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View Full Version : Back from Bamfield



BlacktailStalker
06-27-2006, 11:00 AM
Back from the coast. We ran from Alberni to Pachina. stopped to fish Swale and Pill along the way for a short time with no luck. Jigged a few bottom fish for crab bait, set the pots in where we would be staying and pretty much set up the boat to be slept in, cooked up a few burgers and some soup and just lounged on the water. Pretty rough coming in but all was good.
Up at 4am the next morning, put away all the over night gear and set out. First stop was the first bank out about 5 miles I think it was. Stacked rods and half an hour into the morning, just shy of 530 we were into a what we thought was a big dog fish, fought very weird, just dead weight and was coming right up to the surface as they do, he took at 75 feet and came up about 4o and held. I guess he was asleep to begin with but he woke up in a hurry and went for a beauty run ! Yes that is what we were ther for! All in all he took 3 runs and one was a for sure 100-125 yard run. In the boat we guesstimated him to be 25-27lbs. Nice fish. Half an hour later we're into another, same performance as the last and just shy of 25lbs. Wow two slabs in less than an hour, great way to start our trip. A couple throw backs later and about 20 dogfish put us into another fish, this time a coho that took at 20' while the second rod was getting clipped to the DR. Then after a lull of about 2 hours we decided to try for some hali's. Off to a co-ordinate given by my buddys friend and half an hour in after a couple drifts over it, I was into the first hali, about 30lbs. Into the hatch she went and back out went the rods. Bang, another, this time about 40lbs. And another about 20lbs. A coupel hours go by and we went out to 12 mile for some more chickens. Right away my friends uncle hooks into a nice one, but his line broke, we figured he musta been a big 'un to break the 80lb tuff line. So with the excitement of a big one down below we hammered that hole hard and came up with another 30lb and a a small 10lb we threw back. An hour or so later I hook into another small one but about 100 feet up he got heavy, really heavy, I was like weird this thing just took on about 20 lbs I think ! A bit later I realize I'm wrapped around my buddys spreader, so after we untangle the mess, he finds he has one on too! It gets better, mine still felt heavy, and as my set up neared the surface, there was yellow line wrapped around my green line, hmmmmm. We untangled the mess and find that the one my friends uncle lost, an hour earlier managed to swim around my line and get tangled up in it! So we handlined in the one he lost, about a 40lber just exhausted from dragging the rig around and the 20lb on my line ! 3 halibut in two drops lol, what are the odds of that in a huge ocean !? We threw the smallest back and put our lines down again and my buddy got a beauty 60lber. After that the action was nil and we tried various places with no success. Went back into our anchor hole and emptied the crab pots that were just loaded, fileted all the fish up and rebaited. tied up and ate and did the usual. Next morning 4 am and we were back at it again, unfortunately a pod of whales were hunting on our stomping grounds and we didnt even hook into a single dog fish, we pounded it hard all dayfor both silver slabs and halis. Iron Noggin gave me a lot of helpful reports and tips but unfortunately my cell was dead and I couldnt retrieve his number to use on another cell, Brand new phone too but I guess the battery is a dud, not impressed. Thank you again and next time for sure, I owe you ! Another boat my budy knew was out there but being smaller stayed in close to shore and got a nice 15lb spring and lost one to a mystery creature, he had a huge tug while he was bringing it in, approx 10-15lbs and all he got was a head with very ragged teeth bites. Blue shark ? Shortly after they got a really nice 65-70lb hali trolling just off the bottom on a hootchie,a pleasant surprise. Later on we heard many guys limited out on both halis and springs the first day trolling off the bottom, something we didnt spend much time doing. Most guys were getting their fish from 70-120 feet down so that was where our gear spent most of its time.
Anyways not many pics as I video taped the whole show but if the few I took are decent I will post.
We're going back probably mid to the end of july.

MB_Boy
06-27-2006, 11:10 AM
Awesome report!! Sounds like a great time......I am getting ready to head north up the inside in about the third week of July.....cruising and fishing for ~10 days.

Sounds like a fun trip!

bushape
06-27-2006, 03:45 PM
Nice job on the Hali! Were heading to Kyuquot on the 8th, anyone else ever fished it?

Johnnybear
06-27-2006, 09:11 PM
Awesome report BTS!!! You got me pumped. We're heading up there sometime on the long weekend. Nice job on the Hali's. Any reports on the sockeye in the canal?

Nails
06-27-2006, 09:29 PM
Great report, a day on the water is great day no matter how you look at it.

BlacktailStalker
06-28-2006, 02:22 PM
Saw a few sockeye jumping, lots of boats fishing in teh canal but saw no hook ups although reports have been decent I hear. All teh gill netters were coming in for the next a.m opening. The next day was the first major run expected to come in.