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Thanks for the report!!
No problem. Are you sticking around Rivers Inlet, or will you be heading through Hakai Pass for a day or two?

I forgot to mention we picked our coho up around Truman Point, but you can find them anywhere along the east side of Calvert.
 
No problem. Are you sticking around Rivers Inlet, or will you be heading through Hakai Pass for a day or two?

I forgot to mention we picked our coho up around Truman Point, but you can find them anywhere along the east side of Calvert.
We are going to be pretty focused on Rivers. One of the guys has to be back Sunday and the weather is looking iffy for Saturday, so we have a tight window. We’ll be back someday with the family, broke my heart not to take my son but we are going to be pretty focused on catching a big one which shouldn’t be a focus for a 6 year old.
 
Rolled home to Victoria at 1:30am this morning. Just back from the Cheap Bastar..ds trip to Rivers.

Had a great meeting of the three boats at the sportsman pub and had a gas chatting w an ex logger and getting to know the 5 guys I didn’t know in the group, lots of pre fuelling for most of the crew. I could almost taste the beer bringing me back to be 16 and off the fishing boat at Hardy, I wanted one so bad but 6 years sober is tuff to beat w a 5am start the next day.

Headed out at first light Wed from Hardy, one boat leaving at 3am hoping to burn off fuel to help get on plane, should have been a sign of things to come. Second boat burned past us and was gone 5.7L more dialed in on it! C-Dory was, way over loaded but on plane no problem and just burning 20/30% more fuel usual.

Hammed two nice springs at Bremer Point on the way up, one of the nicest in my life. Hit a spot or two more on way, got one ling then pulled into Cranston for the afternoon bite and got a double header and lost one.

Found the logging camp and was treated to an amazing meal and the friendliest loggers hand shake from a buddy I hadn’t seen in 25+ years. He even hooked us up with shore power and we spent the evening telling high school tales and rendering guys from the past. Lots of lucky lagger put away, and tall tales of fishing and the good old days.

Headed out at 5:15 great conditions and got 5 mootching lines down by 6:30. Looked up and boat beside us was dragging a 47lber on tbe bleed line. Running 8 rods tips all down, guy sitting on the bow. Should have been our first hint we were out gunned.

Had one hit I missed, and one other herring striped. Long day, ran out at about 3pm. Saw about 4 fish caught, maybe 15 caught in total for quite a few boats but the interesting thing is we saw the same guys hooking up.

Next day half way through the day we adjust our leader length and shallowed up, and sped up since we were watching the boats that were catching closely. Got one little spring and decided to help the gene pool by removing it and had a nice hit that didn’t stick. Hard to pull the plug but didn’t see any bites after mid day tide change.

Helped one of our buddy boats by getting them a 5 gallon can and refilled at Dawson. Spent the afternoon trolling near draney and not a sniff but found a bunch of cod and sole to try cooking up.

Met Ken from Coast Adventures in person at the lodge and learned a ton. He hammered a beautiful one in the 40’s the next morning a but my crew jammed out and we headed home trolling the wall, and a couple spots to cranston. Got a couple really nice springs around 20, one smaller one and couple coho.

Went back to a couple spots along the way but not a sniff, our buddy boat that pounded the head the hardest finally got two springs at bremer.

Our other buddy boat ran out of gas again at the mouth of the Hardy harbour and we managed to get fuel after the fuel dock closed at 4:30pm and get it back to them. They were thankful sharing crab and Hali with us.

Loaded up and had a good night drive home. Saw some huge elk to add to the wales and otters.

Heading back out to clean the boat solo after splitting up the fish this morning. Learned a lot on what I’d do differently when I go again, which might be in 10 years or maybe never. I’m not huge on the trophy hunting or catch and release fishing but would be nice to know I cracked 30 for sure and let one go.

Gods country boys! Get out there
 
Rolled home to Victoria at 1:30am this morning. Just back from the Cheap Bastar..ds trip to Rivers.

Had a great meeting of the three boats at the sportsman pub and had a gas chatting w an ex logger and getting to know the 5 guys I didn’t know in the group, lots of pre fuelling for most of the crew. I could almost taste the beer bringing me back to be 16 and off the fishing boat at Hardy, I wanted one so bad but 6 years sober is tuff to beat w a 5am start the next day.

Headed out at first light Wed from Hardy, one boat leaving at 3am hoping to burn off fuel to help get on plane, should have been a sign of things to come. Second boat burned past us and was gone 5.7L more dialed in on it! C-Dory was, way over loaded but on plane no problem and just burning 20/30% more fuel usual.

Hammed two nice springs at Bremer Point on the way up, one of the nicest in my life. Hit a spot or two more on way, got one ling then pulled into Cranston for the afternoon bite and got a double header and lost one.

Found the logging camp and was treated to an amazing meal and the friendliest loggers hand shake from a buddy I hadn’t seen in 25+ years. He even hooked us up with shore power and we spent the evening telling high school tales and rendering guys from the past. Lots of lucky lagger put away, and tall tales of fishing and the good old days.

Headed out at 5:15 great conditions and got 5 mootching lines down by 6:30. Looked up and boat beside us was dragging a 47lber on tbe bleed line. Running 8 rods tips all down, guy sitting on the bow. Should have been our first hint we were out gunned.

Had one hit I missed, and one other herring striped. Long day, ran out at about 3pm. Saw about 4 fish caught, maybe 15 caught in total for quite a few boats but the interesting thing is we saw the same guys hooking up.

Next day half way through the day we adjust our leader length and shallowed up, and sped up since we were watching the boats that were catching closely. Got one little spring and decided to help the gene pool by removing it and had a nice hit that didn’t stick. Hard to pull the plug but didn’t see any bites after mid day tide change.

Helped one of our buddy boats by getting them a 5 gallon can and refilled at Dawson. Spent the afternoon trolling near draney and not a sniff but found a bunch of cod and sole to try cooking up.

Met Ken from Coast Adventures in person at the lodge and learned a ton. He hammered a beautiful one in the 40’s the next morning a but my crew jammed out and we headed home trolling the wall, and a couple spots to cranston. Got a couple really nice springs around 20, one smaller one and couple coho.

Went back to a couple spots along the way but not a sniff, our buddy boat that pounded the head the hardest finally got two springs at bremer.

Our other buddy boat ran out of gas again at the mouth of the Hardy harbour and we managed to get fuel after the fuel dock closed at 4:30pm and get it back to them. They were thankful sharing crab and Hali with us.

Loaded up and had a good night drive home. Saw some huge elk to add to the wales and otters.

Heading back out to clean the boat solo after splitting up the fish this morning. Learned a lot on what I’d do differently when I go again, which might be in 10 years or maybe never. I’m not huge on the trophy hunting or catch and release fishing but would be nice to know I cracked 30 for sure and let one go.

Gods country boys! Get out there
What was the deal with the boat having all the fuel issues? Small tank or under powered or both?
 
What was the deal with the boat having all the fuel issues? Small tank or under powered or both?
5.7 in a Bayliner 2452? enough power I would think for big 3 guys and gear but no one pushing 250lbs. Thing is you never know how much everything weights until you weight it like a pilot.

They are thinking coil, as it was going through the fuel too. Im thinking compression too now, since it has ran so long. When my buddy had mentioned the captain being worried about getting up on plane with a load before the trip my spidey senses should have gone off. If it had happened 30 minutes earlier and we hadn’t been waiting for them it could have been a disaster. Wind came up and between the ferry and cruise ships it is a pretty active channel.

With my power if I was to do it again, I’d have left 500-1200lb of men, lead, ice, water, coolers, downriggers and lead at home and travelled light. Just so much better fuel economy and power when travelling light on a 200 mile trip (including running back and forth). I’m going to take 2 things off for everything I put on from now on. Even 1 spare cannonball vs 2 spares for Tofino this week, you can always stack or god forbid cut plug or jig and have just as much or more fun.

It’s lots of running and unlike the guys with, a quarter to a million dollar boats, that are common, anyone can do it in almost any boat if people are smart and focused. I was thinking how much it would cost for a few more rod holders and used rods, so I’m not in the same class as the boys with their trip 300/350’s. My two old MR2’s were screaming pretty dam good so I’m a happy camper and the boys in the thirsty boat are home and happy too.
 
5.7 in a Bayliner 2452? enough power I would think for big 3 guys and gear but no one pushing 250lbs. Thing is you never know how much everything weights until you weight it like a pilot.

They are thinking coil, as it was going through the fuel too. Im thinking compression too now, since it has ran so long. When my buddy had mentioned the captain being worried about getting up on plane with a load before the trip my spidey senses should have gone off. If it had happened 30 minutes earlier and we hadn’t been waiting for them it could have been a disaster. Wind came up and between the ferry and cruise ships it is a pretty active channel.

With my power if I was to do it again, I’d have left 500-1200lb of men, lead, ice, water, coolers, downriggers and lead at home and travelled light. Just so much better fuel economy and power when travelling light on a 200 mile trip (including running back and forth). I’m going to take 2 things off for everything I put on from now on. Even 1 spare cannonball vs 2 spares for Tofino this week, you can always stack or god forbid cut plug or jig and have just as much or more fun.

It’s lots of running and unlike the guys with, a quarter to a million dollar boats, that are common, anyone can do it in almost any boat if people are smart and focused. I was thinking how much it would cost for a few more rod holders and used rods, so I’m not in the same class as the boys with their trip 300/350’s. My two old MR2’s were screaming pretty dam good so I’m a happy camper and the boys in the thirsty boat are home and happy too.
Agreed. Now that i'm not guiding i carry over, at least 500 lbs less gear than when i was. Fuel mileage is quite a bit better
 
Agreed. Now that i'm not guiding i carry over, at least 500 lbs less gear than when i was. Fuel mileage is quite a bit better
Yeah, spares and safety equipment? I guess fishing long days you don’t have time to hit harbour chandlers as a guide. Passengers too. If you have 3 - 250 pound guests you need 100hp just for that? I was thinking my buddy would make good halibut bait as I worked the trim tabs. It’s usually fine fishing with him and my son but the extra coolers put us over the top.
 
Rolled home to Victoria at 1:30am this morning. Just back from the Cheap Bastar..ds trip to Rivers.

Had a great meeting of the three boats at the sportsman pub and had a gas chatting w an ex logger and getting to know the 5 guys I didn’t know in the group, lots of pre fuelling for most of the crew. I could almost taste the beer bringing me back to be 16 and off the fishing boat at Hardy, I wanted one so bad but 6 years sober is tuff to beat w a 5am start the next day.

Headed out at first light Wed from Hardy, one boat leaving at 3am hoping to burn off fuel to help get on plane, should have been a sign of things to come. Second boat burned past us and was gone 5.7L more dialed in on it! C-Dory was, way over loaded but on plane no problem and just burning 20/30% more fuel usual.

Hammed two nice springs at Bremer Point on the way up, one of the nicest in my life. Hit a spot or two more on way, got one ling then pulled into Cranston for the afternoon bite and got a double header and lost one.

Found the logging camp and was treated to an amazing meal and the friendliest loggers hand shake from a buddy I hadn’t seen in 25+ years. He even hooked us up with shore power and we spent the evening telling high school tales and rendering guys from the past. Lots of lucky lagger put away, and tall tales of fishing and the good old days.

Headed out at 5:15 great conditions and got 5 mootching lines down by 6:30. Looked up and boat beside us was dragging a 47lber on tbe bleed line. Running 8 rods tips all down, guy sitting on the bow. Should have been our first hint we were out gunned.

Had one hit I missed, and one other herring striped. Long day, ran out at about 3pm. Saw about 4 fish caught, maybe 15 caught in total for quite a few boats but the interesting thing is we saw the same guys hooking up.

Next day half way through the day we adjust our leader length and shallowed up, and sped up since we were watching the boats that were catching closely. Got one little spring and decided to help the gene pool by removing it and had a nice hit that didn’t stick. Hard to pull the plug but didn’t see any bites after mid day tide change.

Helped one of our buddy boats by getting them a 5 gallon can and refilled at Dawson. Spent the afternoon trolling near draney and not a sniff but found a bunch of cod and sole to try cooking up.

Met Ken from Coast Adventures in person at the lodge and learned a ton. He hammered a beautiful one in the 40’s the next morning a but my crew jammed out and we headed home trolling the wall, and a couple spots to cranston. Got a couple really nice springs around 20, one smaller one and couple coho.

Went back to a couple spots along the way but not a sniff, our buddy boat that pounded the head the hardest finally got two springs at bremer.

Our other buddy boat ran out of gas again at the mouth of the Hardy harbour and we managed to get fuel after the fuel dock closed at 4:30pm and get it back to them. They were thankful sharing crab and Hali with us.

Loaded up and had a good night drive home. Saw some huge elk to add to the wales and otters.

Heading back out to clean the boat solo after splitting up the fish this morning. Learned a lot on what I’d do differently when I go again, which might be in 10 years or maybe never. I’m not huge on the trophy hunting or catch and release fishing but would be nice to know I cracked 30 for sure and let one go.

Gods country boys! Get out there
Hey were you the C-Dory we chatted with? Had a guy sitting in a chair on the bow? We were the 24’ Seasport “Saanauk”
 
Hey were you the C-Dory we chatted with? Had a guy sitting in a chair on the bow? We were the 24’ Seasport “Saanauk”
That was us. You guys were great, we hit a pink and you guys gave us space right away thinking it was a spring from my school girl screams, I was so embarrassed especially since my buddy is not quite as considerate at the helm when trolling.

Beautiful boat by the way, looked like the xl or long cabin? How’d you do?
 
Well finally have a few free moments to write a post.
We headed up to Port Hardy on the 3rd. Plan was to cross the morning of the 4th to Rivers Inlet. We got to Hardy earlier than expected and the water was flat calm. I started to prepped for an evening run over but then I got a call from my buddy that was trailering up the island to meet us. He had blown a trailer tire and they were still an hour and a half out. Well time to pull back the throttle. Put the boat in the water and got all of our rods rigged for the next day. Still had some free time so went to Quarterdeck for a couple beers and food. Much to my surprise it is not the same old food menu. The food is Asian themed now. Our buddies finally rolled in but had to wait for the tide to come in a bit before launching.
Ran over to Rivers Inlet the morning of the 4th. The water was truly snacking and calm. We tied in with another boat that had ran up from Bellingham on the water. The conditions were so nice they ran up the outside of Calvert to fish Spider Island and Cultus Sound. We ducked into Rivers Inlet to fish for a few hours. Talked to a couple boats as k we and they said it had been pretty spotty at The Head. Fish for a few our and didn’t get a sniff. Buddy boat got a teener they released. Made the call to run up to Cultus Sound for a few days.

Cultus was decent but seemed slower than normal. We did get a pair of 34# fish. One was a buck and one hen pretty much caught about 30 minutes apart. We managed some other mid 20’s fish over a couple days. We probably could have caught more fish if using anchovies or other hardware. I love fishing cut plug herring and fighting fish without flashers to much to run all hardware or chovies. We did catch a few fish on flasher/ hoochies.

Ran up Bella Bella for fuel and other necessities. (Beer and whiskey). It as a complete crazy mayhem up there. It was delivery day for the store and the place was super busy. Not what I expected. Waited for quite a while to get on the fuel dock as some local boats were taking their time chatting with people. Anyways got out fuel, beer, whiskey and drink ice.

We fished another day at Cultus and then decided to head back to Rivers since we only needed a couple more fish. First morning back at Rivers we tied into a good fish that slammed the bow rod hard. Fought it for about 20 minutes with it up to the boat s few times but not close enough to net. It decided to spit the hook so never found out how big it was. Probably in the 40-50# range comparing it to the other I have caught there. Went and fished the moth if Darby that evening and picked up another teener and a few decent coho. Fished one more morning at The Head without a sniff. Buddy boat ground it out 2 days without anything. Saw a few caught here and there but not the usual bite where 20 fish get hooked.

Since we needed a couple more fish we decided to run back to Hardy and fish Bremner. Fishing there we got a couple more chinook. Never really fished there much but it was very busy there.

Overall a good trip and got to see some new sights. Through my Garmin inReach tracking we did over 500 miles on the boat over 8 days. Always happy when there are no major host issues. I did have my backup depth sounder transducer pop off the bracket. Since it was the spare I just zip tied it above my bracket.

This was my 12th year of fishing those areas and look forward to many more.
 
That was us. You guys were great, we hit a pink and you guys gave us space right away thinking it was a spring from my school girl screams, I was so embarrassed especially since my buddy is not quite as considerate at the helm when trolling.

Beautiful boat by the way, looked like the xl or long cabin? How’d you do?
Yeah you never know up there so always give plenty of room. Have had to cut my leaders many of times and have had other people have to cut theirs when tied into a big fish. Just part of the fishery there. I have the 24’ XL so short cabin long deck. It was a tight fit for three of us. Normally just go two in the trip in my boat. One of the days at Cultus we got 2” of rain and from then on everything in the boat was damp.

I would recommend trying to fish up there again. People for the most part are super friendly and there are a lot of regulars that have been going forever. Fun to see the same guys every year. There does seem to be more big money boats with triple outboards up there now than past trips.
 
Yeah you never know up there so always give plenty of room. Have had to cut my leaders many of times and have had other people have to cut theirs when tied into a big fish. Just part of the fishery there. I have the 24’ XL so short cabin long deck. It was a tight fit for three of us. Normally just go two in the trip in my boat. One of the days at Cultus we got 2” of rain and from then on everything in the boat was damp.

I would recommend trying to fish up there again. People for the most part are super friendly and there are a lot of regulars that have been going forever. Fun to see the same guys every year. There does seem to be more big money boats with triple outboards up there now than past trips.
Yeah, the rain made me happy my old wallas started up. We got chewed out when the fish was on the other side of their boat, running to the wall.

Lots of good people, you need that on rainy days.
 
I’m planning my “first ever” trip to Rivers next year. I’ve been fishing Barkley for 25 years and really enjoy it but Rivers has always been at the top of my bucket list. At my age, it’s time to make it happen. So I’m reaching out to all of you who have been making the trip for any and all suggestions/recommendations that you might have (i.e. where to anchor/moor, what provisions to bring, what to fish with, where to fish, etc.).
I’d appreciate any ideas and suggestions that you have.
Thanks to all!
 
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