This report is for 7/19-7/21 in Tofino on the outer coast of Vancouver Island, B.C. I was invited to go along with NWFR's Mike Carey and Rob Holman as we fished and filmed with Tofinofishing.com for our second year in a row. The weather was clear and consistent, very calm close to shore, windy and choppy further out. As a result we didn't pursue the massive ling cod or plentiful halibut that are also found here. We stayed within sight of shore and trolled for Chinook and Coho salmon in and around various rocks and islands. However, we did retain some ling cod as bycatch and did pick up a 35# halibut our last day out as well as a day's limit of large black sea bass. We spent 10 hours on the boat each day and seriously never went more than 30 minutes without a bite, fight, or catch. The constant action was really amazing and made the time just fly by. Not everything we fought or caught was legal to keep, so we did end up releasing dozens of wild coho, various rock fish, a very large skate, and some dog fish. Our biggest Chinook was 21# and our biggest Coho was 17#. A nearby boat caught a massive 31# Coho off the bottom. Beautiful, fat, ocean bright, and so plentiful that we released dozens considered to be too small to keep though they would have been legal.

Our Tofinofishing.com guides, Flo and general manager Rob Frawley, have decades of experience in these waters and it really shows. They really know what they're doing and were both professional and easy-going. They know almost every boat and captain on the areas we fished and have an amazing raport with them to the point of calling out to different locations and boats for info on the bite and what gear and depths were working. It was cool to see them working together freely, the classic friendly Canadian. Their boats were clean and gear was in great shape. For the most part we made short 15 minute runs to different spots, never more than an 45 minutes from the dock.

I love this place, it's small and friendly and has so much else to see and do besides the phenomenal fishing. We saw some orca this year. Last year we saw gray whale and bear too. There are hot springs, many beautiful beaches, surfing, etc. I can't wait to go back and try some of the other activities in the area...and to keep trying for that big one!

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