The vast majority of anglers who own boats for salmon fishing around Campbell River use downriggers and troll various plugs, spoons, and hootchies.
Electronics will let the angler know what depth the fish are at, and the boat operator will know the tides and what depth the targeted fish are at. Chinook salmon is still the king, along with coho chum and pinks.
There was a time when bucktail fly patterns were used, but that way of fishing is now enjoyed by a few select people. There was a time when smaller coho were hooked by a bucktail fly that was about six inches long with a silver body, and wing material was made of polar bear hair made by local fly tyers or commercially manufactured. In today's fishing world, fly patterns are made of deer or sheep hair. The hair has great action in the water, and when conditions are right it's fun on the water using light tackle, and the fish takes the fly and gets airborne.
If you look at any tackle box in your garage or basement, I am willing to say that there are a few bucktail fly patterns there that probably haven't been used in years. I had in storage several long-shanked hooks and I found the right length of hair that I used, and the fly pattern will be field tested in Winter Harbour in late summer and the same bucktail will be used in Prince Rupert waters when the coho are in the shallows. A few years back, I trolled the Argonaut Wharf area, and in my small rubber boat, I hooked and released a large Gabezon fish. This fly pattern has caught pike on the prairies. Bucktail flies are collector items for many guys around Campbell River. Some have a small weighted spinner in front to get it down in the water.
For those who troll local lakes, a smaller fly can be used. Instead of white wings, use brown and black in size 10 with an extra long hook, which has produced some big trout. Lakes include Roberts Lake Mohun and Fry Lake. McCreight Lake will be ready to fish when the water turns over, and there are some huge trout to be caught.
Wet fly patterns such as the Mickey Finn are attractor patterns, but small bucktails can be used even when it comes to searching the shoreline of lakes and rivers and see what happens.
Dave Fife called me and invited me out to jig for some lings and I'm looking forward to jigging something up, this is my favourite way to fish here in Discovery Passage.
River anglers can expect fry to be in the rivers and using attractor fly patterns that imitate fry can be productive for catch-and-release cutthroat trout. If you are looking for an easy walk to fish try the Oyster and Quinsam Rivers, and the walk from Salmon Point to the Oyster River is a great way to get out and explore what we have in this part of the Island.
