The Tyee Bell was ringing loud and clear this weekend as several lucky QCL anglers found some big salmon in the healthy mix of ocean bright Chinooks.  It’s just the second week of the season but the fishing has been red hot.  The combination of excellent water conditions and hundreds of tons of baitfish in the rich waters of Virago Sound create the ideal environment for schools of migrating salmon.  Chinooks comprise the vast majority of salmon we see in early June, with many anglers enjoying 30-fish days catching 15 to 20 pound feeders.  These early fish are bursting with energy and will definitely test your skills!  

But swimming with them in the mix are always a percentage of larger fish and those can be quite a surprise!  We saw several nice Tyee-class fish in the 30’s over the weekend with a few in the 40’s.  Daniel Ruddy kicked off his fishing trip in a big way, weighing a beautiful 42 pounder on Friday night.  Joe Wedge elected to release a nice pair of Tyees – 30 & 31 pounds – on Friday and Rob Schmela, fishing with buddy Steve Rule, released a stunning big Chinook that taped out to 41 pounds.  They repeated on Saturday with 2 fish in the 30’s and a 40 pounder released at Bird 2.  Well done guys!  

Speaking of releasing giants, we saw two awesome halibut go back this weekend as well; Jon Black released a 62 inch length halibut on Friday (calculated weight = 120 lb) and Shane Radcliffe hauled up a 60 incher (calculated weight = 110 lb) on Sunday.  Nice to see those big breeding females go back!  Good work! 

Sunday brought a change in the weather and the start of a week of northwesterly breezes on the fishing grounds. Yves Gascon boated an awesome Tyee that taped out to 39 pounds and Kevin Onishenko released a 42 pounder. The biggest halibut on the dock Sunday also weighed 42 pounds for angler Leonard Radcliffe.  Just perfect! 

Looking ahead, the weather this week continues to come from the northwest with moderate winds of 10 to 20 knots; morning cloud giving way to big sunny skies in the afternoon.  The tides peaked out on the weekend so the moderating tidal changes will tend to prolong the bite throughout the lengthy 15 hour fishing days! Game on!