rivers inlet.
- Thread starter bigdogeh
- Start date
scar tissue
Active Member
dawsons landing has a few cabins they rent and I believe black gold lodge u can take your own boat to
saanauk
Well-Known Member
Dawson's normally has dock space you can tie up at. I have gone up the last four years and "camped" on my boat. Depending on boat and your setup it is pretty easy. Lots of places to anchor up to spend the night. You can also stay at Duncabys too. It is truly an unreal place. Tons of places to fish also. Normally we have ran north a few hours to fish a couple days and then spend a couple days throughout the inlet.
bigdogeh
Well-Known Member
thxs for the reply saanauk,
what size boat do you bring up? has the crossing usually been pretty good? I imagine an early morning crossing with a decent weather window is needed. does the wind usually run north to south? how far north do you usually run and what time of year do you usually make the trip? where do you park your vehicle in port hardy?
sorry for all the questions but nice getting some firsthand info...
bigdogeh.
what size boat do you bring up? has the crossing usually been pretty good? I imagine an early morning crossing with a decent weather window is needed. does the wind usually run north to south? how far north do you usually run and what time of year do you usually make the trip? where do you park your vehicle in port hardy?
sorry for all the questions but nice getting some firsthand info...
bigdogeh.
Charlie415
Crew Member
Haven't been to Rivers in years but.... we used to do 7-10 days in 18 footers. We mostly anchored up in Kilbella Bay and various other anchorages in the area. Fished salmon for 3 or 4 days then out to the mouth for hali's. Side trip to Hakai. Too much to see in one trip. Been there three times but not recently. Thinking of another trip in the next couple of years....wife wants to go. Duncanby is probably a good base camp if you want to hang around the mouth area. Dawson's is ok but kind of in the middle. We either concentrated on the head or the mouth, not much in the middle. Either way every one should try to make it at least once. The anticipation of hooking into a monster is on every ones mind the minute the cut plug hits the water.
Charlie415
Crew Member
First crossing was 15' swells with a chop on top. White knuckle for the first 20 minutes until we got the feel for it. Full throttle up and no throttle down. Took us about three hours that trip from Hardy to Duncanby. The other crossings were uneventful and took about two and a half hours. Even if your boat can go fifty the seas will dictate your speed. Doesn't take long to find your rhythm. First time making the crossing in the fog was a little scary. Luckily we still had a reasonable distance of visibility. First year in the fog we had no gps. Second year we all bought the first hand held gps's when they came out. LOL Now that was a while ago. Good times that will never be forgotten. With the electronics available today it makes it much easier. I remember entering my routes from co-ordinates from my paper charts. Way easier now plotting on the pc and transferring to the chart plotter. We always went first week in August.
Charlie415
Crew Member
Third week might be a little late....but it all depends on the weather. When fishing the head the fish gather around the river mouths and will head up when there is enough water. The first big rain in august usually gets things happening. It can be early or it can be late, you never know. The Coho should be thick around that time of year. Might even be springs hanging around but if you are looking for trophy fish then the first two weeks of August is prime time at the head. Probably the last two weeks of July and the first week of August are prime time at the mouth. Hakai is probably earlier still. This doesn't mean there won't be fish, just that the odds of big fish being around are greater.
