Fishing Reports & Fish Stories For Haida Gwaii

In 2020 I had been involved in rowing for close to half my life. I had rowed as an athlete for ten years and transitioned into coaching after a spinal injury in the lead up to the Rio Olympic Games ended my career. I spent 2015 to 2020 as the head coach and then general manager of the rowing centre where I first learned to row, on the gorge in the heart of Victoria. I loved my role working with people and had no plans to change my chosen career.

When COVID closed the club I had worked so hard to build I went back to my first passion in life, fishing! I grew up in Jasper, Alberta. I learned to love fishing in the family canoe with my father, fishing for pike on Talbot lake with the goofiest spinning frog lure you’ve ever seen. I still have one. As I got older I got into fly fishing and spent most days that the water wasn’t frozen chasing trout on the fly.

When I got into rowing at age fifteen, fishing largely fell out of my life with the exception of a few days swinging for salmon and steelhead in the rivers of Vancouver Island. With Covid opening the horizon, as it did for so many, I dove head first back into the sport. I’m still fairly young in my guiding career but it feels very familiar to me because to be a guiding is to be a coach. You are enabling success, achieving goals and teaching guests to the skills to take their QCL experience in their own hands and make the most of it.

Just like coaching you need both “soft skills” and “hard skills” guiding salmon fishing. The hard skills are the tangible things like knowing where the fish will be, what they’ll be feeding on and when they’ll be feeding. The soft skills are more subtle such as a hand on the back when a good one pops off. Soft skills are needed to build relationships to enable your guests to learn and land the fish of their dreams. I love both sides of the job but strongly believe that the softs skills are where the guides at QCL set themselves apart.

We see all kinds of guests and each have their own expectations and goals. Just like coaching, our job is to learn those goals and impart the knowledge and skill for the guests to achieve them. I grew up in a team environment and I have enjoyed being a part of this guide team immensely. Knowledge is power on the water and I’ve been humbled to learn from some of the best rods on the west coast while I’ve been here and what I continually find amazing is their willingness to teach and enable newer guides like myself.

If you asked me in March 2020 where I would be in two year years, I never would have thought I’d be tough tacking Cape Naden in ten foot seas and scraping kelp beds for a clip popping hog but after the first time I came around the dolphin I’ve never looked back. Every time I see the joy in my guests eyes when “that fish” hits the bag I fall in love with fishing all over again because just like coaching shared success is always sweeter than individual success.

Tight lines and I hope I see you out there this season! Alex W

The mid-summer stretch is treating QCL guests to some really excellent fishing adventure these days! Very favourable weather conditions have added some icing on the cake – some of us are wearing t-shirts! We even had 3 guests go for a dip off the lodge beach before enjoying the hot tub! Life is good!

It was especially good for veteran anglers Joe H & Brad R as they first set their gear at Green Point Tuesday morning. Joe’s rod had the twitch before Brad even managed to get his in the water! But together these fellows would share an epic battle with a massive salmon that they’ll remember for a long time. Brad finally slipped the net below the big beauty and when they lifted it aboard, they were super thrilled! Finally returning to the dock last night, the scale at the Bell Ringer revealed a weight of 52 pounds! Cause for celebration for sure! Nice fish boys!

While big Tyees over 50 pounds aren’t as common as they used to be, we’ve certainly seen a nice bump in the big fish department recently with several Tyees kept or released. Jeff W released a 33-pounder on the weekend and Jason N boated a 38 on Saturday, followed by a 30 on Sunday! Zack J followed up with nice 31-pounder and Ryan O returned to the Bell Ringer with a stunning 14 lb Coho, the largest of the season so far! When we have the right tide and wind conditions the halibut grounds are a wonderland! On Saturday we saw lots of nice keepers land back on the dock but the Tyee Bell was ringing big-time with released giant halibut reports! Richard K released an 87-pounder, Janet B recorded a 69-inch halibut that scored 168 lb and Clint C turned back a full-on barn door that measured 75-inches to score 220 pounds! Amazing! Coho catches remain very strong with the average size creeping up around 8-pounds now so everyone is enjoying the awesome salmon action on the water.

Light to moderate winds wavering from southwest to northwest are to continue right into next week with very little precipitation and the odd sunny period – so we have pretty perfect conditions to look forward to. Peak tides will return around the 12th when we’ll see 17-foot swings, so hold on for that one! Stay tuned!

As we crest over the midway point of our summer season here at QCL, we find ourselves knee deep in Coho. There appears to be no sign of slowing to the arrival of the acrobatic white gums. As the flow of fish continues to increase, we have begun to see an increase in size as well. Fish stretching into the double digits are becoming more and more common every week. Yesterday a 14-pounder arrived at the Bell Ringer! What a fish!

At the same time, I felt that Chinook fishing had been slower than usual last week. But there has been no lack of quality when you do find a pocket of black gums! Though the hookups on Springs have been hindered by the relentless hammering of Coho, the fish that are being caught are often up into the twenty-plus class and put up quite a battle for our visiting anglers!

This past week my guests and I were fortunate enough to connect with a trio of gorgeous Chinooks at Cape Naden. On three consecutive passes we managed to find an eighteen pounder, followed by a fat 23-pounder. Not much later, on our third tack through the shallow bay that divides Cape Naden and Hanna Bay, the portside rod popped off and began to strain from the heavy head shakes of what would turn out to be a stunning 37-pound Chinook! After an exciting battle, punctuated by many long runs, the 27”x 38” chrome missile was carefully landed onto the deck of our 22’ Bridgeview. After a quick measurement, this big beauty was successfully released to continue his long Journey home!

Tipper

While we’re enjoying big blue skies and bright, sunny conditions this week, northwesterly winds blowing 15 to 25 are keeping anglers down inside the shelter of Virago Sound. Salmon fishing continues to be productive with consistent catches of Coho and Chinooks in the near-shore waters. An 11-foot morning flood tide moving with the westerlies provides decent opportunities to get offshore far enough to pick up some bottomfish, before the ebb starts and the sea gets a bit lumpy for comfort!

Given good conditions, QCL anglers do very well on halibut and lingcod while they’re here. Modern Navionics and depth sounders have mapped the undersea world to the point that guides are able to navigate an amazing world down 200-300 feet below. With the right skillset and some creative planning, they’re finding excellent catches of tasty lingcod and halibut. Challenges enough remain to keep it a very interesting exercise for anglers to put a few in the box! But those rewards are some of the finest fish dinners they’ll ever have!

Lingcod are very common and plentiful in the area and are carefully managed by Fisheries & Oceans. Anglers may retain 3 lingcod per day so the possession limit on a trip is 6. They can be found in less than 100 feet of water near shore but we typically fish for them offshore among pinnacles at depths of 200-300 feet. They are extremely structure-oriented so anglers must work hard to get on the structure long enough to present the jig/bait before drifting off with wind or tide. Lots of repositioning of the boat, lots of reeling and, lots of reeling! But the medium-firm, moist, and flavourful white flesh of lingcod is well worth the effort!

Lingcod can live 20-25 years and females mature at 3-5 years of age at an average length of 24-30 inches. They spawn in nests / crevices from December into March, and the males guard the nests until the eggs hatch. That’s why lingcod season is closed mid-November thru April 1^st – they guard aggressively and are extremely vulnerable to anglers. Lingcod are highly susceptible to overfishing so they are closely managed from the Aleutian Islands all the way to Baja California!

Light winds and light tides were the norm over the past week, providing optimal conditions for anglers testing the waters of Haida Gwaii. QCL guests made the most of it by exploring the offshore slopes and pinnacles for halibut and lingcod, trolling the 120-foot line for Coho and cruising inshore along points and kelp beds in search of those big Chinook!

Their efforts were rewarded with nice full fish boxes coming back to the Bell Ringer! Coho salmon have quickly displaced Chum and Pinks in the box with huge numbers of 6 to 8 pounders feeding heavily right now. We’ll see the average size increase steadily over the coming weeks! The large quantity of smaller “feeder Chinooks” that dominated our catch earlier in the season have given way to fewer, but certainly larger salmon. The proportion of fish over 20-pounds has come up quite nicely through July and most anglers are finding some real beauties to take home. The Tyee count is still lower than what we’d call “normal”but the Tyee Bell is getting a few good cracks every day.

Big celebrations on Friday night at the Bell Ringer marked the catch & release of a marvellous giant Chinook landed by Petr P at Cape Naden. It was taped out to 54-pounds before being skilfully released by veteran QCL guide Kylie T, captured beautifully on iPhone by fellow guides! Congratulations Petr and thanks for choosing to let that amazing fish carry on with its journey to the river! Petr’s efforts were echoed on Sunday with C&R Tyees for Tasha S who turned back a 34-pounder with guide Rob C and Matt M releasing a 37 with his guide Brett T. Well done!

It’s hard to believe but we are officially at the halfway point for the 2022 season up here at QCL! After an unseasonably late start to “summer” in June, the past 2-3 weeks have been pretty awesome! Lots of fish, better than average weather and so much fun on the water and back at the lodge. We’ve enjoyed very healthy numbers of what we’d call “feeder salmon” in recent weeks. Lots of Chinook salmon in the low-mid-teens and hungry Coho in the 6-8 pound class are keeping anglers busy throughout most of the fishing grounds. The presence of larger Chinook has been increasing steadily with regular catches of those stunning twenty-somethings, and the Tyee Bell is ringing every night now in celebration of Tyee-class fish either kept or released. Everything is feeling more like a “normal” fishing season, just a little later this year.

We started off this week’s trip with a bang on Monday night at the Bell Ringer with David H cracking the bell four times after releasing a big beautiful Tyee that taped out to 43-pounds before guide Alex K carefully returned it to the water. Roger P celebrated releasing a 30-pounder with his partner and their guide Colton M and Dan B was turning heads with an impressive 42 lb Chinook that came back to the dock with guide Dan R. We’ve been very fortunate to find solid salmon fishing off most every point of the fishing grounds, at the right stage of the tide, which have been especially large this week with ranges up to 18 feet!

However, nice calm seas on Monday thru Wednesday provided perfect conditions for any angler’s preference! Halibut fishing is very reliable on most days and this week was no different with many anglers finding impressive fish over 30-pounds and some tangling with the proverbial “barn doors” out on the grounds. Finding that magic number where it’s “not too little but not too big” is a challenge that definitely comes with fishing and Dan S pretty much maxed out his opportunity, bringing a 55-pounder back to the Bell Ringer! Lionel W turned back a 5-foot-long halibut that scored over 100 pounds and Matt C hauled up a 75-incher which scored 230-pounds! But the big catch this week went to Josh P who battled an 87-inch behemoth that would weigh about 273 pounds if you could get it in the boat! While not every angler wants to work that hard, there are endless possibilities out there for those who dream of catching a fish larger than themselves! Up here we seem to do that every week.

This weekend the large tides will start to diminish and we’re enjoying light winds and a comfortable mix of cloud and sunshine… with the occasional shower tossed in for good measure!

What Does Guiding Mean to Me?

Now in my early 60’s, I can honestly say I have almost seen it all on the water. Starting as a guide in Campbell River when I was 13 in the early 70’s until today guiding at QCL when I get the chance, I can see how much things have changed. And for the better I might add!!

As a guide you are a jack of all trades. First, but not most importantly, you know how to fish. The mechanics, the theories, and the techniques. When I was a young guide, that was all there was. Use your skill to catch as many, and as big a fish as possible. Make yourself look good and beware to the guest that lost the big one or could not learn how to set the hook! Looking back now, it was all about the guide and not the guest.

Thankfully that is changing. A great guide asks more and talks less. He finds out what a guest wants out of their experience and then strives to match that expectation. A guide becomes a teacher and instructs as much or as little as the guest wants. A guide does not yell at or intimidate his guests. If he does, he leaves the rest of the day with the guest feeling uneasy, inadequate, paranoid or just sad or angry. None of these emotions are conducive to a fun environment on the boat. The magic is quickly lost and it is oh so difficult to find again.

If the highlight of the trip is to see a Humpback or Killer Whale and the guide ignores the Fishmaster or another guide when they see whales, and doesn’t offer to take the guests to catch a glimpse, then the guide is not doing his job. There is lots of time to fish and to miss maybe that one chance is almost unforgiveable. The great guides know what is important and how to deliver. Throughout the day the guide effortlessly applies his fishing skills and simultaneously looks for any and all things that he can add to the day to increase guest’s enjoyment. It could be a bit of Haida history and culture, pointing out a jellyfish, or explaining how a halibut’s eye moves across their body as they grow. (They really do!) Each one is a little thing, but taken as a whole, so much is added to the day.

To work at QCL as Vice President Sales is extremely rewarding. But to spend a few days on the water and have the opportunity to reconnect to my guiding roots is the highlight each summer. You can never get too much of watching a person catch their first or biggest salmon, see something that Mother Nature has on display each day in Haida Gwaii, or simply know that you have made someone’s day. As a guide you get to do that. I guess I have the best job in the world. Fun to think of one’s self as the Old Man and the Sea and watch the guiding profession at QCL transitioning to what guiding should all be about.

Brian Clive

Two weeks of steady, moderate and predictable northwesterly weather has been an unusual treat up here! Looking ahead, it appears that we’ll see light variable winds start on Tuesday and carry on towards the weekend. The good weather has provided consistent fishing throughout the grounds with abundant salmon in a mix of all 5 species. Anglers are enjoying lots of action, often provided by scrappy 10-12 pound Chinooks, 5-9 pound Cohos and Chum, and large, hungry Pink salmon! The larger Chinooks are there and we’re getting the occasional Tyee but anglers are thrilled to see one of those 20-plus beauties alongside the boat! Productive Chinook fishing has been around the usual haunts between Cape Naden, Parker Point, Bird 2, Yatze and Green Point. We’ve been able to fish the east side comfortably on the morning flood tides and Cape Edenshaw has produced its share of nice Spring salmon on most mornings.

The offshore jigging action has been equally reliable with great results for both halibut and lingcod. Many anglers are enjoying the ability to retain two halibut in one day; a couple of teen-sized fish provide lots of beautiful 1-pound portion-pacs to enjoy with friends and family. But quite a few guests are finding one of those “overs” (20-70 lb) and happily settle for just one. Our portion packing service sure comes in handy to preserve all of your precious catch right through to next year. (if you can resist eating it all up sooner!)And while you’re out there on the hunt for your big catch, you just never know who you might bump into! QCL guests especially enjoy the almost constant presence of so much wildlife in the area. Humpback whales, in particular, are feeding constantly in the same waters where we fish and frequently come around the boats, bringing thrills and chills to excited anglers!

We hope that your Canada Day was as fantastic as ours was up here at the lodge! We welcomed an excited new group of guests on Friday morning and they enjoyed a productive day of fishing in glorious sunshine here in Haida Gwaii… it felt like July! (in a 13-degree C kind of way!)

Last night we all joined in a rousing rendition of Oh Canada in the dining room around 9:00… but then we had to persuade everyone to stay up until it was dark enough to launch the fireworks! That finally came at 11:15… but it was worth the wait and our Operations Team did a great job of delivering an authentic Canada Day display for all of us! And today… another beauty!

It’s hard to believe… but June is almost over! It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, with full house trips right off the bat and a “green but keen” new crew to bring up to speed in a hurry. But we have to say, it’s been a great start to the season with tons of memorable experiences and stories being created.

We’ve seen an unusually solid streak of moderate northwesterly weather in the latter half of this month, bringing lots of sunshine, but still cool temperatures. Fishing in general had a slower start with delayed spring runoff from the mainland river systems and cold water, but by mid-June the migratory salmon were showing up in numbers and we’ve been catching all 5 salmon species ever since. Lots of teen-sized Chinooks have dominated the catch and we’re seeing more 20-plus fish and Tyees reported every day. Mark N boated a nice 32-pounder on the weekend with guide Nick R and Daniel T had an awesome trip, combining a 30-pound Chinook with a 32-pound lingcod! Most anglers are going home with several “other” salmon, mostly a tasty combination of Coho and Pinks these days.

Our bottom fishing has always been outstanding out on the grounds with anglers’ favourite spots marked at depths from 175 to 325 feet! But some know there are places where, at the right stage of the tide, large halibut are regularly caught in as little as 30-feet of water! Just ask Brian M who boated a 49-pounder just a few minutes from the lodge or Desmond F who pulled a 55-pound halibut right out from beneath the Driftwood at Bird 2! Sometimes in life, an in fishing, it helps to think outside the box! Good work guys!