An interesting thing about fishing is that you just never know how things are going to turn out. Each morning we get into our gear and head out to try our luck. And it’s true, sometimes you have to be good to be lucky!

This week a few of our guests must have been very good! On Monday Kyle Shropshire arrived at the lodge from Michigan with his father Carl and some friends. Never having fished in the north Pacific, they opted to fish with a guide during their stay and were matched up with their guide Craig. On day one they did exceptionally well fishing for Chinook salmon. Kyle was able to catch & release 2 outstanding fish – taping them out to 34 & 51 pounds! Tuesday and Wednesday went well and they kept some nice springs in the high teens and some coho. Beautiful flat water on Thursday found them out on the halibut grounds where they had steady action until Kyle lifted the rod on a solid bite and it felt like he’d hooked onto a sunken ship! Except this one started moving. Forty five minutes later they had the proverbial “barn-door” alongside the boat. As we’re releasing all halibut over 126 cm they knew this one was going back. But since it kept fairly calm just below the surface, Craig wanted to try and measure it. The best tool he had on board was the halibut rod itself, a stiff 6½ footer, which he managed to lay out along the lateral line of the giant fish as it swam beside the boat. Based on the published formula used to estimate their size, Kyle’s 71 inch-length halibut would weigh approximately 186 pounds! That’s definitely in the same league as our QCL record halibut at 183 lb. caught in 2000 by Mike Sutherland. The nice thing is this giant female swam gracefully away after Craig removed the single hook from its upper lip. Well done guys! Congratulations Kyle on some amazing fishing here at Queen Charlotte Lodge this week!