14th September 2013: 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

Charmayne and husband Brian from Edmonton Alberta fished with Doug of Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing. This Coho salmon was landed at Yankee Bay located along the Bamfield Wall in Barkley Sound. The Coho hit a AORL 12 hootchie

The summer of 2013 is slowly coming to an end but some of the season’s best salmon sport fishing on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Barkley Sound and the Alberni Inlet is currently ongoing and is very good with excellent results and happy faces on all anglers. Of course this is not to take anything away from the summer of 2013 salmon fishing which in one word was simply terrific. The offshore sport fishing off the west coast continues to be fantastic. Many guides and sport fisher people are having tremendous success outside and offshore from the Bamfield and Ucluelet Harbor. Most are fishing the twelve mile, Big Bank and Rats Nose. September, has been said to be the month with no fog and no wind, has seen some great offshore fishing with nice sized Chinook in the mid to high teens, plenty of Coho from nine to thirteen pounds and some nice halibut in the deeper water. The warmth of the late summer air has made it very comfortable for many opportunistic sport anglers seeking a big The Deloyer family from Ontario fished with John of Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing. They limited out on Coho salmon fishing in the Alberni Inlet.

The Deloyer family from Ontario fished with John of Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing. They limited out on Coho salmon fishing in the Alberni Inlet.

Chinook offshore or a nice undersized Chinook in the inshore surf line locations of Barkley Sound and also for those big Coho making their way to many of the Pacific Rim Creeks, Streams, and Rivers. Many locations of Barkley Sound have had unbelievable Coho and Chinook fishing and the Alberni inlet especially out towards the Franklin Wall and Bells Bay has witnessed fantastic Coho fishing. Of course at this time of year the salmon are moving to their natal streams but with the very warm day time and night time air temperatures and surface water temperature the salmon are holding. Once the fish begin to move the West Vancouver Island Rivers and streams will develop a fantastic Sport Coho fishery. We are expecting great fall Coho salmon fishing in the Stamp, Nahmint, and Sarita River systems. In the meantime the saltwater fishing continues in most Pacific Rim areas. We are hoping this continues until well into September.

Joe from Chilliwack B.C. and three grandsons fished in Barkley Sound and offshore out of Bamfield B.C. with Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing. The family had a great time and landed Chinook and Coho salmon and halibut.

September is the month that two very popular salmon derby’s take place. The forty-second Port Alberni Salmon Festival and the Ucluelet Ladder Derby occurred during the Labor Day weekend. The Port Alberni Derby was a Coho Derby only with sport fisher persons fishing in the Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound seeking a large Coho salmon. The Ucluelet Ladder derby was predominately an offshore Chinook Derby. Sterling Robinson of Gibson B.C. won the Port Alberni Salmon Festival. He landed a seventeen point one pound Coho around the Swale Rock area on the Saturday morning of the long weekend. His take home prize was $10,000. He won $3,000 for the largest fish of the day and an additional $7,000 for the biggest fish of the derby. The Ucluelet Ladder Derby fish off winner was local Ucluelet fisherman Brett Thomas who landed a thirty-three point 7 Chinook salmon using a hootchie out on the Big Bank.

Joe from Northern Michigan with two beautiful salmon that he landed in Barkley Sound using anchovy in a green haze Rhys Davis Teaser Head. Joe fished with Doug of Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing

This sport fishing year the Alberni Inlet from Chup Point right into the Somass-Stamp River System has non retention of Chinook salmon. The rule came into effect on August first and continues until the end of the current season. From Chup Point out to one mile off the surf line sport fisher people are able to retain Chinook salmon under seventy-seven cm in length. The current rules have really not hampered the sport fishing in the Sound or in the Alberni Inlet. The West Coast Vancouver Island Coho returns have been phenomenal which has developed some great fishing in the Inlet and Sound. There have been plenty of Chinook in Barkley Sound in which some have been transient salmon returning to the large water sheds to the south. Many of these Chinook have been undersize. They come into the Barkley Sound area where there is bait fish and feed on these rich resources of food before continuing their long journey. There has also been a good number of returning three year old males to West Coast streams located in the Sound that have been under the seventy-seven cm retention size. With the huge numbers of Coho salmon and with the smaller Chinook the sport fishing in the Sound has been fabulous. The Coho fishing in the Alberni Inlet has been the same. In Barkley Sound the best salmon fishing in September has been Swale Rock, the Bamfield Wall, the backside of Fleming Island on the Imperial Eagle side and Assets Island. The Coho and Chinook salmon are on the move but if they get into an area with bait fish they are holding. Swale Rock has definitely been an area with holding fish as the area has been filled with bait for a good number of days. The fish have been shallow in the areas mentioned and have predominately been found in thirty to sixty feet of water. The salmon are hitting hootchies, spoons, and bait. The purple haze, AORL 12, jelly fish, and spatter back hootchies with leader length of thirty-four to forty-two inches of leader behind a variety of hotspot flashers have been very good. The best coyote spoons have been in the three and a half and four inch variety. Watermelon, green nickel, green glow, and the kitchen sink have all been working. Many fisher people are using a variety of leader lengths. Some anglers have spoons trailing flashers and are using thirty-six inches of leader while others are using leaders from four to five and a half feet. For many boat speed plays a huge factor. Anchovy in a green haze, purple haze, and solid green Rhys Davis Teaser Head have been great lures for those using bait. The Coho in the sound have been averaging up to twelve pounds. It is not uncommon to hook into two or three seventeen or eighteen pound Coho on each trip down to the waters of Barkley Sound. With the vast amounts of surplus bait in the sound, especially around Swale Rock, and the continued flood of incoming salmon we are hoping with continued good weather conditions that the salmon fishing will carry on until the end of September.

Laura from Cambridge Ontario fished with Doug of Slivers Charters. Laura landed this salmon fishing in Barkley Sound

The Alberni Inlet has had some wonderful Coho fishing. Coho have been migrating into the inlet for a good number of weeks. There are well over 25,000 Coho in the Somass River system. The best Coho fishing has been in the narrows, Mctush, Bells Bay and right out to the boundary located along the Franklin Wall. The Coho are big and have been arriving in huge numbers. Limits have not been hard to come by. The current limit per person for Coho in the Alberni Inlet is four. The fish can be either wild or hatchery. Hootchies and a variety of spoons are working. Boat speed at two point seven to three miles per hour has been generally been an excellent speed with slightly shorter leaders. The shorter leaders and the higher boat speed does help prevent bi catches of Chinook salmon. We are expecting some great Coho fishing right into October. The numbers of Coho down in Barkley Sound are just phenomenal. Many of these Coho will migrate up into the Inlet waters before entering their natal bodies of water.

John from Michigan fished with Doug of Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing in the second week of September and did very well fishing the Bamfield Wall. John and friend limited on Coho and under size (77cm) Chinook. The salmon were hitting a variety of spoons, purple haze hootchies and bait. This Coho weighed 16.9 pounds.

Much of the fishing out of the Ucluelet Harbor has recently been out to the big bank or shallows and also the Rats Nose. Out on the banks there have been good numbers of Chinook salmon that are averaging fifteen and sixteen pounds, Coho that are also transient and averaging eight to twelve pounds, and Pink Salmon that are mostly headed for the Fraser River. The Fraser is expecting up to twenty-six million pink salmon this fall. Many have also been trolling or jigging for halibut and are finding many averaging fifteen to eighteen pounds. The Coho for much of the summer out on the banks were non-existent but now are in very good numbers. The fish have been hitting hootchies and are in deeper water. At eighty to one hundred and twenty feet the spatter back, Sonora, and T-Rex hootchies have really been the best lures. The water and the weather offshore have both been absolutely perfect for the past number of days which makes the trip at this time of year more than miraculous.
Stamp River

The Stamp River is expecting, in early season forecasts, up to forty to fifty thousand Coho salmon to return this fall. With returns into the system already exceeding twenty-five thousand many are expecting returns of up to seventy thousand pieces. This plus a healthy surplus of summer or fall steelhead will provide a tremendous fall fishing season that should continue right into mid November. The highlight of the river season is usually from the tenth of October through November when fly fishing is at its best. The Summer Steelhead will become very active at this time of year. Salmon eggs floating in the river from the natural salmon spawn create a frenzy of feeding activity by the Steelhead. Coho usually continue migrating into the system right in early December. Look for the 2013 fall fishing season in the Stamp to be one of the best seasons ever.

FISHING REPORTS from some of the BEST PLACES TO FISH !

14th September 2013: FISHING REPORT: Port Alberni Inlet, Barkley Sound, Ucluelet (West Coast), Somas-Stamp River System.

FISHING REPORTS
from some of the BEST PLACES TO FISH !