Come discover why the Clayoquot Sound has
earned the title of
Vancouver Island's pristine aquatic
playground.
TSN Outdoors article by Ken Schultz on fishing with Clayoquot Ventures in Tofino.
Salmon, Rainbows and Whales
The proximity of Clayoquot Sound to the vast eastern Pacific Ocean, its labyrinth of protected channels and inlets, the exceptional amount of promontories and islands that jut into cold kelp-forested water, a high level of similar underwater structure close to shore and a profusion of baitfish — especially finger-long needlefish — allow aggressive-feeding salmon to be within casting range in generally protected waters.
Fishing out of small skiffs you can try bucktailing — quickly trolling a streamer fly in the wake about 20 feet behind the boat — to locate cohos, then stop and work the area thoroughly by casting a sink-tip line on an 8-weight outfit.
The cohos are acrobatic and turbocharged, and sometimes there's the additional challenge of keeping them from, or getting them out of, the thick kelp, or maybe even having to worry about whether a sea lion will appear and lay claim to your prize.
An eclectic town of 1,466 on the narrow Esowista Peninsula of west-central Vancouver Island, Tofino is the unofficial terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway and the westernmost place to drive a vehicle on pavement in Canada.
Named after a Spanish hydrographer, it earned the nickname Tough City during its "wild West"-like commercial fishing-logging-seafaring prime.
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| A coastal mountainous rain forest makes a terrific backdrop for fishing in Clayoquot Sound. |
Flanked on three sides by cold Pacific Ocean waters, Tofino is bounded on the south by Pacific Rim National Park and set in the heart of the stunning and biologically rich Clayoquot Sound World Biosphere Reserve, an 864,000-acre land and marine area so designated by the United Nations.
Here, among islands, beaches, mountains, and fjord inlets, is the greatest remaining tract of temperate coastal rainforest left on the planet, thanks to a 10-foot annual rainfall and the world's most bountiful, diverse intertidal zone.
Clayoquot is an anglicized version of Tla-o-qui-aht, which in the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations language means "people of other tribes."
Still a melting pot, the region has recently become a haven for artists, sculptors and free spirits, as well as a popular outpost for trail hikers, surfers, beach lovers, resort visitors, storm observers, sea kayakers and wildlife watchers — the latter having ample opportunity to view bald eagles, sea lions, seals and several species of whales.
Twenty-four thousand gray whales migrate through nearby waters annually in March and April, some taking up summer residence off Tofino and others a little further south off Ucluelet.
Ranging from 15 to 30 feet long, grays are generally solitary and feed along the shoreline, occasionally cruising through a pod of fishing skiffs.
Killer whales are sporadic pass-through visitors, usually putting a temporary pinch on fishing when they're around.
Behemoth humpbacks, which can grow to 50 feet and 50 tons, are offshore visitors, sometimes seen by deep-water salmon and halibut anglers.
In fact, on our first day of fishing here we went a few miles out in the ocean with guide Mohl and were catching chinook salmon steadily in early afternoon when a humpback surfaced far away.
In the distance it looked to be finning close to another fishing boat, which prompted Mohl to tell us that he'd read on the Internet about a California boat that was crushed under an airborne humpy, killing a passenger.
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| Chinook salmon, such as this held by Jason Mohl, are plentiful in the Tofino area. |
Moments later our attention shifted to a bucking rod, which looked like it was being strained by yet another 20-pound chinook.
Alyson was playing the fish at the transom and Mohl had a long-handled net ready, when about 100 yards away the humpback surprisingly vaulted into the air off the starboard transom in a leaning arc, crashing down with an enormous spray of water.
Caught by surprise we all shouted, and I focused my camera at the frothy surface where the huge whale had disappeared.
Alyson continued fighting the salmon and soon had it ready to land, so I turned the camera back toward her and our guide. But out of the corner of my eye I saw a big tube-shaped object blast out of the water like the surface-busting submarine in "The Hunt for Red October."
The mammoth whale, perhaps 40 feet long, was now parallel to our starboard beam only 100 feet away, crashing back into the water. Again we all shouted.
It was like a scene from an IMAX nature movie … except the whale was closing in on us, we were in a boat drifting with the wind and tide and there was the fresh thought in our minds about that California episode.
"Hang on, Alyson," Mohl shouted. "I'm moving the boat. I don't want 20 tons of that beast any closer." She did, and he did, and shortly the whale was off our bow pointed in the direction of Japan.
The joy of landing the bright-silver fish was eclipsed by the humpback's appearance; Mohl excitedly admitted it was as close as he's ever been to one while fishing.
Later, at the dock, a captain who witnessed the episode said that from his perspective it looked like the whale was following and about to leap on us.
We had no such adventures while kayaking, nor did we have mishaps or much fish action, but we thoroughly enjoyed a water-level paddling tour of this stunningly beautiful area.
Tofino is the kind of place where you wonder why you never came here before … and whether you really ought to leave (especially when the sun is out, the fish are biting and it's the day after you've eaten a dinner of local oysters, Dungeness crab and grilled salmon).
Game-fish profile
Species: Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch).
Other names: Silver salmon, silversides, hookbill, hooknose, sea trout, blueback.
In general: A member of the Salmonidae family, the coho salmon is an extremely adaptable fish that occurs in nearly all of the same waters as the larger chinook salmon but is a more spectacular fighter and the most acrobatic of the Pacific salmon.
It is one of North America's most important sport fish and commercial fish, especially to the Pacific Coast of North America, where this and other salmonids have long had great cultural and food significance.
By nature an anadromous species, the coho can adapt to an entirely freshwater existence.
Identification: The body of the coho salmon is elongate and somewhat compressed, and the head is conical.
For most of its life (in saltwater or lake and newly arrived in spawning river) this species is dark metallic blue or blue green above, becoming silvery on the sides and belly. There are small black spots on the back and on the upper lobe of the caudal fin.
Coho can be distinguished from chinook salmon by the lack of black spots on the lower lobe of the tail, and white or gray gums at the base of the teeth; chinook have small black spots on both caudal lobes of the tail, and they have black gums.
Spawning adults of both sexes have dark backs and heads with maroon to reddish sides. The males turn dusky green above and on their head, bright red on their sides, and blackish below. The females turn a pinkish red on their sides. The males develop a prominent doubled-hooked snout with large teeth, called a kype, which makes closing the mouth impossible.
Size : Coho do not attain the size of their larger chinook brethren and in most places are caught around the 4- to 8-pound mark. The all-tackle world record is a Great Lakes fish of 33¼ pounds, caught in New York's Salmon River in 1989.
Distribution: The coho salmon is endemic to the northern Pacific Ocean and the rivers flowing into it from northern Japan to Russia, and from Alaska south to Monterey Bay, California. It has been infrequently reported as far south as Baja California. Most sea-run chinook are encountered by anglers along the coasts and in spawning rivers.
The coho has been transplanted into the Great Lakes and into freshwater lakes in Alaska and along the Pacific coast of the United States, as well as into various inland states and Canadian provinces, and in Argentina and Chile.
Life history and behavior : Like all species of Pacific salmon, coho are anadromous. They hatch in freshwater rivers, spend part of their life in the ocean, and then spawn in freshwater.
Those cohos that have been transplanted to strictly freshwater environments (as in the Great Lakes) hatch in tributary rivers and streams, spend part of their life in the open water of the lake, and then return to tributaries to spawn.
In both cases, all cohos die after spawning.
Adult male sea-run coho salmon generally enter streams when they are either 2 or 3 years old, but adult females do not return to spawn until 3 years old. Almost all female coho salmon will spawn at age 3. All coho salmon, whether male or female, spend
their first year in the stream or river in which they hatch.
Food and feeding habits: Juvenile cohos in freshwater feed on plankton, then later eat insects.
In the ocean, cohos salmon eat a variety of organisms, including herring, pilchard, sandlance, squid, and crustaceans, and grow rapidly. Likewise, cohos that live entirely in freshwater feed on plankton and insects as juveniles, and pelagic freshwater baitfish in the lakes. Alewives and smelt are the primary food items.
Like all Pacific salmon, the coho does not feed once it enters freshwater on its spawning run.
For more fish species information, see "Ken Schultz's Fishing Encyclopedia," available through www.kenschultz.com.
