If you call Ucluelet home and you like fishing, you are blessed or lucky, whichever word you want to use.
This is one of the Salmon and Halibut hotspots in BC. The more I fish and also write about fishing on my new venture (Arc Mastermind Adventure Trips) about fishing in BC, the more I like Ucluelet. And BC has some very good fishing.
2024 was very good at times and challenging at others if you were just fishing in the areas close to shore. Up until July 15 we are only able to keep Chinook salmon within 1 mile of the of the shore, so it means if the Chinook aren’t biting on the normal lures or bait and in the normal spots it can take a bit of work to figure out what to do.
In 2022 and 2023 the fishing in front of Fraser Rock was consistently the best fishing for Chinook though sometimes the bite would come on mid day.
Mara rock became the new hotspot for 2024 which was still good for boats under 20′ since the run is mostly through protected water.
The Chinook ranged from 10-15 lbs for the most part but there were some bigger fish coming through. The above photo is a catch from Mara August 5. The best depths for me were between 100-120 though others found success both shallower and deeper.
The 2 photos above were some friends I took to Mara August 6 in the afternoon. There were quite a few great afternoon bites here so all you early birds might have to adjust your fishing schedule for 2025.
Mara was really the hotspot up until mid August for many days but of course Big Bank and other offshore areas had some very good fishing if you wanted to make the run. We generally have quite a few mouths to feed so we go wherever we have the best chance of filling the cooler.
South Bank wasn’t fished much but there was some action there too. The 200K then130K forecast for the Stamp didn’t materialize as planned so the August fishing took a bit of figuring out. In the end, about 95k Chinook came through.
While there were some really good bites at Wya, Little Beach and Mara in late August, the usual morning bite wasn’t as consistent as in past years. Wya was a slower place to fish most of the summer and many days during July and early August the sounder was blank.
The second half of August things were better at Wya though not anywhere close to the last 4 years. Long Beach ended up being good though much of August which was unsual.
Geoff and Tara from Ukeetube and Jenn from Horizons West B&B came out late August for a little fun and shot this video. I think we hooked over 20 Chinook salmon this afternoon trip. Geoff makes some really great videos so check out his channel if you haven’t already done so.
Cris and Pete also came out late August. I would like to commend Cris for all she does with the Food Bank in helping those who need it. Cris has been very helpful in the Ucluelet community.
The Coho fishing in close to shore had its moments but the Coho seemed to move around quite a bit so I can’t report any consistency there unless you wanted to head to Big Bank.
The Halibut fishing was good again and I think we ended up running spending less time running than in previous years. The guys are generally a bit secretive about spots since anchoring is the most common way to fish and guys want a bit of space between boats.
For fishing tips I woudl say anchovies are always a good bet. The lure colors change all the time and I often have 10 different combinations on my cleaning table to find the “hot” lure. Captain Hooks does a great businees with tacle and bait so I would recommend them.
Tight lines and best of luck in 2025!
Sam Vandervalk from Salmon Eye Charters