Slow year

[Eastmon]

I know its early in the season, this is my third year, so i dont have much to compare to when it comes to a lot of you guys that have been around much longer.

Do you get many years like this? Seems everyone has been having trouble getting consistent bites. Last year was a great year, so its all relative i guess.

Any thoughts from the more experienced guys around?

 

[spring fever]

It is early days yet but I have a funny feeling that the huge run is not showing up as predicted . I have had 4 trips to Nootka 'several days each and have to say so far it is slower than last year by a wide margin. There are a few fish where they should be and no fish in what I would call shoulder area's- more worrying is that there is quite a bit of bait around. Next 2 weeks will tell and I will get a better grasp at WH. Fingers crossed!!

 

[cohochinook]

I haven't been doing amazing but it hasn't been that bad of a season. Catching fish almost every time out. Have to try a few different tactics but still having success.

 

[Waterwolf2230]

It's been hit and miss in The Campbell River/Kitty Coleman areas. Very short windows for the bite. Three quality guides took charters out of Pacific Playgrounds for 5 hours today and only came in with one keeper Spring. Lot's of shakers and some wild coho. Said there was a lot of bait as well but no fish following them around. Weird, let's hope it picks up!

 

[tubber]

I am an internet fisherman until July 5th, so I haven't caught anything yet.
In looking at La Perouse swells and temps, the water seems warm. 15C = 59F.

http://weather.gc.ca/marine/weather..._e.html?mapID=02&siteID=06800&stationID=46206

I don't have the boat to fish beyond the nearest edge of Big Bank on a perfect day. But if I did, I might try going beyond the outside edge and dropping down to 300-400 feet. Maybe it's more comfy for springs way out there.
Also, the new high pressure should get some upwelling and more normal temps going.
On the other hand, maybe the tuna will be within reach for regular Joes.

 

[scott craven]

You didn't mention which area you fish Eastman, but I can tell you the south island is very slow from my
experience.
Last year was excellent.

 

[Sharphooks]

Bamfield was a big disappointment for me (unless one considers catching shakers all day long a triumph, because that's how it went for me). My one regret: not fishing deep

It might be one of those years to go DEEP. I heard from the Commie sector that this is what the trollers have been doing out on La Perouse

On the other hand, there are some reports trickling in from up north describing the fishing as "the best evah" , so maybe they're a bit late?

 

[Englishman]

I'm sure more fish will show up soon, and the season will turn out "O.K." However, for a huge multiplicity of reasons discussed and debated at great length on the Conservation thread, the overall long term trend over the coming decades will be downward. The variety of pressures on the stocks such as over fishing, habitat loss, climate change, fish feed lots etc etc are considerable and telling incrementally over time. Death by 1000 cuts unfortunately. We are probably among the last generations to experience good fishing the way it is now........

 

[SpringVelocity]

Way to early so far it seems same to me. In south island its the same and early spring I think was better than most. Seems like offshore fishing has been good and getting better over last week on WCVI. Nanaimo didn't get the run its expected but then there are better reports coming on up North from there this last week. I don't think its as gloomy as people seem to believe. Remember a lot of us don't come on here as often anymore, and in the south less are fishing. So fewer reports on the forum.

 

[spring fever]

I am not writing this year off as a bad year yet-not like 2008 but we have had years when it seemed to be tough to get fish and yet the escapement was better than normal. So what to do-last time this happened I started fishing 250 to 300 ft of wire off-shore and Spring Fever II as a boat did very well. Tactics have to be changed-I didn't fish bait as much at those depths and also fished plugs and 6 and 7 inch spoons-no flasher. That's what I intend to do at WH this wed if the fishing is slow inshore-I will head straight out until I find fish-next stop --Japan!! LOL

 

[Travo]

Got back from prince rupert last week was there from the 12-19th .. fishing was much slower than mosy years we limited out but some days with 1-2 salmon very slow for rupert , guys were catching them but docks and cleaning stations wernt loaded up like the last years ive been going up there .. our biggest spring was 18lbs which was kind of disappointing... Got nootka booked for a week from august 7th on so hoping this years not a bust .

 

[albernifisher]

Been in bamfield for the last 2 weekends, never have I seen it this slow inshore in june

 

[SpringVelocity]

Been in bamfield for the last 2 weekends, never have I seen it this slow inshore in june

Interesting...

 

[cohochinook]

I agree with Spring Fever, when its slow off WCVI go deep! I hate fishing deep, but if all else fails it will produce.

It's been really fun on the Vancouver side to have the salmon so shallow this year. You get great fights with them exploding when they hit. Last time out I had a spring that jumped 3 times!

 

[fishchaser]

So far this I have found offshore are the places to fish for Springs, last Sunday we had limits of mid teen springs and 2 over 20 for 6 people in an 1.5 hours out on the Rats nose using 6 inch (green / nickel) (blue / nickel) coyote spoons between 77 and 97 feet. The weekend before at rats nose was the same for 4 of us in a couple hours. Haven't been as lucky on the hali yet.

 

[TheBigGuy]

I'm sure more fish will show up soon, and the season will turn out "O.K." However, for a huge multiplicity of reasons discussed and debated at great length on the Conservation thread, the overall long term trend over the coming decades will be downward. The variety of pressures on the stocks such as over fishing, habitat loss, climate change, fish feed lots etc etc are considerable and telling incrementally over time. Death by 1000 cuts unfortunately. We are probably among the last generations to experience good fishing the way it is now........

So true. Unless you are a little older you have no idea how poor the fishing is compared to the old days. I started fishing on the chuck when I was a kid in the 1960's. The fishing in comparison today is a pitiful remnant.

 

[IronNoggin]

... It might be one of those years to go DEEP. I heard from the Commie sector that this is what the trollers have been doing out on La Perouse...

I'd be a tad interested in just which "commie" you'd be referring to??
Reason being damn near no-one from Area G hit Big Bank in our last opening & the One I know of that did basically struck out??

The reports trickling down initiated in Alaska. Yeah, the trollers there (might note they don't much like being called a commie either - different ramifications in the 'Merican case though...) mopped up their winter opening a full 2 months early. And went over quota. To quote a couple of my Buddies up there "Incredible", "best damn year EVER" etc.
Interesting to note they landed rather hard on WCVI springs (thus our misguided DFO projections for increased runs of the same ).

And the Charlottes have seen some decent catches of late as well.

The past few years these fish have started to establish a notable pattern. Landfall up just above Winter harbor - slide downhill through Nootka, then suddenly veer back offshore around Estevan. From there it appears they are running the 100 fathom edge - Deep, Hard & Fast. Damn Difficult Targets!

Our next opening is around August 8th. I know I'll be starting to look up around either side of The Cape...

Hope it ain't too slow for us too at that time...

Cheers,
Nog

 

[Sangstercraft]

A few friends of mine fished South Bank off Barkley Sound, and then up in Kyuquot and they didn't catch a SINGLE salmon - not springs, not coho, nothing. They did catch some bottomfish, but it was mainly lings.

Theses guys are lifelong fishermen and usually clean up. It's really weird.

 

[Highliner]

So true. Unless you are a little older you have no idea how poor the fishing is compared to the old days. I started fishing on the chuck when I was a kid in the 1960's. The fishing in comparison today is a pitiful remnant.

It kill me ready this! Why did I have to be born in the eighties!

 

[Dogbreath]

The past few years these fish have started to establish a notable pattern. Landfall up just above Winter harbor - slide downhill through Nootka, then suddenly veer back offshore around Estevan. From there it appears they are running the 100 fathom edge - Deep, Hard & Fast. Damn Difficult Targets!

Our next opening is around August 8th. I know I'll be starting to look up around either side of The Cape...

Could be an interesting year given that The Blob is Lurking

It's alive! 'The blob' lingers at new depth, scientists say
Marine ecosystems still at risk as 'the blob' sinks deeper below the surface, says DFO

The blob's heat signature on the surface of the Northeast Pacific has diminished over the last six months, but new findings suggest it's sitting deeper below the surface.

The giant ocean 'blob' isn't dead — yet.

The warm patch of water that stretches along the Pacific Coast is currently resting several hundred metres below the surface of the ocean, despite earlier reports that it had dissipated, according to new data.

"What we're finding is that the upper waters are being mixed by the wind again and coming back to normal temperatures, but the residual effect of the blob is still there at about 150 to 200 metres [below the surface]," said Ian Perry, a senior research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The blob was widely pronounced dead earlier this year after satellite heat images no longer detected abnormally warm waters on the surface of the Pacific Coast. However, the imaging only read up to 40 metres below the surface, said Perry.

Vertical measurements conducted by the DFO's Canadian Coast Guard vessels indicate the blob now lives deeper below the surface. According to Perry, at this depth the warm water continues to prevent the mixing of nutrients to the ocean's upper-layer, which has harmed coastal ecosystems over the past two years.

Marine wildlife, including Pacific salmon, have suffered as a result of what's been dubbed a 'marine heatwave'.

La Niña to the rescue

Preliminary data from the most recent vertical measurements conducted by the DFO, however, are indicating that the blob might be starting to weaken at the new depth, said Perry.

Over the next few months, it's expected that La Niña — an ocean-atmospheric system that has a cooling effect on surface temperatures across the east-central equatorial Pacific — will work to bring temperatures down to normal levels.

"I think this La Niña event will help cool it off," said Nick Bond, a research meteorologist at the University of Washington. "[But] our climate models are indicating that, because of all the accumulated heat, that it's going to take a while for that to happen — at least through the remainder of this year."

According to Bond, temperatures are currently between 0.5 C to 1.0 C above average at the 150 metres deep mark throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Bond was the first to discover the warm patch of water in 2014 and coined the now iconic moniker, 'the blob'. He spent the next two years studying the phenomenon and expects it to be a preview of extreme weather events to come in the wake of climate change.

"We're all interested in this, but it kind of makes us nervous also. It shows us just how sensitive our systems are to climate and atmosphere," he added.