FISHING REPORTS
from some of the BEST PLACES TO FISH !
26th June, 2008: 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
Port Alberni Inlet
The
Port Alberni Inlet is very quiet. In past years one could easily have counted
600 sport boats or more spread between the Port Alberni Harbor and Nahmint Bay
fishing sockeye salmon by mid June. This year however is quiet different. With
only 150,000 sockeye forecast to return to the Somass River system there is
absolutely no retention of sockeye for any user group. The sockeye return to the
river and carry on to either Sproat Lake or Great Central Lake. Up to June 17th
the counters have recorded 12,980 sockeye returning to Sproat Lake and 1,232 to
Great Central Lake. The usual pattern of larger returns to Sproat Lake at the
beginning of the year is normal. Conditions for returning sockeye have been
excellent. The flow of water is good and moderate to cool water temperatures is
also very good for the fish as it make it easy for the sockeye salmon to return
to their natural river. With a continued cool spring and early summer the
snowpack in the nearby mountains will continue to pour cool water into the river
system. For conservation reasons let’s hope that many sockeye come to the system
early. Sockeye often continue returning right until September.
The Port Alberni Inlet will
however become a busy fishing area later in the summer. By the 10th of August
Chinook salmon returning back to Robertson Creek Hatchery will show. Often some
great fishing mornings can begin at Bells Bay (Franklin) or areas of China Creek
early in the season. The fish will then often push past the China Creek area and
into the Port Alberni harbor. Many people world wide will fish the area as
recreational anglers on their own or with a salmon charter guide looking for
that trophy salmon. By the end of August the Chinook begin to hit their peak and
the first Coho begin to filter in which makes it extra exciting for all sport
fishermen in the Port Alberni Inlet
The 2008 sport fishing season for
Chinook and Coho on the West Vancouver Island coast should be quite good.
Surplus amounts of salmon are forecast to return to the Robertson Creek Hatchery
which should create some very good sport salmon fishing not only in the Inlet
but Barkley Sound as well.
Barkley Sound
The
salmon fishing in Barkley Sound has been very good. Migratory fish swimming down
the outside of Vancouver Island have been coming into feed on the rich bait fish
in the Sound. Late last week and into the weekend and early part of this week
many guides and sport fishermen were picking up limits of Chinook salmon. (Limit
is two per day per angler) The great fishing has actually been going on since
the first part of June. Guides Doug and John of Slivers Charters Salmon Sport
Fishing have done very well on their trips in the Swale Rock area. Guide Doug
with guests from Florida fished on the troll close to Howard Point mid week with
little success early in the day. However on the slack tide a great bite came on
with four of five Chinook boated. The fish were great battlers and all weighed
in the 20 to 24 pound range. The guests from Florida were exhausted but for them
the day was extremely pleasant even with somewhat poor weather. They were able
to watch a small pod of killer whales come into the area to play and the eagles
were extremely entertaining. Many individuals are unaware of the wildlife in the
area. It is not uncommon to see a few black bears on each trip.
Guide Doug has had his best
success on anchovy. The glow army truck and the UV green Rhys Davis Teaser Head
have both been working well behind the green glow in the dark hotspot flasher.
Leader Length is usually five and a half to six feet.
The best area to fish is in water
at 250 where the fish are sitting in 70 to 100 feet. Some fishermen have been
successful at 50 to 60 feet on the ocean side of Swale. One guide has been
fishing the area and trolls up toward Gilbraltor with coyote spoons only and is
doing well with some good sized fish. Monday the 23rd of June he had some
excellent fishing with most of the fish between 12 and 22 pounds.
Guide John of Slivers Charters
has been fishing more towards Vernon Bay and trolling up to Swale Rock. On the
weekend his crew from Vancouver B.C. were treated with a great catch of Chinook
but these fish were a bit smaller weighing from 12 to 18 pounds. John has had
great success on the glow green four inch coyote spoon. He uses only 42 inches
of leader where many fishermen go with a five to six foot leader. John on the
weekend picked up three Chinook on this spoon and the others on anchovy in a
glow army truck Rhys Davis Teaser head behind a green hotspot flasher.
Other areas of Barkley Sound have
had some good days. Pill Point, Alan Point and Diplock had some good fishing
mid- week. Meares has had some incredible days although a lot of fisher people
are not concentrating in the area. We are expecting the fishing to continue to
be good. Coho should begin to turn up in larger numbers soon. July can also be
an extremely great month. Usually by the months end returning fish to the sound
and tributary creeks and rivers in the area and the Robertson Creek Hatchery
fish from Port Alberni begin to show.
Ucluelet
Ucluelet
continues to have good fishing. There are reports of Chinook and halibut out at
the big bank. The Chinook however are smaller than the fish on inside waters.
The halibut are bigger. Guide Mike has stayed fairly close to Ucluelet. He has
been fishing Southbank, The Wreck, and Great Bear most often. On those not so
nice west coast days Mike has come up and fished in Barkley Sound.
On Friday and Saturday of last
week Southbank was extremely good for halibut and Chinook. Bouncing off the
bottom on the troll Mike picked up 6 halibut each day using salmon bellies,
large herring and a coyote spoon that he refers to as Superman. The Chinook have
been hitting anchovy in a glow or chartreuse teaser head in the mid-water. The
Moby Dick hootchie which is white has been working well also. At the Wreck the
halibut fishing is best jigging. Mike feels that the halibut are of better
quality and size at The Wreck. Most of the halis are 20 to 25 pounds. The salmon
are hitting almost anything. There is a mix of Chinook and Coho. There was one
recent day where the Chinook have been difficult to get the gear down to due to
the large numbers of Coho. We are expecting the fishing in the Ucluelet area to
really improve. The local troll commercial fleet is now completed its fishery.
Alaska has cut back 52% of its commercial fishery. This means that there should
be more fish swimming into the area. This should also help the Barkley Sound
fishing to be sensational most of the summer and early fall.
Individuals coming to Ucluelet
for recreational fishing should be aware of all safety procedures. Lifejackets,
VHF radio, GPS, Radar Reflector, and even radar are of great importance. There
can be some wonderful days on the open Pacific but once and a while the fog can
move in very unexpectedly. Good fishing to all but remember safety is important.
Check marine weather forecasts before heading out.
Somass- Stamp River
There is currently not any sport fishing in the Somass River system. With the
non retention and closure of sockeye the banks of the river are very lonely this
June. It is not an uncommon sight to see many bar fishermen line the banks of
the Somass early in the morning casting into the river in attempts to hook a
sockeye. River fishing will pick up in mid September. The DFO is expecting a
surplus of Chinook and Coho which is absolutely wonderful for those keen river
fisher persons. Mixed with summer steelhead the fall fishing through November
should be spectacular. We are encouraging people to book their trips now as
September is entirely booked. The fishing and accommodation package is a
sensational opportunity. If you have not fished the river before and you are a
novice we will take time to teach you.
Port Alberni Salmon
Festival
The Port Alberni Salmon Festival
will take place during the Labor Day Weekend. We are expecting some good sized
fish to be weighed in this year. The returning Chinook are expected to be mainly
three and five year olds. There should be some good sized fish in the mix this
year. Call Doug of Slivers Charters for details concerning this years Derby.
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
