As we flip the page on July, we’re well into a typical midsummer fishery with the bulk of our Chinook salmon found in closer to shore and feeding schools of Coho ranging throughout the offshore grounds in water depths of 120-250 feet.  Depending on the day and the light, we’re finding the Coho anywhere from the surface down 100 feet or so.  While the typical Coho is still in the 7-9 pound class we’re starting to get some over 10 and that will continue to increase through September.

Our Chinook fishery in July was dominated by large numbers of feeder Springs feeding in close along with the other 4 species of salmon.  It was a total jackpot, and you never knew what was going to hit your gear.  But with no significant winds in the area for about 10 days now, the fish and bait have dispersed widely throughout the grounds.  The flat calm seas have enabled anglers to venture out to find the fish and they’ve been quite successful.

Tides have also played a significant role and guides are religious about picking their favourite points and fishing them hard through the slack.  And the rewards have been significant!  Cape Naden turned out the top fish this week with a stunning big Chinook caught by Nicole C that taped out to 50 pounds before being carefully released by her guide Len!  Nice work you two!  Tuesday was a big day with a pair of 41 pounders arriving in the Bell Ringer.  One was boated at first light by veteran angler Mike C, fishing with QCL guide Ken Lepage.  The other big beauty was landed by Frances D at Cape Naden at the end of the day with his senior QCL guide Ryan Kelly.  “Just one more pass” does it again!  Congratulations!

The big halibut keep on coming each trip and this week was no exception.  Dominique P hauled up a nice chunky fish that scored 116 pounds and Mark L had a good closeup look at a 180-pounder.  Driftwood anglers David L and partner Ken K did their best to measure an absolute giant that David successfully hauled to the surface.  At 200 cm in length their proverbial “barn door” scored 263 pounds!  Now that’s a workout!  Great fishing guys!

We’re ready for the return of some steady northwesterly weather that tends to push the bait, and the fish, back onshore.  But there’s none in the forecast for the coming week – a little light westerlies and then some southeast.  Fortunately, we’re still finding pockets of bait out there and QCL anglers are having a great time tracking down some awesome fish to take home.  Stay tuned!  August is almost here!