Season Recap 2011

Ucluelet Chinook(King) fishing was excellent this past summer as was forecasted. The peak Chinook(King) fishing changes a little every summer because the timing of the runs varies every year. Ocean temperature, amount of feed along return path and pressure changes all have an impact on the arrival of the large returning fish. Ucluelet is unique in that there are usually many feeder Chinook salmon ranging from 10-20lbs that frequent the area as well. However, most fishermen want the larger fish as there is more meat and a bigger fight! This past summer we had great Chinook salmon fishing starting in March and this continued into early September. There were plenty of pilchards around starting in early July. 20-30 lb Chinook started early July and increased as the month went on. As fisherman, most of us enjoy using Tomic Plugs or Tomic Spoons to catch the larger fish, so this was a nice treat to start this early in July. The Starfish started producing in early August and the Wreck started producing mid August. We thought 2010 was a very good year, however our average weight per day increased for 2011.
Coho salmon fishing started in early July as well and numbers increased by mid-July. Coho stayed around until early September. We consider Coho a nice bonus as we are usually there for the Chinook. On many days if we used smaller gear we would spend much of the time shaking Coho off. (Not the worst problem to have!)
Halibut fishing started in May and was pretty consistent until early August when it slowed down. It picked up again around Mid-August while fishing around the Wreck. We should note that sometimes the Halibut are just out 20 miles and if the salmon are in around 7-10 miles we may not have time to run for them.

Weather: Great weather accompanied great fishing most days and we got to enjoy low winds and great fishing. Ucluelet is unique in that we don’t get the winds that happen north and south of the region, but 2011 was exceptional as there was very little fog during August (we call it Fogust) and most days not much wind.
Overall fishing was very consistent and we averaged larger catch loads since the average size fish went up for 2011. This all matched our forecast for the year. We haven’t received the forecast for 2012, but this should happen soon.

Below are a few pictures from the season. You can see the full picture blog from the past three summers at: Full Picture Gallery and Blog

George and Helen Lim June 14, 2011

Bergen group June 26, 2011

Johnson family July 5, 2011

Berteig Family July 8, 2011

Rod Whettel group July 16, 2011

McFarlane group July 20, 2011

Hill group July 25,2011

Sutter Family July 31, 2011

Michael Toy group August 1, 2011

Brown Family August 6, 2011

Kennett group August 12, 2011

Lake Family August 15, 2011

Bruder group August 21, 2011

Setiwan group August 27, 2011

I just realized that I haven't talked about Coho in my last reports. Coho fishing has been great–there are so many that we will hit them every minute or two if not fishing the 7" plugs. Even while fishing plugs we are still catching lots. Chinook fishing continues to be very good. We have mostly fished close to the Wreck and the big Chinook stayed there for at least a week. Now we are fishing the Starfish again and using plugs as well as coyote and Silver Horde spoons. There are not as many schools of pilchards around (that may have something to do with the seiners cleaning up!). Halibut fishing has slowed down, however we are still finding a few.

Stickland Anual fishing trip August 20,2011

Bill Bruder group August 21, 2011

Bill Bruder group 2 August 21, 2011

Dee Poplar group August 23, 2011

Dee Poplar group August 24, 2011

Frank Cerney and Cees Schep August 26,2011 with a 40lb 5 oz Chinook being weighed into the salmon derby.

Maxfield group August 27,2011

Maxfield group August 28,2011

Well I guess the pictures will tell the story. More good fishing and more fun! The Chinook are out at the Starfish as well as Outside Lighthouse bank. Sore arms and happy faces make any guide satisfied that the job is done well. We are still fishing 7" Tomic plugs. The weather has been unbelievably calm–for a very long stretch. We are used to nice weather here–but this is unprecedented–we have had such a great summer for weather! Enjoy the pics below! Oh, halibut fishing is mostly happening at Big Bank either trolling or bottom bouncing.

August 10, 2011 Al Miller and friend Sam

August 10, 2011 Al Miller with about an 18lb Coho just before we released it(you can hold it on the outer part of the gill plate without harming the fish)

Daren Kennett group August 12, 2011

Daren Kennett group August 13, 2011

Daren Kenett group August 14,2011

Lake family August 15,2011

Lake family August 17,2011

The Chinook salmon fishing continues to impress us and the wow factor never gets boring. We get used to filling the box day after day. We know that this area is special and don't take it for granted. If you are wanting to come experience large Chinook (Kings) in 2012 this is the place to come! July and August are our busiest months so book very early!

Right now we are mostly using 7" Tomic plugs as there are lots of pilchards around. The fish are moving around a bit, but mostly around South Bank.

John Brown group August 6, 2011

John Brown group August 8, 2011

Al Miller with friend Sam Aug 8,2011

Al Miller August 10, 2011