2016 Haida Gwaii

GWT75

Active Member
Any early season reports from Haida Gwaii? I'm sure more than a couple fellas get a trip or two in up north in a year. Fish as abundant as recent years up there?
 
Just got back from QCL. Fishing slower than last year at the same time. Heard it was picking up though.
 
Englefield bay, fantastic fishing June 5-8th , multiple double headers, Springs to 28 lbs on our boat. Both inside and outside are producing fish, however, the shoals produced the biggest ones.
 
Headed up in a week for a 4 day trip. Spoke to the lodge manager and they told me to not limit my guests out on every species and overwork the guys in the fish pit. Chinook fishing is described as steady and with lots of action catch and release all day long in typical June fashion.
 
Fished Hippa with CQA, (my old command) last week. Fishing was epic to say the least, Friday morning two of us caught and released 36 springs. No real big fish but everyone was hot as he'll. Thursday was also epic as my fishing partner caught a Halibut that measured 85" .the commission website says 323 pounds. Couldn't believe she just layed beside the boat as I layed the tape to measure her. We had great weather,awesome fishing and it was everything I remember
 
Fished Hippa with CQA, (my old command) last week. Fishing was epic to say the least, Friday morning two of us caught and released 36 springs. No real big fish but everyone was hot as he'll. Thursday was also epic as my fishing partner caught a Halibut that measured 85" .the commission website says 323 pounds. Couldn't believe she just layed beside the boat as I layed the tape to measure her. We had great weather,awesome fishing and it was everything I remember
Nice Hali, Captain! :)
 
Heading up north this week.... let u know how it goes :)

Had to work very hard for the fish on my trip..... a good wave of fish stared to show up as a high pressure system started to build the last afternoon that we were there... hali fishing was good ... for most :)
 
Was up at Langara last weekend. Seemed to be more of a grind than recent years. A fair number of bites, but a lot of nibbles that didn't stick (even guides were getting a bit frustrated by these). Lots of changing bait. We got a fair number of fish to the boat, releasing a few small ones (10-14lbers). One thing I found was the fight of the fish definitely seemed more intense than I can remember. Definitely more fight in the fish up there than down on the south coast. Had a 19lber take a huge amount of line on one run, and had 3 more where we were having to follow him. My advice is go where sea lions are not. If you see them around, leave immediately. Early morning bite was definitely the best. Hali fishing was good.
 
Had to work very hard for the fish on my trip..... a good wave of fish stared to show up as a high pressure system started to build the last afternoon that we were there... hali fishing was good ... for most :)

Where were you fishing Derby?
 
Camano sound.... it was good before we showed up and has been fair consistent up there now...of course I'm not there o_O
 
Headed up in a week for a 4 day trip. Spoke to the lodge manager and they told me to not limit my guests out on every species and overwork the guys in the fish pit. Chinook fishing is described as steady and with lots of action catch and release all day long in typical June fashion.
FM how did you do up there for the 4 days? Good fish count?
 
I'm off to Hippa next week so will try to report back here upon return. From what I hear it's pretty steady up there but not a ton of tyees which is fine by me. I'm hoping to bring home 4 bleeders in the 10-20lb range and a few coho if they are around. Wouldn't mind releasing a 40+ as well in case any of the fish gods are reading this forum. I'll be hog hunting for at least half the time and busy releasing 20 lbers the rest of the time out at hippa island / freeman if the weather cooperates. Stoked to get up there again and enjoy some of the best fishing and scenery the world has to offer.
 
Hope you do better than I did over June 29 - July 3rd. Don't think anything came from freeman. Weather was a huge issue. Compared to Langara in early June last year Hippa was a joke - 2-3 fish a day for the top boats.
 
I was up in the Hippa area june 20th -25th. We arrived one day before the commercial opening. 20+ fish to the boat the first afternoon, nothing large 20# max. The next day 15 fish same size.....next 2 days 5 fish then 3 fish.....The huge wall of commercial fishing boats can have a huge impact on the area. I saw it time and time again when I was guiding up there. Perfect weather 5 days of water which would allow us to fish anywhere we wanted. I fished my butt off and I think it was one of the worst trips I've had to the west side.I have a pretty good idea of where they hide up there as I put a few thousand hours in fishing the area over 4 years..... It probably didn't help that we were right on a full moon. Typically the west side WAAAYYY out fishes Langara in june....I know this because I was there doing it...this is a strange year I don't know whats going on......huge record run of big springs.....I really doubt that is going to happen..........

So anyways don't be totally discouraged Ericl what you saw down there is not usual....crappy deal...
 
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Thanks Mike. My trip was the perfect storm - history data from the south moresby buoy show 5 meter seas at 10 seconds for some days of my trip. was paired-up with a total A-hole - steered us in circles but would not give-up the helm. Guide was a relief guide who had never fished the area - shame on west coast resorts on that one - dunno, maybe WCFC does the same thing. I had been advised that the commies only have a minor impact, but that advice came from a WCFC salesman.
BTW, WCR AL boats can handle a six inch chop no problem - beyond that they POUND the death outta ya.
 
Big weather is a trip killer down there. I had a good friend just come back from the outpost on what I think was the same timeline trip as yours. He knows how to fish the area and they did not land a single Chinook in 4 days.....The commercial fleet can have a huge impact on the fishing up there. Too bad about the fly in guide its always tough when you are with someone who doesn't know the area. Yes the aluminum boats do pound like crazy...Don't give up on the area sometimes its just a tough trip which is unfortunate. I am big fan of early august up there as it is usually pretty good. Any time after mid june to mid july can be inconsistent.
 
Have heard from a Haida ex commercial nfisherman and competent guide that in rare years many go down the east side of the island -- I chartered out of Charlotte years ago and when all the charter boats went west thru the narrows we went east and absolutely killed it
 
Thanks to both for the info. The BC & SE Alaska commies fish under a quota based on an "abundance index" set by the fisheries managers - this year the quota is double that of last year, so maybe it's getting fished harder. The Alaskans open July 1.
 
Thanks Mike. My trip was the perfect storm - history data from the south moresby buoy show 5 meter seas at 10 seconds for some days of my trip. was paired-up with a total A-hole - steered us in circles but would not give-up the helm. Guide was a relief guide who had never fished the area - shame on west coast resorts on that one - dunno, maybe WCFC does the same thing. I had been advised that the commies only have a minor impact, but that advice came from a WCFC salesman.
BTW, WCR AL boats can handle a six inch chop no problem - beyond that they POUND the death outta ya.
Hey Eric,
next time you want to fish Hippa give Charlotte Queen Adventures a call. There the converted Tug in Nesto, you won't be disappointed running your own boat and doing it yourself. I was captain and fish master up there for 9 seasons before retiring a couple years ago and trust me you have a great time and catch as much or more than with WCR
 
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