camble river sockeye fishing

[c.askin]

can someone tell me were is the best place to launch from to catch those elusive fish in the camble river area Im from Duncan and usually fish sooke but it being so poor lately I think I might try the inside this time . Any suggestions would be much appreciated....C.A.

 

[salmonkiller01]

Best launch is behind discovery mall, has a dock. It can be busy at times. Browns bay has a launch and it is right at the fishing grounds, but no dock so if your boat is over 20 feet run up from town. I am sure other will comment. Running thru Seymour narrows has never been an issue with me, I run thru when I get there never consider the tides much, dodge the larger whirl pools. If it is your first run thru you may want to be heading thru any where from an hour before to an hour after a flood tide, ebb tides always seem good to me. Again others will comment.

Fishing is in deepwater bay/separation head, plumper bay or a 25 minute run to greensea.

 

[HookNSlice]

can someone tell me were is the best place to launch from to catch those elusive fish in the camble river area Im from Duncan and usually fish sooke but it being so poor lately I think I might try the inside this time . Any suggestions would be much appreciated....C.A.

just curious how you ever made out it the cannel lots of time asking questions never seen a report

 

[c.askin]

just curious how you ever made out it the cannel lots of time asking questions never seen a report

I dont realy know what you mean.? ''cannel'' I fish out of sooke and I report usually every time I go out..... I have never fished Camble River..very few sox caugt off of sooke these days.......C.A.

 

[reid]

I live in mill bay and was highly anticipating lots of sockeye fishing off pender, but got fed up with waiting. I trailered the boat up to Browns Bay (just north of campbell river). The launch, as said, has no dock but was fine to use for my 21 foot trophy. It is easier if you have someone back the truck down, and just drive the boat off, but I solo loaded and it was still fine. Just had to block the boat ramp for a bit, but it wasnt busy at all.

There is about 5km of gravel road to drive on, after the highway. It isnt bad, but also isnt fantastic. Take it slow and it is all good. I spent two nights at the dock. Decent priced moorage, and i think they let you launch for free if you pay moorage. They didnt charge me, at least for the boat launch, even though I told them. Not sure if it was a mistake, or the common practice.

I fished in Deep Water bay, just north and across on the quadra side. It is a 5 minute run. Morning bite was best, I got my limit in under an hour. Fishing in about 65-75 feet on the downrigger. Today, a green flasher and a purplish hoochie was outproducing my pink hootchies and red/pink flasher. Yesterday the opposite was true.

Shout if you have more questions.

 

[c.askin]

reid..... thank you for the report and info. one question .I'm not familiar at all with the area is there any fast water or whirl pools to contend with as mentioned of Seymour narrows .My wife wont go if there is.. thanx again...... C.A.

 

[hambone]

If you launch in Browns Bay, you'll be just north of the fast water and whirl pools. Keep in mind, there will still be strong currents like Sooke, but the scary stuff is down south at Seymour Narrows. Hope that helps... Any boat that can get on a plane is safe in the rapids but for a first time encounter it could be a little scary.

 

[salmonkiller01]

reid..... thank you for the report and info. one question .I'm not familiar at all with the area is there any fast water or whirl pools to contend with as mentioned of Seymour narrows .My wife wont go if there is.. thanx again...... C.A.

Launch at browns bay and you never see the whirl pools. Look up the map for deepwater bay, there is a closed portion. DFO was busting peeps in the closed area a couple weeks ago

 

[reid]

There isn't whirl pools there, but the water is still moving fairly well. You are north of the narrows, as was perviously said. It isnt easy fishing, but it isnt bad. I managed to do it single hand, which was mainly an issue due to the amount of boats. The wind does blow in there, and there is tide.

If you have a person on the wheel and a person running gear, you should be totally fine. You can stay a bit away from the crowd too, and still catch fish. Most people tended to stick to the south end of the bay, but there was two different commercial seiners that set on the north end. That coast (the north) is also easier to follow and longer tacks can be made. Fish were caught there as well, i caught most of mine there.

 

[c.askin]

Thanks everyone for your imput, much appreciated........C.A.

 

[coastalmarinesafety]

To make your wife more at ease, do the launch at Brown's Bay, gear down and go slow on the dirt road off the highway, it's not too bad. Like others have said, no worries about whirlpools, fishtailing, wind vs. tide issues, etc. and the staff at Brown's Bay are generally pretty good at pointing you in the right direction for the best bites at each tide. Cleaning table there a good wealth of info as well. They have cabins there or other rustic cabins not too far away at Roberts Lake resort if you are going to stay for a few days, or stay in the RV park. For the boat launch, it's pretty simple: solo launch and run boat over to a free guest slip or the fuel dock, then go back and drive truck and trailer up to parking area, or if you wife does that all the better. I've found people pretty understanding with some launches taking a few minutes...not much choice, you have to be with a one-lane ramp and no tie up dock. Good luck. Wind should be dying down after tomorrow. Strong NW winds can be a ******* to fish in north of Seymour Narrows.