PORT ALBERNI LABOR DAY WEEKEND DERBY

The Alberni Valley Labor Day Weekend salmon fishing derby was a success. The true derby with all of the various activities at Tyee landing did not happen due to Covid 19 restrictions, but this being year 50 of the derby organizers made the actual fishing “part” of the derby occur. Almost 1,800 tickets at $50 a ticket were purchased by various anglers. All of the proceeds are going to enhancement. There were prizes for the largest fish of the derby and the top three fish for each of the three days of fishing which was September 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th. The winning fish was landed by Terry Good of Nanaimo, B.C. Nanaimo is a close community to Alberni and Terry and his fishing pals have been attending the derby for over ten years. The winning fish was a Tyee and came in from Whittlestone which is close to Bamfield and weighed 31.12 pounds. The salmon was landed on a White hootchie very early on the first day of the derby. The second largest fish of the derby was landed on Monday and was a Tyee as well. Very late on day three Mike Black brough in a 31.02 pound salmon landed on the Bamfield Wall. Len Van Vliet had Sunday’s largest fish which did not quite make the Tyee size at 29.14 pounds.

Fishing in the area should continue for awhile longer. Of course heavy rains are needed to get the salmon moving into their spawning areas. Coho salmon to date have not been abundant and it is hoped that they are coming late into Barkley Sound and the Alberni Inlet.

The 2021 sport fishing season was excellent in this Pacific Rim area. We have a wonderful lodge accommodation in Barkley Sound and many take advantage of night stays and fishing in the sound and offshore if offshore waters are fishable. Of course there are day trips in the Inlet and down to Barkley Sound. The 2022 season is very busy already as many individuals due to Covid have not come sport fishing.

Tight Lines

Report & pics submitted by Doug Lindores, Slivers Charters Salmon Sport Fishing (888) 214-7206 dlindy@shaw.ca; www.catchsalmon-ca.com

Cheanuh marina reported that salmon fishing has been SLOWER this past week. Anglers targeting chinooks were having spotty success catching springs. Depths of 50-70 feet have been the best for catching springs. Some pink salmon and hatchery coho were found out farther in the strait. Anchovies and small herring have been the best bait for salmon, but many anglers are using spoons. Spoons such as Skinny G’s, Wee G’s, Coho Killers, Coyote spoons and AP Tackleworks spoons have been good for springs. Good choices for teaser head colors for bait are Chartreuse, Tiger Prawn and Bloody Nose. Popular flashers have been Jelly Fish Glow, The Bon Chovy, the Madi and the Super Betsey. Coho fishing has slowed down. Most anglers fishing coho and pinks are using spoons and pink hoochies. Halibut and Lingcod fishing was SLOW this past weekend. Crabbing has been GOOD inside the bay.

Here are the 2021 Salish Sea Salmon Challenger report from the weekend. The third annual Salish Sea Salmon Challenge fishing derby took place on Saturday September 4th and was again a success. One hundred and eleven rod tickets were sold at $60 each, totaling $6,660 ticket sales revenue. Therefore, the Biggest Salmon Prize, the Random Cash Draw Prize and money raised to support the Sooke Chinook Enhancement Initiative were $2,220 respectively. On Saturday, the weather was moderate, and winds were light and there was not a lot of fog around. Report from the derby entrants was the conditions were good, but hooking the big ones was the main challenge. We weighed in 14 Chinook and 1 hatchery Coho. A special thank you to our dear friends at Cheanuh Marina for their gracious hospitality and for allowing us to have the derby weigh scale and event headquarters at the marina.
AND THE WINNERS WERE:
Biggest Salmon Cash Prize ($2,220) was won by Rick Weiss with a 25.02 lbs Chinook
Skippers Challenge (worth $850 cash) was won by Jerome Thomas with a 20.9 lbs Chinook
Random Cash Draw Prize ($2,220) was won by Rick Lyon
Random Draw Downrigger Prize ($750 value) was won by Jeff Taylor

Random Draw Krippled KC Spoons Prize (14 pieces) was won by George Fales

1st Swag Draw Prize – Scotty Downrigger ($750 value) was won by George Fales
2nd Swag Draw Prize – Mooching Rod & Reel Combo ($500 value) was won by Art Bamford
3rd Swag Draw Prize – Bradley 4 Rack Smoker ($549 value) was won by Dave Fairfield
50/50 Draw Prize – Cash ($105) was won by Art Bamford

Congratulations to our lucky winners. And a really big thank you to all the derby entrants, we hope you had fun and will come back next year. Your participation has help raised approx. $2,750 net on the day And finally, it goes without saying that these small events cannot succeed without support from the community. Our sponsors came through for us again this year and were as follows. Thank you all!! Cheanuh Marina sponsored the prize board. Scotty Manufacturing provided a great deal on 2 High Performance Downriggers. Island Outfitters provided a great deal on an excellent 10’ 6” Mooching Rod and Reel Combo and donated a Bradley 4 rack Smoker too. Many, many thanks to all our sponsors for supporting the Salish Sea Salmon Challenge and being excellent members of our local angling community. Look out for the Salish Sea Spring Fishing Derby at the end of March 2022
_____________
Christopher Bos
President
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition