Fishing Reports for July 12

By on July 12, 2017

Washington

Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco)

no report this week

Marine Area 2 (Westport)

no report this week

Marine Area 3 (LaPush and Forks)

no report this week

Marine Area 4 (Neah Bay)

no report this week

Marine Area 5

no report this week

Marine Area 6

no report this week

Marine Area 7

Chinook fishing has been fair in the San Juan Islands. Silver Horde Coho Killer and 3″ spoons have been the hot ticket for us. Seems like a lot of fish are suspended around 90-120 ft. depending on location. We’re not banging bottom to get ’em. Use your sonar to find ’em.

Time to get the crab gear ready for the opener on Saturday the 15th. Get the butter ready too!

Submitted by Kevin Klein, Team Parker Boats NW

Marine Area 8.1

no report this week

Marine Area 8.2

no report this week

Marine Area 9 (Admirality Inlet)

no report this week

Marine Area 10

no report this week

Marine Area 11

The Chinook salmon fishing has been pretty slow recently the few that have been taken have come from the Pt. Dalco area mostly trolling flasher and artificial squid or spoons. Typically it will be a little slow the first couple of weeks of July and start picking up in late July and on into August.

Also there has been a few Resident Coho being caught around the Pt. Fosdick area tight on the beach with light gear and these fish have been running 3lb to 4lb and a lot of fun on light gear.

The crabbing has improved recently with a few more legal Dungeness in the catches.

For an updated report call (253)591-5325.

Crabbing is open in Area 11 and 13 For a more up to date report call 253-591-5325

Point Defiance Marina has rental boats and motors and launch and overnight moorage facilities with pump out stations and shore power. In addition, we have storage space for boats up to 17 feet as well as kayak storage. For more information call 253-591-5325

Summer Camps Available: Sails and Trails Camp for Ages 11-15. Monday-Friday 8 am to 5 pm. Cost $260/wk. Participants spend the week fishing and educational trail hikes at Point Defiance and Sailing and Kayaking at Tacoma Youth Marine Center. Also one day is spend at Foss Seaport Center with hands on marine science. July 10-14, July 17 21, July 24-28, July 31-Aug 4.

Report submitted by Point Defiance Marina. For more information contact: Art Tachell, Boathouse Marina Technician, 253.591.5325 art@tacomaparks.com www.pointdefiancemarina.com.

Marine Area 12

no report this week

Freshwater – Lake Chelan

no report this week

Freshwater – Potholes Reservoir

The hot weather continues with today, Tuesday, being the coolest for the next few days at the mid 80s and this weekend up to the 100s. Locally this week we have had two more wild fires break out but nothing close to us, and no smoke.. As usual, several fires have popped up in the Vantage area. Potholes continues to drop down with an increased need for irrigation for agriculture. The lake with the high temperatures has a high algae bloom and the smell is transmitted to the fish you catch. If you intend to keep any of your catch to eat they must be bled out and put on ice immediately. In processing your catch, remove the skin and any signs of blood. Soak in milk and diced up carrots and this gets rid of the unpleasant odor

With the water we are seeing walleye and perch starting to show on the main lake. Not like the huge schools that we saw three years ago. Bugs can be a problem so bring your bug spray along with sun screen. We are using a head net of a fine screen. Our garden is starting to give us cucumbers, Zucchini, green peppers, peas and beans. Hoards of tomatoes are on their way. Local fruit stands now have sweet cherries. Summer is upon us so come on over and enjoy it.

Report submitted by Tom Pollack

British Columbia

Vancouver

We have seen another week of windier weather but the Gulf Islands has fished well when we were able to cross the strait. This fishery will be a good bet for another month for chinook in the 10-25 pound range. It is quite unique as we are fishing structure and very deep, often 250+ ft.

Things have started to pick up locally off of the West Vancouver shoreline as is typical for this time of year. It seems like there are quite a few undersized fish hanging around which is a great sign of things to come. We have caught our first pink salmon of the year! It seems like there are a few schools around and we should see them consistently over the next 2 months. This is a great time of year to get out with the family and enjoy some time on the water with some good action. Give us a call or email us to get you on the water. Tight Lines!

For more info call Jeff or Jason at Bon Chovy Fishing Charters (604) 763-5460,bonchovy.com email: info@bonchovy.com. The cover image of this week’s report was also contributed by Bon Chovy. 

Alberni Inlet, Barkley Sound, and Ucluelet

Big Bank has had some decent bites this past week near the Rat’s Nose and South- East on the Egg. Barkley Sound had some good bites earlier in the week, though the fish were moving around from day to day, so it was a bit of a guessing game of where they would be. There have been some decent fish being taken in close to shore during both morning and afternoon trips. The bite has not been extremely fast, but the Chinook are mostly in the 12 to 25lb range with a couple around 30 lbs taken. Offshore small spoons, needle fish and cuddlefish hutchies are working. Inshore #3 Kingfisher spoons from Silver Horde have been working the best along with anchovies.

Halibut fishing has been pretty good at Big Bank on the troll, bottom bouncing Hali West and also on anchor. Coho are not showing up in great numbers yet, but are showing up both on Big Bank and in close to shore some days.

If you are looking to get last minute accommodation for Ucluelet or Tofino check out www.tofino-info.com. Accommodation has been tough to find for July and August so make sure you book right away.

Submitted by Sam Vandervalk of Salmon Eye Charters (1-877-777-4344). Salmon Eye is recommended by USA Today, Cruise America and New York Times bestselling author Peter Greenberg in his book The Ultimate Insider’s Guide to the Greatest Experiences Around the World. The cover image of this week’s reports was also contributed by Vandervalk.

Graham from Vancouver shows his Chinook Salmon landed on surfline off Barkley Sound. This Chinook salmon was landed using a small Coho Killer spoon.

July is a wonderful month for sport fishing in the Alberni Inlet and Barkley sound. The area begins to fill with travelers and various anglers world-wide. The Alberni Inlet was to be an area where perhaps during July there would be a lack of fishing opportunity. Sockeye Salmon numbers returning to the Somass River were forecast to be very low. However the numbers are much more than what was thought and on the FIRST of JULY Sport Sockeye Salmon fishing opened. The early results have been phenomenal with many anglers limiting. The current bag limit per person per day is two salmon. On Saturday the 8th OF JULY the Limit for sport ANGLERS will be FOUR per day. That number could change. Over the next few days there will be a variety of test fishing which may indicate a new run size. With the current environmental conditions Sockeye Sport fishing should continue in late July. There is still plenty of snow in the mountains which has created a fairly steady flow of cool water which attracts the Sockeye to the River. How-ever the area has had several days with air temperatures over thirty degrees celsisus. These higher temperatures have helped the temperature of the river water and the inlet water rise substantially. With this the Sockeye are slowing their migration down and are schooling out in the inlet.

Barkley Sound has had some fairly good Chinook fishing in May and especially the last two weeks of June. The “early” and mid- summer run of migratory Chinook headed to the big watersheds to the south have been relatively decent. Barkley Sound has had ample amounts of rich nutrient bait fish which are bringing the salmon in from offshore waters to feed. The surf line areas and inshore areas along the Bamfield Wall, Austin and Cree Island and Swale Rock are excellent locations for some of those chrome Chinook which are make their long journey to their natal rivers and streams. There have also been a good number of Coho up to seven pounds in many of the areas.

These three girls from Prince George, Vancouver and Port Alberni had a great time Sockeye fishing in the Alberni Inlet with guide Doug from Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing. Sockeye fishing opened in the Alberni Inlet on the first of July

Port Alberni Inlet: Anglers have the best opportunity to land Sockeye when they school in big numbers. This historically occurs when the water temperature in the Somass River and Alberni Inlet hits eighteen degrees Celsius. The Sockeye school from Cous Creek out to the Nahmint Franklin area. With the projected outlook for Sockeye returns to the Somass River being really unknown until there is more data there should be a fantastic opportunity for some tremendous Sockeye fishing. On July 1st Sockeye fishing opened in the tidal waters of the inlet. The retention is currently at two Sockeye Salmon per person per day with a two day limit of four per person.

The Sockeye in the Alberni Inlet are currently sitting in thirty-five to fifty feet of water and as the water warms they will swim down into deeper and cooler water. Sockeye hit short leader lengths from eighteen to twenty-five inches in length behind a variety of hotspot flashers. The mp2, mp15, pink and blue, pink and black, and the pink with either the green or white head hootchies all seem to work very well for most sport anglers. Sockeye are attracted to the boat by color. Many sport fishermen will often have eight flashers behind their boat. Four are often dummy flashers and the other four with hootchies of choice. The Sockeye will average four to eight pounds. Sockeye are the number one commercial salmon. They are wonderful for summer barbeques and when vacuum packed properly last the winter for those special occasions.

Sockeye fishing is a wonderful fishing opportunity for the whole family. It is a fun fishery for young and old. Don’t miss out on this opportunity in the Alberni Inlet this July and early August.

Barkley Sound and Ucluelet: The salmon fishing in Barkley Sound has been relatively inconsistent. The best fishing has been out on surf line areas. The islands close to the Ucluelet Harbor Mouth, Meares, Austin, Cree Island, Kirby Point, Edward King and the Bamfield Wall have all had times during the past few weeks with some hot Chinook and Coho sport fishing. Areas close to the Ucluelet Harbor that have had a few fantastic fishing days are Great Bear and Sail Rock. The inner and outer South bank and Long Beach have had some of the transient salmon linger creating some good sport salmon fishing opportunity. Florencia and Way Point have been two hotspots as of late. The salmon in the Sound and inside waters have been hitting anchovy in green glow, army truck, and green haze Rhys Davis Teaser Heads. Needle fish hootchies and hootchies in green (spatterback), blue and white have worked well. Small Coho Killer spoons in the cookies and cream and white pearl have been working very well. A few guides have done very well with the army truck glow hootchie and the cuttlefish J-79. The Sonora cuttlefish, Jack Smith, and Blue Meaney Hootchies have been very good out on the banks. Anchovy and a variety of four and five inch coyote spoons have also been working. We are looking forward to some great sport fishing opportunities during the second half of July and August in Barkley Sound, the Alberni Inlet and offshore. The numbers of transient Chinook and Coho headed to the big watersheds to the south are forecast to be average which should provide some very excellent sport salmon fishing.

For more information and/or reservations, call Doug Lindores at Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing (250) 723-2435; (250)724-2502; cell (250)731-7389 or 1-877-214-7206 www.catchsalmon.ca or www.catchsalmon-ca.com; dlindy@shaw.ca. The cover image of this week’s reports was also contributed by Doug.

Bamfield

no report this week
Becher Bay

Craig Engelsman with a pair of nice sprigs caught at Pedder Bay this past week.

Salmon fishing was GOOD this past week when it wasn’t blowing too hard.  There have been lots of salmon coming in from Beechey Head to the Trap Shack.  Besides springs into the teens, more pinks have also been showing up. The best depths to fish have been from 40 to 70 feet. Anchovies are now the most popular bait. Good teaser heads have been the Bloody Nose and Mint Pearl. Trolling Skinny G spoons on a 36” leader has been working great. The best color combinations being Nickel/Blue, Nickel/Gold and Bananas. For flashers, the Homeland Security and Raspberry Jelly have been working well.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Oak Bay

Salmon fishing was SPOTTY in Oak Bay this past week, except for Friday when it was really good. There has been some good-sized fish pushing 20 lbs coming in from the flats and the Gap. Anglers jigging have been catching more salmon than those trolling. Good jigging lures have been Point Wilson Darts and the Delta Mac Fish. The salmon are feeding on needlefish and have been at depths from 65 to 135 feet, depending on where the feed is located. Most of the anglers have been either bottom bouncing or jigging close to the bottom.

Halibut fishing was SLOW this past weekend on the big tides and it was way too windy as well for most boats. Most anglers that were fishing for halibut are using extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait. Also working well was the 8” Powerbait Grubs and Delta Hali Hawgs.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Pedder Bay

Pedder Bay Marina reports PRETTY GOOD salmon fishing. The bay was fishing well again this week, and it was out of the wind as well. The most productive area for trollers has been the can buoy. Trollers are doing best trolling from 45 – 70 feet on the downrigger and/or just off the bottom. Jiggers were doing better than the trollers and have been fishing near the Race. There hatchery springs have been running from 8 – 15 lbs.  Anchovies are now the most popular bait for trollers. Good teaser heads have been the Bloody Nose and Mint Pearl. Skinny G’s in the new nickel colours have been catching springs as well. Blue/Silver coyote spoons have also worked well. Hoochies and squirts with a green and glow, or uv white have been popular color choices this week.  Flashers that are popular include the Madi, Bon Chovy and Chartreuse Twisted Sista.

Halibut fishing was SLOW this past week plus it’s been too windy for most boats much of the week. Most anglers that were fishing for halibut are using extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait. Also working well are the 8” Powerbait Grubs and Delta Hali Hawgs.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Sidney

Salmon fishing was SPOTTY this past week. There have been fish coming from all areas and anglers jigging are having better success than those trolling. There have been some springs caught that are pushing 20 lbs but most are running from 10 to 15 lbs in size. Anglers using spoons found Coho Killers, Gibbs Needle G and AP Tackleworks needlefish spoons the most successful spoons this past week. Suggested colours are Trap Shack and Bon Chovy.  Anchovies and Tiny Strip were also good producers of fish with teaser heads in UV Purple.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Sooke

The fishing has been GOOD for salmon over the last week when it wasn’t blowing too hard. Secretary Island to Otter Point has been good and pink salmon are also showing in the catches in addition to springs ranging from 8 – 24 lbs.  There have been reports of springs into the 30’s being released as well.  Most anglers are using bait with anchovies being the most popular choice. Lots of small squid were in the area so hoochies are also effective. Good choices for teaser head colors Red, Tiger Prawn, Glow chartreuse Tiger Prawn and Bloody Nose.  For flashers, the Delta Homeland Security and Red/Silver Hot Spot have been working well. Hootchies in all White, Glow/Green and Purple Haze have been effective recently as well.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Victoria

Fishing for salmon was SPOTTY off Victoria this past week when the wind didn’t keep you off the water.. The most productive area has been Constance Bank and further out. The area from Albert Head to Trial Island has been slow. Most boats fishing the waterfront came up empty.  Some pink salmon are also starting to be caught ffshore. Spoons have been very successful in getting hook ups, Nickel/Blue Skinny G’s and Blue/Silver Coyotes, Coho Killers, 3.5” Cop Car spoons have brought some hookups.

Halibut fishing was SLOW this past week. The halibut have been very deep with depths of over 300 feet the most productive. Most anglers that were fishing for halibut are using extra large herring, salmon bellies and/or octopus for bait. Also working well was the 8” Powerbait Grubs and Delta Hali Hawgs.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Lakes and Rivers

Bass fishing is GOOD as we enter the summer months. There have been many reports of good catches of fish as large as 6 lbs. Soft plastics rigged Carolina style and crank baits are working well. The most productive colors in 4” Yum baits are Smoke or Pumpkinseed. Top water plugs are also fun and effective in the summer, especially at dawn and dusk. Langford Lake, Shawnigan Lake, Prospect Lake and Elk and Beaver Lakes are the best local bass lakes. St. Mary’s Lake on Salt Spring Island is also a great lake for bass fishing.

Submitted by Tom Vaida, Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC (250) 475-4969 info@fishingvictoria.com; www.fishingvictoria.com

Oregon

Tillamook Bay

no report this week

Willamette River

no report this week

Great Lakes

Lake Michigan

no report this week

Salmon University Staff
Salmon University is the top online resource for fishing in the Pacific Northwest. Follow us on Twitter @salmonuniv for the latest news and other updates.

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