February 3rd 2013
Doug Lindores
Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing
1 888 214 7206
It’s again a New Year and many sport fishermen are
beginning to think and dream about the many sport fishing
opportunities that await them in 2013. The 2012 season was
somewhat a memorable year on the scenic West Coast of
Vancouver Island. Chinook fishing for migratory salmon headed
to distant southern watersheds began in late April and continued
through the spring and summer. The best salmon fishing on the
surfline of Barkley Sound and offshore waters from Barkley
Sound which is located on Vancouver Islands West Coast and
Tofino-Ucluelet was in June and July. A warm water current that
hit Vancouver Islands West Coast seemed to play some havoc
with much of the August offshore fishing as the big migratory
Chinook and Coho moved down the coastline well away from the
warm water current. Many felt the salmon moved out to the fifty
fathom mark and curled back towards the west coast when out of
the warm current. Salmon returning to local streams and rivers
arrived in August and continued in relatively good numbers until
September. In the Alberni Inlet Sockeye returns to the Somass
River system were a very healthy 860,000 pieces. Chinook returns
were approximately 40,000 pieces The 2013 sport fishing season
which begins on the west coast in the late spring and continues into
the summer and early fall months looks to be much better than last
year.
The Sockeye season in the Alberni Inlet will again be good
for those sport fisher people that take time and opportunity to
fish the Alberni Inlets quiet and pristine waters. Sockeye sport
fishing most years gets underway by the fifteenth of June. The
Sockeye school in good numbers when the Somass River and the
Port Alberni Inelt water reach eighteen degrees celsius. When this
happens the Sockeye sport fishing really picks up for the sporties.
Vancouver Island is a destination on both coastlines for all
five salmon species (Chinook, Coho, Sockeye, Pink, and Chum).
This gives all avid sport fisher persons an opportunity to sport fish
a choice of salmon he/she might enjoy to target. These different
salmon species do arrive in the West or East waters of Vancouver
Island at certain times of the summer or fall and each species also
peak at specific times. This often means that fisher persons can
fish the inlets, sounds and offshore waters for Chinook and Coho
and also Sockeye and have opportunity to fish river mouths and
various Vancouver Island beaches for Pinks and Coho.
Winter fishing for Winter Steelhead in the Stamp River has
been relatively slow todate as the Stamp River has had low water
with lack of any rainfall during the month of January. Winter
(feeder) Chinook fishing in Barkley Sound and around the quiet
hamlet of Bamfield and also the Ucluelet Harbor has been off
and on with some reasonable fishing opportunities on those days
that the winter season offers. Their have been some remarkable
sunny and warm days during January this year. The Stamp River
had excellent returns in terms of the summer-fall run of Steelhead
which are currently still found in the Upper Stamp River which is
very close to Port Alberni.
Port Alberni Inlet
Barkley Sound
At times during the winter months a few schools of Winter
Chinook will make their way up into the inlet and feed on bait
fish in the Bells Bay and Nahmint-Franklin areas. This happens
periodically but the Alberni Inlet has the best sport fishing from
mid June to mid September. The Somass River Sockeye begin to
return to the river in May and usually begin to school around the
15th of June. When the Sockeye school in big numbers, the action
for the number one tasting salmon, really heats up and is a lot of
fun for all fisher persons young and old. Sockeye fishing most
years can continue into the first ten days of August. It is then that
the first few Chinook salmon appear in the Inlet. Chinook fishing
is followed by Coho with the peak of the Chinook season often
occurring around the Labor Day Weekend when the Port Alberni
three day fishing derby takes place. The Port Alberni Inlet is a
wonderful and very easy area to fish. Many people worry about
rough water but the Inlet waters for the most part are calm and
pristine. The best fishing is often in the morning hours and the
last two hours before dark. Sockeye salmon do seem to bite at
any time of the day which makes this sport fishery a very popular
opportunity for everyone.
For those individuals that enjoy prawn sport fishing the
season in the Port Alberni Inlet is on and off. Individuals are
encouraged to check all DFO regulations and when the prawn
season is open.
Barkley Sound waters are very much like the Port Alberni
Inlet. The Sound is protected on both the east and west coastlines.
Salmon Fishing in the Sound can occur every month of the
year without fear of experiencing the bigger waters often found
offshore in the winter and even during the summer months.
Winter Chinook fishing has been off and on during December
and January. The Christmas season had a few good days as the
weather co-operated just prior to Christmas and also after the
beginning of the New Year. The early days of 2013 has had some
good weather patterns and a few productive fishing days. To
date the best fishing areas have been the Bamfield Harbor mouth
and the Bamfield Wall as well as Swale Rock, Vernon Bay, and
the Canoe Pass outside entry points. Pill Point, Sarita Bay and
the Nook are also other areas worthwhile to fish in February and
March. Last winter the largest recorded Winter Chinook salmon
was landed during the Sproat Lake Loggers Derby which annually
takes place during the first weekend of March. We are expecting
that some nice salmon in the teens up to the mid twenties will be
lurking in the mix again this year.
Winter Chinook are often found in deep water. It is not
uncommon to find them in many areas of the Sound from 100 to
145 feet. Coyote Spoons in the three and a half to four inch size in
cop car, glow cop car, nasty boy, Green glow, and green and blue
nickel are good choices for fisher persons to have in the tackle
box. Hootchies are popular but it is recommended to use a shorter
leader length than in the summer. Leader lengths from 34 to 38
inches behind a glow green or glow red hotspot flasher are a good
choice. The Purple Haze hootchie and also the green spatterback
as well as various whites and greens are excellent choices.
Anchovy is also something all sport fisher persons should have on
board. There are days when the salmon will touch nothing else but
anchovy. Anchovy in chartreuse or a green glow Rhys Davis
Teaser Head is a good choice. The first salmon fishing derby of
the year occurs in the sound based out of Poett Nook. The Sproat
Loggers Derby will take place the first Saturday and Sunday of
March. The Derby is very popular and offers some great prizes
and often some great weather and fishing. One of the largest
Chinook landed in this particular derby was two years ago and
weighed in at twenty-eight pounds. The key about winter Chinook
fishing in the Barkley Sound area is finding bait fish. Where one
finds bait fish there is often a good number of feeder Chinook
swimming and feeding heavily on tide changes.
Summer fishing in the Sound especially on the surf line most
years occurs from late May to early August and is expected to
be this year very good due to the migratory movement of salmon
along the west coast. Good numbers of Chinook, Coho and Pink
Salmon will be moving to watersheds to the South. The migratory
flow of Chinook should predominately be 4 year olds. The vast
amounts of rich resources of bait fish in the Barkley Sound area
during the summer months often bring the salmon into feed and
rest before they continue their journey. Some world class fishing
usually occurs at Meares, Cree, Edward King, Beale and as far in
as Kirby Point and Swale Rock. We are really excited about the
great sport salmon fishing opportunity we should have this summer
in both the Sound and the Port Alberni Inlet.
Ucluelet
It is fairly difficult to go to far offshore during the winter
months. There have however been some reasonably nice days on
the water where the swell and water lump has been low. The best
winter Chinook fishing is often fairly close to the Ucluelet Harbor.
This year has been no different. Beg Island, Mara Rock and Big
Bear have had a few good results. Needle fish, white hootchies,
and various green hootchies, anchovy, and nasty boy, cop car,
green glow, and silver glow coyote spoons have been the best bets
to attract the feeder Chinook. In February the feeder Chinook
fishing really picks up and gets much better as the herring spawn
gets close and these bait fish move toward the beach. In the early
spring we will feature our Seafood Safari. This is a great trip on
the open Pacific where guests can be treated to some excellent
winter Chinook fishing, bottom fishing, prawn and crab fishing.
There might even be opportunity to find some oysters along some
of the magnificent beaches of the west coast. The end of the day
often has guests preparing a wonderful gourmet seafood dinner at a
local resort or bed and breakfast. There are spots where restaurant
chefs and owners will prepare seafood meals for our guests.
Summer sport salmon fishing out of Ucluelet looks again
very promising. Year after year Ucluelet has some of British
Columbia’s best and most wonderful fishing opportunities. The
outlook for Chinook and Coho migrations look similar to past
years. We expect late May into mid August to have some of the
best salmon fishing. For those that enjoy Pink Salmon fishing the
odd year is back and returns of Pinks to various rivers along the
west coast should be very good.
Stamp River
The Stamp to date has provided some very slow winter
Steelhead fishing. The Steelhead sport fishing has been “non
consistent”. The few winter fish that have come into the system
are really spread out and can be found in the upper and lower
river. The best fishing with guides aboard jet boats is still in the
Upper River. Guided trips on average have been hooking into on
a few Steelhead or trout per trip. The mix of hatchery Steelhead
compared to wild have been almost 50-50 on a percentage basis.
For those on foot the most popular area is the falls pool which
over the past few weeks has not been very congested with sport
anglers because of the lack of Steelhead. The Sproat has also had
some reports of traffic with poor results. Those individuals on
guided and non-guided trips fishing with a float and below “the
bucket” have had a little success using natural bait in roe, roe bags,
and shrimp. Spin’n’glows, corkies, rubber eggs and various jigs
have also been working. One sport angler fishing close to the
confluence was using a pink jig which works best in the Upper
River. This fisher person had an unbelievably successful day
during the past week by hooking into five or six Steelhead. The
River as of right now is very low. Rain is forecast for mid week
with clearing skies arriving for the first few days of February.
We are expecting the February and March Stamp River winter
Steelhead fishing to improve. The Stamp River needs to fill
with some water and hopefully there will be some peak days in
February.
For More Information
Contact:
Doug Lindores
1- 888- 214- 7206 (toll free)
1-250- 724 2502 (home)
1 250 731 7389 (cell)
dlindy@shaw.ca
www.catchsalmon-ca.com
Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing