Made it back from stellar trip to Port Hardy and Port Alberni. The weather was unbelievable with every day being flat calm. First day at Hardy was flat going down the corridor and coming back. The guide was enjoying that a lot as it is usually choppy on the way back. Great day for small boats to make the longer trip. Alberni I was expecting big waves but it was also flat calm. All the way out and fishing around Bamfield area in Barclay Sound. Crazy good weather.
At Port Hardy, went with Bear Cove Cottages. I've gone with a lot of outfits and guides. Trust me when I say, this place is doing it right! It is not 1st class stuffiness or over the top, and, certainly not an outfit that skimps out on anything. Pretty much perfect right down the middle. The exception being equipment, boat and gear, was probably the best I've used anywhere. Wade knows just a ton about fishing and has to be the expert on Hardy.
The cottages are awesome and all have great views. Full kitchen for your own cooking...or even that day's fresh catch. If you would rather not cook then you can ask for all inclusive and they will provide you vouchers to eat at the best restaurants in Hardy. Hardy's best is bar and grill type of stuff but that is perfect of a fishing trip to me. They also include the Hardy Bouys cost of fish packaging and arrange to you everything picked up when you get to the dock.
For those that want to do it yourself, you can rent the cabins and bring your own boat. There is an awesome launch and small marina near by...like walking distance. Or, do a combo if you like by being guided one day and the rest on your own. Flexibility.
Fishing was off the charts. Lots of great springs in the 19-24 lb class. The odd tyee around. I sure I lost one of these tyees...hard to say but we got to see it several times and the guide thought it past the mark. Popped off when it did some last whirly turns near the boat...sigh. That said, easily caught my limit many times over and did quite a bit of C&R of springs. Not many coho around but did manage to land a couple of them. Halis were biting too. My biggest was just over 20 lbs. Other guests though that spent some time on them were rewarded with 40-50 lbers and a 100 lber C&R hali. I also brought the fly rod. The guide took me to some kelp spots where I got a lot of black bass on a floating line. Got to see the takes. So much fun! Great sport on the fly rod too.
After Hardy, spent one day at Port Alberni. Went with Action Packed Charters. Definitely a different style of guiding and area for fishing. Tons and tons of coho here. Also tons of small springs that call "shakers". Caught a ton of these which were anywhere from 12-20 inches. Landed over 50 salmon for the day which does include the shakers. I was busy! Every type of lure was used and hit - hoochies, spoons, anchovies, and flies. We had 4 rods out, I brought my 7-weight rod with sinking line on it. I set that up in the middle which fit nice between the two motors and stayed out of the way of the other 4 lines. Best moment of the day was early on as we were heading for our first pass out to open ocean. As we did a slight turn, one of the 4 rods goes off. I set the hook and you could feel the weight instantly. I was sure it was a spring. Had a reel screaming run as the fish pulled off about 50 yards. As that reel was screaming, we heard another reel screaming at a higher pitch. It was the fly rod going off! I look at the guide and he looks at me. He says, "hard choice which you want, fly rod?". Yep! I handed him the rod with the big fish on and grabbed the fly rod. I was instantly rewarded with a couple of screaming surface runs as the big coho went back and forth across the surface. Me and the guide had to cross over a bunch of times before I finally landed the coho. Beauty! Then he hands me the mooching rod. The big fish takes off again with a long run....so awesome...
Finally land it and it is the biggest spring that the charter has landed this year. Somewhere around 25-26 lbs. Lots of high fives in the boat after this crazy double header. I won't forget this one....so good!
Fly rod setup nicely in between the motors
Big spring of the day and the season so far
Nice coho. Not the actual one from the double header but it was a twin to that one.
If anyone wants more info on BearCove or Action Packed, just le me know. I really cannot say enough how good BearCove is.
More pics to follow.
Port Hardy and Port Alberni report
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