Fishing at Bamfield
August 11, 2008
 
On July 31, 2008 my son and I went to Bamfield fishing which is located in Barkley Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It is a fishing harbour that caters to sport and commercial fishermen. We went up there to catch large Chinook salmon and to bask in the pristine surroundings the West Coast has to offer.

We launched at Port Alberni and traveled up the Alberni Canal to Barkley Sound which is like a huge bite out of the west coast of Vancouver Island. The sound has many rivers that dump into it producing great fishing in the summer months in and around Bamfield. The fish returning to spawn congregate in these waters waiting for the fall rains to return to their original rivers.

Fishing was just OK when we were there, we actually might have been up there a bit early. Most of the boats were trolling 5 to 7 miles out in the Pacific. We were content to stay closer in and fished along "The Wall" which is just east of the entrance to Bamfield. We also fished up to as far as Cape Beale which is the corner post to Barkley Sound and the open Pacific. We landed two fish in the three days we were up there and lost a couple as well.