Chinook & Halibut Fishing
Recap 2014
This past summer had people all excited with expectations of a record returns of Chinook headed through Ucluelet for the Columbia River. While the Columbia River did get a record return a little just over last years numbers, we didn’t see all these fish pass in front of us as expected. There was a big silver lining to the season however. July was one of the most fun months I have had as a fishing guide with the whole month spent fishing within 15 minutes from the harbour in a semi protected/protected bay. We started the month trolling as we normally do but ended up fishing live squid near the end. Not only did we get protection from the weather, but we got what I think is the most sporty way to catch a salmon. While downriggers are efficient ways to catch salmon, many people are would rather have a more hands-on way to start the battle of the scrappy Chinook.The Good news is that I think squid fishing is here to stay. We hadn’t done it in years previous and learned a ton about it this past summer. If squid numbers stay up as they are expected to, than we very well could have a repeat of last season. There is just one for thing to say about the fishery here during July: I must say our guides did an incredible job figuring out what the salmon were feeding on and our success during July was not what most guide here experienced. We ended up getting an average larger weight size per day than in 2012 and 13.
So what happened in May, June, August and September?
As not all of you came in July, we had some good fishing in all of these months. June was not quite as good as it was in 2013, but we still managed to get some good fish. I would say the larger runs of Chinook were a little late coming through and it didn’t really pick up until the last few days of June. During August the hotspots changed almost daily and we had to be ready to pick up and move or else get really good at guessing.The Chinook moved in close to shore near the end of the month and we mostly fished Little Beach near the end with just a couple runs to Big Bank. The inshore fishing in 2014 was much better, however it did keep us moving quite often as the fish didn’t stay long in each spot. We did have some good days at Big Bank but only ran out there a handful of times when fishing in close went slow.
Halibut Fishing 2014
Halibut fishing seemed to be on and off. One day we would get lots and the next it would be slow or two days hot and two days cold. We did get them consistently through out the summer starting in late May right up to mid September. We mostly bottom bounced for them in July about 2 miles from our salmon fishing spot and trolled for them in August when fishing 5-10 miles offshore.Coho Fishing 2014
The Coho mostly stayed way offshore, however we did get some good days with Coho during late June to early September. Our best coho days were in early September and we also go a few Chinook in the mix as well. Since we were fishing in close to shore in early September, if we caught a Chinook while Coho fishing it usually was a nice one.Check our fishing packages for an action packed fishing trip. Below are a few pics from the summers fishing!
Florent Delfau, Julien Tichit and Nicolas Poujade from France fishing May 7, 2014
Brothers Anthony and Bryan Gelotti fishing May 10, 2014
Sonny and Julie Barby May 14, 2014
Fish only picture May 15, 2014
Guide Dan with a 60lb halibut
Friends Ryan, Dave, Dan and Travis May 18, 2014
Segiy Babkov and Demetri Paylpolove enjoying a great day on the water May 30,2014
Our guide Fred Perron netting a Chinook salmon for Jeremy Wallis May 30, 2014
Jeremy Wallis holding up a nice sized halibut May 30, 2014
Sergiy and Demetri with Chinook in the 12-16lb range May 31, 2014
Heading out May 31, 2014. Come out for a great adventure with us!
Sam Wallis with a nice Chinook May 31, 2014
Sam, Jeremy and Peter Wallis May 31, 2014
Sergiy and Demetri happy holding up two halibut June 1, 2014
David Gulliford with a nice 24lb Chinook June 5, 2014
James and Norma Bird with Lenny Laboucan June 6, 2014. Great day on the water!
An eagle using its sharp talons to take a rock cod up to its perch June 9, 2014
Reynen group June 9, 2014 with a nice early season catch of Chinook and Halibut
Gloria DeVos showing off her catch June 11, 2014
Dan and Gloria DeVos June 11, 2014
Peay group June 11, 2014 fishing Big Bank trolling for their salmon and halibut.
Logan Worth proudly holding up this nice Chinook from Great Bear rock June 16, 2014
Ed Stauffer June 17, 204 showing off his catch!
Brandy Stauffer booked this trip and proudly shows off this Chinook June 17, 2014
Father and Daughter Ed and Brandy Stauffer June 17, 2014
Pistone group June 17, 2014 fishing Big Bank.
Bob Bloom, Art Amundson, and Ron Young June 18, 2014
Brad Price with a nice Chinook June 18 from Great Bear Rock during an afternoon's fish.
O'Neil family June 18, 2014 with a nice catch from Big Bank.
Jeff and Patricia with son Stephen Smith June 28,2014
Feeding the eagle June 30, 2014! What a majestic bird!
Gord and son Ben (11) getting some father son time June 30,2014
Kuzemko boys holding up some nice Chinook caught at Great Bear June 30,2014
Kuzemko family with a nice catch June 30,2014
Aravinthan and Aarthie Fernando celebrating Canada day at Great Bear July 1, 2014
Aravinthan and Aarthie Fernando July 1, 2014
McKinnon family celebrating Canada Day with a nice catch July 1, 2014
Panoramic view while fishing Great Bear July 1, 2014
Stroup family fishing Florencia Bay and Lighthouse bank July 1, 2014
Murray Bye with dad Stewart July 2 fishing Great Bear July 2, 2014
Stroup family getting used to Florencia Bay fishing July 2, 2014
Bariahtaris family hold a few of their Chinook caught at Florencia Bay July 3, 2014. Congratulations to Max on his 32.5 lb Chinook!
Ed Gora with daughter Marisa and grandson Aiden fishing Florencia July 3, 2014
The Hargroves out from Comox July 4, 2014 fishing Florecia Bay.
Bariahtaris family fishing Florencia Bay and Lighthouse bank for the last part of their 3 day fishing trip July 4, 2014
Kellie and Laura out for some Canada fishing all the way from Austraila July 5, 2014
Al and Lynn Miller with Rich and Deb McDonald July 7, 2014
Al Miller and Rich McDonald July 8, 2014
Penner group July 10, 2104
Penner group with a nice catch of Chinook, July 11 2014
Schwan family holding up part of their nice catch July 12, 2014
Schwan group with fish laid out July 12, 2014
Schwan group holding their catch July 13, 2014
Schwan family with their catch laid out July 13,2014
Dundin group taking Paps on a great fishing trip July 14, 2015
Jim and Chris Craig on their third trip to Ucluelet from Idaho! July 14, 2014
Barry Owen and Al Griego on their third trip to Ucluelet from California! July 14, 2014
Jim and Chris Craig having another fun day July 15, 2014
Piekama family enjoy a nice morning on the water July 16, 2014
Scholl family with a great load of fish July 17, 2014
Scholl family holding some nice Chinook caught in Florencia Bay July 18, 2014
Mike Desmet impressing Karissa Tucker with a fun day fishing July 19, 2014
Setiwan family making their 4th appearance to get some nice Chinook July 19, 2014
Frank Shewchuk and Brian Haynes July 19, 2014
Heading in at the same time as guide Fred on the Cloud Break, one of our 29' boats July 22, 2014
Bill and Janice Howard and Jack and Susan Howard July 22, 2014 enjoying beautiful BC!
Byron Dovichuk, Tyler Yamashiro, and Greg Christensen August 1, 2014
Turner group up from Victoria BC and Santiago Chile for a little Chinook action August 1, 2014
Dovichuk group again with a nice catch from South Bank August 2, 2014
Turner group with more of the same and a few halibut thrown in August 2, 2014
Victor Lee bringing his son Bryant salmon fishing August 4, 2014
David and Betty Cork are convinced the west coast is the best coast August 5, 2014
A little bird taking a stop August 6, 2014. The rod didn't even move!
Jerry Vandervalk and grandson Cody Zook (my nephew) August 7, 2014. Cody got to reel in all the fish!
Sastre group from the east coast enjoying some great west coast fishing August 7, 2014
Ken and Dave Wilson August 7, 2014
Two father son tandems. Craig and Tim and Jon and Dave enjoying a great day August 9, 2014
Al and Lynn Miller and Marv and Shawnee Kay from Whitewood Saskatchewan, August 13, 2014
Erica and Sonja Lahti holding up a nice Chinook August 14, 2014
Lahti family with a productive afternoon fishing Outside Lighthouse Bank, August 14, 2014
Rune Skoglund and Brent Caspersen on the first of their 8 day salmon fishing trip from Norway. August 16, 2014
Rune Skoglund and Brent Caspersen August 17, 2014
Corporate business retreat for Boudewyn party August 18, 2014. Great way to spend a business meeting!
Rune Skoglund and Brent Caspersen fishing the lighthouse for a good bite August 18,2014
Rune Skoglund and Brent Caspersen August 20, 2014 fishing South Bank
Woodworth family back at their catching ways August 20, 2014
Time for some corporate fun for the Bruders group! August 21, 2014
Hughes group with some nice Chinook and a 70lb Halibut August 26, 2014
Silvercrest Mines out for a great company weekend August 24, 2014
Erikstaad group August 28, 2014
Dan and Fransica Hargrove August 29, 2014
A picture that can cause your heart to beat faster!
Pilkington family all the way from the UK to go salmon fishing Sept 1, 2014
A bald eagle coming down for a fish on the surface.
wisps of fog blow by while fishing the Lighthouse, Sept 3, 2014
Filmaker Tracy Troust up for some Chinook fishing September 3, 2014
An eagle coming in for the kill, September 4, 2014
Austin Troust showing off a nice Chinook September 4, 2014
A beautiful sunset September 4, 2014
Cory Minter's reward for a tough fight September 5, 2014
Wiebe group with a good day September 7, 2014
Wiebe group September 8, 2014 with some nice halibut.
Wiebe group 2 with some nice salmon September 8, 2014