Port Alberni / Bamfield Reports - Spring and Summer 2011

I agree Poett Nook might be a better place to stay if you're going to fish the South side of the sound. It's not fancy and the gravel road is something else getting there. Take your time, go slow and bring a BIG dust mop. The owner is friendly and tries to do his best to please you. This was a few years ago but, my boats too big to trailer anymore. Ucluelet is a pretty good place if you don't mind running a little. I stay at Island West Resort. They have a freezer locker that you can freeze your catch for a small fee.
 
check out the marine forecast in the a.m., channel is almost always good until 11a.m.
 
The forecast you are looking at is really more for offshore waters. Early travel down the Canal is more often decent and you can pretty much always find a spot to fish inside Barkley. This forecast would not deter me from heading down (I've been doing the run for 15+ years). It will always be windy in Port in the afternoon when the air temps are high and the thermals develop.
 
Fish report

so , fished outta Creek Marina this morning ,had a chat with a few workers there , I truly feel sorry for the owners of the place ,
what a disaster ,Commercial Gillers in full force last night ,ALOT ... seen very few boats at Nahmint today , which was on fire 2 weeks ago ,and arround 200
boats all over Cous Creek , i guess thats where a small pocket of fish were left , We were extremely lucky ta get 6 outta 8 in the boat ,
most boats did not look very amused ,spirits seemed VERY low at there docks afterwards , ..who can blame them , plenty of fish for all , to almost 0 ,

the worst part about , the gillnetters were in full swing all over the pill point area today , right in the prime areas of our rec summer chinooks , completely discusted , you could barely get ur boat through there around noon ,

i did get our lines down for a hour for the tide change , we did hit 4 fish , 3 to the boat , all released , 8 -10 lbs , do these smaller springs not get netted as well ? i have a hard time believing they dont ,seena seiner there too ??? not the commy's fault fellas , the idiots that created this disaster ,DFO ?? again...

anyways , if ur looking to put some fish in freesers outta these areas , dont waste ur time , its UGLY man...

On a better note , The outter sound ,swale and most popular bank areas were great for alot of guys at our docks today
, this may be an option..

anyways , hope this helps

ps , we still had fun though,,,

later

fd
 
Hey FD, you were fishing out of where? China Creek Marina?? And did you get your fish at Cous Creek? If so I would suspect that the fish that were at Cous Creek today will be up the river by tomorrow. Hopefully there are more coming in, we will be out for a try tomorrow AM.
 
Going to Bamfield later today for a one off of Sunday fishing, hope the dang commies haven't sucked the fishy fun outta it.
 
Category(s): COMMERCIAL - Salmon: Gill Net
Subject: FN0552-COMMERCIAL - Salmon: Gill Net - Area D - Opening for Sockeye in Area 23 - Barkley Sound and lower Alberni Inlet Area 23 Gill nets open 168 hours, 14:00 hours Friday, July 8 to 14:00 hours Friday, July 15 in Subarea 23-5 and portions of Subareas 23-2, 23-3, 23-4 and 23-6, and that portion of Subarea 23-2 southerly of a line bounded by Bilton Point Light and a point 90 degrees true, due east on the opposite shore is open. Numukamis Bay, San Mateo Bay, Effingham Inlet, Rainy Bay and Uchucklesit Inlet are closed. Harvesters are requested to refrain from fishing in southern boundary areas and in Imperial Eagle Channel from 00:01 hours to 03:30 hours to avoid intercepting coho. DNA Samples will be collected from sockeye caught in Barkley Sound to determine the proportion of Henderson Lake sockeye in the catch. Variation Order No. 11-Sal-23-GN-07. Area 23 Gill nets open 98 hours, from 14:00 hours to 04:00 hours daily starting Friday, July 8 and ending 04:00 hours, Friday, July 15; in Subarea 23-2 north of a line from Bilton Point Light across to a point 90 degrees true, due east on the opposite shore and in that portion of Subarea 23- 1 bounded in the north by a line from Polly's Point light across to a boundary sign at Stamp Point on the opposite shore of Alberni Inlet. Variation Orders 11-Sal-23-GN-08, 11-Sal-23-GN-09, 11-SAL-23-GN-010, 11-Sal-23- GN-11, 11-Sal-23-GN-12, 11-Sal-23-GN-13 and 11-Sal-23-GN-14. Min. mesh size 100 mm., max. depth 90 meshes, max. hang ratio 3:1, corkline to web distance min. 0 cm, max. 2 m. Coho and steelhead may not be retained. Conventional multi-strand web or six-strand Alaska-twist web, or a combination of the two may be used. The in-season re-forecast made July 7 for Somass sockeye is 1,400,000. The target catch for the upcoming week for combined fishing areas is 90,000 sockeye. The seine test-fishing vessel Argent 1 will be operating in the area Mondays and Tuesdays. Test-set information is available on the internet at: http://www- ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/xnet/content/salmon/testfish/default.htm Fishers are advised that a mandatory harvest log and catch reporting program is in place. Start and end fishing reports are required. A fishing report is required for all fishing activity even if no fish are caught. Please refer to Area D Conditions of Licence for updated information. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is interested in reports of sea turtles in BC waters. By documenting sightings we are able to learn more about how, when, and where these turtles are using our waters. If you see a sea turtle, please call this toll-free phone number: 1-866-I SAW ONE (1-866-472-9663). Please include information such as the type of sea turtle seen (i.e. leatherback), the location, and time of sighting. Environment Canada (EC) is monitoring seabird by-catch to determine potential impact on bird populations under current fishing effort and bird numbers. Fishers are requested to submit all dead birds entangled in nets to EC for species confirmation and DNA analysis to determine the colony of origin. Please call your local charter patrol to organize pick-up, drop carcasses off at a local DFO office, or contact EC directly by calling the EC Reporting Line 1-866-431-2473 (BIRD). Label birds with date, time, location and vessel name (Skipper name isn't needed). Handle birds with gloves, double bag dead birds, store on ice. Questions: contact Laurie Wilson (laurie.wilson@ec.gc.ca, 604-862- 8817). FOR MORE INFORMATION: Paul Preston, Resource Manager, Port Alberni (250) 720 4452
 
Category(s): COMMERCIAL - Salmon: Seine
Subject: FN0550-COMMERCIAL - Salmon: Seine - Area B - Area 23 - Sockeye - Opening Area 23 - Alberni Inlet Seines open 10:00 hours Saturday, July 09 to 10:00 hours Friday, July 15 or until the target catch is reached, whichever occurs first, in that portion of Subarea 23-1 bounded in the north by a line from a boundary sign at the Harbour Quay clock tower in Port Alberni harbour to a boundary sign on the opposite shore of Alberni Inlet and in the south by a line from Dunsmuir Point light to a point on the opposite shore at a light at the northern end of the China Creek Marina breakwater. The in-season re-forecast for Somass sockeye is 1,400,000. The target catch for this opening is 120,000 sockeye. Minimum bunt mesh size is 70 mm. The target species is sockeye, incidentally caught Coho may be retained. Pink, Chum, Chinook and Steelhead may not be retained. All catch must be brailed and the use of power skiffs is approved. The involvement of the Area B seine fleet in the Alberni Inlet sockeye fishery is dependent on the Area B Seine Harvest Committee developing and implementing a fishing plan that limits the harvest of sockeye to weekly target allocations. In cooperation with Fisheries Management staff, the Area B Harvest Committee actively manages this weekly fishing plan through the Working Group process. Without the effort control provided by this management program there would be no opportunity for Area B seines to participate in this fishery. As a result, Area B vessel masters must be designated by their representative body, the Area B Harvest Committee, to participate in this fishery. If undesignated seine vessels attend or attempt to participate in this fishery, the department will not open the fishery. Vessel masters participating in this fishery should read their licence conditions carefully. In 2011 there is mandatory dockside monitoring for all sockeye seine openings in Alberni Inlet. Logbooks are mandatory and can be obtained by phoning 1-877-280-3474. Fishermen must hail their catch to a service provider within 24 hours of the closure of the fishery. A large recreational fleet is expected to be fishing in and near the areas open to seine fishing. Vessel masters are requested to avoid fishing near concentrations of recreational vessels and to travel at slow speed to minimize wake height when transiting through the recreational fishery. DFO Port Alberni will request catch updates by radio or cell-phone. Please advise test-fishing vessel Argent 1 of catch if requested. Variation Order No. 2011-SAL-23-SN-03 FOR MORE INFORMATION: Paul Preston, Resource Manager, Port Alberni (250) 720 4452
 
Two Hundred and Ten Thousand Sockeye? WTF??

Want to let us in on just how many have actually made it by the in-river nets to date?
Oh, and did you forget there actually is a Recreational Sector in Port Alberni?

Is there a reason so many refer to your organization as The Dino??

Completely HOPELESS! Epic FAIL!!! :mad:

PO'd yet again (surprise surprise surprise!... NOT!)

Nog
 
@Nog

"There's a lot of net activity and the fish aren't filling in, so the sport guys aren't catching anything," Cole said.
But with sockeye escapement estimated at 528,000, divided fairly evenly between Sproat and Great Central Lakes, there is a concern that escapement could exceed the rearing capacity of the lakes, Cole said, so increasing the net catch is important.

"It's great that there are so many fish, but we do have to protect our sport/tourist fishery," Cole said. "We've lobbied to set aside some area for sport fishermen."
Click to expand...

Source:
http://www2.canada.com/albernivalleytimes/news/story.html?id=9dd5bc0d-e33d-42bd-a889-c334734a5550

I was at the stamp falls fish ladder and it's absolutely polluted with sockeye headed towards GCL, they are literally stacked so hard at the mouth of the fish ladder that there is more fish than water and are clearly visible throughout the fish ladder which I havn't seen in a couple years being down there, even last year there was never this many visible at any given time. Apparently they are worried about over escapement now though since the water has stayed so high and cool this year.

There is so many sockeye in the river at the fish ladder that when there is a big push from the rapids there are literally hundreds of sockeye that get washed up onto the rocks there. It's been like this for the past 3 weeks I go 3-5 times a week with the girlfriend and the dog for a gander and look.

Just curious to anyone that fished them this year if you noticed there is quite the size difference between the ones I was pulling in this year compared to last year, there was quite a few that rivaled the sizes of the fraser river (more than likely adam's river sockeye) that we were catching north of campbell river last year (8+ pounds).
 
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There are roughly 528,000 sockeye already in the lakes........split fairly evenly between the two. Estimates are close to another 100,000 fish throughout the river system. Escapement is going to be exceeded this year and the square hook boys have been given the all clear to vacuum up everything that is left. Last 2 days in the canal have been dead.....still LOTS of fish pushing up into the lower Somass, but even those numbers are dropping off every day now. Pity the poor summer steelhead......
 
Very amusing that Dfo figures they know how many fish they want in the lake, and any more than that would be a disaster..
Nature has been looking after itself for millions of years. The extra fish would be food for the plankton etc that the juveniles feed on among other things. Letting the later part of the run spawn also means diversification. Vacuuming out the inlet only meand WIPING out part of the run.
 
you are totally correct in your describing what would happen with those 'surplus' fish, islandgirl. but fish management relies on the notion of 'Maximum Sustained Yield' (MSY). this is a totally flawed bit of investigation done by 2 different fish bios back in the 70s which makes the case for removing all but the minimum number needed to sustain a run. of course no one really knows how many fish are actually needed to sustain a specific run of anadramous fish, strike 1. removing the dead fish has a huge impact on everything in the eco system from stream side trees to aquatic insects, strike 2. and finally just how do we measure the numbers of surplus fish extracted? strike 3.

this is an ongoing debate among the rec anglers focused on how our resources are allocated and 'managed'. someone posted the relevant 'revised code', the legal basis for operation of WDFW. right there in black and white, the number one reason for WDFW is to insure a viable commercial harvest. until the politicians are held accountable for this nonsense, the fish will simply continue to disapear.
 
Fish ladder is located out at stamp falls provincial park there is also a campground there, but to get there you just drive out on beaver creek follow the road down there for 15 or so minutes and there is a sign on the right hand side that tells you to turn left and there is a gated gravel road (Closed 11 PM - 7 AM nightly), follow the road to the bottom and go passed the campground there is parking and it's like a 5minute walk down a trail and there is the fish ladder and lots of places to view the river and the salmon going up.

In the fall when the coho and chinook are heading to the Roberston Creek Hatchery, they have a van for counting how many go through the fish ladder and have a camera and TV setup so you get a really good view of the fish going through on their way to the hatchery and great central lake.
 
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will all the comercial nets affect spring fishing in barkley sound what happens to all the springs in the nets ment for sockeye?
 
nikoftime said:
will all the comercial nets affect spring fishing in barkley sound what happens to all the springs in the nets ment for sockeye?
Click to expand...

It's called "bycatch". And "supposed" to be dumped back alive.

No Observers. No dockside when the rigs return to JP's plants. So where do You guess they end up :confused:

Nog
 
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