Just back from an annual trip to Kyuquot. And it was definitely a mixed bag. Day 1 was one of those days that you only get a few of each year. Flat calm water and good fishing. Got our limit in a few hours and called it a day. All fish were 16-24. Anchovy and hootchie doing the damage. Nearly got spooled from what I thought was a big spring, to a halibut, to kelp, and finally to a Grady White. Guess my fish hit, took off, wrapped itself up in another boat's gear and was gone. It didn't even cross my mind that his was possible as it was the rod on the opposite side from where we passed the oncoming boat, and we weren't even near this guy on a straight tack. Just happy I got all my **** back and the guide boat who I got wrapped with was just as suprised as me.
Day 2 was a different story as we had gale winds but were able to sneak out for a few hours at a time and picked up 3 that day. We released a handful of other fish. Capped it off with a 21 doing flips and jumps right infront of another boat and just didn't want to come near the boat. Stubborn thing.
Day 3 we got our last fish on our first tack off Spring Isl and then were tapped out for salmon. We were being a little choosy with what we kept. Most fish took the green/blue hootchie, then we fished a white turd on the other side and I just couldn't get a nip on my side after day 1. Stomachs filled with smaller 2" fish and sandlance. Thought the skinny G's would work that did so well in WH - no, AP sandlance spoon - no, other small gear - no. Went through a bunch of gear trying to find something to turn these guys on. The water was filled with salad so bait was outta the question as we're cleaning lines every 5-10min.
After we got our limit, we went after Hali's but couldn't go offshore with the water conditions and being in a 18.5 DE, it wasn't an option. So we poked around some different spots inshore but got nothing. Sounds like the bottomfishing has been hit pretty hard in close. We shoulda ran offshore on Day 1 in hindsight.
Day 4 we loaded up and made our way back home, stopping in at a couple beaches and doing some exploring.
Salmon fishing was good as it usually is. Nice fresh fish in shallow water, can't beat it. All fish hit hard and ran hard and stayed down. Just awesome. We noticed Kyuquot was like a ghost town. Not many people around as it sounds like a lot of the American's are staying home as they're getting fish off their coast. Stayed at the Kyuquot Inn which worked out great and good people there. The road in was good and even better coming out. They're doing lots hauling so it's being maintained well at least. Good trip overall.
Back from kyuquot. Fishing was epic, weather best in 8 years I've been going! We arrived at fair harbour Sunday at 1:30 light rain on the way in keeping the dust down boat was totally clean except for a little mud on the bow. Hit spring island after dropping our gear at the inn. Went 4 for 9 on springs in 3 hours! Next day back to spring island went 2 for 4 with one hog breaking off right at the boat! Decided to try the reef for anything. Not a sniff. So out to the hiway. Trolled for about 2 miles. Picked up a nice hatchery coho and a pink, kinda slow, so packed it in early to enjoy the sunshine at the dock. Second day was halli day! Ahchoured up on our spot, not a boat in sight! 12 minutes in bam, first halli on! He wraps up in our chum bag and 15lbs down rigger ball! Gong show lol. Get him in the boat, bam other rod goes off! Get halli 2 in the boat! Took longer to anchor than to get our 2 butts lol! Decide to go to the t because we have so much time left in the day. Drop one line with the skinny g no bananas (which caught most of the fish) to 170 and a white and green skinny g to 57. 15mins in bam rod goes off! Huge slab in the boat! Back down to 170, 5mins bam! Slab in the boat! We're done for springs! Went and played around and caught the biggest sea bass I've ever seen! Thought I had a big ling on! Released it only for a huge sea lion to grab it right beside the boat. Happy with our haul pack it in early again for beers and sun on the dock. Head in to fair harbour and while dropping off my coolers at the top of the ramp here a huge crash! Look over at the ramp to see a boat launched a little early,like 20 feet before the water! Wtf! Spend 2 hours helping them get the boat in the water. Ended up using the trailer and logs and 2x6 to push it into the water! Wow
