T
traParatus
Guest
My first post and I must say this is a great forum. Big thanks to all guides, fishing gurus and newbies,just like myself, for sharing.
I mostly fish fraser valley streams in fall and interior lakes in summer. I'm a self proclaimed guru of the Chehalis River and if anybody is ever desperate to catch a fall coho in a local stream, give me a ping. Last year I made a huge mistake of renting a boat on Hornby and jigging up some rockfish. Well, there I was, two months and one very pissed off GF later, booking a trip to Port Hardy(GF split right before the trip. Coincidense, hmmm...?). Special thank you to Mr Dean, Serengeti, Wolf, and Concerned Angler(Cuba Libre).
This is a very late report for my trip to Port Hardy, Duval Point lodge July 16-20 2007. It's mostly for newbies who've never really fished salt chuck or have never been to Port Hardy. I'm going again this year August 4-9. There is a couples of questions at the end, please don't ignore them.
Duval Point Lodge:
Amazing place. Both the owner(Rick, if I remember correctly)and the dock boys are as helpful as it gets. In the middle of a fishing day you can come in, get a tank full of gas, couple packs of chovies, some tackle and be back on the water in 10 minutes. Those dock boys work their a** of to keep you happy and fishing. However, keep this in mind. This is not one of the lodges where they will feed you, bathe you, and tuck you in at night. You cook your own meals, fillet your fish (they did for us a couple of times when we were really tired or wanted to get back on the water), and drive your boat to wherever the hell you want. Their boats are about 17 ft, pretty deep hull, brand new 30hp Yamahas, and sounders. On flat water with two people on board you'll make some 15 knots. Choppy water... well, that depends on how much tenderizing your a** can take. Unless NW is blowing at 20 knots(which it does pretty much every afternoon) you can safely make it to Gordons, Deserters, Christie, even Ghost Is. If you get stuck there until 2-3pm, well... let's just say you won't need a shower when you get back. I like exploring and learning things on my own and this is exactly what they provide. One of the days we left at 4am and where in Christie Pass at about 3pm when we saw Rick pull up in his boat. He hasn't seen us all day and was worried that something might have happened, so he went out looking for us. Great gesture and great care for his clients.
Fog:
Before I left I read a whole bunch of reports for Port Hardy and almost every single one mentioned fog. Let me tell you they were not kidding. When I woke up at 4am on our second day there and opened the door I couldn't see the dock. It was about 15 yards away. You know how they say that fog disappears in the afternoon? Well, that was complete bull. That fog was there for three days straight with occasional sunny breaks. We would hook a fish on the north side of Gordons and by the time it was in the boat, there was no shore to be seen. My point is, get a GPS. If you think you won't need it, then have a couple of cold ones and get a GPS. If your GF says she wants to get a new floor rug/flowers busket /salsa dancing lessons, brace yourself for impact and get a GPS. Your GF might leave you but at least you won't be free floating to Japan. There are indeed cruise ships/commercial fishing boats that frequent both Goletas and Gordon channels. Unless you got radar you won't see or hear them coming. You can get a schedule for cruise ships in Port Hardy. Try to not hang around in the middle of channels. If a large ship is about to hit you, stand on the bow, stretch out your hands, and push it back. It won't do anything but at least you'll go out on a high note
Fishing:
Coho:
We had four days of continuous coho. I tried everything I could not to catch them. Duval point, back side of Gordons, Castle Point. A note to people new to the area. If you want to and are happy to catch coho, there is absolutely no need to stay amongst 100s of boats. At Duval troll west towards Frankham Pt. At Gordons troll north side of Heard is. At Castle Pt we couldn't catch anything else. Pretty much in any of those areas you can catch all the coho in the world and not see a single other boat for the whole day. If in doubt, just move a little north-west. The biggest coho we got (12# and 14# which was not bad for mid July) was west of Duval, no downrigger, no weight, green flasher, chovy in green teaser, 4ft leader ripped on the surface at 3.5 knots. Those flashers were pretty much hydroplaning above water and bait was jumping as much as a foot in the air. Not that we intended to fish that setup, just too lazy to change. This would be haven for a fly chucker. Amazing fights, surface strikes, double headers, non-stop action.
Chinook:
Slow, slow, slow. We were really new to the area, so we were happy just catching 20-25 fish a day whatever they were. However, springs were real slow that week. We got a couple of Gordons by Doyle Is, a couple of Duval Pt. Nothing big to speak of. A note to Duval Point Lodge visitors. They tie their leaders at about 3-4 feet. This will catch you a bucket load of coho, but few springs. Bring your own or retie there. Another note. We lost two big springs, one right beside the lodge, one at Heard Is. My advice is, if you are tying your own leaders add a stinger hook. I know that a lot of guides don't have a problem landing fish on a single treble, but if you are new to this add an extra hook. It costs almost nothing and it will land you more fish. We pulled up a lot of bait that had its tail chewed up (not chopped off like dog fish).
Halibut:
Tried it for 1hour in Christie Ps(see questions). Nothing. A mapping GPS would have really helped(got one for this year). Herring on a spreader bar. Some little sh*t kept eating our herring. 220 feet drifting downhill. Just too much stuff to learn in one week.
Pnks:
Whatever. There was a bunch of them around. We let them go. Duncan Is, south side of Gordons. Hali bait....?
Rockfish/Cod:
Whatever. Never really targeted them. Drop your bait on the bottom and you've got a rock fish. Leave the rockfish there for a while and you've got a ling cod. We had a ~20# ling chewing on a rock fish just west of Duval. If you are real desperate try of the back side of Heard/Crane island 50-200 feet of water. Never found any yelloweye. We'll try this year.
Final note:
Be safe. If you see dark lines on the horizon to the north-west and you are in 17-18ft boat, it's time to head back. Get a GPS. Enjoy. If you don't like fishing amongst other boats, move. Keep a few hootchies in your box. White/Green. The biggest fish that week came in on hootchies. We tried them and they sucked. If you've got a GF or a wife bring her a post card from Port Hardy or better yet a picture of some super romantic dolfins(lots of those around). She won't be nearly as impressed with your huge coho as you were If a local guy starts bitching about how you cut him off, catch a 30# spring and throw it at him. You've got more than you need anyway.
Questions:
We are going this year Aug 4-9
Is there any point fishing west of Duval in Goletas? Just before the RCA or just after in a certain rv mth...
Masterman and around for chinook, halibut? Yes,no, strategies.
If somebody ever tells me what the hell 'halibut on the back of the Deserters' means, I'll buy him a cookie. Umhhh, cookie...... Mr Dean, if you point me to were halibut are I'll leave you a 12-pack right at the bottom of the hump on the back side of the Deserters... or at the marina. Whatever works.
Serengeti, I've noticed that people sometimes b***ch at you because you get all the big ones when everybody else gets diddly. I say, good job and keep it up. If anybody ever asked me about a charter out of Hardy, you would be the first. I've picked up a couple of tips that you bury in your reports and I'll test them this year. If you would share some destinations that would take me away from the crowds and into a couple of springs, I would greatly appreciate that. If not, kudos to you. I know that I would readily share strategies with a guy next to me 20km into a canyon, but not with a guy flopping his fins in a parking lot.
Again, big, big thank you to all fisherman that share info about Port Hardy. There are a lot of people like myself who can only get out once a year that would be lost without your help.
I mostly fish fraser valley streams in fall and interior lakes in summer. I'm a self proclaimed guru of the Chehalis River and if anybody is ever desperate to catch a fall coho in a local stream, give me a ping. Last year I made a huge mistake of renting a boat on Hornby and jigging up some rockfish. Well, there I was, two months and one very pissed off GF later, booking a trip to Port Hardy(GF split right before the trip. Coincidense, hmmm...?). Special thank you to Mr Dean, Serengeti, Wolf, and Concerned Angler(Cuba Libre).
This is a very late report for my trip to Port Hardy, Duval Point lodge July 16-20 2007. It's mostly for newbies who've never really fished salt chuck or have never been to Port Hardy. I'm going again this year August 4-9. There is a couples of questions at the end, please don't ignore them.
Duval Point Lodge:
Amazing place. Both the owner(Rick, if I remember correctly)and the dock boys are as helpful as it gets. In the middle of a fishing day you can come in, get a tank full of gas, couple packs of chovies, some tackle and be back on the water in 10 minutes. Those dock boys work their a** of to keep you happy and fishing. However, keep this in mind. This is not one of the lodges where they will feed you, bathe you, and tuck you in at night. You cook your own meals, fillet your fish (they did for us a couple of times when we were really tired or wanted to get back on the water), and drive your boat to wherever the hell you want. Their boats are about 17 ft, pretty deep hull, brand new 30hp Yamahas, and sounders. On flat water with two people on board you'll make some 15 knots. Choppy water... well, that depends on how much tenderizing your a** can take. Unless NW is blowing at 20 knots(which it does pretty much every afternoon) you can safely make it to Gordons, Deserters, Christie, even Ghost Is. If you get stuck there until 2-3pm, well... let's just say you won't need a shower when you get back. I like exploring and learning things on my own and this is exactly what they provide. One of the days we left at 4am and where in Christie Pass at about 3pm when we saw Rick pull up in his boat. He hasn't seen us all day and was worried that something might have happened, so he went out looking for us. Great gesture and great care for his clients.
Fog:
Before I left I read a whole bunch of reports for Port Hardy and almost every single one mentioned fog. Let me tell you they were not kidding. When I woke up at 4am on our second day there and opened the door I couldn't see the dock. It was about 15 yards away. You know how they say that fog disappears in the afternoon? Well, that was complete bull. That fog was there for three days straight with occasional sunny breaks. We would hook a fish on the north side of Gordons and by the time it was in the boat, there was no shore to be seen. My point is, get a GPS. If you think you won't need it, then have a couple of cold ones and get a GPS. If your GF says she wants to get a new floor rug/flowers busket /salsa dancing lessons, brace yourself for impact and get a GPS. Your GF might leave you but at least you won't be free floating to Japan. There are indeed cruise ships/commercial fishing boats that frequent both Goletas and Gordon channels. Unless you got radar you won't see or hear them coming. You can get a schedule for cruise ships in Port Hardy. Try to not hang around in the middle of channels. If a large ship is about to hit you, stand on the bow, stretch out your hands, and push it back. It won't do anything but at least you'll go out on a high note
Fishing:
Coho:
We had four days of continuous coho. I tried everything I could not to catch them. Duval point, back side of Gordons, Castle Point. A note to people new to the area. If you want to and are happy to catch coho, there is absolutely no need to stay amongst 100s of boats. At Duval troll west towards Frankham Pt. At Gordons troll north side of Heard is. At Castle Pt we couldn't catch anything else. Pretty much in any of those areas you can catch all the coho in the world and not see a single other boat for the whole day. If in doubt, just move a little north-west. The biggest coho we got (12# and 14# which was not bad for mid July) was west of Duval, no downrigger, no weight, green flasher, chovy in green teaser, 4ft leader ripped on the surface at 3.5 knots. Those flashers were pretty much hydroplaning above water and bait was jumping as much as a foot in the air. Not that we intended to fish that setup, just too lazy to change. This would be haven for a fly chucker. Amazing fights, surface strikes, double headers, non-stop action.
Chinook:
Slow, slow, slow. We were really new to the area, so we were happy just catching 20-25 fish a day whatever they were. However, springs were real slow that week. We got a couple of Gordons by Doyle Is, a couple of Duval Pt. Nothing big to speak of. A note to Duval Point Lodge visitors. They tie their leaders at about 3-4 feet. This will catch you a bucket load of coho, but few springs. Bring your own or retie there. Another note. We lost two big springs, one right beside the lodge, one at Heard Is. My advice is, if you are tying your own leaders add a stinger hook. I know that a lot of guides don't have a problem landing fish on a single treble, but if you are new to this add an extra hook. It costs almost nothing and it will land you more fish. We pulled up a lot of bait that had its tail chewed up (not chopped off like dog fish).
Halibut:
Tried it for 1hour in Christie Ps(see questions). Nothing. A mapping GPS would have really helped(got one for this year). Herring on a spreader bar. Some little sh*t kept eating our herring. 220 feet drifting downhill. Just too much stuff to learn in one week.
Pnks:
Whatever. There was a bunch of them around. We let them go. Duncan Is, south side of Gordons. Hali bait....?
Rockfish/Cod:
Whatever. Never really targeted them. Drop your bait on the bottom and you've got a rock fish. Leave the rockfish there for a while and you've got a ling cod. We had a ~20# ling chewing on a rock fish just west of Duval. If you are real desperate try of the back side of Heard/Crane island 50-200 feet of water. Never found any yelloweye. We'll try this year.
Final note:
Be safe. If you see dark lines on the horizon to the north-west and you are in 17-18ft boat, it's time to head back. Get a GPS. Enjoy. If you don't like fishing amongst other boats, move. Keep a few hootchies in your box. White/Green. The biggest fish that week came in on hootchies. We tried them and they sucked. If you've got a GF or a wife bring her a post card from Port Hardy or better yet a picture of some super romantic dolfins(lots of those around). She won't be nearly as impressed with your huge coho as you were
If a local guy starts bitching about how you cut him off, catch a 30# spring and throw it at him. You've got more than you need anyway. Questions:
We are going this year Aug 4-9
Is there any point fishing west of Duval in Goletas? Just before the RCA or just after in a certain rv mth...
Masterman and around for chinook, halibut? Yes,no, strategies.
If somebody ever tells me what the hell 'halibut on the back of the Deserters' means, I'll buy him a cookie. Umhhh, cookie...... Mr Dean, if you point me to were halibut are I'll leave you a 12-pack right at the bottom of the hump on the back side of the Deserters... or at the marina. Whatever works.
Serengeti, I've noticed that people sometimes b***ch at you because you get all the big ones when everybody else gets diddly. I say, good job and keep it up. If anybody ever asked me about a charter out of Hardy, you would be the first. I've picked up a couple of tips that you bury in your reports and I'll test them this year. If you would share some destinations that would take me away from the crowds and into a couple of springs, I would greatly appreciate that. If not, kudos to you. I know that I would readily share strategies with a guy next to me 20km into a canyon, but not with a guy flopping his fins in a parking lot.
Again, big, big thank you to all fisherman that share info about Port Hardy. There are a lot of people like myself who can only get out once a year that would be lost without your help.
