Why not take advantage of our low June rates and put some delicious Sockeye Salmon in the freezer? Checkout out our availability calendar and then drop us a line at info@salmonboats.ca

Heading to Ucluelet for some salmon fishing this summer? Why not make things a bit more interesting? If you qualify, you could find yourself fishing for a prize of $250,000!

An entry into the Ucluelet Salmon Ladder Derby is only $35 for the entire season if you buy online before March 31, 2012.

Steps:

1. Check out official rules and regulations at the Ucluelet Salmon Ladder Derby web site. You can also checkout the Ucluelet Salmon Ladder Derby Facebook Page
2. Drop us a line and book your boat(s) for this summer! You can check our current availability here: Boats Availability Calendar

Please read and follow the instructions carefully! Don’t go “Liking” and “Sharing” the wrong stuff because it won’t get you entered into the contest.

Step 1 – “Like” Us to Enter: Head over to our Salmonboats Facebook page and “Like” us (the big link at the top of the page). Don’t worry, you are automatically entered if you already “Like” us.

Step 2 – Get an Extra Entry: Want an extra entry in the contest? While you are on our Facebook page, hit the “Share” button beneath the contest post and share it with your friends.

Step 3 – Wait Until January 31st We will put all the entries in a hat and draw a name. We will post the winner on our Facebook page and will notify them via Facebook messaging.

Please do share this with your fishing buddies!

The Small print:

• Blue Boat Calendar (Honda Engines)
• Silver Boat Calendar (Suzuki Engines)

Looking for a rate quote? Check out our easy Quote Generator.

Looking for a great deal? We have awesome shoulder season (April 1 to June 30, September 10 to to October 31) specials available. We fish for salmon on the west side of Vancouver Island from April until October. It isn’t just about July & August!

Please read and follow the instructions carefully! Don’t go “Liking” and “Sharing” the wrong stuff because it won’t get you entered into the contest.

Step 1 – “Like” Us to Enter: Head over to our Salmonboats Facebook page and “Like” us (the big link at the top of the page). Don’t worry, you are automatically entered if you already “Like” us.

Step 2 – Get an Extra Entry: Want an extra entry in the contest? While you are on our Facebook page, hit the “Share” button beneath the contest post and share it with your friends.

Step 3 – Wait Until January 31st We will put all the entries in a hat and draw a name. We will post the winner on our Facebook page and will notify them via Facebook messaging.

Please do share this with your fishing buddies!

The Small print:

Check out the calendar page to see our availability for both of our North River Seahawk Boats.

Don’t believe me? Check out the 35 lb Chinook that was entered on July 23rd in the Ukee Salmon Derby. Check out the Ukee Derby site for more information and to see a steady stream of big Chinooks that have been caught during the month of July.

We just had a cancellation, which means that the Silver 21′ Seahawk with the Suzuki engines is now available during the peak of the fishing season between July 30th and August 5th. The fishing in Bamfield and Ucluelet has bee phenomenal this summer. Get out here!

Update (July 27 @ 10:30): We have filled a couple of days, but there is still an opening from August 2-5.

The boats are available for long term rentals and are suitable for scuba diving, scientific research, transporting employees (crew boat), etc.

• We have tons of availability in July leading up to July 18th. There are BIG Chinook around and the fishing in Barkley Sound, Ucluelet, and Tofino has been out of sight!
• We still have slots from August 27th until September 7th. The big Coho (pushing 20 lbs!) will be on the banks and the big Chinook should still be around. This is a great time to fish Bamfield or Ucluelet. Frankly, I’m shocked that there is still availability in this period.

The Bad News:

• We are booked pretty much solid from July 18th until August 27th. If you are looking for boat during this period then I’m afraid you are out of luck. These slots are generally full by early May, so be sure to get on it early for the summer of 2012!

Who needs to go fishing in August when there are 30+ pound Chinook getting caught in late June? We still have a few weeks available in early July. What are you waiting for?

Sportfishing BC – Bamfield Reports

Salmonboats.ca Availability Calendar

We’re expecting an amazing Chinook (King) salmon fishery this year. The Columbia river is expecting a huge Chinook run this summer and most of those fish swim past Bamfield, Ucluelet and Tofino on the way home. This summer is going to be awesome!

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.

A dose of reality for those of you who think that August is the only time to go fishing? The fishing in Bamfield, Ucluelet, and Tofino is pretty consistent from April right through October. That is the advantage of being located right beside the “salmon highway”. Why not take advantage of our great spring and fall rates? We have some excellent weekend packages that will get you on the water and keep some money in your pocket.

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 still have a few good openings in August (particularly late August) and the first few weeks of July are wide open.

Seriously think about coming in July. Here’s why:

• The Columbia River is expecting a massive Chinook spawning run this year. The biggest run since 1980. Most of those salmon swim right past Tofino/Bamfield/Ucluelet on their way to the river. Details
• Save Money!! – We have significantly reduced our July rates! ($340/day in July vs $425/day in August).