My son and i are heading up to the broughtons for a 5 day Father-son fishing/exploration adventure through the islands starting on the 30th. Never really fished that area much in recent times. He's turning 7 so i'm excited to get him on some fish. How is the halibut in that area? Any one with tips I'd love to hear from you and can PM me if preferred, would be appreciated. This is our fourth one, we did desolation in 2018 (when he was 3!), Clayoquot in 2019 and Nootka last year. He's pretty excited about the area, rich in history and exploration and i heard the fishing can be pretty great. We are launching out of TC.
Some observations from the last 30 years, last year, and planning my trip to start this Friday and end on the 30th
- I like to launch in Port McNeill [quieter than TC], and there's the option of storing truck and trailer in the locked compound at Shoprite
- not all services are full bore in the Broughtons right now. Fuel and moorage is in the usual places, but not necessarily ice or meals. Fuel is in Sullivan and Echo Bays and Lagoon Cove. There are few other marinas offering much beyond moorage and water [eg. Jennis Bay]. Check Pacific Yachting Blue Pages, and follow up to confirm. Kwatsi is closed, as is Shawl Bay.
- fishing is usually decent, but not as hot as west coast. Makes up for it with calmer water and tons of whale action, anchorages, etc
- halibut are where you catch them, but one spot to check is a moraine that crosses the mouth of Wells Passage at about 120-150' [we caught a 70 there]; another is the narrows near the entrance of Drury Inlet -- tricky to fish but big halibut come out of there [see 300 below]. Also Steep Island near Echo Bay.
- coho will close in most of area 12 on July 31, but in the mouth of Wells and the mouth of Fife [and other spots I'm sure], you can still catch legally into August
- there are enough sport boats around to see where most guys think there are fish [not always where I go]. In the straits around Malcolm watch the Sunds Lodge boats [ugly, white, welded alum] - they communicate a lot with each other, and move quickly to where they are finding fish
- Fish processing at Hardy Boys in Port Hardy. Also sell salt ice by the cooler, and sell styro fish boxes.
- if you decide to go up Knight, watch the daytime westerly hitting an ebb -- the inlet is calm in the morning, and 6-8' crap by noon.
- on the history, check out Billy Proctor museum in Echo Bay, and the ~300 lb sport caught halibut pictured in the dining hall at Sullivan Bay. The guy who caught it, Ross Lemon, has a float house just a few doors down - if you're lucky, he'll be chatty.
PM me if you want to discuss.
