2022 Bamfield and Barkley Sound Reports

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Where’s @Rain City’s report with pictures ?
No pictures today. I bonked the one nice 85cm and two decent sized cohos and then spent the rest of the morning fighting off about 100 shakers and small coho. Went out to try my hand at hali and caught a ling. I can't imagine the damage you could do here if you put in full shifts.

This was also all solo. I'm tired already.
 
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No pictures today. I bonked the one nice 85cm and two decent sized cohos and then spent the rest of the morning fighting off about 100 shakers and small coho. Went out to try my hand at hali and caught a ling. I can't imagine the damage you could do here if you put in full shifts.
That sounds like a great first day! You’ll get Hali tomorrow
 
Went out to Bamfield this weekend, had a very eventful boat launch at clutsi and couple of fellas chucking there cookies out at Edward king, rain and slop proved to be too much so we retired to the lodge for some steak and cards. Saturday morning at swale was good, took home 4 cookie cutter springs and lost a pair of beauties at the boat, one looked to be about 25ish lbs, then picked up a ling for dinner at sea pool rocks on the way back to the lodge. Sunday we packed up the boat and planned to fish the AM and then Head back to port, we stopped at diplock and it was red hot, 6 more cookie cutters for the cooler and lost another pair in about 2 hours. It was a great weekend, plan to do the same next weekend as well.
 
Just got back from our first BYOB trip to Bamfield yesterday. We launched at Clutesi on Friday after waiting for the tide to come up to 3’ and checked in at Mills Landing before going out for an afternoon fish at the wall. We picked up a couple of decent coho among a few shakers but no springs. Saturday morning was slow at Effingham to Cree before we moved to Swale without much love either. After heading back at lunch time to process and vacuum pack the last night’s fish we had left gutted on ice and the couple from the morning we headed out again in the afternoon. Sanford was a better story; we caught a few good springs with the biggest at 18 lbs and several more coho and still made it back in time to process and vacuum pack them up.
Sunday morning we went out with Jerry because he is better equipped for offshore and we were heading back in by 6:45 am with halis measuring 118, 122 and 126. Salmon fishing at Sail proved less productive in spite of a sonar screen covered in bait and salmon marks.
We went back out with our boat in the afternoon hoping catching the high tide would be as productive as the prior day but only caught a couple more coho. It was an epic trip including a close up cow and calf humpback and lots of laughs.
I can’t wait to go back in August 5376C8D1-8715-4689-887C-91218352A3C6.jpeg
 
Just got back from our first BYOB trip to Bamfield yesterday. We launched at Clutesi on Friday after waiting for the tide to come up to 3’ and checked in at Mills Landing before going out for an afternoon fish at the wall. We picked up a couple of decent coho among a few shakers but no springs. Saturday morning was slow at Effingham to Cree before we moved to Swale without much love either. After heading back at lunch time to process and vacuum pack the last night’s fish we had left gutted on ice and the couple from the morning we headed out again in the afternoon. Sanford was a better story; we caught a few good springs with the biggest at 18 lbs and several more coho and still made it back in time to process and vacuum pack them up.
Sunday morning we went out with Jerry because he is better equipped for offshore and we were heading back in by 6:45 am with halis measuring 118, 122 and 126. Salmon fishing at Sail proved less productive in spite of a sonar screen covered in bait and salmon marks.
We went back out with our boat in the afternoon hoping catching the high tide would be as productive as the prior day but only caught a couple more coho. It was an epic trip including a close up cow and calf humpback and lots of laughs.
I can’t wait to go back in August View attachment 82499
Nice work. How far offshore for the hali and what spot? Anchor or drift?
 
So my replacement buddy showed up Saturday late night and we were out for an early fish Sunday. We hit Meares and Austin and had one really good hit but it was a long line release. I actually had a few more of those through the next two days of fishing. As much pressure as I could hold on them and then boom, gone. Maybe light hook-ups, who knows. Not much happening there so we took off to Whittlestone where I quickly realized my buddy can't handle the swell. He was puking in minutes. So no love for the very short morning shift. Went in, had a nap and some food and my buddy was feeling good enough to give it another try. Fished kirby for a bit and had lots and lots and lots of smalls again, super annoying. Made our way over to Sandford but half way there hit a pinnacle with lots of marks and boom double header with nice sized coho. Circled around, another double. Circled around, another double header. We could have just kept doing this over and over, we were literally just doing a circle. Kept 4 nice sized coho and called it a day, my buddy was starting to feel it again. Still no good sized chinook to be seen, not even the tiny keeper size you're allowed here, which we gladly would have kept. Whipped up a Ceviche for dinner from the ling I caught SaturdayResized_20220718_082432.jpegResized_20220717_192354.jpegResized_20220717_074138.jpegResized_20220715_082120.jpeg, it was great. Monday I made my buddy chew some pills and we hit Whittlestone again and found a nice pocket of fish. Picked up a 14-15lb chinook and some really nice sized coho again. One again my buddy loses his breakfast and I'm fishing solo with him begging to get out of the swells. Came back in for another nap and some food and by about 3pm he was feeling ok to fish again. We were really keen on hitting a spot with some better chinook action so we decided to try Swale and although they were smaller, we finally got into Chinook. Had several 55cm fish to the boat. We tried and tried and tried to find something bigger but realized that was perhaps just the name of the game over there. Bonked a couple to fill his license but really not what I figured Bamfield would be like. The cookie cutter fish I'm used to on the inside are in the 12lb-14lb range with some spunk. So he went home with 7 fish but nothing to write home about in terms of the fight. He had a great time though and he enjoyed all the exploring and practicing running the gear. I even made him clean his own fish, gong show. Dropped him off this morning with a cooler full of salmon but it really would have been nice to target other things as well. I can see why the guides just get out there on the banks and put meat on board. I've probably released over 200 fish in the 15 hours of fishing. Next time I'm making sure that I'm with someone that can handle offshore fishing. To be honest I think his anxiety was the bigger factor with not going out. And having never done it either, I'm not pressuring anyone to go. So I'm solo for a few days now and then my family comes up on Friday. I might try and find some crab and prawn spots. I'd like to try and get a hali on the inside but I'm not sure if/where that's possible. I know I can go whack a bunch of lings but, as it turns out, freezer space wasn't included with my moorage as all the freezers are inside the cabins. So I'm being charged $2 a bag to bring them over to Mills, after I've already vac-packed them myself. I have another 10 days here with a cabin and freezer as of Friday so I think I'll just hold off on doing too much more whacking until then. Lots more adventure to be had I'm sure, but man having my long time fishing buddy bail last minute sure had put an odd spin on this trip.
 
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if someone has a few minutes , please reply , we are driving - yes driving , a truck camper boat into Bamfield again real soon now , how is the road ? Also , is there anchovy bait available to buy in Bamfield ? anybody know ? appreciate any response .
 
So my replacement buddy showed up Saturday late night and we were out for an early fish Sunday. We hit Meares and Austin and had one really good hit but it was a long line release. I actually had a few more of those through the next two days of fishing. As much pressure as I could hold on them and then boom, gone. Maybe light hook-ups, who knows. Not much happening there so we took off to Whittlestone where I quickly realized my buddy can't handle the swell. He was puking in minutes. So no love for the very short morning shift. Went in, had a nap and some food and my buddy was feeling good enough to give it another try. Fished kirby for a bit and had lots and lots and lots of smalls again, super annoying. Made our way over to Sandford but half way there hit a pinnacle with lots of marks and boom double header with nice sized coho. Circled around, another double. Circled around, another double header. We could have just kept doing this over and over, we were literally just doing a circle. Kept 4 nice sized coho and called it a day, my buddy was starting to feel it again. Still no good sized chinook to be seen, not even the tiny keeper size you're allowed here, which we gladly would have kept. Whipped up a Ceviche for dinner from the ling I caught SaturdayView attachment 82501View attachment 82502View attachment 82503View attachment 82504, it was great. Monday I made my buddy chew some pills and we hit Whittlestone again and found a nice pocket of fish. Picked up a 14-15lb chinook and some really nice sized coho again. One again my buddy loses his breakfast and I'm fishing solo with him begging to get out of the swells. Came back in for another nap and some food and by about 3pm he was feeling ok to fish again. We were really keen on hitting a spot with some better chinook action so we decided to try Swale and although they were smaller, we finally got into Chinook. Had several 55cm fish to the boat. We tried and tried and tried to find something bigger but realized that was perhaps just the name of the game over there. Bonked a couple to fill his license but really not what I figured Bamfield would be like. The cookie cutter fish I'm used to on the inside are in the 12lb-14lb range with some spunk. So he went home with 7 fish but nothing to write home about in terms of the fight. He had a great time though and he enjoyed all the exploring and practicing running the gear. I even made him clean his own fish, gong show. Dropped him off this morning with a cooler full of salmon but it really would have been nice to target other things as well. I can see why the guides just get out there on the banks and put meat on board. I've probably released over 200 fish in the 15 hours of fishing. Next time I'm making sure that I'm with someone that can handle offshore fishing. To be honest I think his anxiety was the bigger factor with not going out. And having never done it either, I'm not pressuring anyone to go. So I'm solo for a few days now and then my family comes up on Friday. I might try and find some crab and prawn spots. I'd like to try and get a hali on the inside but I'm not sure if/where that's possible. I know I can go whack a bunch of lings but, as it turns out, freezer space wasn't included with my moorage as all the freezers are inside the cabins. So I'm being charged $2 a bag to bring them over to Mills, after I've already vac-packed them myself. I have another 10 days here with a cabin and freezer as of Friday so I think I'll just hold off on doing too much more whacking until then. Lots more adventure to be had I'm sure, but man having my long time fishing buddy bail last minute sure had put an odd spin on this trip.
Man, my fishing partner at bamfield last year got sick. The neck patch put on the night before is the only thing that works for him. I makes it easier to catch fish if you can get out further for longer.
 
if someone has a few minutes , please reply , we are driving - yes driving , a truck camper boat into Bamfield again real soon now , how is the road ? Also , is there anchovy bait available to buy in Bamfield ? anybody know ? appreciate any response .
call harbourside lodge in bamfield to see if they have bait.
 
So my replacement buddy showed up Saturday late night and we were out for an early fish Sunday. We hit Meares and Austin and had one really good hit but it was a long line release. I actually had a few more of those through the next two days of fishing. As much pressure as I could hold on them and then boom, gone. Maybe light hook-ups, who knows. Not much happening there so we took off to Whittlestone where I quickly realized my buddy can't handle the swell. He was puking in minutes. So no love for the very short morning shift. Went in, had a nap and some food and my buddy was feeling good enough to give it another try. Fished kirby for a bit and had lots and lots and lots of smalls again, super annoying. Made our way over to Sandford but half way there hit a pinnacle with lots of marks and boom double header with nice sized coho. Circled around, another double. Circled around, another double header. We could have just kept doing this over and over, we were literally just doing a circle. Kept 4 nice sized coho and called it a day, my buddy was starting to feel it again. Still no good sized chinook to be seen, not even the tiny keeper size you're allowed here, which we gladly would have kept. Whipped up a Ceviche for dinner from the ling I caught SaturdayView attachment 82501View attachment 82502View attachment 82503View attachment 82504, it was great. Monday I made my buddy chew some pills and we hit Whittlestone again and found a nice pocket of fish. Picked up a 14-15lb chinook and some really nice sized coho again. One again my buddy loses his breakfast and I'm fishing solo with him begging to get out of the swells. Came back in for another nap and some food and by about 3pm he was feeling ok to fish again. We were really keen on hitting a spot with some better chinook action so we decided to try Swale and although they were smaller, we finally got into Chinook. Had several 55cm fish to the boat. We tried and tried and tried to find something bigger but realized that was perhaps just the name of the game over there. Bonked a couple to fill his license but really not what I figured Bamfield would be like. The cookie cutter fish I'm used to on the inside are in the 12lb-14lb range with some spunk. So he went home with 7 fish but nothing to write home about in terms of the fight. He had a great time though and he enjoyed all the exploring and practicing running the gear. I even made him clean his own fish, gong show. Dropped him off this morning with a cooler full of salmon but it really would have been nice to target other things as well. I can see why the guides just get out there on the banks and put meat on board. I've probably released over 200 fish in the 15 hours of fishing. Next time I'm making sure that I'm with someone that can handle offshore fishing. To be honest I think his anxiety was the bigger factor with not going out. And having never done it either, I'm not pressuring anyone to go. So I'm solo for a few days now and then my family comes up on Friday. I might try and find some crab and prawn spots. I'd like to try and get a hali on the inside but I'm not sure if/where that's possible. I know I can go whack a bunch of lings but, as it turns out, freezer space wasn't included with my moorage as all the freezers are inside the cabins. So I'm being charged $2 a bag to bring them over to Mills, after I've already vac-packed them myself. I have another 10 days here with a cabin and freezer as of Friday so I think I'll just hold off on doing too much more whacking until then. Lots more adventure to be had I'm sure, but man having my long time fishing buddy bail last minute sure had put an odd spin on this trip.
Shoot, i could have came over and helped you as i had nothing going on then. I don't think you were fishing where the bigger fish were is all. Staying away from the schools of small ones and upping the gear size sometimes gives the mature fish a chance to get in there
 
Man, my fishing partner at bamfield last year got sick. The neck patch put on the night before is the only thing that works for him. I makes it easier to catch fish if you can get out further for longer.

I've said it before as I have a buddy who gets sea sick and we have tried all sorts of remedies from Gravol, naturopath type stuff, patches and wrist bands. The only thing that works for him is Gravol before bed and then I give him 2 Meclazine in the morning and he's fine. We've suffered through lots of his puking and having to run him back in to Tofino.....but now we are free and clear.
 
I've said it before as I have a buddy who gets sea sick and we have tried all sorts of remedies from Gravol, naturopath type stuff, patches and wrist bands. The only thing that works for him is Gravol before bed and then I give him 2 Meclazine in the morning and he's fine. We've suffered through lots of his puking and having to run him back in to Tofino.....but now we are free and clear.
Where can you get meclazine . ? Patches and meclazine no longer available in Canada according to the pharmacist I just talked to .
 
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