June 18
It is mid June and the sport salmon fishing in the Pacific Rim areas
is well underway. June on the West Coast of British Columbia and
Vancouver Island brings warmer weather and calmer seas which bring
to us plenty of saltwater sport fishing opportunities. Chinook salmon
have been plentiful, especially in the Barkley Sound area, over the last
number of weeks. The salmon are feeding heavily on needlefish, small
herring, and pilchards. Barkley Sound along the surf line locations and
as far inshore as Pill Point and Ecoole have had fantastic sport salmon
fishing with the Chinook averaging thirteen to just over twenty pounds.
The various banks just offshore from Ucluelet and Barkley Sound have
not been quite as consistent as the inshore areas as a good number of
the transient salmon that are migrating to the big watersheds to the
south are swimming close to the beach and feeding on the rich
resources of bait fish along the inner and outer edges of the Sound.
Coho are also beginning to show inshore and also out on the banks.
The numbers of Coho are not large yet but they should begin coming in
bigger schools. The early Coho have been averaging six pounds and are
feeding heavily on the ample resources of bait fish and often in the
early summer months put on up to a pound per week. West Vancouver
Island Coho returns are predicted to be very good in the latter half of
the summer. The Port Alberni Inlet should see some good
opportunities for sport Sockeye fishing in the near future. The
retention level for Sockeye beginning on the fifteenth of June is four
sockeye per day per person. To June the 16
The current range for returns to the Somass
River is 300,000 to 500,000. On the 27
seasonal forecast. DFO has announced that there has been almost
11,000 Sockeye harvested. The recreational fishery has totalled 400.
The Sockeye enter the Somass and swim to Sproat Lake or Great
Central Lake. Escapement to date is 1,000 Sockeye to Great Central
Lake and 13,200 to Sproat Lake. The Sockeye sit in the lakes for the
summer and in the fall spawn in the various tributary streams and
creeks.
The 2013 salmon sport fishing season should once again be
fantastic along Vancouver Islands West Coast and inland waters close
to Port Alberni.
Port Alberni Inlet/Barkley Sound
The Sockeye Sport Fishery in the Alberni Inlet opened on the first
of May. The retention level per person per day has been two. On the
fifteenth of June the possession limit moved to four per person with a
two day possession limit of eight Sockeye. It is advised that sport
anglers continue checking DFO rules and regulations in case there is
any immediate change in the possession limits. To this date there have
not been big numbers of Sockeye landed by sport anglers on the troll in
the waters of the inlet. There has already been a fairly good number of
migrating Sockeye swim the inlet into the Somass River but the fish to
date have not schooled. The snowpack in the nearby mountain
systems should not be detrimental to the sport Sockeye fishery but a
continued cool air mass circulating over the west coast of B.C. has kept
the water in the river and inlet cool.
The Sockeye in the Inlet are mostly swimming the top twentyfive to thirty-five feet of water as they sense the water in the Somass
River is very cool. Those sport fisher persons hitting the water in the
next few weeks and fishing on the troll should find Sockeye in Cous
Creek, Dunsmuir Point, the China Creek Wall, the slide, narrows, and
the vast waters of Franklin-Nahmint. The key to fishing Sockeye is lots
of color behind the boat, a slower troll and shorter leader lengths. The
most popular Sockeye lures are a red or pink (mp 2, 16 or 15-
bubblegum color) mp hootchie. Leader lengths are best at twenty-two
to twenty-seven inches behind a green or red hotspot flasher. Sockeye
salmon are the number one commercial salmon and are fantastic on
the summer barbeque.
Barkley Sound salmon fishing has been fantastic for the last
number of weeks. For those who like fishing in fairly calm water
Barkley Sound is perfect. The Sound is scenic and the water is pristine
and calm in the mornings and evenings. The open water of Imperial
Eagle Channel and Trevor Channel can have some wind in the
afternoons blowing in from the cooler waters of the vast Pacific Ocean.
Generally the two shorelines are easy to fish most of the day. Barkley
Sound has had good numbers of bait fish in small herring, needlefish,
pilchards and anchovy. The migrating salmon that are termed the early
summer run headed to the watersheds to the south have been
entering Barkley Sound and feeding heavily on these bait fish. Most of
the salmon have been Chinook with the odd Coho in the mix. The Coho
numbers should become more numerous as we approach the end of
June and the beginning of July. The Chinook have been found in surf
line locations such as Cree Island, Austin Island, Meares, Kirby Point,
and as far inshore as Pill Point, Ecoole, and even as far inshore as Chup
Point. Some of the best fishing has been at Meares, Swale Rock and
Vernon Bay. The salmon have been averaging thirteen pounds to the
low twenties. There have been a few fish in the low thirties landed.
One guest last week landed a thirty-three pound Chinook just off of
Meares fishing at ninety feet with a silver glow coyote spoon. Swale
Rock has been consistently remarkable on the Imperial Eagle side and
also on the back towards Howard Point. Vernon Bay has had fantastic
sport fishing along the wall and the beach and also towards Alan Point.
The fish are deep with best results fishing on the troll from one
hundred to one hundred and forty feet. The best fishing rule right now
in the Sound is “where the bait fish are the salmon are close by”. The
fish have been hitting various coyote spoons in three and a half and
four inch sizes. Green glo, green and blue nickel, and silver glow have
been working very well. Anchovy in Rhys Davis Teaser heads in army
truck, green haze and chartreuse have all been good. Hotspot flashers
in green glow and also the chartreuse flasher in glow on both sides
have been great with various coyote and Gypsy spoons and anchovy
teaser head colors. Barkley Sound sport fishing should be very good in
June and July for Chinook and Coho salmon.
Ucluelet
June is truly a very amazing month to be fishing off the coast of
Vancouver Island. The transient salmon are in the midst of their long
journey back to their spawning grounds. This year all of the inner and
outer offshore banks will have a very abundant mix of Chinook, Coho
and “odd year” Pink salmon. Ucluelet fishing has been historically
one of the best locations for summer salmon fishing on the west coast
of British Columbia. The fishing in the early spring months is often
relatively close to the Ucluelet Harbour. We are now into mid June
and the salmon fishing is now locating out to the various banks. The
latter half of May saw Long Beach producing some good halibut and
Chinook fishing. The fishing which was very good in this location faded
and over the past week the better fishing results are coming in from
the inner and also outer South bank areas. During the past weekend
South Bank areas especially the Turtle Head produced Chinook salmon
up to the low twenty pound range and also some nice hatchery Coho
averaging six and seven pounds. The Chinook this past weekend on
South Bank were located from one hundred and twenty feet to the
bottom and the Coho were swimming from 90 feet to the bottom.
Coyote spoons in the four inch size seemed to be working the best.
Green is always a good color in June. Green Nickel and the green
glow coyote behind a green glow or chartreuse glow hotspot flasher
was working very well. Anchovy in a green haze teaser head was also
working very well. Some guides and sport fisher persons were doing
well also with blue nickel and also the different coloured spatter back
hootchies and cuttle fish. The weekend weather and water conditions
especially Saturday was perfect offshore. It was T-shirt weather and
great salmon fishing for all. The Ucluelet Ladder Derby is underway
with tickets for the year at fifty dollars and daily tickets at ten dollars.
There are great monthly prizes and also the opportunity to be in the
final fish off during the second weekend of September.
The summer of 2013 should prove to be another great season
of saltwater sport salmon fishing in Barkley Sound, Port Alberni and
Ucluelet inshore and offshore.
For More information contact:
Doug Lindores
1 250 724 2502 (home)
1 250 731 7389 (cell)
1 888 214 7206 (toll fre)
dlindy@shaw.ca (email)