NORTH COAST CRUSADE PART II

Sharphooks

Well-Known Member
I did Caution the next morning. In the past I probably would have waited another day, knowing there’d still be huge swells, some breaking, as leftovers from the storm. And there was an ebb tide sluicing out of Slingsby that would agitate the water even more. As I got past Raynor Point I saw the huge swells breaking on the Caution headlands. But nice to finally have twin outboards for power and a bit bigger boat to be better prepared for sporty conditions like that. I headed my boat into the thick of it with a bit of trepidation but I knew there'd be no turning back

So I can do speed now. In the past I’d cruise at 12 knots. With the new boat and twins, I found I could cruise at twice that speed and burn about the same amount of gas. So once I got past the huge roiling Caution swells into Radar Passage, the waters calmed down and before I knew it, I slipped past the mouth of Rivers and was headed north for Hakkai. That night I got to my favorite spring spot just across Hakai Pass.

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Within the first ten minutes of getting my gear in the water I hooked a spring. I got a few head shakes and a sizzling run then the hooks pulled. No matter—-It felt grand to have the good stuff happen so fast. As I basked in the glory of being back in my most favorite part of the world, my boat got picked up by a huge swell then dropped into the resulting trough. I was tight up againt the rocks with 50 feet of braid out when that happened. When I hit the bottom of the trough the downrigger ball stuck in the rocks and on the next upward swell, my Scotty HP downrigger broke off at the base and went overboard.

This all happened so fast it took my breath away....hooking and losing a spring, getting buck fever to go hook another one, hanging a downrigger ball, hearing a very loud crack then seeing my Scotty HP go overboard.

Short story here: my DR’s are mounted to the gunnels with those fancy new Burnewiin mounts (came with the boat pre-owned). I opted to make my own DR pads to fasten the Scottys to the Burnewiin mounts. I thought marine plywood would hold up to that abuse but the piece I used delaminated and exploded like a hand grenade from the sideways stress of a stuck ball and 250 lb test braid that doesn’t stretch or break. Thank the Lord the DR power plug inserted vertically into the gunnel receptor, not horizontally— the power cord stayed in place and I was able to retrieve the SCotty using the power cord and then the downrigger ball by hand-lining in the braid but wow, all that stress and commotion, bang, all in the first few minutes of fishing.

The next day put me in Shearwater. I was looking forward to tasting the new “flavor” of Shearwater with the new Heiltsuk take over that ocurred in July. The first thing I noticed: Shearwater was a ghost town. The dock normally crowded with big fancy cruisers was empty....maybe one or two boats. All the big Grady guide boats....gone. But everyone I ran into, the gal at the fuel dock, the gals in the grocery store, all were extremely kind and helpful . OF course it helps to show up anywhere in a group of girls with a cute puppy ...I don’t have to say a word and the cooing and sweet chirps begin...

I asked the gal at the fuel dock if she’d heard the weather. Yes, we’re about to get slammed with a big Southeaster, she said. I told her I was heading towards Hartley Bay. Well, then.....you’d better get going, then! she said.

So here was the second opportunity of the trip to use horsepower to deal with an impending storm. I went through Milbanke and on into Laredo and across Campania at 3,900 RPM’s, maybe pushing 45 kph....usually I’m inching along during that part of the trip , enjoying the sights but the weather was unraveling before my eyes....the sky was turning a smudged black, the boat wipers were having trouble keeping up with the rain those Southeasters bring...it was starting to blow. I’d already lost two days of the trip to wind. And now, more freaking wind!

I got to a bay I have used as an anchorage in the past. It’s protected from the NW and as I threw scope into the rode I was already looking around at the scalloped rim of trees to see how much protection I’d get from the SE....I guess I’ll find out, I thought ruefully as I got the anchor set to get the dog ashore to do her business.

When I got us both back to the boat I saw there was a brief lull in the rain and wind. This was my chance! With zero hesitation I snuck around the corner into Hecate Strait. I knew I didn’t have much time....I rigged up a bait and dropped it overboard . Immediately a coho came up and grabbed it off the surface. I horsed the fish to the boat, flipped it off the hook then tied on a spoon, knowing the clock was ticking before the storm hit in earnest and I didn’t want another coho standing between me and a spring

I dropped the spoon into 200 feet of water, set the depth at 60 feet, my intention to tack back towards the rocks where I’d hooked springs in years past. Within minutes I had a take-down. Wow, an almost tyee, within minutes....and in 200 feet of water....wasn’t this just going to be a glorious trip? And me all by my lonesome, All these fish.... just me, my boat and alot of spring-filled water....I was reaching for a wine bottle to celebrate my good fortune.
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That light hearted self-congratulatory twinge lasted a minute or so. I got back into the bay, dropped the anchor again and had an absolutely harrowing night. It blew a steady 30 knots, gusts to 35. The water turned to smoke. The boat spun on the anchor all night as the wind veered from NW to SE then back to NW again. The swells made sleeping impossible. When they came up under the boat’s swin step it sounded like a hand grenade going off...boom...boom....boom...all night long.


And I had put all my trust into the shackle that guy gave me a few days ago back in Queen Charlotte Strait. It seemed way too small for the task. Would it break with this type of abuse? Would I wake up on the rocks? I tossed and turned all night, the heaving swells and the dog’s incessant panting driving me nuts. Dawn broke and I peeked around the corner. Where I’d hooked that spring the night before was now three meter breakers marching across the horizon like Zulu warriors.

And breakers coming into my anchorage. Another day of the trip lost to weather. I turned on the weather report. All I heard for the next few days....20 - 30.....20-30....20–30....it got to the point where I didn’t want to hear the weather any more... just more bad news...

I grew morose. It was blowing too hard to fish and it was blowing too hard to make a move. And my allotted vacation time was going up in smoke.

On the fourth day of the blow I left my hidey hole and went up against a wall where I knew bait stacked. It was exposed to NW but just far enough inside to leave me with meter high waves instead of the 3 to 4 meter seas out in the Strait. I immediately hooked a spring. But even though it was just a teener, it was all I could do to keep the boat from blowing onto the rocks with the relentless wind and waves as I fought it. When you’re fishing against a rock wall in crappy weather, an incoming one meter wave hits the wall and with the Klapotis effect, that same wave comes back at you at almost twice its size. Not an enjoyable place to fight a fish. I knew there were more of those springs but there was the painful realization that my North Coast trip would have to get cut short....The outlook was more wind....The specter of hooking a fish and have it wrap braid around an exposed prop grew very real.



I laughed a rueful laugh when I heard the weather gal give her morning update: ”Seas to three meters, and tomorrow...subsiding to two meters!”
We all know the weather gal is a computerized voice, but when she said “subsiding to two meters!”, she made it sound like she had just pulled a magic rabbit out of her hat and I was supposed to kiss her feet then faint from happiness at the prospect of two meter seas instead of three...

So six days into a two week trip squandered to wind, I pulled in my horns and headed the boat south, a painful moment for me. My last morning in North Coast, though, I had a magic moment. Two wolves appeared on the beach, just minutes after I’d thrown a frisbee for my dog on the same beach. They glowed like they’d just been bathed in phosphoresence. One of them walked around the edge of the bay until he was about 10 meters from my boat. He suddenly stiffened. The wind was blowing in his direction so I presumed he had caught my scent but no, it was an otter which exploded out of its hidey hole in the rocks. I remember hearing a distinctive “snap” as the wolf’s jaws closed around thin air and the otter escaped. For all the years I’d been going north, I’d only ever seen the tracks they left behind. This was the first time I’d ever laid eyes on a wolf—-a pair of wolves—what gorgeous creatures!

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On my way back across Milbanke I just knew I ‘d have to make a quick stop at Cheney Point before returning to inside waters. First time in my fishing career in that part of the world that I had Cheney absolutely to myself. Not another boat in sight. It was raining but Lord, a break in the wind and zero competition. I could tack anywhere I wanted without getting stink-eye from some guide.

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Though the tides were perfect, I couldn’t find any springs....which might have explained why there were no other boats. And then I had this happen:

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While fighting a coho another one came out of the school and stuck with the one on my line until I let it go...then they both disappeared together side by side leaving me to ponder the following: Do some salmon pair up before getting on the spawning grounds? Did I just hook someone’s lover?
 
I appreciate the offer, Fisher, but they’re a bit more labor intensive then you might be prepared for—-they have to be threaded for the machine screws to attach to the Burneweiin mounts, and they have to also be threaded to accept the Scotty fastener knobs

I broke down and bought a pair—- Once they’re attached to the SCotty’s, it becomes a very heavy piece of equipment, but this one is not breaking off my gunnel the way the last one did with the marine plywood base

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Have you seen my downrigger base build thread? All’s I would have needed was the bolt pattern for the burnewin base. Either way, glad your up and running again.
 
Always enjoy your posts and seeing your adventures Sharphooks

Have made that trip many times but never with enough time.

Thanks for sharing
 
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