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Old 09-23-2019, 07:02 PM
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Brandonkop Brandonkop is offline
 
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Default Ucluelet Fishing Adventure

Ucluelet is one of our favorite places to go fishing on Vancouver Island for Salmon and Halibut. There are so many options at this magical West Coast adventure destination. The coast line is spectacular, rugged and wild. It feels remote yet you have access to the beautiful quaint town of Ucluelet and Tofino. This is a tourist paradise and people come from all over the world to experience this area and not only for the fishing. That being said for us this place is all about the fishing. It has the huge area of Barkley Sound which provides many option for protected water fishing with a great run of Chinook Salmon every year to the Robertson Creek Fish Hatchery. Right outside the harbor you also have the West coast shoreline to fish between Ucluelet and Tofino. Not to mention Millions of salmon returning to southern rivers in Canada and the USA which pass by all season long. If you have flat weather or a more open ocean worthy boat this area is also covered with a huge underwater bank from 4 miles to 25+ miles off shore which hold large schools of salmon and bottom fish including halibut. In this video you will see several places that we like to fish within minutes of the dock and up to an hour away. For every angler and every style of boat there is an option for you out in Ucluelet. If you don't have a boat there are many guided fishing adventures that I am sure would love to have you as their guest on an adventure of your life time.

https://youtu.be/Z9uhH-WU-7U
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Old 09-26-2019, 06:11 PM
fisher Gord fisher Gord is offline
 
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thanks doc I plan to fish that area some time and your extra on the land marks is good thanks again.
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Old 09-26-2019, 07:44 PM
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Originally Posted by fisher Gord View Post
thanks doc I plan to fish that area some time and your extra on the land marks is good thanks again.
No problem if you need more information, the website Salmon University has lots of hot spots and fishing recommendations for each spot listed for the Barkley Sound. It does not really talk about offshore spots. But let me know if you go I can point you in the right directions.
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Old 09-27-2019, 12:43 PM
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I have been to many places but Ucluelet/Tofino are my favourite. One can take a deep breath and melt into nature 😊

Dodger.
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Old 09-27-2019, 08:10 PM
SNAPFisher SNAPFisher is offline
 
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Nice vid Brandon! Cool to see your dad catching coho while you guys are getting the halis. Looks like a lot of fun for sure.

How is that main merc motor treating you?
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Old 09-27-2019, 09:44 PM
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I have been to many places but Ucluelet/Tofino are my favourite. One can take a deep breath and melt into nature 😊

Dodger.
Thanks, that is how I feel as well. I like Port Hardy as well... but I really love Ucluelet!

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Nice vid Brandon! Cool to see your dad catching coho while you guys are getting the halis. Looks like a lot of fun for sure.

How is that main merc motor treating you?
Yeah it was pretty crazy. Here is the next video it really shows some crazy action how we were having double headers of salmon and halibut over and over. Just crazy fishing. Like fishing in a Barrel out in the middle of the ocean.

As for the Mercury I believe I have over 20 hours on it now. I have just been using it for running to spots. I'll continue to troll with the 9.9 to avoid adding up the hours. The 150 4 stroke Merc is amazing compared to my 150 Merc Optimax. Soooooo much better. Like night and day. I had my whole family out there on the boat. Brother, his wife, my wife, my mom, my dad, myself, my three kids and a full tank of gas (everyone except for the youngest brother) When I tried this before with the Optifail the boat would not even plane and would go a maximum of 9 miles per hour. That really sucked. So I was kind of concerned not powering up, but guys said don't worry it is a night and day difference. Well it totally is. I hope shot with the new motor like nothing and only 3/4 throttle. With everyone on the boat it hits 37 miles per hour... same as if only 2 guys. I usually don't drive any faster than 25 to 28 miles per hour on the ocean anyways. So it runs right around 4000 RPM at that speed. Seems to have a lot better fuel mileage as well. I am super happy with this motor. One of the best things I have bought. I need to get a stainless prop though cause I've just been running the factory 4 blade aluminum painted prop. Kind of sketchy on the ocean if you hit something will not be a smooth ride back. For now it is working great.
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Old 09-27-2019, 09:45 PM
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HERE IS NEXT VIDEO - Just Premiered today on my Channel!

This was our first day jigging on Big Bank. It was dead calm and the action was pretty fast and furious for salmon and halibut. We were catching the halibut on spreader bars with hootchies and pink salmon belly. For the salmon they were hitting Buzz Bombs and Zzingers. Fishing in about 200 to 230 fow. The aquatic life out on the banks is just unreal. Very impressive to be out there on such a calm day fishing with my Dad and Brother.

https://youtu.be/JDGn6tsgS88
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Old 09-28-2019, 05:13 PM
SNAPFisher SNAPFisher is offline
 
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Awesome on new Merc. That is interesting on the 4-stroke. Thanks for the great info. I'm getting a 7.5 HP kicker added to my boat for next year. Plan to start up in Port Hardy. I'm curious, which location to you prefer, Port Hardy or Uculet? Or too hard to compare
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Old 09-30-2019, 11:35 PM
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Originally Posted by SNAPFisher View Post
Awesome on new Merc. That is interesting on the 4-stroke. Thanks for the great info. I'm getting a 7.5 HP kicker added to my boat for next year. Plan to start up in Port Hardy. I'm curious, which location to you prefer, Port Hardy or Uculet? Or too hard to compare
Yeah surprising... I was considering going with the 175HP cause that's my boat max power rating. All the guys I talked to said unnecessary and they were very right!

Preference... that is a tough choice since they seem so different to me. Quite different areas to fish.

Port Hardy
- About 2 hours further from Ferry Terminal
- Port Hardy is a small, old town with no glamour what so ever. Limited dining options and hotels are sketch. We like the North Coast Cottages and the Bear Cove Cottages.
- Port hardy has a Free Government Launch at the Bear Cove Marina, nice docks with cleaning tables and a little fishing store right on the water for lures and bait. Lots of parking.
- You can fish within about 1-2 miles of the marina and catch all salmon species if you don't mind fishing in crowds.
- Drive a few more miles to the first island chain and you'll be salmon fishing all alone, which is what I like to do.
- The BOTTOM FISHING!!!!!! It really is amazing for giant ling cod and rockfish. You can no longer keep yellow eye rockfish. It seems there are so many sea mounts in this area and if you move around and find the fish you usually have a 20+ pound Ling cod on every drop.
- weather for the most part in the summer is dead flat calm
- Seems we always have at least one day that is too rough to even go out fishing though. When it blows out there you can still fish inside port hardy bay if you really want to since it is protected water.
- Watch out for shipping traffic between the islands, don't bottom fish in fog, they'll run you over.
- TONS of WHALES. We have seen pods of 50+ killer whales and they swim right under our boat when we fish for salmon. Lots of Humpbacks as well.


Ucluelet
- World wide destination since Tofino and Ukee have somehow his the world travel map. Very difficult to find accommodations unless you book in advance. Tons of accommodation options. Some really beautiful places to stay.
-Some great coffee shops and restaurants... some fancy and some more fun like Howlers. Nice Co-op in town for groceries and gear. They have tons of tourist stuff besides fishing... not that I ever do any of it.
- We launch and keep the boat at islands west marina, have to pay$$
- there is a free launch but no dock and no parking there.
-Government warf is cheaper but I don't like that mess of double parking and someone crossing your boat and tieing off to you.
- Ukee harbor super protected, serene.
- fishing right outside of harbor. I've caught big chinook minutes from the dock. So you never have to worry about fog or weather since always protection. Then if weather is calm the whole wide open ocean is yours to fish.
-Banks fishing can be crazy good for salmon and halibut
-Tons of shallow water rockfish and lingcod all around the rocks and kelp.
- Not as many whales, see them the odd time.
- Tons of room to fish, never have to feel crowded.
- You can keep wild coho on the inside.
- Three to 3.5 hours from the Ferry Terminal.
- Only about hour to 1.5 hours past Port Alberni and if UKEE sucks then fishing can be quite good up the inlet at Port Alberni.
- If you're there in August you can also pick some Golden Chanterelles that grow in the forests around there... just incase you get tired of fishing.


So I can't really pick. I love them both.

Weather is usually nicer at Ucluelet and warmer than Port Hardy from my experience.

If you have enough time you can fish both. Last summer I went with my uncle and we fish two days in Ukee and 2 days port hardy.
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Old 10-01-2019, 11:07 AM
barbless barbless is offline
 
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Always enjoyed your vids and your posts. Look forward to reading and watching. Totally jealous you get to fish out there. One day I will make it to Tofino. I have my own boat but I think I will charter with a guide, (or you) ha ha. Your snorkel fishing vid a while back was awesome by the way.
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Old 10-01-2019, 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by barbless View Post
Always enjoyed your vids and your posts. Look forward to reading and watching. Totally jealous you get to fish out there. One day I will make it to Tofino. I have my own boat but I think I will charter with a guide, (or you) ha ha. Your snorkel fishing vid a while back was awesome by the way.
To tell you the truth I'm pretty shocked that I ended up here and get to fish on the ocean. I'm still worried I might wake up and the dream will be over.

Yeah if you want to hit Tofino a guide would be helpful if you have never been out there before. Might enjoy your time out there a little more than having a frustrating week trying to figure it out.

Glad you like the snorkel video, that was kind of fun to do. Thanks for watching.
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Old 10-02-2019, 09:09 PM
SNAPFisher SNAPFisher is offline
 
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Great info Brandon, thanks. I've only fished out there once so far in terms of Port Alberni out to Bamfield area. More so at Hardy so far. Ukee sounds great!
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