Winter Harbour / Quatsino Sound Report
August 29th, 2012
We are continuing to see big numbers of Spring Salmon rolling thru the Winter Harbour / Quatsino Sound area. While the inshore waters have gone relatively quiet in the last few days, the bite in the midshore and offshore areas has been very consistent. Ironically, we arent seeing as many Cohos as we have seen thru most of August, but the Spring bite has been extremely good, with most boats coming in with their limit of fish in the low to mid twenties.
The best fishing recently has been on the highway, between 250 and 350 feet of water. The lower part of the Top Knot RCA has been very productive, as has the outer structures of Lippy and Kwakiutl Points.
The fish have been coming all over the map depth-wise, anywhere from 90 down to 240 feet.
The fish are stuffed with good sized herring, so larger spoons and cuttlefish patterns are working. The Nic / Blue or all Nic Gibbs #7's are working well, as are the Yamashita Cowboy Bob / Xmas Tree Cuttlefish, as well as the North Pacific "Morning Wood" Glo Cuttle
The Hali bite has frankly been a little softer than we are used to . While many boats are still getting there fish, a couple peskly long liners did a number of big sets right in our most popular sport areas in the near shore waters off Lippy recently... something we havent seen in a few years. They have obviously cleaned up a lot of the fish that were hanging around. The area is so prolific, it will absolutely fill in again soon, but frustrating nevertheless... As a result we are having to travel a little farther to find our fish. The near shore bumps off Kwakiutl are still producing well, as are the shallows on the edge of both the Brooks and Top Knot RCA's
One point of real interest, is the fact that a big chunk of the Canadian Tuna fleet arrived this week, and they are fishing virtually straight out of Winter Harbour approx 30 miles... as well as up off Cox and Triangle Isles. The guys are saying the warm water is headed towards shore, so a bunch of us are rigging up to do some Tuna trips. If you have never done it, you gotta try it. Imagine having your Penn 330 loaded with 100 lb Tuf-line.... setting your drag TIGHT... and having a 35lb Albacore Tuna hit and peel out the drag as if your reel were in free spool !! that is Albacore Tuna fishing. Last year we had Tuna within 5 miles of shore... its a blast. The way the late season is setting up, its looking like the warm water should be around well into September, so we should get ample opportunity... we will keep you posted. mmmm seared Tuna Sashimi !
We have some Charter Spots left if you are interested in a September trip... as well as having moorage and RV sites available if you want to bring your own boat
Greg Vance
The Outpost Winter Harbour
www.winterharbour.ca
winterharbour@telus.net
@OutpostWH
phone : 250-969-4333
