Little bit late but here it is none the less.
Got back Tues from a 4 night stay in Julia Pass. Arrived Late Friday afternoon. Got settled and had time to go set a couple traps and wet a line for an hour before a late dinner. Lots of small springs in quick order, but nothing we felt deserved the bonker. Sat Morn we made a run for Southwest corner but in light of the forecast decided to stop short at Turtle. Tons of shakers and smaller springs out there. After a few hours we managed a couple ok fish and finished off with a 20LB spring as the wind started building.
Cam with one from Turtle
Made our way back to Swale and played catch and release (both on purpose and unintentionally). Hit one nice coho about 12lb and lost at least 3 decent fish. On the way in for dinner we pulled the traps and had
a nice little pan of bugs to take back to the shack.
Steve with a decent trap of tasty treats.
Sunday was still forecasting a pretty good wind off shore so we opted to stay closer to home. Started off just out the front door and proceeded to loose 3 in a row on the first TAC. One being a solid low 20"s and the others teen sized Coho. Ground it out for most of the day on smaller springs and the occasional NICE sized Coho. Lots of fish lost at or near the boat on this day. Most of the guide boats stayed tight to the rocks and we did see quite a few nets out. We decided this trip was more about relaxing and enjoying the beauty and peace that Barkley Sound brings to the table. That said we stayed out of the pack and fished the edges instead. So with a couple smaller springs and a couple Coho in the tub we pulled the traps and headed in for Steak and prawns.
Cam's mouth was watering with the thought of tonight's dinner.
Steak and fresh caught prawns Thanks to "Chef Steve"
Probably should have let them know I was taking a picture. The boys where a lot happier than they look in the pic.
Monday was the last day of fishing for us. We started out at Swale and like Sunday lost way more fish than we should have. Managed a nice 14-15lb Coho to get the monkey off our back and then got into a bunch of smaller fish that we released. We did end up keeping a couple more that fell into the "bigger" of the smaller fish category. As the morning came to an end we pulled the pin and headed out a bit to try the mid day tide for some Halibut. No love on that front for us other than a couple nice rock fish of the orange persuasion. On the way back to the shack we decided to drop in at Harbor Entrance, and it payed off quickly. Landed the biggest fish of the trip on the first TAC and lost it's twin boat-side shortly after.
One more hit and miss after that and there was nothing left to do but go pull the traps for the last time, and go enjoy dinner and drinks before the dreaded packing up begins in the morning.
Sure, with better luck and rod management we could have at least doubled the 10 fish we came home with. As high lighted on one of the Bamfield Fishing report FB pages, we too lost an inordinate amount of fish this trip. Probably would have added even more had we entered the pack and jockeyed for position among the 20 or more boats all on the same TAC . As I mentioned before we chose a more relaxing approach and that proved to be very enjoyable.
For what it is worth,we caught most fish on small 3" glow white spoons with long leaders. Fished anywhere from 25-75 feet. We also got some action on small chovies 6-7 feet behind flasher.
I really enjoyed this trip! One of the keys was that I took the pressure of catching fish off the table and got back to enjoying the place we all love, as well as enjoying the company of good friends that share the love for what Barkley has to offer.
Until the next one. (can't wait!)
Ray
