July 2015 - Page 2 of 2 - Queen Charlotte Lodge

With the change in the weather seems to have come a change in the fishing! The stretch of northwesterly winds that have dominated the region for the past week or so have given way to variable southerlies for the weekend. Cloudy skies and calm waters may have been a factor in the nice bump in our Tyee count yesterday!

The bell was ringin’ pretty steadily last night as happy anglers returned with their final catch for the trip. Darris M topped the salmon chart this week with a beautiful 48 pounder boated at Klashwun Point; Brian Clive at the helm. In the same boat his partner Peter B landed a 35 so they both had some fun with the Tyee bell! Along with some other nice fish in the 30’s we saw some pretty chunky halibut caught on Thursday. Yannick D pulled up and released a big slab that taped out to 121 lb. while Marty H found the sweet spot with a 133 cm fish that came in at just under 69 pounds. Excellent work guys. Glenn N found a 55 pounder and Kyle M hung a 51 on the scale before cracking that bell 5 times. Nice big fish, now all perfectly portion-packed, that will be enjoyed with friends and family many times in the months to come!

While the weekend looks pretty calm and a little grey (we’re happy to receive a bit of liquid sunshine), the forecast for next week should see the trend continue until moderate westerlies return on Wednesday. Tides are very moderate right now without the major swings that dominated the fishing activity last week. We’re looking forward to see if the numbers of larger salmon continue to climb as we move into the second week of July – already!

The northwest winds have been blowing over the past few days; fish are biting like crazy on pretty much everything that you throw in the water. There have been lots of feeders with the odd low to high 20’s Chinook, the Coho have also started showing their white gums in numbers down at the Mazzaredo Islands. The sea has been lumpy on the ebb tide, but during the flood tide the waves have been settling down a bit.

Some of the guests and guides were treated to quite a show off the west bay of Bird 2 yesterday – 2 male humpback whales started fighting. Both whales were breaching out of the water and body slamming each other, they were fin slapping and tail slapping as well. Seeing whales on the water never gets old and every experience with them makes me truly appreciate the waters I spend my days on!

The winds should be dying down tomorrow and the fish seem like they are moving in so I’m excited to start the day and see what it will hold!

Skywalker

Well it’s bikini weather at QCL these days and the staff are loving it! When they’re hired we certainly can’t promise that they’ll see a lot of sunshine but it’s sure been a nice perk for them this summer! Our temps have soared all the way to 21 degrees today and we could hit 23 tomorrow! (to us that feels like 33!)

On the water the prevailing northwesterlies that we’ve had for the past few days are keeping the fishing effort focused largely on the grounds between Klashwun Point and the Mazzaredo Islands. Anglers are still enjoying a steady diet of great Chinook action throughout, dominated by lots of feeder Springs in the 15-20 pound range. In the past week we have seen an uptick in the number of 20-30 pounders and there are always a few Tyees showing up in the mix. The weekend started off with a stunning 39 pounder brought to the Bell Ringer by Joel Parker, fishing with guide Alistair Bryce. What a fantastic way to begin your fishing adventure! Congratulations!

We welcomed another new member to the QCL 50 Pounder Club after John Burton and Jim Wetmore decided to fish Klashwun Point on Wednesday morning. Working their bait just off the kelp bed west of the rock, John hooked up with a heavy fish that kept him on his toes for quite a while before Jim was able to slip a net under it. Since they were part of a big derby last week, they kept their catch on the down-low for the whole day. When the big reveal came at the Bell Ringer that evening, the mood got pretty animated with word of some big fish around! John’s handsome Tyee tipped the scale at 51 pounds – a fantastic fish – well done guys! Welcome to a very exclusive club Jim!

Expect to see the northwesterlies settle back to light southerlies by the weekend so everyone will enjoy some nice smooth water. The tides are finally moderating after some really big swings. All that bait that has been pushed inshore should provide even more exciting action in the days to come! Stay tuned!

As the days pass and the fishing stories are starting to grow, the talk around the guide’s dinner table is getting pretty interesting! The fishing has continued to be steady, and all of the guides are working hard running their baits and gear searching for some big Chinook salmon. Our Tyee count is a little low for this stage of the season. But we sure are catching a lot of nice fish!

The thing I love most about heading out in the morning is the unknown, for you simply don’t know what the day will hold. Whether it will be a huge Chinook biting your line at any second, a sudden whale show, or even the pesky sea lion stealing your fish. Speaking of sea lions, Blondie showed up 3 days ago and has paid a few of our boats a visit, giving some guests an opportunity to witness their fish being ripped apart by the 1200 lb. sea lion. The tide swings have been massive lately, and the slack tides have been producing good action. The Northwest winds have also started to increase, and will continue to blow baitfish and salmon towards shore.

I am looking forward to starting the new day of fishing tomorrow and the mysteries that it will hold. Since we are almost limited out, we’ll be “hog hunting” for the day! I look forward to seeing everyone up here for another fishing adventure.

Skywalker signing out

Canada Day at the Lodge is always one of those benchmarks of the summer that we all look forward to. It’s roughly a third of the way into the season and the staff usually have it pretty well dialed, confidently delivering the level of service that our guests enjoy. The crew has mixed nicely, forming a tiny community here in this remote harbour on the far western reaches of the country. The national holiday reminds us to take a moment and realize just where we are in such a big picture; this immense landscape that easily overwhelms us yet binds us in so many ways. We benefit from a popularity that draws people here from all over the country to experience the unique character of this place.

The guests with us this week were all Canadians, arriving here from Okotoks and Nanoose Bay, South Porcupine and Saskatoon, Kimberly and Espanola. They all caught lots of salmon and shared some crazy good stories of their fishing adventures. Together on Wednesday night, between supper and the annual fireworks show that they put together themselves, we all stood up and belted out an enthusiastic rendition of our national anthem, another tradition started years ago in a moment of spontaneous patriotism. These are the moments that stick in the memory and draw us back to a shared experience that helps to define what we all love about this place!

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