anorthernhunter
Active Member
You'd think they would prefer bait versus spoons as bait (herring) is dirt cheap versus spoons, flashers, hoochies etc.
2017 Haida Gwaii Reports
- Thread starter SFBC
- Start date
adanac
Well-Known Member
They use all Rhys Davis bait , herring and anchovy , 100 guests every three days, 12 hrs on the water , June thru September , huge number of fish, do the math. You can't re use herring..
ILHG
Crew Member
Old Blue
Well-Known Member
Peregrine's bait tab years ago used to be $60-75 G's, QCL is much bigger.....you can buy a heck of a lot of gear for that price
ILHG
Crew Member
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hippaisland
Well-Known Member
Where are you getting "dirt cheap" herring from?
zfish
Active Member
Englefield bay, June 4-6, swelly, windy, rainy, weather, shoals were mostly closed, a few boats ventured out there for bottom fish but were shut down shortly the first day. Great chinook fishing inside, mostly at Denham bay. Had multiple double headers, biggest fish to our boat was 25lbs, my fish ranged from 15 to 22. Released lots of fish in the teener range and one over twenty when I didn't want to fill my card on the second day. All on herring, cut plugs, wholly rollers and even used a herring in a green glow anchovy head for a 19 lb at Herbert Head off the third surface rod, set a twenty pulls. Ran a dummy flasher on one side. Fishing was productive from surface to 80'. No tyees were boated this cycle, there was a 37lb on the board from earlier, as the biggest fish so far this year. Tried for hali inside but nada for us, although some were caught. Lodge and staff were top notch.
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advTHXance
Well-Known Member
Lots of fish out here right now. Probably released close to 40 teenagers the past 2 days. Biggest bonked on my boat so far this trip is 26. Another guide at our lodge released a 34 the other morning. Good number of fish in the low 20s being caught too and a couple in the high 20s. Mostly crammed full of needlefish but a few have had herring in their bellies as well.
ILHG
Crew Member
Just got back yesterday afternoon from QCL. I was a tough trip & a person needed to put the time in to capitalize on fish. Below is a summary.
Day #1 (June 9th): I was told the winds had been blowing SE for over a week & pushed all the bait away. When I arrived the wind had switched to NW & was light at ~10km/hr. There was nothing for life to be had. No whales, No bait & no salmon. After 1/2 a day fishing all the spots that worked with each tide & only hearing over the radio of some small feeders being caught I decided to go for bottom fish while the weather was good. I had brought down my Electric deep drop real & wanted to try deeper holes that no one could get to with out an electric reel. The first spot was at the base of a pinnacle that went up to ~225'. Every one was fishing the top of the pinnacle & I positioned my self to work the 580' mark at the base. there was 2 other boats fishing when I showed up & I am sure the guides were telling their guest how I was way off the mark. I rigged up my 9" LED squid & sent it to bottom. As soon as it hit, I had a fish on. first 2 fish were 82 cm Halibut which made me & my partner happy. Third drop we picked up a canary rock fish that would have been every bit of 10 lbs. On the 4th drop I put a big piece of bait on so I could keep the smaller fish off & immediately hooked into a large Halibut that was to big to keep. I didn't take an exact measurement but it was big... I released the old girl & decided to call it a day for bottom fish. We headed back to the salmon grounds & started at Green point & worked our way to Klashwun point. It was a flood tide & the wind & tide where in the same direction. We trolled Anchovies with a full flasher & no one was picking up fish. After a hour with nothing we headed off shore a bit to ~130' of water & dropped our gear to 60' & 80'. We stated to hook into fish but they were small. Smaller than I have ever seen. We each took 2 springs as we didn't want to get stuck with nothing at the end of the trip. The smallest was 7lbs & the biggest was 12 lbs... I felt bad after & couldn't get over the size of the fish....
Day #2: We were up & on the water by 4:30 am. we had a couple of hours before tide change. The wind was still low but expected to pick up to 30-35km/hr in the afternoon. We headed over to our random in the middle of no where spot that we caught the fish at the day before. The fish were there & aggressive. my buddy was pulling out line before he connected it to the clip & a spring came up & nailed it. We each caught 2 salmon but released them as they were the same small size. After tide change I decided to head off shore as the wind was expected to pick up & it might be my only chance to hit a pinnacle off shore I had been wanting to go to for months. After checking with the fish master we headed ~7 miles off shore to the spot. I dropped my 9" LED squid down 600' to the top of the pinnicle. I don't think it was down for more than 10 seconds when I had a fish. Got it to surface & it was a perfect 130 cm halibut. Dropped it again & before it hit bottom another Halibut at 130 cm. We didn't want to catch any more halibut as we were tagged out so we moved to the out side of the pinnicle. dropped it in about 700' & again immediately we had a fish on. when I got it to surface it was a huge canary rock fish that was push over 10bls. Second drop produced the same thing. I drifted around the other side of it & hooked into a huge yellow eye. W each had all the rockfish we wanted and didn't want to drop it there again. My next plan was to head to a 800' section that has a wall on the one side of it. everything about it looked good for sable fish. How ever as quickly as we were packing up stuff, the wind started to pick up & we had a long drive back sop we called it a day.
When we got back to the salmon grounds the ebb tide was running hard & going against the 35km/hr wind. It was a **** show & decide just to fish where we had a break from the weather. No fish caught we headed to the Driftwood for Supper. By 8pm the wind had died down & we were still in the flood tide & close to slack. we went out & fished until 11 pm & picked up 7 salmon. the biggest this time was 16 lbs & smallest was 13 lbs. we each kept one fish & called it a day.
Day#3: We woke up to a completely different fishing grounds. The NW wind had finally started to push in bait & every thing was there to eat them. Wales were smashing the shoreline & birds were diving. I put a AP tackle works small herring spoon & my buddy stuck with anchovies, but his time no flasher. We bagged our last 2 salmon we needed early & just spent he rest of the day fishing. As luck would have it we landed & released a number of salmon hat were much bigger than the ones we kept. The biggest I released which was also the last fish of the tip was a +20lb spring. I tailed it & took the hook out while in the water. after a couple of min she was ready to go & gave me a face full of sea water as she headed back, It was the best feeling I have had & found it almost spiritual experience.
Now I am off to Hippa island tomorrow & will give an update when I return. I am hopeful that the fishing will be better there!
Day #1 (June 9th): I was told the winds had been blowing SE for over a week & pushed all the bait away. When I arrived the wind had switched to NW & was light at ~10km/hr. There was nothing for life to be had. No whales, No bait & no salmon. After 1/2 a day fishing all the spots that worked with each tide & only hearing over the radio of some small feeders being caught I decided to go for bottom fish while the weather was good. I had brought down my Electric deep drop real & wanted to try deeper holes that no one could get to with out an electric reel. The first spot was at the base of a pinnacle that went up to ~225'. Every one was fishing the top of the pinnacle & I positioned my self to work the 580' mark at the base. there was 2 other boats fishing when I showed up & I am sure the guides were telling their guest how I was way off the mark. I rigged up my 9" LED squid & sent it to bottom. As soon as it hit, I had a fish on. first 2 fish were 82 cm Halibut which made me & my partner happy. Third drop we picked up a canary rock fish that would have been every bit of 10 lbs. On the 4th drop I put a big piece of bait on so I could keep the smaller fish off & immediately hooked into a large Halibut that was to big to keep. I didn't take an exact measurement but it was big... I released the old girl & decided to call it a day for bottom fish. We headed back to the salmon grounds & started at Green point & worked our way to Klashwun point. It was a flood tide & the wind & tide where in the same direction. We trolled Anchovies with a full flasher & no one was picking up fish. After a hour with nothing we headed off shore a bit to ~130' of water & dropped our gear to 60' & 80'. We stated to hook into fish but they were small. Smaller than I have ever seen. We each took 2 springs as we didn't want to get stuck with nothing at the end of the trip. The smallest was 7lbs & the biggest was 12 lbs... I felt bad after & couldn't get over the size of the fish....
Day #2: We were up & on the water by 4:30 am. we had a couple of hours before tide change. The wind was still low but expected to pick up to 30-35km/hr in the afternoon. We headed over to our random in the middle of no where spot that we caught the fish at the day before. The fish were there & aggressive. my buddy was pulling out line before he connected it to the clip & a spring came up & nailed it. We each caught 2 salmon but released them as they were the same small size. After tide change I decided to head off shore as the wind was expected to pick up & it might be my only chance to hit a pinnacle off shore I had been wanting to go to for months. After checking with the fish master we headed ~7 miles off shore to the spot. I dropped my 9" LED squid down 600' to the top of the pinnicle. I don't think it was down for more than 10 seconds when I had a fish. Got it to surface & it was a perfect 130 cm halibut. Dropped it again & before it hit bottom another Halibut at 130 cm. We didn't want to catch any more halibut as we were tagged out so we moved to the out side of the pinnicle. dropped it in about 700' & again immediately we had a fish on. when I got it to surface it was a huge canary rock fish that was push over 10bls. Second drop produced the same thing. I drifted around the other side of it & hooked into a huge yellow eye. W each had all the rockfish we wanted and didn't want to drop it there again. My next plan was to head to a 800' section that has a wall on the one side of it. everything about it looked good for sable fish. How ever as quickly as we were packing up stuff, the wind started to pick up & we had a long drive back sop we called it a day.
When we got back to the salmon grounds the ebb tide was running hard & going against the 35km/hr wind. It was a **** show & decide just to fish where we had a break from the weather. No fish caught we headed to the Driftwood for Supper. By 8pm the wind had died down & we were still in the flood tide & close to slack. we went out & fished until 11 pm & picked up 7 salmon. the biggest this time was 16 lbs & smallest was 13 lbs. we each kept one fish & called it a day.
Day#3: We woke up to a completely different fishing grounds. The NW wind had finally started to push in bait & every thing was there to eat them. Wales were smashing the shoreline & birds were diving. I put a AP tackle works small herring spoon & my buddy stuck with anchovies, but his time no flasher. We bagged our last 2 salmon we needed early & just spent he rest of the day fishing. As luck would have it we landed & released a number of salmon hat were much bigger than the ones we kept. The biggest I released which was also the last fish of the tip was a +20lb spring. I tailed it & took the hook out while in the water. after a couple of min she was ready to go & gave me a face full of sea water as she headed back, It was the best feeling I have had & found it almost spiritual experience.
Now I am off to Hippa island tomorrow & will give an update when I return. I am hopeful that the fishing will be better there!
anorthernhunter
Active Member
Great summary - Thanks!! Keep them coming. Good luck on the sable fish.
Scorpiofisher
Member
Great report and glad to hear you got rewarded for your efforts.
ILHG
Crew Member
anorthernhunter
Active Member
Great pics. Nice Canary.
carpeweekend
Crew Member
Great report. I love your Day 2 report where you hit the water at 4;30 a.m. and shut it down at 11 p.m. I fished the exact same shift at a fishing lodge but would never consider it in my own home waters.
hippaisland
Well-Known Member
Lots of fish @ Hippa Island right now, average size is ~15lbs, couple tyees on the board but none in my boat. Halibut fishing is bonkers as usual here. Lots of pyrosomes in the water which I've never seen up here in my 10 years guiding up here off/on. Seems weird given the cool water temp.
fishin_magician
Well-Known Member
Times have changed. In 2000 I killed just 4 Chinooks under 17 lbs....those were the smallest which came to the boat all season....and the slot limit was 77cm. 1 over and 1 under per day.
Sad.
Sad.
I just put together a highlight video of the trip:
I mounted a gopro camera to the boat and captured most of the fish strikes. It's fun to watch these; you can learn a lot simply by studying what triggered the bite. e.g. turn the boat to trigger a strike, and don't turn your back once you've cranked down on the rod!
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