2019 Haida Gwaii Reports

[ILHG]

Also, how’d those sick lingcod jigs do that you posted earlier this year?

They have been doing great. I have used 4 or 5 so far and have been rippin lips

 

[Derby]

Great report man... its like were part of the the trip

 

[Sea Chaser]

Awesome report. Cheers

 

[captmike]

I forgot to give a summary of current fishing conditions & where I found them.

Salmon: Fishing running along the westside right now. The north end is still slim but could pick up any day. I have a buddy who is at a lodge out of Masset & they are struggling to get salmon. 14lb is the largest. The fish on the westside have had large herring in the bellys (~8"). This surprised me as I typically find small herring. The Tyee was caught on a extra small herring.

Halibut: Tons out of the north. Anything of size is in the shallows. My buddy who is up there right now is catching lots daily in 30-45' of water. I was surprise how well Octopus worked for bait this trip. However that was mostly chickens. The 55lb Halibut we got was on a swim bait as per the attached pic. No bait but aggressively jigged/

Lingcod: I had the chance to work depths from 45-300' of water. All of the big girls we caught were in the deeper water now. They are stacked up thick & very aggressive. They only want to take lures that are actively jigged. The more aggressive you jig the more aggressive big lings will take it.

great read, ballsy fishing on the W side. what are the chinook retention regs for area 1 and 2 W?

 

[ILHG]

great read, ballsy fishing on the W side. what are the chinook retention regs for area 1 and 2 W?

We can keep 2/day 4 possession.

Westside is my absolute favorite place to fish.

 

[Oly1]

Awesome read ILHG. Thanks for taking us along for the adventure, second best thing to being there ourselves. Sounds like your buddies got exactly what they came for. An spectacular fishing adventure that they will never forget. Even if there are no pictures. (Just a little jab) Those memories will last a lifetime, well done.

Oly

 

[Aces]

Awesome read ILHG. Thanks for taking us along for the adventure, second best thing to being there ourselves. Sounds like your buddies got exactly what they came for. An spectacular fishing adventure that they will never forget. Even if there are no pictures. (Just a little jab) Those memories will last a lifetime, well done.

Oly

Just don't show any Ling Cod pictures, lol

 

[Redfisher]

Great reports and good on you for toughing it out in the weather. Living through others reports for 2 more weeks then up to Milbanke for me. Hopefully some of them slabs will be there then.

 

[ILHG]

Forgot to add some pics

 

[ILHG]

 

[ILHG]

I fly back out this weekend & back Tuesday. I'm taking my uncle out who has never been on the west coast. Hoping the fish gods will give me light wind. I have unfinished business up there..... I will send updates when I'm back.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Not all sunshine and roses -- I just had two friends from New Zealand who are excellent fishermen do very poorly on the North Island ( Lodge Guide too)

 

[ILHG]

Anyone ever Fish Kano inlet? I'm looking at the wind forecast and Sunday (9th) has bad butt winds out of the south. (Exact opposite direction of my previous trip)

Kano Inlet has a large chunk of Sheltered area but I have never fished it.

Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[adanac]

Anyone ever Fish Kano inlet? I'm looking at the wind forecast and Sunday (9th) has bad butt winds out of the south. (Exact opposite direction of my previous trip)

Kano Inlet has a large chunk of Sheltered area but I have never fished it.

Any help is greatly appreciated

This is an area the m.v salmon seeker ( oak bay marine group ) used to fish I believe , there is quite a few videos on YouTube of large salmon and Hali from that area .

 

[nicnat]

I guided a couple of trips for obmg out of kano inlet quite a few years ago, we were blown off the water for 2 full days, most of the fishing was all the way to outside pretty much. one night the salmon seeker almost got blown off her moorings and it was all hands on deck for the crew, a couple of hairy hours but no damage, it is fairly protected in there, we were water skiing at night when it was nice, lol. but if the wind comes in a certain direction it can get a bit nasty. you will be able to tuck in better than they could. I remeber the massive dogfish in there that would go into a feeding frenzy at the cleaning station, just like something out of jaws, what a sight.

 

[nicnat]

salmon fishing was decent around fame pt. troll along the drop off, try both the stretch between fame and cadman and fame and hunter pt. it can also be good around kundakun pt. halibut was quite good out around kindakun rock. not sure if there are any lodges in the area now or not but keep an eye out for others.

 

[Sharphooks]

Hey ILHG—-best fishing story ever! And the picture of that chinook—-what an example of a Spring....Hoky Smokes —- best fish portrait evah’!

So I’m curious—-if you’re basing out of Masset, how long a run is it to Marble Island —-what’s the logistics of that move?

Never been to Haida Gwaii and it’ s a real treat doing it vicariously through your eyes—-thanks!

 

[adanac]

Any any report from the weekend ILHG?

 

[Madman]

@ILHG When your targeting lings I see in your picture you're using a Shad style lure. Do you find this keeps the rockfish off your hook? Those little buggers chew on everything.

Normally when I bottom fish I use a halibut rig (1lb ball with hook) and use chopped up herring for the hook side. I have never had this setup work well for lings; its nonstop rockfish or halibut.

 

[ILHG]

Any any report from the weekend ILHG?

Just got back late last night. I will get a report sent when I get caught up. Work is always crazy when I get back as no one can do my job while I am away.