Port Hardy / Winter Harbour / North Island Report - Spring and Summer 2011
- Thread starter MyEscape
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SerengetiGuide
Well-Known Member
Heard Winter salmon has picked up, know down island WCVI has been good this year, but for some reason fish seem to be hard to find out of Winter...but like I said, heard pretty decent report from a few days ago.
Just returned from 7 days in Winter Harbour. Weird year, outside was tough with no wide open highway bite that we could locate. Springs everywhere on the outside seemed spotty...the water was warm, over 58oF in places, with lots of blue sharks, ocean sunfish, and millions of these weird jellyfish that look like a small plastic bag with a single orange eye. We ran from Lawn Point to well past Topknot and found the jellys everywhere. The jellys would load up your line instantly, resulting in non-stop false releases and making fishing deep especially tough. Lots of complaing on 69 the last few days about the continued jellys.
We abandoned the outside after a couple days and concentrated at Cliff, Rowley reefs, and Kains. Plenty of coho, and seemed that a decent spring bite materialized for an hour or so on each tide cycle, with the fish generally really tight to the kelp. Most springs were in the 10-20# range, but we did manage a couple in the mid-20s, and one 36#. We fished hard and averaged probabably 5 springs per day. Some good halibut on the inside also this year, our biggest was 50#. Crowd was light, and even on a slow year like this, still an amazingly beautiful place to spend 7 days.
We abandoned the outside after a couple days and concentrated at Cliff, Rowley reefs, and Kains. Plenty of coho, and seemed that a decent spring bite materialized for an hour or so on each tide cycle, with the fish generally really tight to the kelp. Most springs were in the 10-20# range, but we did manage a couple in the mid-20s, and one 36#. We fished hard and averaged probabably 5 springs per day. Some good halibut on the inside also this year, our biggest was 50#. Crowd was light, and even on a slow year like this, still an amazingly beautiful place to spend 7 days.
spring fever
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the report-I appreciate it-it is a great spot and your report continues to show how spotty the springs are. Probably give it a go-my 4th this year but hey it's better than the traffic jam at Nootka and there are crabs and sometimes prawns. First year I have not found the fish on the hi-way-maybe we didn't go out far enough or deep enough-perhaps the temp is forcing them out to 500 ft like 5 or 6 years ago. I'll give that theory a try. Maybe I'll find tuna with those temps. The sunfish are probably after the jellies.
bigredsnapper
Well-Known Member
If you want springs off the hiway go deep. All the big springs we hit were on bait and down 140 to 250ft no bull. I got a 35lber on our last day on anchovy at 242ft!! Top Knot was our lucky spot go deep with bait. BRS
Barnacle Bill
Well-Known Member
Spring Fever, PM sent,..............BB
spring fever
Well-Known Member
BB nothing rec'd resend please
SpringFever552
Well-Known Member
Buddy was up on the weekend and said it was just ok..... some fish(springs) were being caught waayyy off shore....400ft mark.... thats all I got for info.......
Sitkaspruce
Well-Known Member
Went out for a run today to WH as the weather is supposed to change for this weekend. Have a buddy up from Alberta, so we took advantage of the weather today.
Limit of springs between 15-27 lbs, 3 coho, all small (6-7 lbs) and one 7 lbs pink that we just had to keep.......all between 7 and 10:30 am. We also picked up two nice ling and a good snapper just after tide change. Then the wind came up......
All out in 250' of water, 150-180 on the DR, big 6-7" spoons were the ticket for springs and bait for coho/pink. Lots of small fish around and the chatter on the radio was no fish but pinks and small coho, most guys were heading inside to see if there was fish around Lippy and Kains.
if the weather looks good, might head back out on Sunday....but not too promising.
Picts to follow.
Cheers
SS
Limit of springs between 15-27 lbs, 3 coho, all small (6-7 lbs) and one 7 lbs pink that we just had to keep.......all between 7 and 10:30 am. We also picked up two nice ling and a good snapper just after tide change. Then the wind came up......
All out in 250' of water, 150-180 on the DR, big 6-7" spoons were the ticket for springs and bait for coho/pink. Lots of small fish around and the chatter on the radio was no fish but pinks and small coho, most guys were heading inside to see if there was fish around Lippy and Kains.
if the weather looks good, might head back out on Sunday....but not too promising.
Picts to follow.
Cheers
SS
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Busterbrown
Active Member
I spent the last seven days at WH. The water conditions were great as we got off shore every day . We got our limit of springs all in deep water. We fished the 400 ft contour and had most of our action at 225 ft deep.we caught and released aprox 20 springs during the week,Largest was 36 lbs but most were 22-26. Bright glo green hootchie was the hot ticket this week. We bottom fished off of Lawn Point most afternoons and got hali and ling limits .We found it slow around Kains Island as the coho seem to come through in waves.We did get one 14 lbs but most were much smaller. Weather supposed to change this week .Good luck to all heading out
Heavyc
Active Member
Does anyone know where a pinacle rock known as the "postage stamp" in quatsino sound is? Im going there next weekend and would like to hit it up for some hali fishing. If you know where it is can you PM me the coordinates or general area? All I know so far is its between Neurotosis mouth and cliffe point.
spring fever
Well-Known Member
Just got back from WH today and I would say the fishing is spotty. Lots of pinks and coho but Springs were tough as was the wind. Fri morning (early) we hit a real screamer at the kelp in Grants Bay -33 ft on a 3.5 cop car-great fight and weighed in at 27 lbs. Lots of bait in the bay but nothing else would take but shakers and small coho. Worked our way out to 200 ft and finally picked up a couple of teeners. Wind is really picking up but went to 400 + ft picked up a fiesty 22 lber at 180ft of wire on a chovey. It is whitecapping and we can only fish downwind and have to keep way on even if we hook up-lose a 25-30 right beside the boat-extremly difficult to play a fish and almost impossible to land. Ok we know where they are!! Relaxed for a few hours and then worked all the inside spots and points down to cliffe point for a late evening fish. Some fairly nice coho were taken and one small spring. Next morning immediatly back off topknot in 400 ft of water and it was dead-except for pinks and coho. We managed one teener but the boats had gone and we moved in to Lippy-picked up a couple of ling and a pair of hali(20's) bottom bouncing with salmon gear( trolling ). That's when the Flying circus turned into a ship of fools and we donated a couple of Cannon balls to the fish Gods. We tried to make amends-we hooked and landed a 45+ ling and released it tenderly with instructions to retrieve our balls for our good deed. Didn't work. We were blown off. We limited on coho-seems to me the springs are coming through in waves-they don't seem to stay-but if I had good water I would work the 400 ft mark -very deep with a chovey , a 3.5 cop car or a blood and bones hootchy. 
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
Hey SF--thanks for the report. Sounds a bit like my trip on the other side out of Hardy. Nothing consistent but if you put the time in and knocked on all the right doors, it paid off.
The depth thing is interesting. I'll be in Uke in a couple of weeks--usually it's a 40-60 ft show there in August. Maybe this year they'll be deeper in the column? I wish I could see some historical temp data and try and make sense of some of the behavioral changes. The rule of thumb with migratory fish is they travel in the top 60 feet of the column. Not what I've found this year.
The depth thing is interesting. I'll be in Uke in a couple of weeks--usually it's a 40-60 ft show there in August. Maybe this year they'll be deeper in the column? I wish I could see some historical temp data and try and make sense of some of the behavioral changes. The rule of thumb with migratory fish is they travel in the top 60 feet of the column. Not what I've found this year.
Sitkaspruce
Well-Known Member
Hey SF
Saw you off the bottom end of Cliffe on Sat, was in a blue/silver Hewescraft. It sure was mixed bag of weater, tried to get outside at 7 or so, blown off, then tried again around 9, but that North wind changed our plans again, so down to Cliffe we went. Lots of feed, but min fish.
I wonder how much the 58-59 deg water temps is playing with the fish this year, plus throw in all the rain and it has been a strange year out there.
Might be back out there next weekend, but only if the wind backs off.
Cheers
SS
Saw you off the bottom end of Cliffe on Sat, was in a blue/silver Hewescraft. It sure was mixed bag of weater, tried to get outside at 7 or so, blown off, then tried again around 9, but that North wind changed our plans again, so down to Cliffe we went. Lots of feed, but min fish.
I wonder how much the 58-59 deg water temps is playing with the fish this year, plus throw in all the rain and it has been a strange year out there.
Might be back out there next weekend, but only if the wind backs off.
Cheers
SS
Barnacle Bill
Well-Known Member
SF, great report, and pictures. Glad to hear the kelp bed paid off. Hope to be there next friday - monday..................BB
Charlie
Well-Known Member
Yep, but don't forget about that thermocline and add to the 60 feet, anywhere from the surface in early morning and deeper during the day. They will move to the temperature "they" like. For Chinook that would be somewhere around that 50-53 degree range. Migrating they will still usually suspend in the water column, but as that water warms up they will be deeper.
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