This post is a listing of tackle that has worked for me consistently when fishing Bamfield, Ucluelet, & Barkley Sound. However, the great thing about fishing is that there is always more than one way to skin a cat! Even within our little group of anglers we have some differing opinions about what tackle we should be running. So take this post with a grain of salt, but I think it should give you a pretty good start.

Flashers
We almost always troll with an 11″ hot spot flasher. We usually run them inline, but have been known to use a false flasher clipped onto the downrigger cable when running spoons. Most locals seem to run green or red. I’m not totally convinced that the color of the flasher is really THAT important (although I do own many different colors so maybe I’m a hypocrite?), but I do know that the glow and UV flashers seem to work best when trolling deep out on the banks.

Natural Bait
A lot of sport fisherman run anchovies in teaser heads approximately 5-6′ behind an 11″ flasher. We’ve had good success with all the different colors of teasers, but we seem to come back to the clear, glow, and purple haze ones. However, feel free to throw down chrome or anything else for that matter. The guides don’t seem to be quite as keen on running bait, but that could be because spoons and hoochies can be just as effective and don’t require the additional hassle of dealing with bait. If you like running bait, then go for it. You certainly won’t be alone! We used to run anchovies almost exclusively, but a trip with a guide in Ucluelet cured us after we saw how effective Coyote spoons could be…

Hoochies
2007 was the year of the hoochie for us (much to the chagrin of one of my fishing partners who is addicted to Coyote spoons!). Our best producers were glow and UV patterns (particularly when fishing deep out on the banks) with our favorites being Purple Haze, Glow Below, Army Truck, and Green Splatter Back. We generally fish them on a 30″ leader behind an 11″ flasher. However, we had one trip in 2006 when the only way to catch fish was on a 6-8′ leader! The favourite squid pattern on my boat the last couple of years has been the 5″ UV purple haze B2 squid. It catches fish like crazy.

Spoons
The biggest Chinook we landed in 2007 was 38 pounds and was caught trolling the bottom about 6 miles SW of Cape Beale (near Bamfield) with a green glow 4″ Coyote spoon. We’ve had great success with Coyotes over the years and our favourite patterns are Army Truck, the Grey Ghost (its just bare metal), Cop Car, Watermelon, and Green Glow. We generally fish them on 6′ leaders behind an 11″ flasher. The quality of Coyote spoons has diminished since this was first published so we now predominantly use Tomic Spoons now. They are made on Vancouver Island and are commercial quality lures. Pilchards (BIG sardines) are back in a big way in local waters, which means that 6-7″ spoons are often the best thing to have on the end of your line. See this blog post for more info on the return of the Pilchard and what it means for you.

Plugs
Tomic Plugs can be deadly. We’ve recently started running them more frequently now that the big Pilchards are so common. I really like to run plugs because you can’t use an inline flasher which results in a much better fight. We sometimes run a false flasher off the cannonball, or run them without a flasher if the action is fast and furious.

Trolling Speed
Don’t fish too slow! If you’re fishing with flashers then you need to go at least 2 MPH to ensure the proper action. We’ve had many days in Barkley Sound where we have outfished the fleet and been lapping the other boats around us. The only difference was our faster trolling speed!

Depth
The salmon are usually in the top 60 feet when fishing in Barkley Sound or along the surf-line during the summer. Offshore, you can pickup salmon anywhere from 20 to 250 feet down! We usually vary our depths until we find the fish and then stay there until they stop biting. It is not uncommon to pickup 8-10 fish in an hour from all over the water column. The advantage of having one “deep” rod down in the mud is the possibility of picking up a Halibut while you’re down there. We frequently pickup up Chinook salmon and Halibut when running spoons or hoochies down on the bottom.

Get the Word on the Street
A few days before your trip you should be checking out the most recent Ucluelet and Bamfield fishing reports. You can also do a search over at the Sportfishing BC Forums.

I also recommend dropping by Gone Fishin’ in Port Alberni on your way through. They will know what is currently hot for Alberni Inlet, Barkley Sound, Bamfield, and Ucluelet and they have great selection. They will have what you need.

Finally, ask around on the dock when you first arrive. Some fishermen are very secretive, but we’ve found that most other sport fishermen are quite glad to share what and where has been working for them.

Sardines return by the millions to B.C. coast (External Link -> Vancouver Sun)

Where there is a bait, you will almost always find Salmon. The return of Sardines to Vancouver Island waters is GREAT news for BC salmon fishermen!

Last year, most of the fish that we caught on the west coast of Vancouver Island were full of Pilchards (big Sardines). The good news is that these Sardines are very easy to replicate on the end of your line.

The best option that we know of to target salmon are Tomic lures and spoons. We really like the 6-7″ Tomic Plugs and http://tomiclures.com/color_chart_spoons.htm as they do a nice job of replicating the size of Pilchards.

Here is a great forum thread on replicating Pilchards that goes into great detail on colors and rigging.

We’ve been using St. Jean’s for many years and have never been disappointed with the results. The really nice part about St. Jean’s is they will ship your frozen catch world wide!

We usually choose a combination of canned, smoked and filleting and vacuum packing.

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Check out this very cool new UV Bomb Hoochie from Captain Downriggins! I’ve ordered up a couple and will be giving them a try in Ucluelet later in the month. I love the look of this Hoochie and I’m very optimistic based on our success with similar purple haze hoochies on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Take a wander through his site and I think you’ll find that John Abbott (Captain Downriggins) is really taking hoochies to a new level by applying his background in fly tying. Very cool stuff here. I should also mention that he is very personable and easy to contact if you have questions.

I’ll be sure to post an update as soon as we’ve given it a whirl.

I happened upon a great web page that has (what appears to be) an exhaustive listing of accommodations providers in Uclulelet, Bamfield, Tofino, and Barkley Sound.

Seaway Express | Ucluelet to Bamfield Passenger Ferry | Links

• Ucluelet Tide Chart
• Bamfield Tide Chart
• Port Alberni Tide Chart
• Tide charts for the rest of the coast (pick your spot)

It seems that fishermen are not alone when it comes to the need for weather and wave information. The surfers also want to know what is going on and they’ve come up with a couple of great websites.

• Big Wave Dave
• Magic Seaweed – Vancouver Island Surf Report & Surf Forecast

Combine these sites with the Environment Canada marine forecasts and you should have a very accurate picture of what the weather is going to be like for your day(s) on the water.

Here’s a link to a great illustrated tutorial: Using the Uni Knot to Snell a Hook

I’ve found the following tips have really help to reduce the number of lost fish and gear:

• Lubricate your knots with liquid soap – Tying knots can create a lot of heat friction which weakens the monofilament and makes your knot more likely to break under stress. Saliva works but liquid soap is the best.
• Pull your knots TIGHT – I have a pair of leather work gloves in my tackle box and a set of needle nose pliers. I pull my knots REALLY tight. The gloves protect your fingers from fishing line cuts which really hurt when exposed to salt water.

My favorite knots:

• Palomar knot – Very easy to tie and also very strong. I learned this one a couple of years ago and I now use it roughly 75% of the time when tying line onto terminal tackle, spoons, hooks, etc.
• Uni knot – When I can’t use the Palomar knot (e.g. really large lures) then I use the Uni knot. It is relatively easy to tie and very strong. There are also a ton of different ways to use the Uni knot which makes it particularly flexible.

Before you go out:

• Check the recreational fishing notices.
• Pinch all the barbs on your hooks! This should be the first thing that you do when you open a new lure or package of hooks. It’s so easy to forget since almost all hooks still have them when purchased new.

Make sure to select the mandatory Salmon Conservation Stamp option if you’re going to be fishing for Salmon!

Another handy part of online licensing is the ability to login and print off another copy in the event that you should lose or accidentally destroy your fishing license!