West Coast Commercial Troll fishery Report

[At Ease]

I'm from the Parries but have been out here for 18yrs. The other two guys on my boat were both from Port Alberni and have fished those waters all their lives ( 70 and 40 yrs). The consensus between all of us was Sea Lice. I wish now that I would have dropped a bucket took a sample. I have attached a picture but it is a little hard to see.

 

[At Ease]

They were short and flat with a bit of a tail.

 

[Derby]

krill a great sign .. love watching cohoe feeding on them when there up top like that............... sea lice not so much

 

[Prairie Locked]

Fished Grant's last weekend. Caught and released two hatch springs. Would they have been Columbia fish?

Hard to say really but I'd lean more towards probably not likely.

 

[wildmanyeah]

If the water is cooler and theirs krill like that on the outside we may see higher sockeye division rate to the outside and that has not happened for awhile.

 

[IronNoggin]

Perhaps one reason the Area G troll numbers are down is related to the fish running the edge along the structure where the troll fleet isn't normally fishing?

Your suggestion displays just how little you know regarding our fleet & how we fish. From the beach (less than 16 fathoms along the structure) to as far as the 100 fathom edge, we are very very familiar with the routes these fish utilize. And we fish those. Hard.

The fishery is now over. Once the over estimates have been corrected, we will have realized 2/3 of the lowest quota we have ever been dispersed. We did NOT miss them. They were and are simply not there. Period.

This is extremely alarming.

Nog

 

[donnie d]

Hard to say really but I'd lean more towards probably not likely.

Wouldn’t be Columbia fish, Puget Sound river fish probably.

 

[Whitebuck]

Puget Sound or our fall hatchery Harrison whites.

 

[Charter Tofino]

This early season ECVI fishery is not new or better than in years past. Think back to 2009, it was easy limits of 15-25 lb early season Chinook. Even 2-4 years ago it was better numbers and bigger fish.

Although the troll fleets reports were grim and it’s going to be a slow year, there are some solid pockets of fish on WCVI and the north end. All inshore. Barkley hasn’t had big numbers of teeners the last week or two.

 

[CVmike]

I'm from the Parries but have been out here for 18yrs. The other two guys on my boat were both from Port Alberni and have fished those waters all their lives ( 70 and 40 yrs). The consensus between all of us was Sea Lice. I wish now that I would have dropped a bucket took a sample. I have attached a picture but it is a little hard to see.View attachment 38114

That was likely crab spawn. Great feed for baby coho and the springs on the west side have been packed with it too.

 

[The Jackel]

That was likely crab spawn. Great feed for baby coho and the springs on the west side have been packed with it too.

I think i agree with this there was loads of it in the water in Renfrew yesterday

 

[spoiler]

I think i agree with this there was loads of it in the water in Renfrew yesterday

Hey Jackel, how's the cut-plugging at Port Renfrew?

 

[outoftowner]

The fish have been going east instead of west for a long time now. Inside fishing from Campbell River to nanoose has trumped west coast fishing for at least 5 years. Sure there are times when the west coast gets spurts of fish, but the inside has good fishing from the beginning of may till the end of Sept.

 

[Bugs]

I think i agree with this there was loads of it in the water in Renfrew yesterday

Yes... the description of short flat with a tail matches Dungeness Crab megalopae (the last larval stage) these larvae have already gone through 5 previous stages over a few weeks. The last stage is known to swarm in huge numbers like that at the surface. An update from the NOAA research cruise over the last week off the Washington and Oregon coast encountered unprecedented numbers of these guys (single net tows containing more individuals than the sum of all tows for the whole cruise on all three previous years combined). Other reports indicate a crazy Dungeness Crab recruitment year is occurring.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Yes... the description of short flat with a tail matches Dungeness Crab megalopae (the last larval stage) these larvae have already gone through 5 previous stages over a few weeks. The last stage is known to swarm in huge numbers like that at the surface. An update from the NOAA research cruise over the last week off the Washington and Oregon coast encountered unprecedented numbers of these guys (single net tows containing more individuals than the sum of all tows for the whole cruise on all three previous years combined). Other reports indicate a crazy Dungeness Crab recruitment year is occurring.

Water temp? Cooler? Same? Hotter?

 

[The Jackel]

Hey Jackel, how's the cut-plugging at Port Renfrew?

See renfrew report, first day yesterday

 

[Foxsea]

I know of multiple people that have said the spring Chinook fishing on ECVI is the best it’s been in 30 years...

The Chinook fishing in Area 14 has been outstanding! I want to fish from Poett Nook in late July but it will not be to fill my freezer.