Published Date: 2010/3/16 14:41:24
Article ID : 7646
Version 1.00
By Doug Lindores
http://www.catchsalmon-ca.comSports Fishing Columnist
PORT ALBERNI — March is here and we have already experienced some great warmth from the sun.
In British Columbia, spring break has passed, which means the first salmon fishing derby has already taken place (Sproat Lake Loggers Derby March 6 and March 7) and the 24th annual Pacific Rim Whale Festival has just wrapped up.
The early March weather has been ideal and the salmon fishing especially on the coastline of West Vancouver Island has been rather spectacular.
Halibut fishing has also opened with possession limits of one per day.
Fishermen and saltwater salmon sport-fishing guides and charter companies are gearing up for what looks like a rather spectacular salmon fishing season.
The 2009 salmon fishing season ended up being one of the strongest years in the last 10, but all indicators in preseason forecasts are predicting that the best is yet to come.
Chinook and coho numbers that are termed migratory salmon and are swimming to various rivers and tributaries such as the Fraser and Columbia are looking like they will be in even much larger numbers in 2010.
The salmon travel and feed along the bait rich waters of Vancouver Islands’ inner and outer coast.
The coho and chinook will be found outside of the Tofino and Ucluelet harbors and these unbelievable sport fish salmon also come into the nutrient rich waters of Barkley Sound, which have waters that are pristine and calm.
The first large schools of chinook should show up along the coast of Vancouver Island sometime from the end of April into late May.
They are usually four to eight miles off the coast and are predominately in 130 to 160 feet of water.
Most salmon sport fishing guides will fish the bottom with anchovy and needlefish.
These first salmon also swim into Barkley Sound and often Austin Island, Meares, Edward King, and Kirby Point have some excellent fishing days.
By June, the mid-summer run of migratory chinook will begin to show and the first coho which feed all day begin their push to their home river or stream.
The coho are often feeding very hard and put on up to one pound per week in June and July.
The mid-summer run usually peaks in July which should create an unbelievable west coast and Barkley Sound sport fishery.
Of Course, August and September will see local salmon returning to their natural rivers, streams, and creeks. Localized returning salmon mixed in with transient salmon the local sports fishery should see a banner season as is currently forecast.
The Port Alberni Inlet should have a strong run of sockeye in 2010.
Last year, the numbers returning back to the Somass more than doubled the predicted forecast.
Sockeye usually begin schooling in the inlet by mid June. However, water temperatures do play a big role.
If the river water warms up to 18 degrees Celsius the sockeye begin to slow down and they school in big numbers in areas of the inlet.
The sockeye will often wait for high tides or rain before entering the river and making their way to either Sproat Lake or Great Central Lake.
Often, sockeye are in 50 to 60 feet of water, but when the July air temperatures begin to rise which dramatically warms up the river water temperature the sockeye will often be found in 90 to 120 feet of water.
Local chinook returning back to Robertson Creek Hatchery begin to show in mid August and often peak during the first week of September.
Coho often follow the chinook.
The last couple of years have seen huge coho returns to the area.
We are expecting nothing different this year.
Port Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound
The salmon fishing in the inlet has been relatively quiet except for those few avid anglers that have fished for winter chinook down around Nahmint and Franklin.
A few fish up to 15 pounds have been landed over the last couple of weeks using hootchies and anchovy.
Over the course of the winter there have been a few feeders landed in the China Creek area.
The feeders follow the bait.
In 2009, the largest winter chinook recorded was picked up at Bells Bay.
This fish was landed in March and weighed in at 22 pounds.
The sport prawn season is expected to begin in the China Creek and Alberni Harbour on the first of April.
Farther down the Inlet there have been weekly and bi-weekly openings and closures.
Check local DFO sport prawn regulations.
Winter chinook fishing in Barkley Sound and Bamfield has been off and on.
The herring spawn should happen soon and when great quantities of bait are found so are the feeder Chinook.
Some fishermen have been doing well in Sarita Bay while others have done well at Swale rock and Vernon Bay.
Anchovy and a five inch Glo-Flo Coyote Spoon with only 42 inches of leader behind a No. 1 Abe and Al flasher has really been working for one guide.
On Thursday afternoon guests were treated to an 18, 14, and two 10-pound chinook in 130 feet of water at Sarita.
Other individuals have found the green spatterback hootchie and a five inch chrome/green coyote spoon behind a green hotspot flasher to be working very well.
The Sproat Lake Loggers Derby had some great results.
The biggest chinook weighed in at 29 pounds.
The second place salmon was 27 pounds and third place came in at 22 pounds.
One group worked very hard but when they found the fish between Fleming Island and Edward King they hooked into twelve salmon and retained six of them with the biggest coming in at 15 pounds.
The prawn fishing for many of the fishermen was fantastic in Barkley Sound and the weather especially on Saturday was wonderful with temperatures out of the breeze hitting 17 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
Ucluelet
The Ucluelet salmon fishing has been very good.
Great Bear and Mara Rock have produced some nice chinook up to 14 and 15 pounds.
The last week has had some ideal spring weather conditions on the water. Great Bear had some great fishing with guests landing four to six feeder Chinook per day.
A trip on Friday had guests play 12 salmon of which they landed six.
Four of the salmon were hatchery fish.
Much of the bait has been needlefish and the green needlefish hootchie as well as a four-inch chartreuse and a four-inch green-nickel coyote spoon have been working extremely well.
The purple haze hootchie with 42 to 44 inches of leader behind a purple haze flasher has also been dynamite. The salmon have been found between 75 and 120 feet in terms of depth in the water.
With the annual herring spawn getting very close the chinook will remain relatively close to the beach as the herring show up to spawn.
The herring also go into Barkley Sound and up to areas like Mayne Bay to spawn.
With all of the needlefish and the closeness of the herring spawn in the area the salmon should be in some very large schools through the month of March.
As the spring weather gradually gets even better and the migratory salmon begin to show we will begin to fish other areas such as the South West corner and South Bank, but for now the salmon are close to the harbor and fishing should continue to be very good.
Halibut fishing is also a sport fishery that at this time of year is relatively close to the beach.
Sail Rock most years has some great halibut fishing as does areas just beyond Miller and Jana Reef.
The month of April is the time of year when we offer our Seafood Safari. What a wonderful day this is on the open Pacific when guests are offered a day of salmon fishing, bottom fishing, and prawn and crab fishing.
What is even better is that evening meal with a variety of cooking methods and great B.C. wine sitting outdoors at a local bed and breakfast or resort and looking over the many scenic views of the west coast.
Whale watching is also something else offered during any chartered trip. We offer eight and six-hour trips where time can be designated towards whale watching.
Somass-Stamp River System
The fishing in the Stamp River can go on almost year long. We are currently fishing for winter steelhead in the Stamp.
If fishing with a guide and aboard a jet boat the best fishing continues to be in the lower river below “the bucket.”
Those on the banks continue to fish the falls pool where there is often a lot of congestion.
We are expecting the winter steelhead fishing to continue into April.
There are still some great fresh fish coming into the system. We are really looking forward to the 2010 fall Stamp River fishing. There should once again be some incredible fishing. If one thought the fall of 2009 was sensational than 2010 should be unbelievable.
The coho are forecast to return in big numbers and this often means that Summer Steelhead returns are also very good.
Good Stamp River fishing usually begins by September 20th for coho and chinook.
At the same time there are many Steelhead in the system but they are often difficult to get into because of the thickness of the salmon. By mid October the salmon have dropped their eggs and the summer steelhead become very active and the conventional and fly fishing for summers’ is incredible for the sport fisherman.
Many guides hooked into 15 to 20 fish this past fall for guests.
We are expecting the same for the fall of 2010.
Board index » Saltwater Fishing
