March brings home the herring, and as such the big Lingcod, Hali and Winter Springs are never far behind. Right on schedule the herring are piling into Winter Harbour and Quatsino Sound, and every form of predator are following them in.
Fishing inshore at the mouth of Quatsino Sound, all around Cains Island and into Grant Bay is excellent at the moment, as the big Lings and Halis, along with plenty of feeder Springs follow the herring shoals into the near shore waters. Just like last year, we are getting great action in less than 75 ft of water in the sand flats inside Cains and Pinnacle Islands and right up near the beach in Grant Bay. Most of the fish are coming on large herring pattern spoons or green / silver / blue Cuttlefish behind a flasher trolled just off the bottom.
Great to get the season rolling again, its looking like we are in for another bumper year. Understanding the how many of the fish we catch in the Winter Harbour area are ultimately travelling into the Fraser and Columbia River basins, you only need to read the following to get VERY excited !
U.S. V Oregon Technical Advisory Committee subgroup and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is predicting that an almost unfathomable number of adult fall chinook salmon will return to the mouth of the Columbia River this year – 1.6 million.
Such a total would be by far the most returning fish on a record dating back to 1938. The current record is a return to the Columbia River of 1.27 million adult fall chinook last year. The fall chinook forecasts include returns to lower Columbia (downstream of Bonneville Dam) tributaries, but are heavily weighted toward expected upriver spawners.
"It's basically the upriver brights that are driving the forecast," said the WDFW's Joe Hymer. "It's off the charts."
If forecasts pan out, fishers will have the opportunity of a lifetime. During the late summer-fall time frame the lower Columbia should be brimming with fall chinook salmon as well as coho salmon spawners. Ocean abundance (before any fisheries) of Columbia River-origin early and late run coho is expected to be more than three times larger in 2014 than in 2013. A forecast released earlier this month by TAC says ocean abundance this year should total 964,100 adult fish as compared to a final estimate of 301,500 for the 2013 run.
If you have never been to Winter Harbour, you should know we have both "guided charter packages " and "bring your own boat and camper" options for you. Its a very special place, all within a day's travel from the lower mainland by ferry / road.
This year we are running some great promo's, including half price camping ( $16 per night for full hookups ) for a one week stay any time in the first two weeks of July. Come and see what the excitements all about.
Greg and Andrea Vance
The Outpost at Winter Harbour
winterharbour@telus.net
250-969-4333