Haida Gwaii

GWT75

Active Member
52 lber.jpg

Early season up North seems to be pretty decent. This 52lber was landed at Hippa Island on the weekend. Langara is reporting some good early season fishing as well.
 
Yup, great looking fish for sure! ... but I'll echo adanac's comment on the need to release these guys. Not a lot of big boys left and these are the ones that keep the lodges in business. If they want to stick around long term they had better take a page from what's happening in Rivers Inlet... where in a short time they have change their attitudes towards C&R and now it is very frowned upon among most operators/guides to bonk anything over 35lbs. We are all guilty of bonking big fish (myself included) but with what we now know about the state of chinook on our coast I for one won't be bonking any personal fish over 25lbs and will try to convince others I'm with to do the same. It's a pretty awesome feeling to let a big fish go. If you haven't tried it give it a go and it may surprise you as it did me and many others I know.

I'm sure all of the salmon masters contestants would have liked to see that one available for their derby this week :)
 
I agree, let them go - BUT - what if it was a bleeder? (Allegedly - maybe not) Likely survival is low, that is a tough call to make. Nice to see that people are going in a better direction now, slowly though.


One of the biggest fish I've ever caught I let go on a trip two years ago, one fish off my limit. 'How much do you really need', guy I was with on the boat thought I was crazy but it felt really good to let a healthy fish go that gave such a good fight!

Selective & sustainable harvesting, - Take the small ones, big ones go spawn and make more big ones. (Good concept in forestry too but nobody cares about the second generation of trees apparently either :( )
 
Unfortunately, the outfit in this thread continues to bonk nearly all of the larger fish they catch, which is a significant amount given the size of their operation. Makes you really appreciate the C&R mentality that many of the other lodges have.

The idea that a bleeder deserves a bonk doesn't make sense to me. Maybe if it's completely piped the hooks or is gushing blood from the gills but a little blood doesn't mean it's going to die. Ive caught lots of Chinook that have survived some major injuries judging by the scars that have healed up. Just my 2 cents.
 
Agree 100%.Killed my fair share of Tyees in my younger years.Some sort of ego thing I think,but came to my senses
several years back.Anything I think is even close to 30 lbs. goes back with a big kiss on the top of its' head.The smaller
fish are better eating IMHO anyway.Feels great to let those big slabs swim away.I suggest everyone try it at least once.
You may be surprised at the end of it!
 
It's wcr......all they do is slay slabs for the grip and grin back at the dock....if it's over 30 it will surely end up on the scale......what they do in milbanke is brutal....
 
It's easy for you guys that have bonked dozens of tyees in the past to throw them back now... What if it was your first? Sure would be hard for me....
 
It's easy for you guys that have bonked dozens of tyees in the past to throw them back now... What if it was your first? Sure would be hard for me....

Fair enough, but there is a difference between icing a 33 lb tyee ( almost cookie cutter prime season in some areas in the Gwaii ) , and killing a 45lb + unicorn. Had the pleasure of guiding my first 50+ to the boat last season , and it is just a complete different experience . Would be hard for me to kill that animal , first tyee on a slow trip or not . Also on another note , with everyone slagging certain lodges for their catch and release practices, while it is true that some have a higher release rate than others , it is very much guide by guide . Even at ththe lodges with the best c&r reps there is still a handful of guides stuck in the old way of whacking regardless of size. Just my .2 cents.
 
Many of these fish will survive the release and swim away. From my aquaculture experience I still believe that few will actually make it to the spawning grounds. It completely depends on how they were handled. The use of any gloves or knotted netting will be very detrimental to long term survival. Slime removal will lead to fungal "infections", and stress from the fight and lactic acid build up in the muscles tissue will also contribute. Although I have never seen it in a scientific paper, my understanding from talking to a couple of biologists is that necropsies on sport caught fish have seen that Chinook are so powerful that they can break their own bones during the fight.

I worked with Chinook in fish farms many years ago and they were "finicky" to say the least. Any handling would lead to a % of die off. The only time we noticed a reduction of that % was once the fish began to show their spawning colours their resiliency was much greater.
 
That's a good point Ryan but I would argue that with today's technology with cell phones and cameras and taxidermy you can have the best of both worlds. Have a hog of tyee on the line? Call over another boat on the radio/cell if there is one nearby (which is lodges is almost always the case) or even get the 'camera' boat to come out (which is often an option at lodges since you're generally fighting tyee's for some time).

Bring the fish in as quickly as you can without forcing the issue to the point of losing the fish and then ideally use just your hands to support the fish out of the water and get a few pics if need be. May need the help of a buddy or two if the fish is really big. If too big to handle, use a catch and release net and bring the fish into the boat as carefully as possible. Remove the hooks and get a quick measurement of the lenght (tip of nose to fork of tail) and the girth at the widest point. That is all you need to accurately weigh a fish without putting it on the scale. The lodge will have the formula to do the math.

Have you couple pics with the fish and gentle lower it back into the water and revive is necessary but getting some water running thru the gills. After a minute or so the fish will be ready to go and will most often swim right out of your hands without any push needed.

Handled carefully, released salmon have a VERY high survival rate (upwards of 95% +). That said, guides and fishermen need to use best practices in fighting/handling fish in order for survival to be this high. Several of the lodges and DFO did a study a few year back showing this high rate of survival and as mentioned above we've all caught fish with pretty nasty scars which indicate they were able to survive serious blood loss.

At the end of the day if you do all of the above, you have:

1) A wicked story and the pics to prove it
2) An incredible sense of pride/stewardship/whatever you want to call it that can only be experienced by releasing one of these beauty monster chinook.
3) With measurements and pics a taxidermist can replicate your fish to a tee for you to hang in your office/den until the wife tells you to get rid of it altogether.

Hope that helps convince a few others to partake in C&R practices that truly are needed if we want to ensure these BIG fish remain part of our fishery in BC.


It's easy for you guys that have bonked dozens of tyees in the past to throw them back now... What if it was your first? Sure would be hard for me....
 
are the commercial fisherman and natives going to let the big ones go??not likelly,that is the isue i have,,if you want the fishery to grow,,get rid of the nets in the waters and the rivers,,i do agre with fish managements,,
 
Hahahah Rook...that's the exact wrong attitude to take on this issue, but you're obviously just looking for a reaction...

Keep the big genes in the water and take home those perfect 10-20 pound fish for the table. The more larger fish we release the more will spawn...treat them well and send them home!

Ryan - your point has validity, but the education and knowledge is key, many large fish were killed in years past and now we have seen the result... it will only continue to get worse without changing our methods. Enjoy the true sport of catching a real monster, but let it swim home to create a few more big ones for the next generation.
 
Hahahah Rook...that's the exact wrong attitude to take on this issue, but you're obviously just looking for a reaction...

Keep the big genes in the water and take home those perfect 10-20 pound fish for the table. The more larger fish we release the more will spawn...treat them well and send them home!

Ryan - your point has validity, but the education and knowledge is key, many large fish were killed in years past and now we have seen the result... it will only continue to get worse without changing our methods. Enjoy the true sport of catching a real monster, but let it swim home to create a few more big ones for the next generation.

I gotta do this..I'd love to know the weight of the slab in your member photo Stoisy. I assume that you didn't think it was OK to release after the hand in the gills photo. Not trying to be too cheeky, but it does look just a wee bit larger than 10 - 20 lbs. You may want to consider changing that if you're going to stay on this tack...

CP
 
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Funny guys in this thread are anti kill on the big fish but as soon as DFO puts a slot on the area you fish I bet your opinion will change.

A coast wide slot would do wonders for the big fish.
 
Sure would provided the commies and FN were slotted as well.
Dont believe that will ever happen.

Funny guys in this thread are anti kill on the big fish but as soon as DFO puts a slot on the area you fish I bet your opinion will change.

A coast wide slot would do wonders for the big fish.
 
We always point the finger at the other guys (FN and commies) and say they don't have the same
rules. This isn't about pointing the finger or taking personal shots it's about changing our mentality and doing our part to keep these big ones around for years to come.

All of these large Chinook are fair game to harvest and parade around the dock, so do as you please guilt free..... But don't knock the people and operations that are trying to do their part and change the mentality around killing trophy salmon.

If everyone continues to kill large salmon then we can expect much of the same trend, less and less of them. Sportsfishing does have a major impact on these fish specifically as we basically camp out on their known migration routes.
 
Well said hambone, it is silly to justify killing large fish just because one user group does and probably wont stop. Every trophy Chinook retained is guaranteed 100% mortality rate.....no the case with releasing them...
 
hambone and mikep sure nail it as far as I'm concerned and this is an important discussion but would like to see a couple of fishing reports thrown in here. I'm headed to Haida Gwai at the end of the month and any news would be appreciated.

[Still remember the first fish I released over 10 years ago and the last one, last week a wild spring about 15lbs. It's great feeling.]
 
Well, I'm following Westcoast resorts on twitter and apparently there was a 41lb at Englefield this morning and a 32lb at Hippa this morn on day 1 of their salmon masters tourney. I've chatted with some of the guides at those lodges and overall the fish size has been pretty small (15-18lb avg) compared to how it gets later in the Summer. A few scratchy days but obviously some nice fish around on the west side of Haida Gwaii. Haven't received any new reports on the north end (langara, QCL, Masset area).
 
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