Annual Canadian Fishing Trip

For the third year in a row I spent 5 glorious days in Ucluelit, British Columbia, a small fishing community on the west coast of Vancouver Island fishing for king and coho salmon and halibut. And for the third year in a row I returned home with my limit on all three.

Rick Scribner, our guide and sage for all things having to do with the sea brought mutual friend Ken Marshall and I to this stunningly beautiful spot out on the edge of the world. Our goal was to enjoy the beauty of the place, the camaraderie and especially the fishing. We weren't disappointed.

It takes the better part of a day just to get there from Bellingham requiring a border crossing, a ferry ride and a drive across the wild interior of Vancouver Island.

We berthed at the government marina and left for the big bank 20 plus miles off the coast at dawn the second day. The weather was near perfect. The cloud cover burned off by mid morning and left us bathed in sunshine. The sea was near flat calm allowing me to stand to reel in the fish instead of my traditional sitting position on days when the sea is less than calm.

We caught lots of Halibut, fought with pesky Coho who frequently attacked our lures as they descended searching for the Kings. I felt especially accomplished catching my first Halibut and then proceeding to catch all the Halibut for our group. A few others were caught but wound up being too small.

Ken caught a 28 pound King which was thrilling for him. I have included a bit of video of his experience. Not until the final day and the final hour of fishing did I catch a 32 pound King which turned out to be the biggest fish caught during our expedition.

We caught our limits, released lots of native coho (you generally can't keep the natives) and spring salmon (often too small to keep). We also caught two 28 inch Ling Cod a Red Snapper (too small) and several Perch (too, whatever). We kept the Cods and threw all the others back.

We fished off the islands in Barkley Sound with little luck except that I lost my entire set up when a large King hit my line and I stupidly began frantically reeling him in before the fish was ready to quit. The King suddenly took off and I didn't get my hand out of the way quick enough. Sad!

With little happening in the sound we decided to move on and headed towards South Bank, an area only a few miles off the coast of Ucluelit. We stopped in an spot none of us had fished before. Several other boats were there as well and had their nets in the water which was a good sign. So we joined in the rumba line and began trolling. It was here that my 32 pound adventure occurred. After about an hour of fishing we had filled out our limit and headed for home.

We had great fun. Got a sunburn and chapped lips and returned home happy hunters with freezers full for the winter.