ILHG
Crew Member
When I booked it I was not 100% certin on what my length was going to be so I paid for an extra couple feet then what I needed. Better safe than sorry. Attached is a copy of my invoice with the breakdown
2018 Haida Gwaii Reports
- Thread starter SFBC
- Start date
When I booked it I was not 100% certin on what my length was going to be so I paid for an extra couple feet then what I needed. Better safe than sorry. Attached is a copy of my invoice with the breakdown
Brent Doornenbal
Member
Thanks for this, mine is about the same length and have really been debating crossing to take advantage of the excellent fishing !
Prairie Locked
Well-Known Member
scott craven
Well-Known Member
Heading to North Island lodge in 2 weeks
Any current reports ?
Any current reports ?
Just got back from Rennall Sound here a few days ago. Not much for luck. The salmon were slow and small. The biggest we caught was 16lbs with most hanging around the 8-10lb range. The size was disappointing to say the least, this was my first trip to the coast where no Chinooks were caught north of 20 lbs.
I took an attempt at doing some prawning, not much for luck. Anyone have any experience hunting down the little guys? I did some research beforehand but never really came to a definitive answer as to what type of bottom and depth they sit at?
I took an attempt at doing some prawning, not much for luck. Anyone have any experience hunting down the little guys? I did some research beforehand but never really came to a definitive answer as to what type of bottom and depth they sit at?
Trophy79
Active Member
So Many questions for you guys....
I’m heading up with my own boat.
28’ Boston Whaler.
First time ever headed to Haida Gwaii.
I leave Port Hardy July 27 and head across to Duncanby for 2 nights, then headed up to Hartley Bay for a night before making the crossing to Sandspit.
Won’t cross if the weather doesn’t cooperate. I’ll just fish the coast, Hartley Bay to Klemtu the. back to Rivers Inlet.
If I am successful in making the crossing, I will be In Sandspit for 4 nights leaving on Aug 3 to do the return run back across.
Planning on fishing the Westside.
A good buddy of mine has been guiding for a few different lodges for the past few years, so he’s given me a bit of knowledge of the area.
A little concerned taking Skidegate channel. For the first, my understanding is I’m stuck on the West side till the next flood.
Would really like to do an overnighter or 2 nights further south on Haida Gwaii but I can’t find anything on fishing around Kunghit or the South end of Moresby Island...looks like a great option for being able to fish either side of the island depending on weather.
So I’d appreciate any form of information from anyone having done this trip before or input on the channel or fishing a little bit off the beaten path of Haida Gwaii.
Cheers and thanks ahead of time.
PS I know this isn’t a report, but didn’t know where else I could any info, and I promise to post reports when I get there
I’m heading up with my own boat.
28’ Boston Whaler.
First time ever headed to Haida Gwaii.
I leave Port Hardy July 27 and head across to Duncanby for 2 nights, then headed up to Hartley Bay for a night before making the crossing to Sandspit.
Won’t cross if the weather doesn’t cooperate. I’ll just fish the coast, Hartley Bay to Klemtu the. back to Rivers Inlet.
If I am successful in making the crossing, I will be In Sandspit for 4 nights leaving on Aug 3 to do the return run back across.
Planning on fishing the Westside.
A good buddy of mine has been guiding for a few different lodges for the past few years, so he’s given me a bit of knowledge of the area.
A little concerned taking Skidegate channel. For the first, my understanding is I’m stuck on the West side till the next flood.
Would really like to do an overnighter or 2 nights further south on Haida Gwaii but I can’t find anything on fishing around Kunghit or the South end of Moresby Island...looks like a great option for being able to fish either side of the island depending on weather.
So I’d appreciate any form of information from anyone having done this trip before or input on the channel or fishing a little bit off the beaten path of Haida Gwaii.
Cheers and thanks ahead of time.
PS I know this isn’t a report, but didn’t know where else I could any info, and I promise to post reports when I get there
scott craven
Well-Known Member
I was there when West coast resorts had a lodge in the inlet.
great spot, we caught some fish but that was over 10 years ago.
So Many questions for you guys....
I’m heading up with my own boat.
28’ Boston Whaler.
First time ever headed to Haida Gwaii.
I leave Port Hardy July 27 and head across to Duncanby for 2 nights, then headed up to Hartley Bay for a night before making the crossing to Sandspit.
Won’t cross if the weather doesn’t cooperate. I’ll just fish the coast, Hartley Bay to Klemtu the. back to Rivers Inlet.
If I am successful in making the crossing, I will be In Sandspit for 4 nights leaving on Aug 3 to do the return run back across.
Planning on fishing the Westside.
A good buddy of mine has been guiding for a few different lodges for the past few years, so he’s given me a bit of knowledge of the area.
A little concerned taking Skidegate channel. For the first, my understanding is I’m stuck on the West side till the next flood.
Would really like to do an overnighter or 2 nights further south on Haida Gwaii but I can’t find anything on fishing around Kunghit or the South end of Moresby Island...looks like a great option for being able to fish either side of the island depending on weather.
So I’d appreciate any form of information from anyone having done this trip before or input on the channel or fishing a little bit off the beaten path of Haida Gwaii.
Cheers and thanks ahead of time.
PS I know this isn’t a report, but didn’t know where else I could any info, and I promise to post reports when I get there
Sounds like an awesome trip. I will prob do a trip like that in the next 10 years or so. I do fly in guiding to most of the major lodges in Haida and central coast.
The fishing has picked up quite a bit. It was a bit slow at the start but there are lots of fish to be had. There on the small side this year but if you get to the west side most guys are getting around 30 Chinook to the boat. The only thing once your over there is fuel. Running south to Tasu is a haul from skidigate channel. If I were you I would not go further than Englefield Bay. It’s a beautiful area and lots of every kind of fish. If it’s rough the fishing inside can be great as well. Although it’s been a bit slow inside so far this year. But that could change quickly.
I did a personal trip last year to englefield and had a chance to fish skidigate point. It was slow when we were there with only a lost fish and a coho for a couple of hours. Also there a lot of the guide boats from skidigate fishing the same tack. We moved around the corner south to Buck Point and as soon as we got there it was non stop action and picked up all our lings on the troll there as well. You can fish the north or south side. And some of the Haida guys were saying Halibut fishing is awesome right off the point in 150-250 ft of water. We didn’t try that day.
Anyways it’s an awesome place to see. It’s my favourite place to fish as far as scenery and fishing!
We’re heading to Winter Harbour next week with two boats. We will prob do central coast next year. And in a few years cross to Haida Gwaii.
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Trophy79
Active Member
Thanks for the info Mooched.
Took a quick glance at my charts and found the areas you mentioned. Excited to try for Halibut, I’ll keep that point in mind.
Winter Harbor is fun, been 5 years since I last went; just don’t like fishing 200+ feet
but none the less good times, you will have a blast.
scott craven
Well-Known Member
Is it back to 2- Chinook /4 possession
today ?
today ?
stones93
Well-Known Member
I think tomorrow is the first day back to 2//4 for nookies.
Both Langara and Westcoast resorts are reporting that Langara island has been on fire the last 3-4 days!
tburns
New Member
Just got back from North Island Lodge. What a trip - best fishing I've seen in years. This one was particularly special as usually I go with my Dad and Brother, but this year my Mother joined us as well, and she couldn't have chosen a better year for it.
In terms of conditions we had flat seas pretty much the whole trip, save some light swells on Sunday. Sea lions were around for sure so you had to choose your spots, but not as bad as I've seen in years past.
We were self-guided and fishing 2x downriggers and a banana weight for the 3rd rod FYI.
Friday:
Arrived a bit delayed due to some helicopter troubles (I was a bit peeved because I wanted to get on the water and last years fishing was a slog) but got on the water around 2pm. We jetted up to Coho point in ~200-300 ft of water, setting a tack towards Andrews and within about 5 minutes of putting the cut plugs in the water we were on to fish. We had pretty much non-stop action for the rest of the day fishing between there Langara rock. Lots of coho (smallish - 8-10 lb'ers) and low teen springs with an 18 mixed in there (my mom's second ever fish!).
Saturday:
Left the dock around 6:15 so lines in the water around 6:30. Same area. Same story - lots of fish and we weren't too picky retaining coho so we wouldn't have to worry about limits. The biggest coho we got was a 11 lb'er which, while not huge, was a good fight. Circled back down to Gunia / Boulder around 11 am to fish the ebb to try for some bigger fish but after about 1.5 hours of no fish and a sea lion trailing our boat we decided to pick up and head back to the north west side of the island. We got into a bunch more fish around langara rock and ended up with an 18lb spring. We were releasing mid teen springs left and right since we were being picky due to the limited retention. At langara we happened upon a rock fish boil - just watching them do flips on the surface of the water. Fished that for about an hour each getting our limit of some good size rockies. Didn't even bother attaching the cut plugs to the riggers - just let them roll on the surface of the water and watch the rock fish hit them. Hilarious to watch them go for the banana weight on the 3rd rod and jumping for the beads on the not-clipped downrigger rods. Lets say about 40 salmon on the day, about 20 rockfish. Also got a 12 lb lingcod. My mom on the other boat got a 23 lb spring - the biggest between us for the trip.
Sunday:
Left the dock around 6:15 and had the privilege of being guided by the lodge head. We had a knot tying contest the previous year with a half day's guiding on the line - we tied and he was gracious enough to still take us out. Tried gunia in the morning again with little luck due to that pesky sea lion again, and decided to go fish the lighthouse instead. Pretty much non-stop action from 7:30 until 10:15 when we decided to head back towards the pass for some bigger fish. I hadn't fished the pass much just due to the difficulty turning away from the numbers up the east and north side of the island but was eager to learn from a pro. We circled some spots in the pass but figured we were a bit late for the bite. Saw a guide i knew from Langara who had success with a just sub 30 lb'er that he got about 15 minutes before we got there. Fished there until 1 pm or so picking up a tiny spring but nothing else. After lunch ripped back up to the north side to get our confidence back up and it was on fire again. Ended up with a 22 lb spring, releasing some high teeners. I'd estimate we had ~45 fish to the boat in total that day, even with spending a bunch of hours without productivity in the pass. One of the experienced guides had some guests counting fish: he ended up landing 67.
Monday:
Nothing much to report. Tried fishing some new spots for future reference since we were long since limited out and just got into some small lings. Didn't mind at all though - I had been spoiled for the last 3 days and was tired.
Overall the fishing was certainly something to remember. Definitely a cool experience sharing a passion with my mom and am eager to go again.
Tight lines
In terms of conditions we had flat seas pretty much the whole trip, save some light swells on Sunday. Sea lions were around for sure so you had to choose your spots, but not as bad as I've seen in years past.
We were self-guided and fishing 2x downriggers and a banana weight for the 3rd rod FYI.
Friday:
Arrived a bit delayed due to some helicopter troubles (I was a bit peeved because I wanted to get on the water and last years fishing was a slog) but got on the water around 2pm. We jetted up to Coho point in ~200-300 ft of water, setting a tack towards Andrews and within about 5 minutes of putting the cut plugs in the water we were on to fish. We had pretty much non-stop action for the rest of the day fishing between there Langara rock. Lots of coho (smallish - 8-10 lb'ers) and low teen springs with an 18 mixed in there (my mom's second ever fish!).
Saturday:
Left the dock around 6:15 so lines in the water around 6:30. Same area. Same story - lots of fish and we weren't too picky retaining coho so we wouldn't have to worry about limits. The biggest coho we got was a 11 lb'er which, while not huge, was a good fight. Circled back down to Gunia / Boulder around 11 am to fish the ebb to try for some bigger fish but after about 1.5 hours of no fish and a sea lion trailing our boat we decided to pick up and head back to the north west side of the island. We got into a bunch more fish around langara rock and ended up with an 18lb spring. We were releasing mid teen springs left and right since we were being picky due to the limited retention. At langara we happened upon a rock fish boil - just watching them do flips on the surface of the water. Fished that for about an hour each getting our limit of some good size rockies. Didn't even bother attaching the cut plugs to the riggers - just let them roll on the surface of the water and watch the rock fish hit them. Hilarious to watch them go for the banana weight on the 3rd rod and jumping for the beads on the not-clipped downrigger rods. Lets say about 40 salmon on the day, about 20 rockfish. Also got a 12 lb lingcod. My mom on the other boat got a 23 lb spring - the biggest between us for the trip.
Sunday:
Left the dock around 6:15 and had the privilege of being guided by the lodge head. We had a knot tying contest the previous year with a half day's guiding on the line - we tied and he was gracious enough to still take us out. Tried gunia in the morning again with little luck due to that pesky sea lion again, and decided to go fish the lighthouse instead. Pretty much non-stop action from 7:30 until 10:15 when we decided to head back towards the pass for some bigger fish. I hadn't fished the pass much just due to the difficulty turning away from the numbers up the east and north side of the island but was eager to learn from a pro. We circled some spots in the pass but figured we were a bit late for the bite. Saw a guide i knew from Langara who had success with a just sub 30 lb'er that he got about 15 minutes before we got there. Fished there until 1 pm or so picking up a tiny spring but nothing else. After lunch ripped back up to the north side to get our confidence back up and it was on fire again. Ended up with a 22 lb spring, releasing some high teeners. I'd estimate we had ~45 fish to the boat in total that day, even with spending a bunch of hours without productivity in the pass. One of the experienced guides had some guests counting fish: he ended up landing 67.
Monday:
Nothing much to report. Tried fishing some new spots for future reference since we were long since limited out and just got into some small lings. Didn't mind at all though - I had been spoiled for the last 3 days and was tired.
Overall the fishing was certainly something to remember. Definitely a cool experience sharing a passion with my mom and am eager to go again.
Tight lines
donnie d
Well-Known Member
ILHG
Crew Member
Hey guys just got off the ferry at Prince Ruppert and was ableto get a phone charger. I only had a cellphone chatger for the first day and was ith it the rest of the trip. To be honest i didnt mind.
Holy crap do i have torys fro everyone! Fished hard for 2 weeks and had tge best trip of my life. My hands are so cut up Calais that i cant even close them. I have a 20hr drive and will send the updates as soon as i get home. Attached are a couple pucs of my little guy with his first west catches. Both kids did so well.
Holy crap do i have torys fro everyone! Fished hard for 2 weeks and had tge best trip of my life. My hands are so cut up Calais that i cant even close them. I have a 20hr drive and will send the updates as soon as i get home. Attached are a couple pucs of my little guy with his first west catches. Both kids did so well.
donnie d
Well-Known Member
Looking fwd to this report! safe drive man!
ILHG
Crew Member
Sorry again for the delay in my report. Finally have a few minutes to send part of it out. It was an amazing trip that has me depressed and wanting to go back. I can’t believe how fast it went.. it’s somewhat of a blur. The weather was great with only 2 days wind keeping me off the water. The wind those days had every boat tied up.
Day 1: we woke up to no wind and cloud cover. The ocean was like glass. Being as it was my first day out with the new boat i wanted to do a simple day like drift for halibut. I got everyone into the boat and we were off. I picked a spot with about 100' of water with flat sandy bottom. Rigged 2 rods up with LED squid and lowered them down. Within 5 min we had the first fish on. When it came to the boat it was a 6# Hali at best. My son caught it and it was his first halibut so we kept it for supper. Within an hour we caught 4 more the same size so i decided it was time to move. The ocean was so calm i decided to head out about 12km off shore to a piece of structure i had been eyeing up all winter. My hope was with all the flat sandy bottom this deep hole with a shelf would hold fish and bait. As i pulled up the depth finder was packed with huge bait balls. This made me happy as word around Masset was that it was slow and not much for bait. We lowered down our Hali gear and immediately hooked up. My little guy helped bring it up & it was a grey cod? Never caught one before but have always wanted to. I have been told to bleed and guy right away so i did.
I took the guts from the cod and put them on a hook. Dropped it to bottom and waited. Within 20 min the rod bent over and there was no doubt it was big halibut. I asked my wife to bring up the other rod, and as soon as she started reeling in she got hit to. Double header baby!!
Her fish was more manageable and got it to surface first. It was a perfect 81cm fish. The bigger Hali was still on the line but finally heading up. Once we saw color i knew she was way to big to keep. Once beside the boat i would guess it at 65-75lbs. We quickly pulled the hook and she thanked me with a face full off water.
After seeing bait under the boat again i said "ok it’s time for salmon!". We got some anchovies rigged up and soon noticed i forgot to bring the down rigger balls..... i said o well let’s try anyways. We let 2 lines out and trolled with lures at surface. We were in about 200" of water that quickly dropped off to ~300'.
About 5 min into the troll we had the first salmon on. My friends kid reeled it in and it was a nice 8lb coho. Made another pass and doubled up on coho. This time my son had the rod and brought one in ~8lbs. He was so happy!. I switched one of the baits over to herring and managed to pick up a couple Chinooks around 10lbs. We headed in after the first day and i was very happy with how things went down. When back at the docks i seen i was the only boat with salmon. I asked them how they made out and not many others had the luck we did. They were grinding the kelp in the typical Masset spots but did find many fish.
Day 2: It was this day i quickly realized what a pain in the butt it can be to go with other people and try to keep plans.... i had planned for a earlier start wanting to be on the water by 9am. Well,,,,, by 10:30 we made it out due to having to wait for my buddy and his kid to make a huge breakfast and drink a liter of coffee.. This was hard for me as i like to fish hard and typically chew on something in the boat..
We finally got the boat into the water and headed out to the same spot i found bait earlier. The NW winds we starting pick up and I knew I needed to be heading back once the tide started to ebb. With the wife and kids on the boat I didn’t want to scare them on the second day.
Once we arrived we got the gear ready and dropped herring and anchovies down to 30' and 45'. I trolled a zig zag pattern and within 5 min we had fish on. Each time was the outside rod during a turn. I kicked up some rpm and started holding about 4 - 4.5mph. That was the speed they wanted. That morning we limited out on our 1 Chinook each and also kept 7 nice size coho. The biggest my wife caught and i never got a weight on it but as you can see from the picture it was a fat fish. By about 2pm the wind picked up and it was time to start heading back. We had fish in the boat and with sea getting rougher it was time to go. Masset inlet is shallow and can be a mess to get through.
That evening it was eating at me how late we started how much fishing we missed. The next day called more NW winds so i knew an early start was a must. After supper i announced if anyone wants to fish tomorrow they need to be outside in the truck for 4:30am. Any later & im not putting the boat in the water. My wife declined the offer and it looked like just my buddy and his son were coming. My little guy is only 6 and my thought were it might be too early for him. (Oh he was pissed i left him home).
Day 1: we woke up to no wind and cloud cover. The ocean was like glass. Being as it was my first day out with the new boat i wanted to do a simple day like drift for halibut. I got everyone into the boat and we were off. I picked a spot with about 100' of water with flat sandy bottom. Rigged 2 rods up with LED squid and lowered them down. Within 5 min we had the first fish on. When it came to the boat it was a 6# Hali at best. My son caught it and it was his first halibut so we kept it for supper. Within an hour we caught 4 more the same size so i decided it was time to move. The ocean was so calm i decided to head out about 12km off shore to a piece of structure i had been eyeing up all winter. My hope was with all the flat sandy bottom this deep hole with a shelf would hold fish and bait. As i pulled up the depth finder was packed with huge bait balls. This made me happy as word around Masset was that it was slow and not much for bait. We lowered down our Hali gear and immediately hooked up. My little guy helped bring it up & it was a grey cod? Never caught one before but have always wanted to. I have been told to bleed and guy right away so i did.
I took the guts from the cod and put them on a hook. Dropped it to bottom and waited. Within 20 min the rod bent over and there was no doubt it was big halibut. I asked my wife to bring up the other rod, and as soon as she started reeling in she got hit to. Double header baby!!
Her fish was more manageable and got it to surface first. It was a perfect 81cm fish. The bigger Hali was still on the line but finally heading up. Once we saw color i knew she was way to big to keep. Once beside the boat i would guess it at 65-75lbs. We quickly pulled the hook and she thanked me with a face full off water.
After seeing bait under the boat again i said "ok it’s time for salmon!". We got some anchovies rigged up and soon noticed i forgot to bring the down rigger balls..... i said o well let’s try anyways. We let 2 lines out and trolled with lures at surface. We were in about 200" of water that quickly dropped off to ~300'.
About 5 min into the troll we had the first salmon on. My friends kid reeled it in and it was a nice 8lb coho. Made another pass and doubled up on coho. This time my son had the rod and brought one in ~8lbs. He was so happy!. I switched one of the baits over to herring and managed to pick up a couple Chinooks around 10lbs. We headed in after the first day and i was very happy with how things went down. When back at the docks i seen i was the only boat with salmon. I asked them how they made out and not many others had the luck we did. They were grinding the kelp in the typical Masset spots but did find many fish.
Day 2: It was this day i quickly realized what a pain in the butt it can be to go with other people and try to keep plans.... i had planned for a earlier start wanting to be on the water by 9am. Well,,,,, by 10:30 we made it out due to having to wait for my buddy and his kid to make a huge breakfast and drink a liter of coffee.. This was hard for me as i like to fish hard and typically chew on something in the boat..
We finally got the boat into the water and headed out to the same spot i found bait earlier. The NW winds we starting pick up and I knew I needed to be heading back once the tide started to ebb. With the wife and kids on the boat I didn’t want to scare them on the second day.
Once we arrived we got the gear ready and dropped herring and anchovies down to 30' and 45'. I trolled a zig zag pattern and within 5 min we had fish on. Each time was the outside rod during a turn. I kicked up some rpm and started holding about 4 - 4.5mph. That was the speed they wanted. That morning we limited out on our 1 Chinook each and also kept 7 nice size coho. The biggest my wife caught and i never got a weight on it but as you can see from the picture it was a fat fish. By about 2pm the wind picked up and it was time to start heading back. We had fish in the boat and with sea getting rougher it was time to go. Masset inlet is shallow and can be a mess to get through.
That evening it was eating at me how late we started how much fishing we missed. The next day called more NW winds so i knew an early start was a must. After supper i announced if anyone wants to fish tomorrow they need to be outside in the truck for 4:30am. Any later & im not putting the boat in the water. My wife declined the offer and it looked like just my buddy and his son were coming. My little guy is only 6 and my thought were it might be too early for him. (Oh he was pissed i left him home).
Attachments
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wishiniwasfishin1
Well-Known Member
Awesome report man, can't wait to hear the rest. Thanks for taking the time do a great write up!
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