Wasn’t it the Beatles who wrote the song about living in a yellow submarine? There’s music and friends and a life of ease. The submarine charges full speed ahead in the sea of green. Funny, though, I did notice one mention of any fish.
Am I the only one who has ever felt like salmon fishing trips have seemed a little more like a jaunt on the yellow submarine than Brad Pitt reeling in a big one in the classic movie A River Runs Through It? There are plenty of friends, the soothing rock of the boat, a pretty view, and some good music if I remember to bring the ipod. But where are the fish?
If I spend the money to head out on the boat, I want to make sure I am actually going to get some action on the rod. With this in mind, I started doing some research last year on salmon fishing. There have got to be many great places to fish, so I set out to find the one that brings in the salmon most consistently. I can’t guarantee that I found it, but can guarantee I stumbled upon a little known spot that is rapidly proving itself in the salmon fishing world.
Ucluelet, British Columbia is a small town on the west side of Vancouver Island. The salmon fishing charters boast consistentfishing reports and photo after photo of boats full of salmon. Monster Chinook come bursting out of the water. Orcas swim by. At least one charter even guarantees you’ll catch salmon on your fishing trip.
If you’re looking at visiting Ucluelet for a salmon fishing trip, the best catches are throughout the summer; you almost can’t avoid them. Bottom dwelling halibut swim from May through September, and the largest Chinook salmon (Kings) usually return in July and August. Coho salmon (Silvers) start hopping in July, and sometimes they’re so plentiful you can’t hardly get your line down to the Chinook!
I think I’m ready to upgrade next summer. As much as I love Paul McCartney, it’s time to move off the yellow submarine and into Ucluelet. If he’s lucky, maybe he’ll make it onto the ipod.
