trophywife
Crew Member
generally the basement, but search the columns, bigger fish can be be in the top 1/3 with the minis at 160'.. gotta find em.
2018 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports
- Thread starter SFBC
- Start date
generally the basement, but search the columns, bigger fish can be be in the top 1/3 with the minis at 160'.. gotta find em.
Saratoga
Active Member
Just back from Bamfield after spending 4 days fishing. Lots of bait around which was great to see. No shortage of Chinook and Coho around. However, we found the average size of the Chinook to be smaller than usual for this time of year. We ended up with several in the 12 lb range and released many in the 5 to 7 lb range. Also caught several nice size coho in the 5-7 lb range. Offshore the coho were thick from the surface down to 130’. We stopped trolling after releasing 5 or 6 wild coho in a short amount of time to avoid hooking any more of them. They were smaller offshore than the ones inside Barkley Sound and most were wild.
We caught and released a halibut that was around 140cm offshore. Great fight. Then ended up with one that was just under 115cm that we could keep. Weighed in at 50 lbs.
I had prepped 3 trays of anchovies in a brine so we used most of those up but it wasn’t necessary. Artificials were working just as well. We caught fish on spoons mostly. Some fish were feeding on squid and we did catch several on a squid hoochie. But most of the action was on a herring aid spoon. It wasn’t long before we got rid of the flashers and just trolled the spoon on one line and an anchovy on the other. The hits kept coming with no noticeable difference in frequency. It was pretty predictable - find the bait, hook a fish (or two). We fished the Bamfield Wall and Swale when we were on the inside and we were out at 7 mile for the Hali. We didn’t target Sockeye but they are definitely showing up in the inlet now. We saw quite a few boats targeting them near China Creek and Sproat Narrows. Saw some jumpers and also the FN in the river were bringing in quite a few in the nets.
Lots of dead heads in the inlet to keep an eye out for. The ride out was probably the worst I’ve seen it for logs and dead heads. Had a piece of water soaked bark wrap around the intake on one of the outboards & set the temperature alarm off. Coming back was better but we nearly nailed a dead head that popped up in front of us in the chop. Managed to avoid it but it was far too close for comfort.
Overall a great trip but a bit disappointed we didn’t get into any larger Chinook as we have in prior years. Good luck & stay safe to those heading over there!
We caught and released a halibut that was around 140cm offshore. Great fight. Then ended up with one that was just under 115cm that we could keep. Weighed in at 50 lbs.
I had prepped 3 trays of anchovies in a brine so we used most of those up but it wasn’t necessary. Artificials were working just as well. We caught fish on spoons mostly. Some fish were feeding on squid and we did catch several on a squid hoochie. But most of the action was on a herring aid spoon. It wasn’t long before we got rid of the flashers and just trolled the spoon on one line and an anchovy on the other. The hits kept coming with no noticeable difference in frequency. It was pretty predictable - find the bait, hook a fish (or two). We fished the Bamfield Wall and Swale when we were on the inside and we were out at 7 mile for the Hali. We didn’t target Sockeye but they are definitely showing up in the inlet now. We saw quite a few boats targeting them near China Creek and Sproat Narrows. Saw some jumpers and also the FN in the river were bringing in quite a few in the nets.
Lots of dead heads in the inlet to keep an eye out for. The ride out was probably the worst I’ve seen it for logs and dead heads. Had a piece of water soaked bark wrap around the intake on one of the outboards & set the temperature alarm off. Coming back was better but we nearly nailed a dead head that popped up in front of us in the chop. Managed to avoid it but it was far too close for comfort.
Overall a great trip but a bit disappointed we didn’t get into any larger Chinook as we have in prior years. Good luck & stay safe to those heading over there!
SaltyAlice
Well-Known Member
Took a buddy out Saturday and Sunday for his birthday, because birthday fish are much healthier than birthday cake. We primarily fished around Swale, and a quick stint near Pill.
The ocean was absolutely loaded with fairly small springs and coho; many under and many just-legal size, but we weren't looking to limit out just for the sake of limiting out. Setting up near Swale we had the first bite within 15 seconds and had three fish to the boat before we could even get the second rod down. We had multiple hits while lowering lines down, often feisty coho.
Typical setup was green UV flasher running green hoochies on one side and a herring aid or sardine pattern spoon on the other. Fish were hitting anywhere from 50-180', and we even had a few take a swipe at the line on the surface.
Over the two days we had well over 30 fish to the boat, but only ended up keeping 6, the largest only being around 12lbs. So while we didn't hook into anything large, we certainly weren't bored! We also got a free boat wash on Sunday with a monster rainstorm which helped get the salt off the boat from the previous days' chop in the canal.
Also tried for my nemesis: lingcod. Boys and girls, this fish remains my white whale. I have _never_ been skunked going out for salmon, but have yet to get a single ling. I'm sure I'm doing all the right things in terms of location and gear. Some dark magic is at work here my friends. Perhaps I shouldn't have slighted that old gypsy back in Prague...
Here's another pro-tip: Whenever we discussed Trump and his idiocy, the fish to the boat increased. So, you know, feel free to try that out. We referred to it as Trumping the waters.
The ocean was absolutely loaded with fairly small springs and coho; many under and many just-legal size, but we weren't looking to limit out just for the sake of limiting out. Setting up near Swale we had the first bite within 15 seconds and had three fish to the boat before we could even get the second rod down. We had multiple hits while lowering lines down, often feisty coho.
Typical setup was green UV flasher running green hoochies on one side and a herring aid or sardine pattern spoon on the other. Fish were hitting anywhere from 50-180', and we even had a few take a swipe at the line on the surface.
Over the two days we had well over 30 fish to the boat, but only ended up keeping 6, the largest only being around 12lbs. So while we didn't hook into anything large, we certainly weren't bored! We also got a free boat wash on Sunday with a monster rainstorm which helped get the salt off the boat from the previous days' chop in the canal.
Also tried for my nemesis: lingcod. Boys and girls, this fish remains my white whale. I have _never_ been skunked going out for salmon, but have yet to get a single ling. I'm sure I'm doing all the right things in terms of location and gear. Some dark magic is at work here my friends. Perhaps I shouldn't have slighted that old gypsy back in Prague...
Here's another pro-tip: Whenever we discussed Trump and his idiocy, the fish to the boat increased. So, you know, feel free to try that out. We referred to it as Trumping the waters.
SaltyAlice
Well-Known Member
I think any political discussion while fishing acts as a form of chumming the waters. Fish love it!
Islander57
Well-Known Member
I'm sure a Notley would get you some crabs
Corey_lax
Crew Member
Try up near Whittlestone. We had a few while trolling for salmon. One was the neon blue color which is pretty cool. Just look out for the pinnacle that won't be shown on your chartplotter.... I'm sure we aren't the first to lose some downrigger balls to that SOB hahaha.
Big lefty
New Member
Just back from Bamfield. 84 km of gravel road. Graders were at work. Some rough patches, but most or the road was fairly good. Got a good mix of coho and chinook. Largest chinook 19 lb, and one coho 17 lb. tried to release smaller fish under 8 lbs. brought home 24 salmon and two halibut a 12lb and a 40lb. I’m pretty happy with results mainly fished Meade’s, Kirby, Wall, and cape Beale/ whittlestone.Late report from last weekend, thanks for those who pointed us in the right direction. Fished Whittlestone and Cree for springs, did well for fish up to 18.5 pounds although not full limits as we focused a lot on halibut. Appeared to be mostly a squid bite in terms of what was in the stomachs of the springs, but they were preferring to hit our needlefish squirts over squid-like gear. Also hit 5 nice hali, with the best being 2 cm under the upper slot limit weighing 40 pounds even.
Aces
Well-Known Member
Man, i would kill to get Halibut under 115 cm. Do they even exist?
we caught the only 5 and told all the oversize ones to swim north
tubber
Well-Known Member
Best I can do is PA Walmart tomorrow about 10:00. Heading to Ukee.
Or I could meet you at Cree or Swale in the boat on Monday. Looks like an inshore day.
BigBadBrad
Active Member
Anyone have any information on bamfield Barkley sound fishing derby in August ??
trophywife
Crew Member
just in at breakers to make my hidden weight prize donation.. its on!! aug long!
Chinook Breeze
Member
Fishing at Swale this morning nothing but shakers! Anyone got any recent reports???
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