Southern Vancouver Island beach fishing

Today might have been the last fishing day of this trip but that's ok. My 6wt intermediate running line has been destroyed by too many fish wrapping up on various obstacles, my stripping fingers have been destroyed by the destroyed line, and most of my favorite flies have also been destroyed by dozens of toothy SRC and coho.

I've spent a lot more money on actual fishing trips that haven't had the success that this one had. The best part was this was self-guided and completely unexpected!

The last couple of days have been coho-centric but there's still occasional SRC bycatch, like this chunker that towed me around for a few minutes. I will say that the SRC are pound-for-pound harder fighters than the coho. I think a 10lb SRC would be a serious challenge!
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Well done Adam.
You caught some stud fish up there.
SF
 
Very well done Adam, I live on VI and can attest that very few locals ever do as well as you did, which is very remarkable for a visitor. You are either an outstanding fish hunter or had awesome tips (likely both...)
1 question and 1 offer:
Question: Your last src picture seems to be a hatchery src (no adipose). Did you catch more wild or hatchery cutthroat?

Offer: if you ever come back to VI, ping me ahead of time and we can go fishing for VI best kept secret: world class redtail surfperch, as a case in point, this one from a few weeks ago is +/- 20" (it is over 16" from my elbow to fingertip, and this fish's tail wraps around my elbow, and its head is beyond my fingertips). A nice but certainly not unusual size here.
 

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BM from BC said:
Very well done Adam, I live on VI and can attest that very few locals ever do as well as you did, which is very remarkable for a visitor. You are either an outstanding fish hunter or had awesome tips (likely both...)
1 question and 1 offer:
Question: Your last src picture seems to be a hatchery src (no adipose). Did you catch more wild or hatchery cutthroat?

Offer: if you ever come back to VI, ping me ahead of time and we can go fishing for VI best kept secret: world class redtail surfperch, as a case in point, this one from a few weeks ago is +/- 20" (it is over 16" from my elbow to fingertip, and this fish's tail wraps around my elbow, and its head is beyond my fingertips). A nice but certainly not unusual size here.
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I did get some tips from Robinson's but never caught any fish on flies I bought from them (never actually fished any of them TBH) or caught any fish at places they suggested that I hadn't already identified as likely spots. They did suggest some places I'd never have considered but I never fished those areas. Once I got into the hot zones I chatted with the one other guy I saw more than once about colours and patterns but we were already on the fish by then! That local did mention that the fishing was better than average, so I guess it's a little bit of skill and advice, with a healthy dose of lucky timing. 😂

That SRC was wild. The photo is a still from video but the adipose is definitely there as it swam away. Out of all the fish I caught, only one coho was clipped.

Surf perch are fun and that's a beauty! I'd love to catch some of them 😉
 
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My offer for surperch (or anything else on VI) is serious. Just let me know next time you are coming.
And as of your SRC detective skills, my hat's off, and I bow to my master! I've been living on south VI since 1996, and I have no idea where you found them! I know 3 good spots, one mid island (way North of Nanaimo), one North island, and one way South island that requires a boat, so that's not where you were... I think I'm a little bit jealous, and disappointed in myself here for not knowing this spot 🤣😁👍.
Surfing at Jordan river: I don't surf, but my daughter and her boyfriend are passionate suffers and have surfed Jordan river for years, enough to be kinda part of the newer locals... if you ever want to surf there again, I will see if my daughter is available to go with you to introduce you to the local community so you don't get flat tires or a damaged vehicle (nope, not kidding)
Bernard.
 
BM from BC said:
My offer for surperch (or anything else on VI) is serious. Just let me know next time you are coming.
And as of your SRC detective skills, my hat's off, and I bow to my master! I've been living on south VI since 1996, and I have no idea where you found them! I know 3 good spots, one mid island (way North of Nanaimo), one North island, and one way South island that requires a boat, so that's not where you were... I think I'm a little bit jealous, and disappointed in myself here for not knowing this spot 🤣😁👍.
Surfing at Jordan river: I don't surf, but my daughter and her boyfriend are passionate suffers and have surfed Jordan river for years, enough to be kinda part of the newer locals... if you ever want to surf there again, I will see if my daughter is available to go with you to introduce you to the local community so you don't get flat tires or a damaged vehicle (nope, not kidding)
Bernard.
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Thanks! I'll definitely let you know the next time I'm out there! Local connections are always great to have when you're visiting an area, especially when you might have to deal with the surly Jordan River types. ;)

I've fished all my life but I'm relatively new at the SRC chase, having only really started targeting them in 2020. I've learned a lot from books but it's posts from people like @Stonedfish, @Kfish, @Nick Clayton, @jasmillo, and others here (and the old place) that really upped my game. I'm a master of nothing. I'm constantly learning, trying to keep an open mind, open map, open notebook.
 
BM from BC said:
local community so you don't get flat tires or a damaged vehicle (nope, not kidding)
Bernard.
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Localism at its worst. If people are indeed doing that, I hope Karma pops its head up and delivers some bitch.....
SF
 
Stonedfish said:
Localism at its worst. If people are indeed doing that, I hope Karma pops its head up and delivers some bitch.....
SF
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Fully agree. I've fished there a few times for -ahem- surperch, and always had a bad feeling for the local vibe. But I had no idea how bad it really was until my daughter started surfing there and told me of horror stories she witnessed first hand.
I am no longer fishing there as there are much better surperch locations on the island, with less antagonistic surfers.
As a second thought, may be Jordan river IS Adam's well guarded secret src beach !!🤣
 
BM from BC said:
Fully agree. I've fished there a few times for -ahem- surperch, and always had a bad feeling for the local vibe. But I had no idea how bad it really was until my daughter started surfing there and told me of horror stories she witnessed first hand.
I am no longer fishing there as there are much better surperch locations on the island, with less antagonistic surfers.
As a second thought, may be Jordan river IS Adam's well guarded secret src beach !!🤣
Click to expand...
Yeah, everyone go to Jordan River. Friendly locals on party waves! Tell 'em that out-of-towner guy sent you! :ROFLMAO:

Jordan River's like the BC equivalent of Seaside, OR. Localism goes back a long way. Here's an article from '07, and it's way older than that. https://thetyee.ca/Life/2007/11/27/JordanRiver/

Another funny thing mentioned in that article is the "former surf shop owner from Tofino" saying “The thing about violence is that it works. Look at the Hawaiians. Do you think they’re cool with haoles surfing their spots?” I'm guessing that former surf shop owner is "Haole" himself relative to the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation.

I have a "Pan Pacific Asian Fusion" look so when I surf in Hawaii the locals generally give me the benefit of the doubt... until they actually see me surf. But then again I'm not out there trying to charge Pipe or anything serious. I laugh when locals get all huffy that some outsider (me) is on their shitty onshore beach break.
 
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