Haida Gwaii
- Thread starter GWT75
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finaddict
Well-Known Member
Perfect, Thanks PursuitHere is the spoon. A little chewed
finaddict
Well-Known Member
Take along your harpoon and be prepared to defend your catch from ravenous Leos wherever you are.
But seriously, the Sealion issue is really bad up there. I just got back from Langara and it was about a 30% interception ratio by the lions. We were a little better prepared than most and free-spooled many of our fish until the sea lions went to another boat or were far away and then we would winch our catch as fast as possible to get it in the boat.
If you set the hook well on first point of contact and then click the free-spool on your reel the fish will dive the bottom and the idiot sea lions cant find them. its only during the fight that they can sense them in the water. Free-spooling works.
Other than that we were able to get good fish nothing bigger than 25 lbs. At Langara, of the 70 guests that were there at the same time as us, there were only 5 tyee caught in 3 days of fishing.
carpeweekend
Crew Member
I just got back from Engelfield Bay on the west side. Similar story minus the seals. Easy limits on Spring and lots in the 20's but very few Tyee's 4 day trip with over 40 guys fishing hard produced just 3 tyee's. A few Coiho starting to show up but harder to catch than Springs.
Had some great salmon shark action though. Both my partner and I fought salmon sharks for over 30 minutes before breaking off. Not much chance with a 30 lb leader versus shark teeth. Pic below is from one we managed to catch and release last year. Lots of bottom fish caught - yelloweye, halibut, sea bass, and a few lings.
Overall, great trip as always in Haida Gwaii.
Had some great salmon shark action though. Both my partner and I fought salmon sharks for over 30 minutes before breaking off. Not much chance with a 30 lb leader versus shark teeth. Pic below is from one we managed to catch and release last year
. Lots of bottom fish caught - yelloweye, halibut, sea bass, and a few lings. Overall, great trip as always in Haida Gwaii.
tubber
Well-Known Member
tincan
Well-Known Member
Just got back from Hippa and the fishing was awesome as usual. Lots of fish around of all types. The coho seemed to have recently moved in in good numbers... mostly in the 6-10 lb range but we did manage a nice 14lber. Spring fishing was unreal. 40-50 springs a day easy. We stopped fishing once we bonked our bleeders for the day but it was pretty solid with long stretches of time where you're hooking up with a spring every 2 minutes. So lucky to get up there once a year for this trip. For the first time in forever we all seemed to be finding the bigger fish down deep (150-200ft) when we usually fish in the 80-140 ft range most of the time. Perhaps a warm water thing? I'm not sure but that's were the bigger springs seemed to be, including a couple of tyees that we landed.
Hali fishing was hit and miss but we managed a couple nice 30 lbers after putting in a bit of time. Saw humpbacks, sharks, sunfish, etc. Unreal experience and can't wait til next year already.
Hali fishing was hit and miss but we managed a couple nice 30 lbers after putting in a bit of time. Saw humpbacks, sharks, sunfish, etc. Unreal experience and can't wait til next year already.
qc lodge is showing a 61.5
scroll down
http://westcoastfishingclub.com/the-hub/fishing-reports/ebb-flow-week-9-july-29-2015/
scroll down
http://westcoastfishingclub.com/the-hub/fishing-reports/ebb-flow-week-9-july-29-2015/
Slammin' Salmon
Member
That.
Would.
Be.
Awesome!!!!
Would.
Be.
Awesome!!!!
adanac
Well-Known Member
Thats Robby Clough with the 78 this morning outta Parker . The 61 was a kill fish last week. These last two weeks have been bonkers out of Naden Harbour, fish in the 40's being common with many in the 50 range also. Saw westcoast resorts posted a 62 also. Season turned from looking like a smallfish with large numbers year to a large fish large numbers year right on schedule. Kraig Coulter ( one of the most experienced guides at the Lodge ) taped out a 90 inch Halibut at one of the Popular offshore reefs. A season for the books!
Deewar25
Well-Known Member
the free spool - tell me more! Not much experience with the sea lions so maybe you see them coming towards the fish more often than seals? Seems when a seal takes, it comes out of nowhere and you can't react until its already on the fish. Is this IF you seem him coming before, or do you just free spool once its taken and hope the salmon shakes free?
finaddict
Well-Known Member
Actually you have to free spool as soon as you suspect the sea lions are headed your way. Once the sea Lion detects thim.Yiohe vibrations of the struggling salmon he can hone in on it and its done fer. If you set the hooks deep when you first make contact with the salmon then let it free spool it will head to the bottom where sammy the Lion can`t see him or detect him.
This is when the need for a lot of patience really kicks in as you have to stay on top of your salmon as much as possible and yet give him free rein. Once Sammy moves on you will have a very short window when you winch your fish in as fast as you can and have a net ready.
Deewar25
Well-Known Member
so you flip the switch and make damn sure you palm it firm right? Isn't it big risk of rat nesting it and stopping the salmon in its tracks and creating chaos in the reel? Seems everything has to be perfect for success. Still too much resistance to just quickly release all your drag to let him run that way?
finaddict
Well-Known Member
Set the hook hard, flip the free spool and then play the fish like you would with an old style knuckle buster that has a two way drag or centre pin on a river. Palm the spool to keep just enough tension on the fish to prevent back lashes (I prefer the term "Professional Spool Override"
) but let the fish go where he wants. If the water is shallow he will go to the bottom and want to stay there, They also know the Lions are around. For palming the reel, I use my left hand very close to the reel and drag the spool with the ring and pinkie fingers. This allows me to keep the right hand free to reel quickly should the line begin to go slack.
Finished Business
Well-Known Member
Releasing a fish like that is nothing short of amazing. Spend 10-20 mins reviving it boatside, get to know the beast, waiting for it to repower and kick free from your hands...watching it return to the sea from whence it came, on its mission to reproduce and give you more big fish to catch next year.
Or it could lay dead in the fish box. Whoop dee doo.
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