Fishing Reports

It was with great anticipation that we were finally able to reveal the new-look Moutcha Bay Resort this past June, 2011. After sixteen months of planning and construction we unveiled the newly built resort, yurts, and campsites to the public.

The new 9,000 square foot resort features seven fully-furnished, self-contained suites, a licensed restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining, tackle and general store, government licensed fish processing and packaging plant and public restrooms with hot showers. We have also added three new self-contained, fully-furnished waterfront yurts ideal for families and/or corporate retreats. Our 12 new fully-serviced waterfront sites and 12 non-serviced forest sites proved to be extremely popular and were busy throughout the summer. Round that out with a new fresh water well and reservoir tank, and a state-of-the-art septic system and we can now essentially handle over 100 guests on any given day, at any given time.

The spring season (April, May) started out with the best prawning on the entire B.C. coast with people limiting out on giant spot prawns within throwing distance of our resort. Add in the outstanding crabbing and feeder Spring fishery and we were setting up for an awesome summer of fishing.

Gibran White with a lovely chinook

By the first week of June our guided and self-guided guest boats were already enjoying some of the very best early fishing the west coast of Vancouver Island has to offer, with limits of early migratory Chinook and Coho salmon being intercepted on a daily basis. This early fishery must be some kind of secret, because on most days we had the entire area exclusively to ourselves! This is also one of the best times of the year for outstanding halibut and ling cod opportunities, as most of the bottom fishing areas have not seen a boat in over nine months, so these fish are extremely aggressively feeding, and again it’s all yours on most days.

July and August remained outstanding, with the large runs of local Conuma River Chinook and Coho returning to the inside protected waters of Nootka Sound. Most guests can run to and from the fishing grounds without spilling their morning coffees. This is one of the most protected inside water fisheries on the entire west coast, with outstanding salmon returns guaranteed year after year, thanks in part to the Conuma River Hatchery and the efforts of the Nootka Sound Watershed Society.

Fresh Water Fishing on Conuma River

August and September continued strong with great fishing up until the day we closed on September 20 th . We here at Moutcha Bay are in a very unique situation as we are fortunate enough to be located right where these big staging salmon like to hang around while waiting for the fall rains to enter the river before spawning. We enjoy great fishing within the sight of our own property. In the mornings and evenings we are able to catch fish right off the marina and gas docks on a routine basis. When guests and guides become tired of pulling on these awesome fish and want a change, we head up one of the five different rivers in our area and try fly fishing or tossing spoons and spinners for these very same salmon while they are still bright chrome, and full of energy. The Conuma River is one of the only rivers left on Vancouver Island with catch-and-keep freshwater opportunities; this autumn’s retention was two Chinook and two Coho daily, hatchery or wild!

Nootka Marine Adventures would like to congratulate:

Frank Williams for winning our $10,000 dollar salmon derby this past season, with his prized Chinook weighing in at a lucrative 42.1 pounds. Frank and his fishing buddy Tristan Arnold reeled their prize winner in on the BC day August long weekend.

Matt Kuharic for winning our Labour Day weekend kayak fishing derby with his 27 pound beauty. Have you seen a 27 pounder tow a kayak around – amazing! Matt hooked and landed his winner right in front of the lodge and was also a runner up in our 2010 derby.

Keep an eye out on your favourite fishing channels for two new episodes filmed at our resorts this past season on Sport Fishing B.C. with popular host Mark Pendlington. If you would like to watch them, you can down load them at: www.sportfishingbc.com or look up network and schedule information and catch them on your favourite sports network. Episodes are: Nootka Sound Tyees, and Harland Williams Tyee tour.

Nootka Marine Adventure staff, management, and ownership pride themselves on the fact that we are able to continue to strive to make our resorts the most popular and accommodating sport fishing and recreation destinations on all of Vancouver Island. It is our promise that we will constantly seek to improve our properties and equipment annually so that we will be able to accommodate all of you, with the growing demand for more room at both of our facilities.

We would like to thank all of you who visited us at either one of our two popular resorts this past season, and look forward to your continued patronage.

Tight lines, safe fishing and good luck!

Sincerely,
Gibran White