2019 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports

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I'm doing my first trip to Bamfield in August for 6 days. Planning on running boat (24' trophy) down the inlet, not driving around. Please advise safest location to leave truck & trailer for duration. Also is any location to stay away from due to ramp issues i.e minus tides that week? Clutesi, China Creek, Harbor Quay? other? Would rather pay weekly parking rate then try to find free parking on the street if it is safer. Appreciate any help
 
I use the launch at Cluetsi Marina which is in the river. I launched there on June 8th at almost a 0' tide and had no problem for my 18' boat. I took it easy going down the river till I got into deep water as the river is not that deep at such a low tide.
Been using Cluetsi for 10 years and parking my van and trailer across the street in the free parking lot for the whole time as well with no problems (so far....touch wood!!!)
Can't comment on the other launches except China Creek which is fine but I was staying in the campground and stored the trailer by the campsite. You would have to phone China Creek to see if they have room to store your trailer.
 
Fished out of Bamfield from June 8 to the 15th. First 4 days with 2 buddy's from work were pretty good with consistent fishing. Able to find springs at Cree/ Austin, Bordelais, Wall, Swale .. yeah the usual spots. Couldn't find anything bigger than an 11lber for us. Most where all cookie cutter 6 to 8 lbers. Anchovy was our main choice of weapon. Released lots of small ones. Last 4 days were a lot slower. Able to catch 8 more with my two boys when they came up. But if was definitely a bit of grind to get them. I know talking to others staying at the Beam it was slow for them as well.
 
I'm doing my first trip to Bamfield in August for 6 days. Planning on running boat (24' trophy) down the inlet, not driving around. Please advise safest location to leave truck & trailer for duration. Also is any location to stay away from due to ramp issues i.e minus tides that week? Clutesi, China Creek, Harbor Quay? other? Would rather pay weekly parking rate then try to find free parking on the street if it is safer. Appreciate any help
china creek is safer for your truck and trailer for sure,but phone them to see if there is room,the launch is better at lower tides too,if you do clutesie watch the markers going out in the river,i seen guys on the sand bars many times lol.break ins at clutesie do happen more then I like for sure,dont leave any thing of value in your truck
 
Hey team. Two things:
1) I’ll be putting in some solid fishing from Sunday - Wednesday in the Sound. I’ll keep y’all updated on what is working and what is not. I’ll be working a bunch of areas.
2) Just bought my first prawn traps. I’ve never tried it before but was hoping to give it a shot during this trip. Any advice on Barkley Sound prawning? I’m less worried about catching zero prawns than I am of having my gear nicked. Any pointers would be much appreciated!
 
Hey team. Two things:
1) I’ll be putting in some solid fishing from Sunday - Wednesday in the Sound. I’ll keep y’all updated on what is working and what is not. I’ll be working a bunch of areas.
2) Just bought my first prawn traps. I’ve never tried it before but was hoping to give it a shot during this trip. Any advice on Barkley Sound prawning? I’m less worried about catching zero prawns than I am of having my gear nicked. Any pointers would be much appreciated!
Make sure you have at least 5 pounds of weight in each trap and this year at least 300 feet
 
Was up for a few days and got back Tuesday.
Fished different spots around the sound and found fish of some sort at all. Allot of small fish around and cookie cutter hatcherys about 10lbs for me. There was good bites at whittlestone/beale for some and others struggled from what I gathered. Allot of squid in sound and white hootchie did as well as small spoons.
I was fishing solo so I tend to fish spots where the pack isn't. Had ships Edward King mostly to myself and got fish. There were bigger springs coming in to the docks Monday Tuesday. Met some good guys at the beam and the couple running it this summer amy and Brannon are quality people. Back next Thursday for the long weekend. Will report. Tight lines mo
 
I ran down the inlet this am with my 3 year old and fished diplock and Fleming for a few hours. Trolled up 6 or so smaller springs and picked up a couple lings. Couldn’t find anything over ten lbs unfortunately . We had the best luck with spoons .
 
Thunder21, if that was you running out this morning with the twin Suzukis on a pod, we were admiring how beautifully your boat was running past Dunsmuir. It isn't often you see such perfect trim - well done!
 
squid galore on the outside edges.. fishing slowed during the week but has picked up again. uv white was the go to for matching the hatch.. literally puking them up and stomachs full. picked up a bonus hali on the troll at Austin.
most fish caught within 10' of the bottom. GET TO KNOW YOUR TACK, before dispensing lead.
 
Just got back from 5 days boat camping in the Broken Group. Wind blew gale for a few of those days so first half of the trip was finding more or less of a protected spot. Forget about jumping around to different places because the water got really big at times—-and hard to get too technical about the tacks you were running....., just getting the gear in the water and back into the boat became a chore. Found stupid amounts of coho (which seemed to be what most guys were chasing based on the depths they were fishing) but if you sunk your teeth into a spot, you could grind out your allotment of springs. I did have a nice surprise at Kirby— got there at 12:00 noon in the middle of a mediocre tide change. All the cool guys had gone home——the water was still smoking from how hard they pounded it at dawn so I dropped my gear in with limited hope.

But surprise, surprise, a moment later I got a serious take-down and the line goes shrieking off my reel in amounts I haven’t seen in a long time—-at one point I thought I’d snagged a pinniped because no salmon can do a prolonged run like that. But this one did—a nice high-teener that made the trip for me just for the fight alone.

7D7C1A60-147B-4254-B78C-7C1275DA617C.jpeg

Only disappointment of the trip (aside from all that fookin’ Wind) was getting unceremoniously kicked off an island by the First Nation caretakers. I’ve been camping that island for years; I’ve picked a ton of garbage off its beaches for years,too—-it’s a gem ..... and last but not least, it offers protection from NW blows which is why I was there ....but there’s a different sheriff in town now.

This same dynamic is happening to me in steelhead fishing as well—-all my old haunts are getting plucked away from me one by one for one reason or another...no country for old men... but getting kicked off that island is how and why I ended up at Kirby for my smoking unit of a fish so there still is a tiny shred of divine justice still to be had in this New World Order...

I did step up for a new fish finder for the trip, however—-got the Furuno FCV 588—very handy to have bottom discrimination, both to see what you’re anchoring on and what you’re fishing over.

Knowing I was on a mix of sand and gravel is what got me through all that wind! You can see what it looks like at the bottom of the screen...48EDD36D-4368-4828-9BE3-C8AF05B1B91B.jpeg

And X2 on Trophywife’s squid comments. The sign I saw on my fish finder at times were not forage fish like herring....then I cut open a coho I was going to BBQ on the beach and the mystery of what all that sign I was seeing was finally solved:E08EA275-FBCB-41DD-BB3F-C21B295B552E.jpeg
 
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Thunder21, if that was you running out this morning with the twin Suzukis on a pod, we were admiring how beautifully your boat was running past Dunsmuir. It isn't often you see such perfect trim - well done!

Any luck? In the ice box I mean...
 
Just got back from 5 days boat camping in the Broken Group. Wind blew gale for a few of those days so first half of the trip was finding more or less of a protected spot. Forget about jumping around to different places because the water got really big at times—-and hard to get too technical about the tacks you were running....., just getting the gear in the water and back into the boat became a chore. Found stupid amounts of coho (which seemed to be what most guys were chasing based on the depths they were fishing) but if you sunk your teeth into a spot, you could grind out your allotment of springs. I did have a nice surprise at Kirby— got there at 12:00 noon in the middle of a mediocre tide change. All the cool guys had gone home——the water was still smoking from how hard they pounded it at dawn so I dropped my gear in with limited hope.

But surprise, surprise, a moment later I got a serious take-down and the line goes shrieking off my reel in amounts I haven’t seen in a long time—-at one point I thought I’d snagged a pinniped because no salmon can do a prolonged run like that. But this one did—a nice high-teener that made the trip for me just for the fight alone.

View attachment 45986

Only disappointment of the trip (aside from all that fookin’ Wind) was getting unceremoniously kicked off an island by the First Nation caretakers. I’ve been camping that island for years; I’ve picked a ton of garbage off its beaches for years,too—-it’s a gem ..... and last but not least, it offers protection from NW blows which is why I was there ....but there’s a different sheriff in town now.

This same dynamic is happening to me in steelhead fishing as well—-all my old haunts are getting plucked away from me one by one for one reason or another...no country for old men... but getting kicked off that island is how and why I ended up at Kirby for my smoking unit of a fish so there still is a tiny shred of divine justice still to be had in this New World Order...

I did step up for a new fish finder for the trip, however—-got the Furuno FCV 588—very handy to have bottom discrimination, both to see what you’re anchoring on and what you’re fishing over.

Knowing I was on a mix of sand and gravel is what got me through all that wind! You can see what it looks like at the bottom of the screen...View attachment 45985

And X2 on Trophywife’s squid comments. The sign I saw on my fish finder at times were not forage fish like herring....then I cut open a coho I was going to BBQ on the beach and the mystery of what all that sign I was seeing was finally solved:View attachment 45987
Great setup SH. What brand of dingy do you use and how do you store it when underway?
 
Hey terrain, I’m an Avon guy—-I have 8 of them (no kidding) —-both my daughter’s think I’m eccentric but each one has a purpose. My boat has a large dance floor and I only fish one rod to starboard so I haul it up on the port gunnel; my secret weapon: an electric pump modified to fit a Scotty downrigger plug—-that way, when the weather blows, I can drain some of the air to give it a low profile on my stern , then pump it back up lickety-split when I need to

Why Avon? Three words: Hypalon. Hypalon. Hypalon. They’ll still be around looooong after you and me and everyone we know is dead and gone

Here are a few of them:

6FF8C563-6E46-448E-8BB0-D4AA33F2E62F.jpeg
 

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