I was talking to a good friend who now lives in Nanaimo, BC (Eastern side of Vancouver Island) and he suggested a visit to explore some of the fishing opportunities up that way. For background Mark is the guy that got me into the amazing spring Chinook fishing which is the subject of a past post on AAA. Well, when a top notch fish predator like Mark suggests a visit, what can you say?’’ I said “Yes!”
Mark is the guy that introduced me to some amazing springer fishing with floats and roe
After a flight from hell….I ended up taking a cab from Vancouver airport to the ferry terminal and taking a ferry for the last leg of my trip to get there, we did a real sampling of Island fishing. We started out fly fishing for rainbow and cutthroat trout on a very nice, deserted stream that feeds a large reservoir. Flows were low so we had to zero in on major pools well-spaced on the river. We were using streamer patterns that looked like emerging trout fry. The biggest fish in the river run about 16-17 inches. We got a bunch and they were in the 12-14 inch range. There was no one on the river and we had a fine time.
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Rainbow trout to 14 inches were taking a streamer that imitated a fry just out of the gravel
Next up was a drive to the West side of the island with boat in tow. James, a friend from Campbell River, was gracious enough to captain the excursion. It was new territory for all of us. The area is a maze of fjords and Islands and it took us an hour from the ramp to get to the fishing grounds. It is amazingly beautiful country and there were other folks there but not so many that we felt crowded.
The boat launch was the start of a maze of fjords, channels and Islands
We were fishing anchovies and plugs off downriggers for Chinook salmon. We had heard that fishing had been hot so we were optimistic. We had to work for the fish and tried lots of flasher and terminal combinations. We stayed at a nice development (rooms, cabins yurts and trailer spaces) along with a nice moorage and gas dock after the first day. We rolled out later than Mark wanted (6:30am) on the second day. The weather was clear with no wind so we decided to head straight for the open ocean to find some halibut and bottom fish. The plan was to tag out on those and then move in to do some more salmon fishing. Finding the halibut grounds proved challenging and we headed in after bagging some ling cod and bottom fish.
We were fishing anchovies and an array of plugs and spoons at around 50 feet deep
We didn’t score on halibut but got ling cod and a variety of other fish
The chinook were good fighters. We caught a number of jacks but returned them for someone else to catch
It was an awesome experience to fish these waters and we committed to doing it again but maybe a little earlier in the run.
The last run was to fish for pink salmon from the beach. With the streams low, there were schools of pinks cruising around feeding and waiting for a good rain. The trick is to find the schools. It took a while but Mark spotted the fish from a quarter mile away at one beach. A fair number of other folks had found them as well. There was mix of fly fishers and folks casting floats with a long leader and fly. The fish were close in and the catching was consistent. Mark proved himself on par with the regulars while I caught fish but at a reduced clip. In a month or so, the coho show up and the beach fishing can get wild for them as well.
Pink salmon were cruising the shoreline waiting for rain. Once the school of jumping and rolling fish got located, the fish readily took small flies delivered with a fly rod or fished with a long leader under a float
It was a quick trip but I got to try a bunch of different places and techniques. For a pretty short drive/ferry trip, this area is not a bad shot for folks living in the Portland area and points North. As someone said, “I’ll be back. Thanks to Mark and James for a great time!
They were still out there fishing but I had a flight to catch. I think there will definitely be a next time for me.
