2020 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports

[Kildonan]

Fish have shown up today 2 coho and 5 springs all at Beale on tiny spoons all silver actually got a small Tom Mack from my trout box and had 5 hits on it. Small is better

When I used to fish Barkley back in the day, those small Tom Mack silver spoons worked ridiculously well. I can't even hazard a guess at how many fish we caught on those during the 12 years I fished there.

 

[Foxsea]

Just came back from a family week at Barclay Sound. We usually fished the Meares to Cree tack and found the springs few and far between. We did bring home an 18, a 15 and my young grandson landed a 13# fish. We would likely have done better offshore but my grandson said no to that. A couple of us headed out about 7 miles early one morning and got quick limits of coho after weeding through many wild ones. We spent a bit of time looking for halibut but no luck. My grandson loves jigging up rockfish and got a few good sized ones. He was delighted when his rod bent double one evening and he reeled in a decent ling cod. He thinks that was more fun than his salmon. The weather was pretty good for the week and it appears more fish are showing up. We had a great time out there.

 

[morganic]

Got out today for the first time in a few weeks.
Would of been a stellar morning if I
A sharpened hooks or b checked leaders.
Started my tack at ohaut and first pass had a decent fish on. Caught me by surprise so never got a good hook set and it should shook off. Did pass again and almost same spot had another on.
Lost that too. Went for 3rd pass and got hammered. This fish was peeling line. Finally thought I had control and snap fish gone. Was left with half a leader. Trolled another 2.5 hours in same area and managed one 8lb fish and a few dinkers. All fish on white hootchie
Capt mo

 

[Gus Rettschlag]

Got out today for the first time in a few weeks.
Would of been a stellar morning if I
A sharpened hooks or b checked leaders.
Started my tack at ohaut and first pass had a decent fish on. Caught me by surprise so never got a good hook set and it should shook off. Did pass again and almost same spot had another on.
Lost that too. Went for 3rd pass and got hammered. This fish was peeling line. Finally thought I had control and snap fish gone. Was left with half a leader. Trolled another 2.5 hours in same area and managed one 8lb fish and a few dinkers. All fish on white hootchie
Capt mo

Where is ohaut? Never heard of this place?

 

[SpringFever552]

Where is ohaut? Never heard of this place?

Just in from Kirby Pt, off Helby Is.

 

[trophywife]

Anyone do well on salmon fishing the 5-10 mile offshore spots? I have a smaller vessel and can’t go out to the rats nose.

seems everyone always heads out 20+ miles.

12 mile has been doing ok

 

[BigBadBrad]

Right on thanks TW. Are you gonna be up there buzzing around in the aluminum?

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

Got back last night from a 6 day trip to Bamfield- 2 boats and 4 guys.
Had a great stay at McKay bay lodge and the weather was great.
Fishing was definitely better offshore and we spent 2 days out there.
Inside we fished Cree and Beale mostly and had our share of success with the biggest being a 24 at Cree but just a handful of fish over long days on the inside.
I fished some lures I’ve been working on for a few years and it was nice to see them doing just as well or better than anything else with the exception of bait.
We caught a small Hali and a few Ling in the troll as well.
Great trip for 4 old friends and can’t say enough about the place!

 

[Southswell]

Trolled cree and Austin for hours on Saturday without a bite. Saw someone next to me pull in a low teens spring And that was it. Decided to stop by south bank on the way home as I can rarely get out that far in my 16 foot whaler. Managed limits on halibut with a couple springs and lingcod as bonus fish. Freezer is full and time to fire up the smoker

 

[tubber]

Trolled cree and Austin for hours on Saturday without a bite. Saw someone next to me pull in a low teens spring And that was it. Decided to stop by south bank on the way home as I can rarely get out that far in my 16 foot whaler. Managed limits on halibut with a couple springs and lingcod as bonus fish. Freezer is full and time to fire up the smoker

Time for another freezer. It seems like the fishing is cycling back to the days when South Bank is better than closer in during late July/early August, at least until later in August when they start coming in toward the inlet.
For us the last few years have been Big Bank or Wya/Flo with the closer banks being spotty.
My next trip is Aug 11-16. I guess my comment is more for Ukee.

 

[BigBadBrad]

Buddy Linus was out yesterday and then again for a few hours this morning fishing the inside. Said it was really slow. He fished Beale with a bunch of boats and saw very few reputable fish caught. He lost one Chinook. Hopefully things pick up!

 

[Gus Rettschlag]

Just in from Kirby Pt, off Helby Is.

Thanks.

Been a real tough 3 days inside. Tried Beale, Cree, Meares, Kirby, Swale. We have couple teenage springs and a coho.

 

[BigBadBrad]

Thanks.

Been a real tough 3 days inside. Tried Beale, Cree, Meares, Kirby, Swale. We have couple teenage springs and a coho.

Wow that’s very slow.

 

[Pastafarian]

Well, I fished Friday to Sunday in the Sound. We were mainly out near the surf line in various spots, cree, bordelais, beale, sail rk. Brought home 8 springs and 2 lings, all were over 20 pounds. Spoons seemed to be the lucky lure for me, working the gear around 50 feet. Not a ton of of consistent action but at least the fish were quality. Fewer shakers at the surf line too it seems.
Good luck out there!
Pastafarian

 

[SaltyAlice]

A bit of a late report here, but posting for posterity.

Fished Barkley Sound for a few days a week and a half ago. Twas a windy trip which foiled our attempts to get out to the action offshore. One morning we made it 33kms out only to turn around when we saw a few of the waves cresting, which is always off-putting. Because we dislike the whole dying at sea thing we primarily stuck to the sound and the choppy but safer seas. As is often the case this time of year it was slow in the sound with early mornings at surf-line spots being the ticket. We did also try our hand at Swale and Pill but there wasn't much to be had there except shakers. Spoons and bait at 45'-65' seemed to be a good bet for us. The salmon were stuffed with very tiny silver bait fish.

Of note: we caught an absolute monster cabezon. Not sure if it is a record size for Barkley Sound but I haven't ever seen one that size before. Its head was so solid that the gaff bounced off it the first time. When we brought it in the boat it crapped all over my brother, which was almost certainly a highlight of 2020 (the bar is pretty low this year). We retained this one and it will be used to determine if we like cooking/eating them but won't be retaining any more until that culinary experiment is done.

Of other note: we had a 1970s themed day with a great playlist, 70s era snacks (Wagon Wheels and Pop Shop!), questionable outfits, and fake moustaches. We also brought along fake moustaches to put on the fish. I can confirm that trying to stick a fake moustache on a lingcod is not easily done.

We came home with some nice fish including a few high teens/low 20s and a fair haul of ling including the most "vulcan blood" coloured one we've ever caught.

Salty Alice will be back out there this week for the next adventure!

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

A bit of a late report here, but posting for posterity.

Fished Barkley Sound for a few days a week and a half ago. Twas a windy trip which foiled our attempts to get out to the action offshore. One morning we made it 33kms out only to turn around when we saw a few of the waves cresting, which is always off-putting. Because we dislike the whole dying at sea thing we primarily stuck to the sound and the choppy but safer seas. As is often the case this time of year it was slow in the sound with early mornings at surf-line spots being the ticket. We did also try our hand at Swale and Pill but there wasn't much to be had there except shakers. Spoons and bait at 45'-65' seemed to be a good bet for us. The salmon were stuffed with very tiny silver bait fish.

Of note: we caught an absolute monster cabezon. Not sure if it is a record size for Barkley Sound but I haven't ever seen one that size before. Its head was so solid that the gaff bounced off it the first time. When we brought it in the boat it crapped all over my brother, which was almost certainly a highlight of 2020 (the bar is pretty low this year). We retained this one and it will be used to determine if we like cooking/eating them but won't be retaining any more until that culinary experiment is done.

Of other note: we had a 1970s themed day with a great playlist, 70s era snacks (Wagon Wheels and Pop Shop!), questionable outfits, and fake moustaches. We also brought along fake moustaches to put on the fish. I can confirm that trying to stick a fake moustache on a lingcod is not easily done.

We came home with some nice fish including a few high teens/low 20s and a fair haul of ling including the most "vulcan blood" coloured one we've ever caught.

Salty Alice will be back out there this week for the next adventure!

Nice trip! Wow that is the largest Cabazon I've ever seen! If you like Ling you'll like the Cabazon. One of my daughters prefers it over the Lings. Very similar but almost like a cross between a Rock fish and Ling. Goes very well in chowders and bisque's too cause it holds together pretty well when cooking without flaking apart to nothing.

 

[Dogbreath]

.... that is the largest Cabezon I've ever seen!

X2

 

[Nugget]

A bit of a late report here, but posting for posterity.

Fished Barkley Sound for a few days a week and a half ago. Twas a windy trip which foiled our attempts to get out to the action offshore. One morning we made it 33kms out only to turn around when we saw a few of the waves cresting, which is always off-putting. Because we dislike the whole dying at sea thing we primarily stuck to the sound and the choppy but safer seas. As is often the case this time of year it was slow in the sound with early mornings at surf-line spots being the ticket. We did also try our hand at Swale and PillSalty Alice will be back out there this week for the next adventure!

33k offshore? How far were you hoping to get haha?

 

[trophywife]

33k offshore? How far were you hoping to get haha?

musta been close to the spot.. nose is 23nm from beale

 

[SaltyAlice]

33k offshore? How far were you hoping to get haha?

Kamchatka peninsula is going off this time of year!