fishingfirstclass Archives - Page 7 of 13

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!

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!

There are a lot of important qualities involved in being a successful angler, and among some of the most important are patience and positivity. I maintain the belief that fish will only bite hooks that are attached to a vessel with positive attitudes on board, and if you ever fish with me then you will probably hear me say that at least once or twice throughout the trip.

Fishing isn’t always easy; it can often test us. We all love those days where you can barely even sink a line to 45 feet without a Chinook ripping it off the clip on the way down! On those days positivity is easily achieved! The thing is, in order to reach those action-packed days an angler may need to work through some days that are not so action-packed. Fishing can be slow, but to be successful on those slower days patience and positivity are needed. There could be torrential rain, big winds, and kelp as far as the eye can see, but if you possess a positive mindset and believe that if you keep working your tacks effectively and roll some tight ‘chovies or mean cut-plugs then results will eventually come your way.

A bite can turn on like a flick of a switch. One simple switch from an ebb to a flood, or a slight change in water depth, gear colours, or maybe even a switch from country radio to classic rock. Sometimes just cracking open an ice-cold silver bullet could bring an angler the bite they’ve been searching for all morning! They just have to believe that it will happen. Hope, visualize, and work hard to make it a reality. Patience will be rewarded in some way, shape, or form and positivity will help those rewards flourish. I guarantee it.

Tight lines and good luck out there!

Braeden “Bhard” Hardie

Light winds from the west and a generous dose of sunshine really delivered some summer vibes for our guests this week. It certainly helped that the fish were around, and everybody had their chances at some really nice salmon and groundfish. The average Chinooks are still in the low to mid-teens but we’re definitely seeing more fish in the twenty-plus class and the Tyee Bell gets to sing most every night for some of those larger salmon, halibut and lingcod. This week we saw all five salmon species on the dock which is always a good sign of things to come. Some of the outstanding catches were 33-pound Chinooks for Andy B (guide Alex) and Paul C (with guide Anton) last trip. While there were no giant halibut released last week, QCL anglers managed to find lots of keepers in both the “under” (<90 cm) and “over” (90-133 cm) classes. Several anglers found impressive fish between 30 and 46 pounds, which always draw some attention at the Bell Ringer.

The weekend saw some blustery northwesterlies on Saturday but the salmon really seemed to like it… because the action from Klashwun Point down to Parker was very good on the ebb tide. Solid numbers of teen-sized Chinooks were taken, with a surprising number of Coho, Chum and Pink salmon mixed in. Curtis L landed a fine 31-pound Tyee with his buds and veteran QCL guide Derek P in those lumpy seas on Saturday so he’s got a great story to tell! Sunday flattened right out to pancake seas for Father’s Day and we scattered over the whole fishing grounds to pick up limits of halibut and lingcod. Jim M released a big halibut that taped out to 180-pounds & Brian H turned back a 92. First time angler Erin R battled her first halibut, which just happened to be an 82-pounder (Wow!) and veteran QCL guest Dana B released a 77. This week is shaping up nicely with a busy Bell Ringer last night, celebrating several nice halibut and lingcod in the 25 to 40-pound class. While we didn’t see a Tyee Chinook yesterday there were several in the mid-twenties so we’ll see what today’s effort brings! We’ve got light to moderate northwesterlies all week with daily doses of sunshine, so everyone is enjoying beautiful Haida Gwaii weather through the weekend.

After what felt like the longest wait ever… we were absolutely thrilled to welcome our first QCL guests of the 2022 season on Friday. And it felt so good! While every guest who popped out of a helicopter was wearing a mask, once they took it off, the smiles were a mile wide. Many of our guests this season booked their trip in the summer of 2019! And finally, they’re here.
An awesome crew of talented and enthusiastic staff have just come through training week with flying colours and they’re looking forward to the next 100 days, working together here in Naden Harbour.

Our first group of guests found pretty typical early season angling with good numbers of teen-sized Chinook salmon sprinkled with a bunch of twenty-somethings to keep them on their toes. Our first Tyee of the summer arrived on the dock on Day One when Fred M and his guide Gerritt put a 31-pounder on the scale. While effort was well distributed around the fishing grounds, Cape Edenshaw was where we found most of the action on the weekend. Early season halibut are commonly found in close to the kelp and this May weekend was no different with several nice flatties picked up while trolling bait close to shore. But we did see quite a few come in from the usual haunts, with some larger-sized fish among them. Top “keepers” were a 37 for David R, a 39 for Patrick M and an impressive 63-pounder for Myles M! Of course, there are always halibut out there that are just too big to keep! Michael J released a 73-pounder on Friday, Lauren D turned back a 92 on Sunday and Carole T battled a “barn-door” halibut that taped out to 180 cm for a score of 188 pounds! Those are some impressive fish for sure! Well done!

Our culinary team under the direction of Chef Chris Green have outdone themselves once again this season with exciting new menus in the Main Lodge dining room as well as in the Totem House and Charlotte House. First impressions have been awesome so our guests should look forward to memorable dining to compliment their incredible experiences out on the water this summer!