Tofino / Ucluelet Fishing Report:
April 2007
Springtime fishing on Vancouver Island, Good, Bad and getting Better
April 28th, 2007
Springtime is always one of the busiest and most challenging times of the season for me, and the guide team at Clayoquot Ventures. Early
season Chinook Salmon, Halibut and Steelhead get a lot of our attention, but other non fishing activities also keep the proverbial plate
overflowing with bookings and correspondence, stocking the Fly and Tackle Shop, Vessel prep and repairs, guest house maintenance, and of
course family time….
These are all great challenges on a normal day, but a normal April day in Tofino B.C. doesn’t usually involve rains and wind that remind
us of January storm season. With relentless weather for most of this spring so far, we haven’t had a very smooth ride to enter the
main part of our outfitting season. We have been fortunate to manoeuvre our Steelhead fishing plans between the main weather systems, with
possibly the most consistent fishing we have seen in quite a few years. I have visually witnessed healthy runs of native spring Steelhead
traveling upstream over the last few weeks, getting a closer look at a few of these Silver Gems, before sending them back carefully in to
their home stream to continue their journey. My favourite Flies and sometimes a spoon or jig have helped us get close and personal with a
good number of these spring Steelhead, which have long ago gained my respect more than any fish in the Pacific Northwest, Unfortunately my
last remote trip was a blowout, as the river rose 3-4 feet while we fished the first day, we release a few nice fish, but also opted to head
out of the valley instead of getting stuck with flood stage water all around us. After arriving back to Tofino 2 days earlier than planned,
with the rain and wind pounding outside the guesthouse, we agreed that being warm and dry, watching the Hockey game was more appealing than
barely keeping a fire going in a true Rainforest storm.
While I’ve been in and out of the mountains on these remote trips, Derek and Blake have been doing their best to show our Saltwater
guests some action on Chinook Salmon and Halibut, battling the weather most of the way. Last night while the guide team got together at my
place for Steaks and the Canucks Overtime win over Anaheim, we discussed how we would normally have experienced numerous “stellar” days
of offshore action for Chinook and Halibut by this point of our early season. The number of offshore days could easily be counted on two
hands to date, but we also agreed that the Halibut should be stacking up at some of our favourite near shore spots. Tomorrow’s forecast
looks great, so we might get an early start to get out and bounce some bait for Halibut close to Tofino.
Chinook salmon action had been very consistent for most of March and early April, but the last few weeks have been much slower. This same
pattern happened last year as well, with the first strong wave of southern migrating Chinook salmon providing more consistent action by mid
May. Ideally, this pattern will be similar or sooner, juxtaposed with weather patterns that are normal as well. Most of these early season
Chinook Salmon are caught (140-165 ft) deep while trolling small Herring, Anchovies, spoons or Hoochies, and incidental Halibut are very
common on the Salmon gear.
We’ll be updating this report page on a regular basis as our early season fishing opportunities and action provide us with more info
to share.
For those that are still considering plans to fish the West Coast of Vancouver Island, we would be glad to hear from you to discuss some
of the great dates we still have available for the 2007 season. Whether you are looking at a half day charter for 1 vessel, or multi days
for multiple vessels in an accommodation package, give us a call to discuss the best options.
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Clayoquot Ventures