QCL Archives - Page 20 of 25 - Queen Charlotte Lodge

Leaving the dock this morning we all knew we were going to be in for some rough seas. We were having a northwest wind today and the waves were going to stack up pretty high. But the positive part about this direction of wind is it usually pushes in a new run of Chinook. How we fish this type of sea is what is called the Haida drift. We run up to Klashwun Point and turn the boat with the waves, then drift past all our major points of land. It is quite comfortable going with the waves and it is a very productive way of fishing.

By the time we got through most of the drift, we had 2 Coho in the box, released a few pinks, which were fun to play with, and had some great laughs. We cruised by Bird 1 and saw the huge bull sea lion and his female sitting on the edge. “Man, I sure hope he stays there” I thought to myself as I took some pictures of them.

As soon as we reached the west bay of Cape Naden we hooked our first big Chinook of the trip! What a screamer! Line was ripping off the reel! Now the awkward part of fighting a big fish in big waves is maneuvering the big Grady around to stay on top of the fish. The waves were crashing all around us, but it sure makes for a lot of fun! After a 15-minute fight, the fish was almost at the boat when my guest made me aware of the huge sea lion coming at the boat. “Oh no! I knew it!” I grabbed the net and told him we had to get this fish to the boat as fast as we could, he had to horse it. So much could go wrong doing this but we had no choice. Either lose it by pulling too hard or to the lion.

The big salmon surfaced just out of reach of the net and we finally saw how big it really was. This was without a doubt mid 30’s or more. It was so big we couldn’t get the fish to budge. I stretched out as far as I could and just started dipping the net under the head of the fish and was thinking “We got this!” Then there was a massive explosion of water beside the boat and the sea lion grabbed the fish! It was something right out of National Geographic. We stood there in absolute disbelief. After we took a few minutes to take in this experience, my guest spoke up and said regardless of how big it was, that was an incredible experience!!

What a day, filled with great times, fun memories! We had a few Chinook and a couple Coho in the box, a very exciting dolphin experience right beside the boat. We headed back to the barn so the guys could enjoy their evening with friends having an incredible dinner at the Charlotte House by our chef Mark, relax in the hot tub, and relive the day’s events like all fisherman do, talking about the big one that got away!

Until next time,

Randy “the Hitman” Zinck

Friday afternoon left us with one of the most picturesque days that we have seen thus far. We experienced a flat calm day and sunny skies. The bait swarmed our western fishing grounds and the fish followed suit. Klashwun Point was the center of most of the activity with many large Chinooks being caught within the area. The Coho arrived in large schools over the past 2 weeks, flooding our grounds with fish. We have been fishing “Klash” the past couple of afternoon’s and the action has been steady.

When the Coho start coming into our grounds in numbers it marks a time of high activity. Coho salmon will spend their first year of life within specific rivers or streams along the West Coast. They will return to that same stream to spawn 3-4 years later. The Coho Salmon has even been transplanted into the freshwater great lakes of North America. The main features of the Coho are their white gums and acrobatic style of fighting when hooked. Unlike the Chinooks they have very little spotting on the lower lobes of their tails and are smaller in size. The average Coho that we have been seeing has been weighing 6-8 pounds but there are also 10 – 12 pounders mixed in there as well. Boy do they hit hard!

Now all throughout the grounds the Coho are here and the guests can look forward to topping up their fish box with a Coho limit as well!

Skywalker

Ebb and Flood: Changing tides and changing times…

As the tides rise and fall, the fishing conditions can rapidly change as well. When a tidal current moves toward the land and away from the sea this is considered the “flood.” When this current moves away from the land and towards the sea, this is called the “ebb.” These changing water conditions can dramatically affect our fishing grounds. The tides can push fish into our fishing grounds, and move fish out. The tide can also change the weather. For example, when the wind and current are moving against each other the seas can dramatically chop up. Vice versa when the wind and tide are moving with each other, the seas will flatten out. The changing tides also present us with the “magic hour” called “slack tide.” At this time there is little water movement and it can trigger the fish to bite.

We had a difference of 17.3 feet in our morning tide yesterday. This change brought heavy currents, while dramatically changing the surroundings of our fishing grounds in between the high and low tide. The slack tide today brought the big fish in, and it led to several Tyee-class Chinooks being caught. Bird Rock 2 and Parker Point held some big fish and gave up a few of them! This adds a little extra motivation to get out early as some of their large friends have probably moved into our grounds. This excitement will get the anglers out to the grounds early in search of these monsters. The currents also brought schools of Coho inshore, which provided anglers with flurries of aggressive Coho bites. I am excited to get out tomorrow and get the lines wet to and see what we can troll up.

That is all for now, Signing out,

Skywalker

After a very productive week of fishing with the last group of guests topping their boxes up nicely, we celebrated Canada Day with a keen group of new guests, mostly veterans of previous QCL fishing adventures. Tons of bait scattered throughout the fishing grounds is providing pretty steady action at any of a number of favourite fishing spots. Cape Edenshaw remains quite productive with teen-sized feeder Springs and the odd Tyee lurking in the weeds.

While Cape Naden continues to produce more than its share of salmon action it’s the north shore that’s been coming to life lately. The humpbacks have moved a little offshore and out of the calm backwaters they’ve been busy in these past weeks. That’s a sure sign that there’s more baitfish moving through the deeper water and savvy anglers have trolled on out there to join them. The reward… a whole new mass of brilliant silver salmon – a mixture of Chinook and Coho – pursuing shoals of needlefish and immature herring. Anchovies fished over dummy flashers are most successful.

Last summer the guides denoted “east bay Parker” as a new favourite fishing hole which was a steady producer all summer long. Strangely it’s been slow to come to life so far this season. That may have changed over the weekend as our 3^rd 50-pounder-plus fish was recorded on Friday. Wondering if he’s onto something, veteran QCL guide Jackson Jane worked his magic at east bay Parker and teased out his second giant of the summer! Returning lodge guest Jared D set the hook and played a stunning big Chinook to the boat with Jackson and fishing partner Ryan cheering him on.

A quick measurement scored the beauty at 52 pounds before they carefully returned the fish to the water and Jackson coaxed it back to vigorously swim away. Congratulations Jared! Well done guys! It’s really nice to see these very special Tyees revived and released in such good shape!

As the dawn broke this morning and we rolled out onto the fishing grounds, we were the first boat off the dock. The harbour was flat calm and the sun was poking through the clouds just over the point at Cape Edenshaw. The “shaw” looked so irresistible I just couldn’t help but peel off to the east. With such a calm morning and those nice soft rollers you can’t ask for better conditions.

The morning turned out to be a productive one with us touching a Chinook approximately every 20 minutes for the first few hours of the day. With only a handful of boats there, there was plenty of fish to go around. One of the great things about Edenshaw is that it’s always a bit of a variety pack. We got into Chinook, 2 Coho, a ling, and some rockfish. Around 10 o’clock a pod of orcas moved through and the fishing died down. But that’s just fishing and although fishing was a bit harder in the afternoon, there was a 52 pounder caught and released at Parker. The amazing thing about this place is every time you leave the dock that fish of a lifetime could be waiting, and today could be your turn at a chance for that unicorn.

Dan “Rainman”

Energy was high on the dock this changeover, a new group of guests were arriving and the weekend brought in the first big fish of the season. There where multiple Tyees caught on the weekend, capped off by a 54 on Friday and a 61 on Sunday! As guides, this is exactly what we have been waiting for! As a whole we are all just a little bit more on edge, aware that any bite could be that fish of a lifetime.

(Thanks! Roger Baker for the photo!)

Every day we are seeing more bait, more diving birds and more seagulls on large bait balls. Yesterday while fishing in Yatze bay there where huge bait balls for over three hundred yards in the tide line and you could see salmon slashing through them just under the surface of the water. Things are setting up real nice and it’s time to start grinding for those trophy class slabs.

Dan “Rainman”

Wow! It’s our 10^th trip of the season already! Canada Day is coming on Friday! And things are really rockin’ up here at The Lodge! Our Edmonton-Direct guests returned home today with full boxes of fish and hopefully memories full of wonderful moments from their weekend here in Haida Gwaii! We noted a whole new group of fish had arrived in the past few days, distinctly silver, husky fish that tested the mettle of every angler. The average size is getting into the twenties with this crowd and, most excitingly, there are some BIG fish in the mix!

Following up on the stunning 42 and 54 pound releases last week, QCL guests found some more where those came from! Recording our largest salmon catch of the 2016 season to date, Greg P hooked and landed a big beauty that taped out to 61 pounds on Sunday! Just setting the gear along the edge of the kelp off Yatze, his guide Isaiah Dahl had not yet placed the rod in the holder when the chrome giant crashed the anchovy and tore off, luckily, away from the kelp! It was Greg’s turn on the rod and he handled it masterfully, bringing fish to boat in good time. When Isaiah finally slipped the net beneath it, the guys gulped a big breath as they finally got a good look. A call out to Shooter for some photos, a quick measurement, and they were able to release the big beauty in perfect shape. Well done fellas! That’s a great fish and thanks for sending her back!

Around the same time a similar situation played out just north in the gap between Klashwun Pt. and Shag Rock. With lots of current and unpredictable upwelling this can be a tough place to fish. But it is productive and so discovered Rick S when he hooked into a heavy Chinook that put up a serious battle before finally coming to the net. With no intention of keeping it, Rick and his fishing partners quickly taped the prize out to 39 pounds before reviving and sending it back. Wonderful work guys!

Meanwhile over on “the dark side” at Cape Edenshaw, Jay R was doing battle with yet another mighty Chinook from the boat of guide Ryan Winger! The waters off “Piggy Bay” have been particularly productive lately and that’s where “Horseshoe” was working his ‘chovy when the rod lurched beneath the surface and Jay leaped to action. The determined salmon took some serious work to boat but the guys were over the top when they finally had it in the net. Ryan had already started reviving the fish alongside his Grady when they got a call from another, alerting of an approaching sea lion! With some quick thinking, they lifted the salmon back into the boat for safety. Ryan jammed the boat into gear and they sped off to elude the hungry mammal. Safe from the sea lion, they resumed the revival until the huge Tyee swam away with strong strokes. Scoring out to 42 pounds, this big Chinook will hopefully find its way back home to keep the strain alive in the future! Fantastic fishing boys! Thanks for going the extra mile!

QCL guests enjoyed some fine weather on the water this week with a total stunner on Wednesday… flat water, bright sunshine and loads of crazy looking clouds on the horizon! And the fishing wasn’t too bad either! Those flat water days see everybody heading offshore to their favorite halibut haunts. The result were telling! Lots of awesome “overs” in the 84–133 cm class (16 to 70 lb) came to the dock as our guides continue to hone their bottom-fishing skills! Of course there were a bunch of fish that were turned back, giant females too big for retention! Max Z released a 104 pounder, Jeremiah F a 94 and a 250 lb. barn door! Rick W tangled with a big fish that taped out to 121 and John F released a 150 pounder. It’s always exciting to hear the stories and watch the “phone videos” of these events! There’s no shortage of adventure on the halibut grounds!

On the salmon front we saw our first 50 Pounder of the 2016 season! Fishing with his roomy Ian and veteran guide Jackson Jane, Phillip B successfully brought a stunning fish to the boat at Cape Naden on Friday. After carefully taping it out to 54 pounds the big Chinook swam away directly after some revival from Jackson. What a beauty Phillip! Thanks for letting that big one go! And welcome to becoming the first member of the 50-Pounder Club for 2016!

Just 2 days earlier another splendid release was celebrated by Selena G and Denis B when their guide Isaiah Dahl carefully let a big chrome beauty back to swim away; this one measured at 42 pounds! Fantastic fish folks! And again, we really enjoy seeing these 40-plus pounders getting a chance to return to the spawning streams! Thanks again! Look forward to more great fish stories in the days to come!

Persistent westerly winds have been pushing tons of bait into the fishing grounds this week and with the bait comes all forms of sea life! Humpback whales are a constant presence in the quiet coves between the Mazzaredo Islands and Green Point. It’s amazing to watch them work their massive bodies around the rocky outcrops, doing headstands underwater, their broad tails waving at us as they corner schools of needlefish against the rocky walls below. They go about their business patiently, moving back and forth along the shore for hours. Savvy anglers recognize the feeding whale as a good sign that the salmon will also be there to get their share. Many a good salmon catch has come right from the whale’s dining room!

Cape Naden continues to be the most productive spot on our grounds, partly because it’s seen the most boats but also because the bait is hanging in that area. Parker Point, Bird 2 and Yatze have all produced decent action at some time during the day. While we haven’t had much problem with sea lions this summer, there were a couple of busy ones at Cape Naden and Bird 2 on Sunday, helping themselves to the odd Chinook. With the approaching full moon the flood tides have been more productive than the ebbs and the slack periods are brief but rewarding for those who get their timing right!

We’ve seen some nice big Chinooks come to the scale in the past few days – 35, 35, 36 on Tuesday, 30, 31, 37, 38, 46 on Wednesday, and 32, 38, 38, 43 on Thursday. It promised big things for the weekend Kingfisher Derby, our 14^th annual. But the action slowed considerably and derby participants worked very hard to find Tyee-class salmon for our popular Catch & Release event. A handful of Tyees were recorded but no one was able to best Steve Rule’s catch on Saturday that taped out to 33.3 pounds, winning him the $40,000 top prize. Miles D boated the largest salmon of the weekend with a beautiful 37 pounder on Sunday afternoon, but he wasn’t in the derby! (shades of 2015 when Russ B weighed in a 50-pounder to not win the derby for the same reason!) Congratulations go out to Steve and his Denver team who did very very well in the overall scoring!

Waking up this morning, everything felt right. The sun was shining, the water glistening, and all the boys were in good spirits looking forward to another day fishing in our own Disneyland. We headed to Edenshaw on our eastern fishing grounds, where the fishing has been really consistent the last few days. So off we went to get into the fish! It was not long after the lines were in the water when the port rod hit. “Fish on!” My guest grabbed the rod and the fight was on! It was such a scrapper! 5 minutes later it was in the net. Weighing out later at 21 pounds, it was a gorgeous fish! The rest of the morning we landed 7 more, a spectacular morning.

After the guests had lunch on the Driftwood, we headed to Bird Rock 2 on our western fishing grounds. The stories with my guests were so much fun. Like I have always told the younger guides, it’s not about the fishing, they will catch fish for sure, but it’s about the guest experience on the boat first and foremost. Learning about their lives, the jokes, it’s such a great experience. I was loving it. We were not even paying attention to the rods, when one of the guys asked me what this new noise was he was hearing. I looked over and it was my Islander reel, line screaming off of it! Another fish on! It was an amazing fight, and the best part was this was going to be a catch and release fish. After popping the hooks out and watching it swim away, we high fived and got right back to the fishing.

By the end of our day we were 12 for 12 landed to the boat. We encountered sea lions, bald eagles, and humpback whales all throughout our day. I have fished and guided in many different places throughout my life, but never have I had an opportunity to experience such a magical place like what we have here at QCL. Great guests, great staff, amazing fishing, great laughs. You really couldn’t ask for anything more. I can’t wait to get out tomorrow and see what great experiences we will have! I guarantee it will be phenomenal.

” A day without fishing is like a day without sunshine”

Randy “the Hitman” Zinck