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[Rodney]

For several years now, Matt, aka Iron Noggin (on this discussion forum and also a moderator of FishBC) has been asking me to hop on the ferry so I could experience some of the excellent fishing at his pond. The invitations were always declined because I just couldn't unglue myself from this screen for more than 24 hours. I really wanted to go, but work was always getting in the way. Matt operates a saltwater guiding service based in Port Alberni called Dream Weaver Sport Fishing, but he is also a fish biologist so I was always eager to learn about the island fisheries through him.

This year, RossUK decided to fish with Nog for a week, so Nina and I also tagged along just to see what the island way of life was all about. Ross is a pretty good friend of mine from UK, who religiously comes fishing in BC a couple of times per year. The guy brings his own sturgeon rod and fishes with Vic at STS Guiding Service for four weeks during fall. It doesn't get anymore dedicated, or some may say addicted, than that.

July 24th: Off to the Pond

After taking care of all my work on Monday, we sped to Tsawwassen to meet up with Ross, who had just arrived at YVR, so we could get on the same ferry to Nanaimo. It was incredibly hot that afternoon. We arrived at the terminal, only to find Ross already enjoying an ice cream at the line-up.

The ferry ride was rather nice. Being a Monday afternoon sailing, it was pretty empty so we did not have to deal with kids running around the whole time. The biggest surprise was seeing a pod of killer whales just minutes after we left Tsawwassen. Ross seemed excited as it was his first time on a BC ferry. Nina and I had prepared dinner in advance for all of us to eat on board so we did not have to eat whatever they try to serve us at the cafeteria.

The drive from Nanaimo to port Alberni was fantastic, especially the stretch between Parksville and Port Alberni. The view around Cameron Lake and the nearby forest was breath-taking. At one point two deers were sitting on the road just after we came around a corner. Don't worry, I did not hit them this time. I came to a full stop, waited for awhile, gently honked and they still didn't want to move. After 30 seconds or so, both lazily went to the side and let us pass through. Interesting blockades they have on the island.

We arrived at Iron Noggin's house at 9:30pm, both Matt and Linda were relaxing in the backyard while waiting for us. After a brief chat, we started planning out our trip. We decided that we should target sockeyes in the Alberni Inlet on the next morning. "Sure", I said, "Like 4am right? Hah Hah..."

Matt replied, "Yeah actually, 4am sounds about right."



4am is when I usually go to bed.

Anyways, the group decided 4am it was. We would fish for sockeye until late morning, then head towards Bamfield in the afternoon. Everyone hopped into bed by 11:30pm.

July 25th: Those Scrappy Socks

The next thing I knew, it was already 4am! I walked to the kitchen, only to find Ross sipping his coffee away as he was still quite jet lagged, so getting up at that hour was not a big problem for him. Nina followed and started having her breakfast. Matt popped out from the bedroom and grabbed his coffee, and said, "Are you guys ready to go?"



Ten minutes later we were down at the marina, making sure everything is ready to go on the Dream Weaver. The Dream Weaver is a 25 feet long Sea Ray, which fits up to 4 anglers comfortably. We headed out to the inlet, only to find a dozen or so boats already working in the area. A week ago, the daily quota of sockeye salmon was reduced to two fish, so boat traffic in the inlet reduced tremendously. Matt said a couple of weeks ago, there were easily up to 500 boats working the inlet.





The popular method for these chrome bullets is trolling. Matt had all these light spinning rods set up, the chosen terminals were either small spoons or hootchies. The first hour of trolling did not really produced anything, other boats didn't seem to be doing well either. As we worked our way to some new areas, fish started to show up on the sounder, then one rod was suddenly into a fish. Ross grabbed it quickly, but after many kicks and runs, the fish got off luckily. These scrappy fighters are known for their explosive runs, Matt had warned us about being spooled or blown-up drags.

The second tug brought a different species to the boat. A mackerel, around 1 foot long, dangled at the end of the line after Ross retrieved the gear. Halibut bait it was, Matt said. Apparently they make good bait due to the amount of oil content. I personally wouldn't mind eating one. They are in fact my favorite fish for sashimi at a Japanese restaurant.



Not long after, the rod went again. This time I grabbed it, except the line was tangled up with another right away. The fish ran with no mercy, and before we could do anything, my main line was cut by the other line.

Just like that, we proceeded to lose three more as we approached the school everytime. Finally I was able to bring one in close enough so Matt could scoop it up.

We ended the morning at around 11am. It was time to get ready for some open ocean fishing.

No photos of the sockeye, most of the action was caught on video instead. More to come.

[Big Steel]

Good Start Rodney.  I bet Fishing with Matt was an absolute riot!!  Looking forward to the rest of the reoport and the video footage.

[drift]

Nice report,looking forward to the rest.

[chris gadsden]

Nice report so far, you are getting like me dividing your reports into segments  . I hear the mackerel are real bad out Bamfield way this year, I am sure you will report on that later.

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

thanks for the report rod, Nice mackerel

[kellya]

Great report your killing me. FINISH IT

[Rodney]

Re: Mackerel. Matt mentioned about their unusually high abundance this year in the sound and inlet, and that in the past when they caught them, half a dozen smolts could be found in the stomach of the fish.

So back to the story. When we returned to Matt's house, we thought, "Time to relax after an early morning fishing outing, let's do lunch!"

Wrong!

Before I even got into the kitchen, Matt had already cleaned, vacuum packed my sockeye and tossed it into the fridge. He said, "So are you guys ready to go grocery shopping? We need to bring food up to Bamfield."



Uh.. Ya ok, so back to Ross' car we went with our backpacks, blankets, pillows, etc as we were not coming back for two nights.

We headed to Quality Foods just down the road from the house and picked up three days worth of food. Two roasted chicken, steaks, pasta, rice, bread... Keep in mind, by this time Nina and I had snacked on some food right before we left the house, Matt was still running on that cup of coffee he had at 4am.

We shoved all of the grocery into that tiny car of Ross, which was absolutely amazing considering how small the trunk area was. At the marina, Nina and I loaded everything into the boat while Ross and Matt went to get a huge cooler of salted ice. I think we were supposed to bring some fish back.

The boat ride to Bamfield was pretty exciting. I've always wanted to take Nina to that area as its ecosystem is so much different to what we have East of VI. The calm inlet gradually turned rougher as we got closer to the sound.



We fished along the way at several different spots as well. Unfortunately it did not really produce. Our original plan was to head straight to Bamfield and head out to fish some of the offshore ground, but strong wind warning prevented us from doing that.

By 5pm, the four trolling rods were still not producing so we headed straight to Bamfield. We stopped right in front of the entrance and the view was more spectacular than what I had expected. The temperate forest, sitting on steep rocks and surrounded by open ocean, was blanketed with a thick layer of marine fog. The silence, which was interrupted occasionally by a trolling boat or two, seemed so alien to those who live in the city.

We decided to fish in front of Bamfield for a couple of hours, but by this time Nina and I were already quite tired and hungry. Matt still hadn't eaten anything yet, but he seemed so determined to catch a fish! By 6:30pm, Nina was looking a bit seasick, but all of a sudden we encountered a school of fish. One rod went off, but popped straight back up. Another one went off, this time Ross was right on the mark and the fish was on. It leaped and darted its way to the boat, a pretty small spring it seemed, only to pop off the hook right before Matt got a chance to grab the line. Not long after, I was into a fish but it also came off before it surfaced.

Just when kaos broke out, Nina said, "Can we go in now...?"



Matt's face looked rather shocked, he replied, "Really??? The fish are biting...."

Concerned about how I was going to sleep that night, I said, "Ya... I am pretty tired and hungry too... Maybe we should rest up and start freshly tomorrow..."



So we packed up and made our way to the place where Matt had booked for us. It was called Island Fish Camp, located just up the hill from one of the quiet inlet. At first we were somewhat skeptical. Is it a campsite? Is it going to be cold? Is there running water? What about a stove? We were pretty impressed when we saw the place! Yes, it is indeed campsites, but each site has a camper. The campers are rather equipped. We had running water, toilet, stove, fridge, bed, TELEVISION (well, only CBC, but that's better than nothing ). After bobbing on the sea for 12 hours, that camper looked like a five star hotel. The shower was rather nice too apparently. Nina was happy. Her theory was that since most people who stay there are fishermen, so no one probably takes showers so the bathroom is always so clean. This camp is indeed designed to accommodate fishermen. There were even freezers for us to store fish if needed (gotta catch some first ). Albert, our host, was extremely friendly and helpful.

That night, I cooked up some steaks and rice. Dinner was done in ten minutes, I don't think any of us actually chewed.

Day three coming soon.

[kellya]

Rod type faster!ahha taking to long. Good report though!

[legend]

Good report so far hopefully day three produces some fish  .

[Rodney]

LMAO, you're the fifth or sixth person who has asked me about the planning session so I guess that I wasn't the only one who was thinking, "This guy is nuts!" during it.

[DragonSpeed]

LMAO, you're the fifth or sixth person who has asked me about the planning session so I guess that I wasn't the only one who was thinking, "This guy is nuts!" during it.

Ahem.... "planning session" You forgot the quotes

[Poopy]

 

RossUK The guy brings his own sturgeon rod and fishes with Vic at STS Guiding Service for four weeks during fall. It doesn't get anymore dedicated, or some may say addicted, than that. 

Rodney, can you say hi to Ross for me.  Tell him Radek says hello.  I had him out Sturgeon fishing few of his days out here last year, and the year before that.  Is he coming back again this year.??  I hope so.  This year I'm getting him the big one!


Thanks

[Rodney]

Hey Radek, he's coming back in October (can't remember the dates). Ross missing a year of sturgeon fishing in the fall, not bloody likely.

I am actually heading to YVR in an hour from now to have dinner with him before his flight, will say hi.

[Poopy]

Sweet.  Thanks.

Can't wait for October!

[Ross UK]

Hi Radek, I'll be there !!. I'm going back to the Island on 11th October to fish the Chum Derby at Browns Bay with Matt, then it's back to the Fraser to say hello to a few dino's.

Come on Rodney....what happened next ?? 

And Rodney - Why didn't you push the button ??  (He'll tell you....or maybe Nina will).