the steam donkey(which is on the beach), and almost everyone who knows Nootka Sound knows exactly were that is, now I know with all the electronics nowadays the info the CG wants is GPS waypoints, and the fellow on board making the distress call gave them to CG when asked for them...now this is what got me thinking???..when the DSC allert went out,what I heard, the CG only gave GPS waypoints with NO other info, now if "SanCarlos Point" had been offered also with GPS #s I think would have been much better for the average boater out there??....just me thinking outloud....

 

[Drewski Canuck]

Where are the 40 pound Springs?

I understand that a 40 pound Spring likely is a 6 year old fish, and when I think back to 2005 - 2006, we did have warm water years and Mackeral to some degree, but shouldn't there be SOME return from these years of 6 year old fish? I have been watching the Critter Cove postings as well as the Weigh West and Westview sites, and note that there are no 40 pound fish in yet? I know a couple in the high 40's were caught in May at Nootka which some believe could have been Gold River returns, or possibly Columbia fish, but it seems strange that there is such a lack of big fish being caught this summer at Nootka.

I am glad that the 20 pound range is so strongly represented, so there was great survival for 07 and 08. Is it just that the Hatcheries are concentrating on smaller fish because of less attrition at sea for the shorter years to return?

Don't get me wrong, I am happy with the trip I had. I have never caught a 40 anyway, but it is always nice to dream.

Drewski

 

[profisher]

This was predicted to be a year with only a very few 5 year olds. (30 to 40's) Next year I believe is supposed to be a good year for above average returns of 5 year old fish. Enjoy the numbers of fish this year, you can't have everything!

 

[Bonker43]

Maybe those big ones are waiting for the right fisherman to cross their path!!!!

 

[directmule]

Moutcha Bay Resort has a 40lb posted on it's board, the leader in the $10,000 prize so far, came from way outside.

 

[Charlie]

I understand that a 40 pound Spring likely is a 6 year old fish, and when I think back to 2005 - 2006, we did have warm water years and Mackeral to some degree, but shouldn't there be SOME return from these years of 6 year old fish? I have been watching the Critter Cove postings as well as the Weigh West and Westview sites, and note that there are no 40 pound fish in yet? I know a couple in the high 40's were caught in May at Nootka which some believe could have been Gold River returns, or possibly Columbia fish, but it seems strange that there is such a lack of big fish being caught this summer at Nootka.

I am glad that the 20 pound range is so strongly represented, so there was great survival for 07 and 08. Is it just that the Hatcheries are concentrating on smaller fish because of less attrition at sea for the shorter years to return?

Don't get me wrong, I am happy with the trip I had. I have never caught a 40 anyway, but it is always nice to dream.

Drewski

A 40 pound Chinook on the inside, anywhere in Nootka, is more likely to be a 4 year old (maybe 5?) Conuma "female"! Don't think so... call Campbell River DFO, they will flat at tell you!

Nootka has a few 5 year olds; however, 6 or 7 year olds. Start looking for that needle in a hay stack. It has to do when smolts emigrate more than anything. e.g. you can take a smolt from the Skeena, release it in Nootka and the returning salmon will be the same size of the Nootka fish - not the size of the Skeena.

The Conuma is actually considered a “fall” run and they mostly emigrate as subyearlings! The number of returning 4 and 5 year is more based on whether the smolt emigrates as a yearling or subyearling. The delayed smolting of the yearlings produce higher proportions of 4 and 5 year olds compared to the other Chinook, which mature predominantly as 3 and 4 year olds. Smolts that emigrated in 2006 and 2007 have already returned. Those would be 2005 and 2006 brood stock making them 5 and 6 year olds. As for those 5 and 6 year olds check the Conuma production figures. You have to put them out to get them back. Even with a survival rate of10% you are missing about 46,000 (a year) returning Conuma that could have even came back as 5 or 6 year olds.

FYI… Length corresponds to age. Two year-old adults tend to be around 40 cm long, and a six year-old adult often measure one meter (100 cm) in length. Chinook salmon are considered mature at 30 pounds and 36 inches (91.44cm). That is well above that 77 cm rule, which was actually put into effect to protect the Canadian 4 year old “mature” females. Taking into consideration a 2 year old is 40 cm and that 77 centimeters = 30.3149606 inches it doesn’t take much to figure out what DFO is doing on the WCVI!

 

[Drewski Canuck]

Charlie, I agree that economics are based upon return, which would justify focusing hatchery efforts on fish with the highest probability of return, as opposed to recruiting fish that stay out longer and face predation, fishing pressure, disease, pollution, etc and reduced numbers returning. All the same, when you think of Rivers Inlet, and Campbell River in the 1980's, it was the big fish that was drawing the crowds. I was lead to Gold River of stories of 50 pound Springs. It still is a quality fishery by any stretch. However, given the poor recruitment in the wild spawn fish, it seems that hatchery production of large fish would be most advantageous, as the percentage recruitment and hence return, would be best served by hatchery methods which sees 5 fold success over river spawn fish just at the smolt stage. When there are lots of 20 pound fish spawning, that age and size class would still see strong recruitment as wild spawn smolts.
Drewski

 

[profisher]

There were a good number of big fish taken in 2010 in early August. I know of a group that over 3 days of fishing landed 58, 50, 48 and 42 pound springs from Bajo.

 

[profisher]

Is was a customer of mine down here who fills Fyfe's lodge every year with family and friends. I believe IFL and Andrew do work for Dave when needed. I think Brian took the 58 and 48...was on the same trip so both fish in the boat at same time. Dream trip for sure.

 

[Drewski Canuck]

Guys, the whole point of making coho and Chinook a recreational fish, as opposed to commercial fish such as chum and sockeye, is to allocate fish that essentially are for tourism. The recognition of the $100 + per pound injection to the local economy from sporties is to set these fish aside for sporties, after FN allocation. Lets face it, nothing makes a guy want to spend money like the chance of catching an EGO fish. The smaller ones taste better, but size matters. Just ask any wife who puts up with Hubby telling about the BIG fish he caught. No one ever talks about the great eating 15 pounders that were brought home. That is why it is important to try and supplement through the hatchery system the biggest fish, unless you are really running the hatcheries to produce commercial fish. All the same, my salmon trip is the pilgrimige I do since '91 and is the highlight of my fishing year, regardless of size and numbers.

Drewski

 

[KCW]

Will be at cougar creek sat-tues. Any other members going.185 DE with a red stripe and yamaha's.

Ken

 

[Capt. Red]

Fishing report for July 28th-Aug 3rd- Esperanza.

Another great visit to the area, and a fabulous stay at Flynn's Cove. Ann and Ed continue to make it nicer and nicer, and are great hosts.... On to the fishing- The Highway was not very pleasant to be on most days we tried. When we did fish it we found plenty of Coho but not a lot of Springs. We did manage to lose ( of course) a PIG of a Spring at the boat, but fishing was not good enough to take a beating every day out there. Inside waters were outstanding. The wall at Rosa spit out quite a few for us, and about 50% were legal to keep. The real story was at Ferrer Pt. After using 6" Tomic spoons ( Mike and Kelly Pilcards both seemed to work well) and some Zurtro spoons ( Black and Silver, name escapes me, that worked well also), we reverted to our old standby, cutplug blue herring. Holy Cow, bar the door Katie! In a 2.5 hour frenzy at Ferrer, we caught 3 legal kings, released at least 8 kings over 20#s ( lost count after 8) and even managed to land a few silvers! What a memorable morning.

Took me 3 releases to get over letting dandy fish like that go, but was really enjoyable once I just accepted it for what it was. The only bummer is that I am sure the large seal lion colony there is absolutely feasting on the exhausted kings we released, even after they were revived to the best of my ability....... Pulled a Hali's up from the Highway, but nothing to call home about. Can't afford to quit the job and head back, but sure am tempted

Capt. Red

 

[profisher]

Just wondering where most of the cut plug fish were hooked. My experience is that they take it deep and often will be bleeders if the hooks are pulled. Plugs and big spoons however usually hook them in the corner of the mouth well forward of vital areas and are very easy to turn loose without any harm.

 

[Capt. Red]

Profisher,

Great question- Most of the fish were hooked in the "lips", although we had one that I had to snip off the bottom hook as it was pretty deep in the throat. Perhaps them not getting hooked deeper is just because the particular way I was taught to rig the plug? I have never really had any problems with the hooks being very deep in fish, other then some Ho Ho's. I would be interested in hearing other folks experience with this though.

CR

 

[directmule]

And it continues.

Grandson, from our oldest son left Aug. 4th, youngest son arrived Aug. 5th late afternoon, went outside this morning with his two young daughters, none had been saltwater fishing before, girls are 8 & 10yr old, on the way out, saw two whales just before the lighthouse, sea otter, seals...............just awesome, they said and then we got to the halibut grounds, a little later one hali, then a ray, then a hali, then a dogfish, then a huge 6' ray, and then the final hali, all chickens, first 18lb, second a 20lb & third a 25lb. Girls are wound up, so excited as the son is. Trying for salmon tomorrow.

Dennis

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

What boat are you in?