My nephew is in town for a week or so and we are heading to Vancouver Island. I want to get him into a King or Coho. Where do u think our best chances would be: Port Hardy, Cambell River, Telegraph Cove, or Nootka Sound....Thanks in advance...JK

Go to the west side!

You might try Tofino. Do a search for it here on the board and you'll see a good thread.

Bruce

I agree with B Gray...Tofino, on the West side of the Island, is probably your best bet. The boys at Weigh West will be able to get you into some Coho on the fly if thats your dish. GL.

Well I've been all over that island and cambell river sucks ****. We made two trips there two years ago and didn't do ****. Anyhow I did make it back up to nootka sound and it rocked. Fish were everywhere almost like sitka sound which I fished three years ago and last year. Although you should take a steelhead rod and fish the gold river if you do go and hammer down on some wild summer runs they'll be everywhere from here on out. Just watch out for bears though, they're like opossums here if you know what I mean!!!!
Keith

Campbell River bills itself as the Salmon Capital of the world which is a load of crap. Only europeans fall for that label...Campbell river hasn't fished well for years, Haig Brown was talking of it's demise 30 years ago.As for the Gold River, don't expect to lay a beating on them...the Gold runs crystal clear in the summer and fishing can be tough. Try the Stamp instead for piggy springs and Hatchery Steelies.

SOOKE!
I just got back yesterday. We discovered this beautiful little town about 6 or 7 years ago and have been making an annual trip of it. We have found a great friend whose 24foot Searay has all the buzzers and bells. We Troll Canadian Style - Red Hot Spot Flasher to an anchovie 6 feet back. Drag this around at 35 - 115 feet concentrating mostly at 50 - 65 feet from Pedder Bay all the way west to the Ocean. You can rent boats (through Oak Bay Marine Group) at Pedder Bay Marina for about $200cdn per day! These are 15' and 17' foot Hourstons. They also rent scotty manual downriggers.

We got a 28# sunday, 0fer monday and three before 8 am on (25,20 and a white 19) on Tuesday.

Here is a link for some good info on all of BC.
www.bcadventure.com/adventure/angling/saltwater/index.phtml

Check out the Juan de Fuca king bit!

Fish Now, Sleep Later!

GutZ

Just to back up GutZ, as I was with 'em and can vouch for Sooke. He says it all, but here is another link with updated fishing reports for the west side areas. http://www.fishingvictoria.com/fishing_reports.htm

Ask GutZ about the 40# that smoked 'em

hah, it was a hoot! I doubyt GutZ wants to replay that story. Snicker.. Seriously though, the first day we were out was a derby happening, and the winner was a 41#.

-rbf

JK: Wish you gave a little more info. Taking your own boat? When you going? Your relative or you have sea legs or do you need flat water? I go to Van Isl usally twice a year now. Lots of closures last year & this year. Like others said, skip Campbell River, Puget Sound offers as good as it does. West side Vancouver Island all inner sounds closed this year except Nootka, & it has heavy restrictions after July 15. Nootka is no brainer fishing & they can be thick, all on flat waters too. But is 11-12 hour trip from Seattle. Great place though if taking your own boat. Very few guides there, but a few out of Gold River. You want semi-primitive camping with guarenteed limits of halibut plus excellent salmon fishing? Go to Port Renfrew. Port Renfrew Marina has a website as does Strike One Charters up there. 100% daily limits on crabs there too. Sooke, as others mentioned is good too, lots more accomodations, easiest drive of these 3, water not as rough as Port Renfrew. Stay right in town & only 10-15 minutes from your hotel & you are fishing. Its all about timing at Sooke. Fish go through in waves headed to Fraser River & others. Time it right & you'll do great, but just as easy to miss them there as not....but that's fishing! So you want comfy digs but chancier fish, head to Sooke. Got your own boat-head to Nooke. Want Halibut & Salmon but fairly primitive head to Port Renfrew. PR is where the locals mostly go. When I went there I was only Washingtonian in camp for 4 days last year during first week of July. Camp is a hard-core fish camp, locals are real friendly though. By the way, city of Sooke also has website w/links to lots of local guides and local accomodations as well. I already can't wait to go again this year. Increble scenery, friendly people & good fishing makes more a good trip all the time. ps: If you are taking your own boat over, get on BC ferries website. For $10 US extra you can make reservations on a ferry. Well worth the small extra fee to make sure you make the sailing you want, expecailly if headed to Nainamo where is 2.5 hours between sailings. Ferries to Schwartz Bay to access PR or Sooke sail every hour on the hour so not a problem there. My price for all the info: post how you did when you return!

oops ...my bad...I'll be leaving this Tuesday the 26th...we'll be fishing out of a 12 foot smoker craft so i definitely need protected waters...we'll be camping in tents...U mentioned Nooke....was that a typo for nootka? I'm also considering the Columbia River...I heard it was happening down there, but have never fished there. Thanks for the info!!!!!!

In an above post Fishingtoo says that Nootka Sound will be closed after July 15. Is that when the west coast's conservation corridor is going to take effect? I've heard that the restrictions applied last year will be used this year too, perhaps with some modifications. I regularly check the BC Fisheries website for updates and haven't yet seen any pertaining to this. We fish out of Ucluelet for a week every August, and we'd like to know what's in store.

Anyone know the particulars?

JEB
SRBC East

JK: If you are taking a 12' Smokercraft, that rules out Port Renfrew, not near enough boat for there. Nootka Sound just like Puget Sound, pretty flat waters, normal afternoon breeze but your boat could handle it. You can camp at Cougar Creek campground, primitive site, but only one around that puts you within boating distance of the fishing. Town of Gold River will leave you much to far away from fishing grounds, especially with smaller/slower boat. It's a 20+ mile run from boat launch to even the closest fishing, so rule out staying at Gold River if you go to Nootka. End of June is 3-4 weeks early for prime time up there but they are already catching some fish. July & August are far better fo kings. late August and Sept for coho. your timing at Sooke is pretty good, boat size adequate as long as not a windy day. Good thing is you fish right next to shore & can duck back into the harbor real easy if things get rough. My two cents is if going to Canada for your boat size & the week you mentioned, head to Sooke. But that is only best choice of Canada locations, I don't have any expierence about the Columbia River so can't compare it as an option.

JEB: The 1-mile offshore fishing corridor is there again this year, all along west coast Vancouver Isl. Like last year it stops about 15 miles north of Port Renfrew so no corridor at mouth of straights or along the Straights i.e. at Sooke. Pretty much all last years regs are being renewed, with some additional spot modifications. Good news is that Coho fishery is being opened up much more this year. Nootka Sound will be only west Coast inner sound open after July 15, but even there it has many more restrictions this year. For most part the only full open section will be upper Nootka sound where targeted fish are mostly all hatchery fish head for Conuma River. Lower N. Sound closures this year designed to protect weak wild stocks headed to Gold River & smaller creeks up Tahsis arm. The Conuma River summer/fall run is very healthy, 20-30k fish per year returning although last year was down due to spawning class El-Nino year with lots of Mackerel predation on that years smolts. If you want to see a map on Nootka w/fishing closures for this year go to www.crittercove.com. Look up there info on "Critter chat" & "fishing regulations" sections. I will be going there again this year at the end of July despite the more limited fishing locations.

From what I hear, Uculet will be an off-shore fishery once again this year. My cousin knocks them silly every year there, but he is running 20-25 miles offshore, out to a bank for his kings, and always tops off with Halibut there.

Fishingtoo,

Thanks for the insight. Can't say I'm all that surprised these restrictions are in effect again this year, and wonder if they won't become permanent.

Your cousin's game plan sounds pretty similar to ours, although previously we've targeted chinook fairly close to shore just north of Barkley Sound Inlet. Didn't make the trip last year because of scheduling conflicts and some reluctance stemming from restrictions, but we're scheduled this year for third week of August. Guess we'll just have to alter our approach.

Thanks again for the help.