12th January, 2010: FISHING REPORT: Port Alberni Inlet, Barkley Sound, Ucluelet (West Coast), Somas-Stamp River System.

by Doug Lindores of Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing
Toll Free Number: 1- 888 214 7206

Tony of Victoria B.C. shows his chrome winter Steelhead he picked up on January 6th. This fish was landed on the Stamp River near Port Alberni located on Vancouver Island with guide Blaydon. . Fishing on the Stamp for Steelhead has been very good and should continue until the end of March

It’s a new year and everyone is thinking about the many sport fishing opportunities that await them for 2010. Vancouver Island located on the West Coast of British Columbia, Canada has many of these opportunities. Located in an area where several migratory runs of salmon pass and also boasting great returns of salmon into the area, central and the west coast of Vancouver Island are both havens for any sport salmon angler. All five salmon species (Sockeye, Chinook, Coho, Pink and Chum) pass through the waters on either the west or east coast of Vancouver Island. This gives any avid fisher person the opportunity to fish a choice of salmon he/she might enjoy targeting. The two most sought after salmon that sport fishermen target are Coho and Chinook. Both of these species are labeled as B.C.’s two prime sport salmon. Chinook are larger fish and can come in over thirty and forty pounds. Any Chinook weighing over thirty pounds is termed a Tyee. Coho can range from ten to twenty pounds and are very acrobatic when on the line behind a sport boat. The summer runs of 2010 for Coho, Chinook and Sockeye along Vancouver Islands West Coast and also those salmon returning into scenic Barkley Sound are looking extremely promising again this summer.

Yurri from Russia with two winter Steelhead picked up on the Stamp River in late December. Tony fished with guide Nick

Migratory salmon returning to destinations south of Barkley Sound are estimating in recent reports some excellent 2010 returns. A recent press release from the Seattle Times has released some early season Chinook returns. The return of Jacks too many parts of the Columbia River the report says “was very high”. “The 2009 jack return to the Columbia was one of the largest returns ever”. “Returns in 09 have never been seen like last summer and fall since the early 80’s”. “The Bonneville Pool Hatchery had the largest Jack return since 1964”. The report goes on to say that the Upper Columbia River Chinook return will be close to 500,000 and the Lower Columbia River is forecast at just over 200,000 Chinook. Coho returns should be very strong. With these numbers in mind the sport fishing along the surf line of Vancouver Island and into the calm and rich-bait filled waters of Barkley Sound should be absolutely thrilling during the months of June, July and early August. Of course August and September brings returning salmon to their home rivers, creeks and streams in Barkley Sound and all the way to the Port Alberni Inlet, the Port Alberni Harbor, and the Somass River. Various salmon returns to these water systems have not been determined or forecast but should be much higher than in 2009. Sockeye which return to the Somass River in June and July have been forecast in 2010 to be higher than the 2009 return which was extremely good.

The 2010 sport salmon fishing season is looking extremely good along the west coast of Vancouver Island, Barkley Sound and Port Alberni. The return of four and five year old Chinook should be better in 10 than what it was in 09. Coho returns have been up the last two years and should once again have very good returns.

Port Alberni Inlet / Barkley Sound

winter Steelhead landed on the Stamp River using a small red spin-n-glo with a number 2 hook in January 2010.

The Port Alberni Inlet is relatively quiet. On December 31st the sport prawn fishery ended in the areas of the Inlet around China Creek, Cous Creek and the Narrows. There is currently prawn fishing in areas of Barkley Sound. Our winter Chinook trips include prawn and crab fishing. The Inlet will not have a prawn opening again until March 31st. We are extremely excited about this summer’s sockeye return to the Somass River. The summer of 09 had great sockeye fishing in the Port Alberni Inlet and Harbor with returns more than doubling the return forecast. The 2009 Sockeye return was one of Port Alberni’s top ten stories in 2009. The Sockeye return to the Somass was so strong that it was the first recreational Sockeye fishery in the Port Alberni Inlet in three years. The great return was encouraging for many businesses as travelers from Washington, Oregon and Alberta came to this area to fish. The 2010 return forecast is better than 09 meaning that the days of June and July will be quite busy with many sport anglers targeting the best eating salmon of all. Sockeye of course at one time was the prime commercial salmon species but for the past quarter of a century sport anglers using lots of color behind their boats and using pink or red short leader lures, have been able to target Sockeye which has become a favorite sport fishery for many people, especially families with children.

Fishing Barkley Sound and the surf line was very good last summer. Mike (in picture) and wife Peggy from Victoria fished with Doug of Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing in early August 2009 and caught these summer Chinook with the biggest fish weighing 33 pounds. Barkely Sound and locations on the surf line and just offshore should once again produce some great summer salmon fishing in 2010

The Inlet, especially around Bells Bay and down to Ten Mile Point often has some great winter Chinook fishing. In January and February local anglers will fish the area when there is bait in these nearby waters. Usually the salmon will follow the bait up the Sound and into the Inlet. The last two winters saw a few fish in the mid twenties and several in the teens picked up with various light colored hootchies and bait. Leader lengths are often 42 inches when using plastic and up to 6 feet or even more when fishing anchovy behind either a green or red hotspot flasher.

There have been some great reports from Barkley Sound regarding Winter Chinook Fishing. Vernon Bay, Canoe Pass and the back side of Swale rock have had some reasonable fishing. The prawn fishing has also been very good. We have only done a couple of guided trips to the Sound. Each trip was fairly eventful with good catches. Chinook were hitting hootchies but it seemed that anchovy using a chartreuse colored Rhys Davis Teaser Head was working very well. Some of the best Chinook fishing often occurs in February and March. The first weekend in March will once again feature the Sproat Salmon Derby. The Derby usually is hosted out of Poett Nook and is also the derby headquarters.

The summer fishing beginning in early June is looking very promising. Barkley Sound in areas just off the surf line and up to two to seven miles offshore had some great fishing in 2009. We are expecting once again the same scenario.

Ucluelet

Fishing out of the Ucluelet Harbor for guided trips will begin in early February. We will primarily fish relatively close to the harbor. Beg island is often a good bet for Winter Chinook. Needle fish, white hootchie or various greens and anchovy are often the best bets to attract fish. We will also be fishing in Barkley Sound. In the early spring we will feature our Seafood Safari. This is a great trip on the open Pacific where individuals can be treated to some great feeder Chinook fishing, bottom fishing, prawn and crab fishing and maybe even some good looking oysters to throw into that Seafood gourmet barbecue after a day on the ocean at one of the local resorts or even at local bed and breakfasts who have outdoor barbecues looking out over the beauty of the Ucluelet Harbor. The summer fishing again is looking fantastic. Chinook and Coho migratory fish and local returning fish look strong. Halibut numbers have not yet been released but no doubt the sport halibut fishery will once again be very good.

Peter on the right who is part owner of the Poett Nook Marina fished with guest Jim. They show three of their bright silver Winter Chinook caught close to Poett Nook in Barkley Sound B.C. on Green spatterback hootchies and green-blue hootchies Winter Chinook fishing has already been quite good in various Barkey Sound locations.

Winter Steelhead fishing this year has been very good. One might say that the last two years have been a bit of a bust but not this winter. The Stamp River has one of the largest returns of winter Steelhead in B.C. The Stamp for the avid river fisher person is a premier destination. The peak time of the year for winters is mid January to the end of February. Good fishing usually continues to almost the end of March. The River has been at good levels most of the last four or five weeks and the clarity of the water very good. We have encountered some great days with jet boat guides hooking into as many as 17 bright chrome fish in one day. The past week has been off and on with a couple of days where guides got into five or six fish. However those totals on the next day would more than double when running into a fresh school. The winter Steelhead in weight have been averaging 6 to 12 pounds. The river needed some rain as this usually triggers new fish to come into the system. Rain is what the river did get but a little too much as on Monday the 11th almost 150 ml of rain came down flooding the system and making it impossible to fish on this day. We are expecting the heavy rain to subside and with the river going down the fishing will once again resume with plenty of new fish coming into the system. Our jet boat guided trips have been primarily below “the bucket” where we have been using roe and roe bags. A small spin-n-glo in red or orange with a number two hook has been okay. The area from the confluence to the rifle range has been good as has paper Mill Dam through to Danyluks. There is a bait ban beyond or above “the bucket”. Pink Worms and small gooey bobs in orange and pink have been working well. For those sport fisher persons fishing the banks the falls pool has been very good.

We are already booking fall fishing for summer Steelhead and Coho in the Stamp. Those individuals who are avid fly fishermen and want to selectively target summer Steelhead, they should really try to book or at least plan a trip from October 12th through until mid November. Ideally good dates begin around the 20th of October.

For more information

Contact:

Doug Lindores
Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing
www.catchsalmon-ca.com
www.catchsalmon.ca
dlindy@shaw.ca
+1 250 724 2502 (h)
+1 250 731 7389 ©
Toll Free Number: 1- 888 214 7206