August 13
Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing
The 2013 summer conditions for sport fishing and for, that matter,
most outdoor activities on the west coast of Vancouver Island have
been more than ideal. Bright sunny and very warm days have been
persistent since the first day of July. There has been less than normal
precipitation, winds off the coast have been definitely persistent for the
first half of July but inside the surf line of Barkley Sound the conditions
have been more than ideal. Ideal conditions for sport fishing are
forecast to be very similar for much of the rest of this summer.
The Salmon sport fishing in most of the Pacific Rim regions has
been very consistent since early June. The majestic months of summer
are quickly passing but the salmon fishing in many areas of the Pacific
Rim region seems to be getting better and better. Large schools
of transient salmon have been moving along the coast to the large
watersheds to the south. Local Vancouver Island salmon will begin to
appear in coastal waters very soon. With August now here we should
begin to see some of this season’s biggest Chinook and Coho appear
on Vancouver Islands’ west coast. This should also be true in many
of the inshore areas of Barkley Sound. The salmon fishing on the surf
line and many inshore areas of The Sound and the West Coast offshore
areas from both Bamfield and Ucluelet have been extremely good. The
Chinook and Coho are getting larger. The Coho since early June are
putting on nearly a pound per week as they feed on the rich resources
of bait fish found on the banks offshore and in the pristine waters of
Barkley Sound. We are expecting a great August and September for
sport fishing. Although the West Coast Vancouver Island Chinook
returns will be less than normal the Coho numbers are expected to be
well above average. The sport fishing will be very good with lots of fun
and excitement for all.
Port Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound
Currently there is very little fishing in the Alberni Inlet. A few
boats were out on the inlet waters during the August long weekend
attempting to land the last of the straggling Sockeye. July produced
three fairly good weeks of Sockeye fishing. The run size unfortunately
was downsized to 300,000 pieces. Currently one hundred and ninety
thousand pieces have moved through the fish ways. Great Central
Lake has currently eighty-four thousand and Sproat Lake one hundred
and six thousand. With the forecasted run size there should be an
escapement of approximately two hundred and thirty thousand.
The inlet will more than likely see a very large armada of sport
boats near the last week of August. The 2010 Coho brood stock
survival rate was very high and the return to the Somass system is
expected to be well above average. The Coho returning to the Somass
River system will likely show up in Barkley Sound sometime by the
twentieth of August and slowly trickle into the inlet during the last
week of August and hopefully will peak during the Labor Day Weekend
Coho Derby and the first ten days of September. Coho usually like a
shorter leader length and faster troll. If the numbers returning hold
true, then the sport fishing opportunity will be fantastic by month’s
end.
Barkley Sound Salmon fishing has been very consistent since late
May and early June. The sound, during most of the summer months
has been loaded with vast amounts of bait fish in small herring,
sardines, and anchovy. The migration of Chinook and also Coho has
been quite good. These migrating salmon are headed to the
Willamette, Sacramento, and Columbia River systems. The salmon
have come into many of the areas of Barkley Sound and have rested
and heavily fed on the rich resources of food for the transient fish.
This has created a very good sport fishery on the surf line and well into
inshore areas. Chinook and Coho numbers have been good numbers
for most of the summer. Most of the Chinook have been in the mid to
high teens with some in the twenties and even a few in the low thirty
pound range. The Coho have been in good numbers since very late
June and early July. The Coho are really putting on weight as they are
frantically feeding. The early season Coho were averaging five and six
pounds and now many are getting well above ten with a few up to
fifteen pounds. Currently the best fishing has been at many of the surf
line locations. Beale, Ship Island and Ewrd King, Kirby Point Meares and
Austin have all been consistently good. The change of tide really seems
to put a push on for feeding salmon. Either side of the tide by an hour
seems to create a good bite. Anchovy is definitely a good idea to have
aboard ones sport boat. Anchovy in green, chartreuse, green haze, and
even at time purple haze are all working well. Hot Spot green flashers
in plain or glow green or glow chartreuse are a good bet. Later in the
month many will use the purple gold or even the purple glass and blue
glass hotspot flashers. If using plastic the white turd, white hootchies,
the AORL 12 army truck, purple haze are all working very well. Often
bait size does play a huge role. If the bait fish in the area one is fishing
is small then smaller green spoons in three and three and a half inch
are best. The Coho are in water from twenty feet and down to seventy
and the Chinook are anywhere from sixty to one hundred and twenty
feet. With a lot of WCVI fish beginning to now appear in Barkley Sound
locations it is important that any Chinook salmon greater than seventyseven cm be put back into the water. Barbless hooks are essential and
a measuring tape should be close at hand. Check all boundary
locations for Coho and Chinook. In most areas of the sound Coho
salmon retention levels in August and September will be four per
person. It is important to check all boundary locations however.
Ucluelet (West Coast)
The latter part of July and first week and a half of August the
offshore fishing conditions have been quite outstanding and better
than average. There have been a few foggy mornings with fog banks
hanging low but there definitely have been a good number of days that
have been quite the opposite. Ocean conditions have been excellent
with a slight swell and more of a north westerly breeze in the
afternoons which have made many mornings almost perfect on the
water. The Chinook salmon offshore on the banks outside Ucluelet and
also Bamfield located on the opposite shoreline have been very
plentiful and are averaging in weight from the mid to high teens. There
have been some good Chinook in the mid twenty pound range. In
general the fishing has been so good that many have been releasing
Chinook salmon in the ten to fourteen pound range. The fish out on
the banks are transient and do come in waves during the summer.
These migrating salmon are often classified as early summer, mid-
summer and late summer runs. It is often the late summer runs that
see some of the bigger Chinook move along the coastline as they make
their long journey to their natal streams. Some of these late but bigger
fish were found at the Starfish late last week and most recently have
been at the fourteen mile off Cape Beale. To date there have not been
a lot of Coho out on the banks. The Coho have been abundant
however close to the beach and surf line of Vancouver Island and
Barkley Sound. The Chinook salmon on the inner and outer South Bank
and also the Big Bank, Rats Nose and other offshore locations have
been swimming at the eighty to one hundred and forty foot depths. A
variety of hootchies and spoons have been working for many sport
fishermen. The brown and white turd and the light green spatterback
cuttlefish have been great producers for offshore salmon . Trolling
speed of just over two to three miles an hour behind a green glow
hotspot flasher seems to work well offshore. The five and six and
perhaps seven inch Tomic spoons will come into play a little more as
we get into mid August and also the latter part of the month.
We are expecting some great fishing well into September in the
Ucluelet, Barkley Sound, Offshore Vancouver Island (west coast) and
Port Alberni Inlet locations. The Alberni Valley will be hosting the
Labour Day Weekend salmon Fishing Derby. The Derby this year will
be for Coho only. Look for more information during the weeks to come
regarding the derby.
For more information
Contact: Doug Lindores
1 250 724 2502 (home)
1 250 731 7389 (cell)
1 888 214 7206 (toll free)
dlindy@shaw.ca