2025 Haida Gwaii Reports
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ILHG
Crew Member
I am finally heading back up to Haida. I'm pulling the boat up and will have about 9 days to fish. I'm aiming to start fishing morning of June 24th. I will Post updates of my adventures when I'm up there.
My goals for this trip is to put my wife & son on a Tyee. Some Sablefish & Shortrakers while deep dropping. Lastly find some Opilio crabs. Of course big lings.
I can't wait!
My goals for this trip is to put my wife & son on a Tyee. Some Sablefish & Shortrakers while deep dropping. Lastly find some Opilio crabs. Of course big lings.
I can't wait!
walleyes
Well-Known Member
Good luck ILHG. Looking forward to the updates and pics
SpringFever2359
Well-Known Member
Jealous!! Hope you get what yas want and have a safe trip!
ILHG
Crew Member
Just spent the last 3 days fishing with the family. I have haven't had my foot on the gas pedal because my wife & daughter appreciate a slower pace & trolling salmon.
We have fished the wall at the entrance of the narrows (westside) & it's been lights out fishing. Lots of double headers.
First day was mostly cookie cutter 12-14lb chinook. Then Thursday a bigger batch of fish came through and lots 18-22lbs. The fish look different everyday. Some have copper backs, and others purple. Last wensday the baitvwas 7-8" needle fish. It was thick. Then yesterday big herring up to 10" where the main staple. I also found a massive amount of squid tucked into an inlet tye depth finder couldn't even read past 20' they were so thick.
We spent a couple hours at Buck (just south of the Narrows) and grabbed a few lings.
My crab spots are still hot. They are BIG and plentyful
Today my wife & daughter fly home. Then tomorrow I have plans to fish hard. Hopefully someone deep dropping also.
I will let you know how that works out.
We have fished the wall at the entrance of the narrows (westside) & it's been lights out fishing. Lots of double headers.
First day was mostly cookie cutter 12-14lb chinook. Then Thursday a bigger batch of fish came through and lots 18-22lbs. The fish look different everyday. Some have copper backs, and others purple. Last wensday the baitvwas 7-8" needle fish. It was thick. Then yesterday big herring up to 10" where the main staple. I also found a massive amount of squid tucked into an inlet tye depth finder couldn't even read past 20' they were so thick.
We spent a couple hours at Buck (just south of the Narrows) and grabbed a few lings.
My crab spots are still hot. They are BIG and plentyful
Today my wife & daughter fly home. Then tomorrow I have plans to fish hard. Hopefully someone deep dropping also.
I will let you know how that works out.
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ILHG
Crew Member
Well i just finished up 10 days fishing in Haida Gwaii. It is one of my best trips i have ever had.
We lodged at Sandspit Adventures. I got a room & meal package. They even had fish processing. Best part is they are right accross from the marina where I had the boat in a slip. This allowed me to just fish & not worry about anything else.
So back to fishing. First day after my wife & daughter left my son and I had big plans. Weather was starting to get better & we decided to make the drive to Englelfeild Bay. It was about 1.75hr rip out of sandspit to the grounds. Man was it worth it.
the amount of structure there is mind blowing. I decided to look for some pinicals that topped at 200' and dropped down to deep water. The tide was ebbing and I took what I learned from fishing Cambel River and finding bait. It didn't take long & i found bait tucked behind a steep ledge. I looked until I found bait being broken up on the bottom. Once I did we sent down the biggest jigs I have. Not once did we ever tag bottom. Lings were smashing it every drop. No chance to even jig. We kept our combined limit of 6 lings & had a blast catching and releasing the rest. It was hard to find a ling below 20lbs. Many over 40lbs caught and released. I would say we released over 20 lings.
My son was dropping a big ling jig & a chinook salmon smashed it. I looked at the sonar & it was full of fish above the bait. Immediately we grabbed the slow pitch jigging rods & caught over 16 salmon on jigs. Almost always double headers. We kept a 25lb & released the rest. Our arms were burnt but man it was worth it.
I figured we had an hour left before we should leave and decided to grab some halibut. Moved on to a flat hump & sent down salmon belly's. With in a few minutes we were hooked up. After releasing 3 over size we finally grabbed a pair of 90cm fish and called it good. Seems like most fish were 115-140cm. What an amazing day!
The next day we dropped some prawn traps in one of the many places I wanted to try. This time I went deep. 600' was the number. After traps were set we went out & spent the day jigging salmon. It was another amazing day with so many fish caught. This time they were not as big. Most around 12-16lbs. No bigger migratory fish to be found. On the way home we pulled traps & was beyond happy to find some BIG prawns!
Last 2 days we went deep dropping. I love exploring the deep & seeing what I can pull up. After a slower start the first morning, I finally got dailed in & we caught 7 sable fish & 6 shortrakers. Deep dropping is a long process with the time it takes to drop & then bring up a fish. But man is it worth it!
Today I loaded up the boat & got all packed up. Ferry leaves at 10 pm. Fish is all loaded & I'm happy. Now the drive home...
We lodged at Sandspit Adventures. I got a room & meal package. They even had fish processing. Best part is they are right accross from the marina where I had the boat in a slip. This allowed me to just fish & not worry about anything else.
So back to fishing. First day after my wife & daughter left my son and I had big plans. Weather was starting to get better & we decided to make the drive to Englelfeild Bay. It was about 1.75hr rip out of sandspit to the grounds. Man was it worth it.
the amount of structure there is mind blowing. I decided to look for some pinicals that topped at 200' and dropped down to deep water. The tide was ebbing and I took what I learned from fishing Cambel River and finding bait. It didn't take long & i found bait tucked behind a steep ledge. I looked until I found bait being broken up on the bottom. Once I did we sent down the biggest jigs I have. Not once did we ever tag bottom. Lings were smashing it every drop. No chance to even jig. We kept our combined limit of 6 lings & had a blast catching and releasing the rest. It was hard to find a ling below 20lbs. Many over 40lbs caught and released. I would say we released over 20 lings.
My son was dropping a big ling jig & a chinook salmon smashed it. I looked at the sonar & it was full of fish above the bait. Immediately we grabbed the slow pitch jigging rods & caught over 16 salmon on jigs. Almost always double headers. We kept a 25lb & released the rest. Our arms were burnt but man it was worth it.
I figured we had an hour left before we should leave and decided to grab some halibut. Moved on to a flat hump & sent down salmon belly's. With in a few minutes we were hooked up. After releasing 3 over size we finally grabbed a pair of 90cm fish and called it good. Seems like most fish were 115-140cm. What an amazing day!
The next day we dropped some prawn traps in one of the many places I wanted to try. This time I went deep. 600' was the number. After traps were set we went out & spent the day jigging salmon. It was another amazing day with so many fish caught. This time they were not as big. Most around 12-16lbs. No bigger migratory fish to be found. On the way home we pulled traps & was beyond happy to find some BIG prawns!
Last 2 days we went deep dropping. I love exploring the deep & seeing what I can pull up. After a slower start the first morning, I finally got dailed in & we caught 7 sable fish & 6 shortrakers. Deep dropping is a long process with the time it takes to drop & then bring up a fish. But man is it worth it!
Today I loaded up the boat & got all packed up. Ferry leaves at 10 pm. Fish is all loaded & I'm happy. Now the drive home...
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anorthernhunter
Active Member
Great report - THANK you. Sablefish ... hmmm tasty.
That sounds like an awesome trip.
Bottomfeeder1
Member
Impressive!!!!! Were the sablefish deep ??
Jegermiester
Member
Awesome report, many thanks!!
And some priceless, memorable, lifetime experiences made to reminisce about in the short/long term for you & the little man, well done Dad
