As I travelled up from Victoria this past July on my annual trek up to Nootka Sound I was excited by the news that after about ten years of being closed to fishing, that Tahsis Inlet would once again be open. Tahsis Inlet has always been my favourite inside hot spot to fish. The scenery, wildlife, sheltered calm water and spectacular fishing set it apart from anywhere else that I've fished. I also had the recent memories of the unbelievably hot fishing that Nootka Sound produced for us in 2011 to get the juices flowing as I neared the end of my drive up.
As usual the fishing was just beginning to perk up a few days before my arrival. I arrived at the lodge and within a few minutes Bruce had me up to speed on how the other guides had been doing, when and where. It seemed that almost all the fish and boats were to be found in Tahsis Inlet. Once my first group arrived that is exactly where we headed. Over the next 2 weeks we did spend a considerable amount of time down in the Inlet fishing along with everyone else. We also regularly joined another large flotilla of boats fishing out at the offshore Bajo Reef when the bite ended down in the inlet. Unlike 2011 when the fish were very plentiful and found anywhere and everywhere this past summer the fish were more scarce, somewhat smaller and holding in only a couple of spots.
We did manage to get the Chinook salmon we needed to make everyone happy and we also did well with the halibut and bottom fish. Chinook salmon over 30 pounds were very scarce coast wide in 2012 and the same was true here in Nootka. Mackerel also showed up inside the sound and at times made fishing with any natural baits a bit of a chore.
Often you could tell right away by seeing them flipping on the surface that using bait would be a bad idea. Or vice versa, not seeing them meant that there was a good chance that using bait would be ok. I opted for using Tomic plugs when the Mackerel were around and they produced very well for us. Chinook hooked with a plug are way more likely to jump clear of the water as they fight, something they rarely do on the flasher with bait setup. This was the case this summer and we enjoyed many a Chinook battle with the fish jumping clear out of the water, often a few times.
As mentioned most of our fishing especially early on was done in Tahsis Inlet or out at the Bajo Reef. Towards the end of July the fish began moving out of Tahsis Inlet and places like Camel Rock, The Wall and The Hisnet started to hold and produce fish. The Wall and The Hisnet are only a stone's throw away from the lodge so this means it is very easy to get there when a bite starts and before it ends.
The weather in July coast wide was not as warm and sunny as we are used to. I think there were only 2 or 3 what I would call nice days with mostly sun, warm and shorts wearing weather. It didn't rain much but most days were overcast and below normal temperatures. I think we normally get spoiled. So in a nut shell the fishing overall was decent, we just had to work harder than we are used to get our share. We also had to put up with more boat traffic as only a few places were producing decent catches and most of the boats converged on those spots.
2013 Season Forecast
We will update this section once the post season meetings with DFO are finished towards the end of 2012.
Call or email me for available dates for the upcoming season. Tight lines and the best of the season to all!
...Rollie
Nootka Sound Fishing Charters
836 Rockheights Ave.
Victoria BC CANADA V9A 6J4
Phone: (250) 380-7018
E-mail: SSCL@shaw.ca
