BC fishing lodge Archives - Page 4 of 16

The beginning of a new calendar year always feels like something new is about to happen. Whether that’s true or not, it’s always a little bit exciting.

Here at QCL it creates a buzz; but it’s not like at the start of a race… it’s more like the final leg! We’ve been working on our 2023 season since September; a lot of plans have been made, and now it’s time to execute. Opening Day is officially in sight!

We have some practice at this… it will be our 33rd season! And over those years, how things have changed! In the early days of fishing lodges on BC’s north coast, it really was all about the fish. Transportation was a challenge, comforts were few, food was often basic, but the fishing was good! Potential guests would tell us: “As long as I have a good boat and lots of bait, I would sleep in a tent!” The success of their trip was mostly defined by the number of pounds in their box. But as word spread and more folks wanted to check it out, we soon discovered that they would be much happier in a well-appointed log cabin with a warm fireplace! So, that’s where we started.

Over time, we’ve made many changes and have come a long way. New and varied accommodations have created a range of venues offering something for everyone; from the extraordinary opportunity to stay right on the fishing grounds aboard the MV Driftwood, to enjoying the convenience of a comfortable room in the Main Lodge to private, tailor-made luxury in the Totem House. We’re constantly upgrading our boat fleet to provide the best on-the-water experience for our guests and offering more and improved options in fish processing. On the hospitality side, we now offer dining in at least seven different venues and work with several BC suppliers to deliver top quality groceries to our QCL kitchens every week.

Huge strides in our transportation program let us deliver a full complement of guests from Vancouver to the Lodge in less than 4 hours and have them out fishing within 30 minutes of arrival (if they like)!

While the scale and scope of QCL has certainly grown and evolved over the past 30+ years, we’ve worked very hard to retain the most important ingredient in our recipe. Back when we had only 48 guests and half that many staff, we always regarded visitors to the Lodge as our guests. They were never customers or clients. They were our guests in our house and every one of our staff understood that, treating them accordingly. If there is one rule that dictates our relationship with our clientele, that is it. These days we certainly have more guests and ample more staff but that connection between them is paramount. It has grown and evolved to create something that we call the QCL Experience, a very exceptional combination of friendship, adventure, wilderness, comfort, and fun in a truly unique and magical part of the world. Many people first come here for the fishing, but it’s the QCL Experience that brings them back.

And the fishing is still a big deal! Being in the gateway to the north Pacific always has the unique benefits of favourable ocean currents, abundant food supply, major migration routes for salmon and year-round habitat for groundfish. QCL anglers continue to enjoy excellent angling opportunities and most always go home with as much fish as they want.

However, we recognize that the earth is in a state of constant change that affects everything we do. The health of the oceans and of the lands adjacent are part of a delicate balancing act that we all have a part in. In recent years we’ve seen increased awareness and interest among our guests, who have come to love these places immensely and are concerned about them. We have many more conversations about the food chain, ecosystems, the life cycles of salmon, and the abundance of whales and herring. It’s great to see this engagement in what’s so important to us all. We encourage our guests and staff to learn more, to get involved and support organizations working to preserve habitat and rehabilitate species. The local Haida people are also engaged in this area, and we will be working with them more in the future to learn, to educate and practice good stewardship of the local ecosystems and environment. Raising awareness among people who have been part of the QCL Experience is the best first step in preserving it. Remember, we’re all in this together!

We look forward to seeing you back in Haida Gwaii this summer. The countdown to opening day is on!

Change is constant, they say. It’s like the wind, blowing in the background, that we tend to ignore and then are surprised when it stops. One constant breeze – always a breath of fresh air – that has been with us at QCL for over 20 years, is none other than Jin Chong, Mr. Hospitality himself.

Today marks a big day for Jin personally, and for QCL, as Jin has made the decision leave one passion to pursue another. While we’ll miss his infectious smile, easy-going demeanor, and warm personality at the Lodge, we couldn’t be prouder of Jin and his new and exciting venture!

Starting today you can find him as Managing Partner at Highwater Tackle, a very well-known and respected tackle shop located in the LoLo area of North Vancouver. Joining Jin as owners at Highwater are a couple of other QCL long-timers, Kevin Clough and Elyse Austrins. Both Kevin and Elyse will remain at QCL full time in their current capacities, while Jin manages the store’s daily operations. Congratulations to all three of you on your new venture and farewell to Jin, but only for now. We know that it certainly won’t be the last time we see him at the Lodge and that QCL and Highwater will (and already are) finding plenty of reasons to work together.

Everyone please drop by and see Jin anytime at his new home. He’ll be happy just to say hi, relive some old QCL memories, or to help outfit you with any fishing needs for your next outdoor adventure. Track him down without hesitation at 201 Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver. And again, our congratulations to Jin, Kevin and Elyse with Highwater Tackle!

And just like that, the 2022 season has come and gone, helicopters have departed with our final guests and the sound of Canada geese is ever present. Most of our staff have returned to the “real world” and gone are the days where the commute to work is a quick 5-minute walk from one side of property to the other. Our rig-down crew is readying the property for the off-season and pretty soon our lively property will become a sleepy hideaway. Until next summer that is.

This season marked a monumental one for us. After 2 years riddled with challenges due to Covid and surrounding restrictions, it was our first “normal” summer since 2019. It was also our 32nd season of operations and it certainly did not disappoint.

Though many of us are fortunate enough to be here every year, there is always a bit of mystery that surrounds how it will all play out. We welcomed guests from across the globe to the Lodge this season, the weather played mostly in our favour and the fishing, while an obvious wildcard, was consistently active. It felt pretty incredible doing what we love and to experience a “normal” summer once again.

We want to thank each and every one of you who visited QCL this season and to those who helped make it one for the books. To the hardworking and passionate QCL crew, none of this would be possible without you.

We hope that you left with many precious memories of your time spent with friends and family (both new and old), full bellies and fish to share throughout the next many months. We’re so lucky to experience the magic of Haida Gwaii and are so appreciative of you all for allowing us to open our doors and to do what we love.

Continuously improving the guest experience is something management and ownership is committed to – We look forward to a busy off-season working to better all that we can. The countdown to 2023 has officially begun….

Well, here we are into the final week of the ‘22 season and we’re happy to say that all the wheels are still on the bus! It’s been our biggest and busiest season ever with all the attendant challenges (and, of course, a few surprises too!). We’re still enjoying an outstanding summer and it’s looking to be pretty fine right through the weekend, save for a little southeasterly blow through Friday night.

The salmon catch is getting a little more random with anglers finding five salmon species all over the fishing grounds… top water Coho chasing everything near the surface (but there’s good ones down 30-50 as well) and aggressive Pinks hitting whatever they can get their teeth into in the top 20 feet. We’ve got Chinooks of all sizes – migratory spawners and local feeders – showing up inshore, and offshore while we’re fishing halibut! And just to keep everyone on their toes, we’re finding a few Chum and even a couple of Sockeye on every trip. Carl P released a beautiful 32-pound Tyee with his guide Tommy G last trip while we had several nice fish in the low 30’s come to the Bell Ringer over the past week. With the help of his guide Ryan K, Mike F boated an impressive big buck that tipped the scale at 44-pounds on the weekend. Halibut fishing continues to be solid with most anglers happy to pick up a third teen-sized hali for the freezer.

The humpback whales that have been keeping us company all summer are still feeding constantly in the quiet bays from Wiah Point around to Inskip Pt, and from Hannah Bay all the way around past Green Point. We’ve even had one or two feeding regularly right inside Naden Harbour since June! While their constant presence is something we’re so accustomed to, we never get tired of the pure awesomeness of it!

As the season progresses at full speed towards the metaphorical finish line known as Labour Day, I find myself getting more nervous, almost disappointed, rather than excited. A lot of people would probably assume I am ready to go home, ready for a change of scenery, ready to do anything other than go fishing. But a lot of people don’t know what it’s like to be a fishing guide at QCL.

Being a fishing guide, to me, means a lot more now than it did 4 years ago when I started. It’s not just about the fishing. It’s about the atmosphere, the surroundings, the laughter and entertainment amongst the crashing waves. The people you meet over the course of the summer and the connections that are created are irreplaceable, even if they are short lived. The most cherished memories that I take away from this experience always seem to revolve around the people first.

With the beautiful weather, bountiful coho catches and Tyees still coming in every trip, I can find excitement knowing that there are still three trips left in the season. This past week, the DFO increased the halibut retention limit to three fish, if they are all under 90 centimetres in length or one fish between 90 and 133 centimetres in length. The opportunity to take an additional halibut home is a significant bonus for an angler. It’s another great example of why fishing later in the season is never a bad idea up here at QCL.

The abundance of humpback whales breaching, sunfish sightings and big Chinooks lurking by the kelp beds are just a few of my favourite takeaways from the 2022 season. As unsettling as it may be to see my QCL summer come to an end, I am thankful for this experience and know that it will live with me for years to come. I also need to keep reminding myself…

The memories can’t start until the experience ends.

Until next year,
Captain Christopher

Amazing August! QCL guests have enjoyed so much epic adventure up here this summer that it’s hard to see how it could get any better. But these past weeks have delivered that “trip of a lifetime” experience for many. The fishing overall has been steady… the big fish are not as plentiful as we’ve come to expect, but the action is consistent, and anglers aren’t spending too much time in their seats! Going home with a nice box of beautiful wild salmon, halibut and lingcod is a precious treat that will be shared and savoured for months to come.

Small tides and light winds in the past week have really opened the door all day to bottom fishing, so our guests are really getting their fill of jiggin’ the deep! It’s yielding outstanding catches of halibut, lingcod and Pacific cod. This coincides nicely with a recent regulation change from DFO allowing sport anglers to retain a third halibut under 90 cm if they don’t have one larger than 90.

While most of our guides are still committing some part of their day to fishing inshore in search of big Chinooks, they’re finding good success on all salmon species while trolling offshore in 200-240 feet of water. That’s typical for late season salmon and the results have been good! We’re finally seeing more Coho in the 10-plus class, mixed in with powerful 16-20 pound Chinooks. Every so often a big, bright Chum hooks up and delivers that outstanding battle that they’re known for! Back at the Bell Ringer the Tyee bell is ringing every night for a wide array of big catches – from 40-50 pound halibut, to 30-pound-plus Lingcod and, of course, Tyee Chinooks over 30-pounds, some retained and some released. There’s always cause for celebration down there!

August weather has been particularly warm and dry, so long days spent out in a boat are pretty sweet… especially with a nice social lunch break at the Driftwood to catch up with friends and compare notes. With only 3 trips remaining in this 2022 season after Friday, we’re thankful that the fishing and the weather continue to cooperate and all of our guests, some of whom have waited since 2019 to get here, are getting the QCL adventure experience that they were hoping for!

The Big One That Got Away

Before most fishing was done by downriggers and trolling, boats would go out and motor mooch for salmon. The fisherman would make a cut-plug herring and thread it on to hooks and a leader. The leader would then be tied to a 4 or 6 ounce weight and then the weight was tied directly on to the main line. This was the BC standard for fishing for Chinooks and Coho.

One day in the early 1990’s I had a chance to introduce a husband and wife to the fishing up in Haida Gwaii. We made our way from the dock out of Naden Harbour to fish at the famous Bird 1 hotspot. There had been quite a few very large Chinooks taken over the last few days so I was very excited to see how this brand new fisher couple would make out. The tide was soft and the seas were calm – ideal weather and water for fishing with newcomers to the game. They watched as I cut the herring and rigged it up. They listened carefully as I explained how to let the line out and put the rod in the rod holder. I demonstrated how a mooching single action reel works and I drilled them on what to watch for and do when the inevitable strike comes. After a little bit of Q&A they were ready to go. The wife saw it first. The almost imperceptible first pull by a Chinook on the herring. Almost before she could say anything, the rod took a strong downward bend as the Chinook was beginning to panic and feel the hook. She was like a coiled cobra as she sprung to the rod… a natural. She reeled down to the fish and struck it hard. Line screamed off of the reel and the line angled up as I knew we were going to get a good look at this fish. Sure enough he swirled distant from the boat and I could see his wide gold green back. Eight inches across and all of 50 pounds or more. I was the only one that saw the fish and I was surely not going to further compromise the first few minutes of the fight with a description of how large the fish was. For now, this was information for me to keep to myself.

The fight waged for more than 45 minutes. Long, strong runs were followed by deep sulking. She had, by that point, developed her routine of pumping up the rod slowly, when the fish would give ground, and then franticly winding to pick up line and keep pressure. There was very little chatter as it seemed appropriate to let the wife focus on the giant Tyee salmon. Forty-five minutes stretched into an hour and I could tell the fish was quickly tiring. The pumping became easier, the runs not as strong and purposeful, becoming more panicky and weak.

Then it happened. Right at the top of the pump the rod went slack. Clearly this Chinook had found a way to rip the hook out of its mouth. As always, I encouraged the fisher to wind quickly to see if the fish had simply turned and we needed to catch up with it. I knew it was gone but we had to try. Just as I was about to say that the fish was gone the rod started to twitch and shake and the line came in easily. In an instant I knew what had happened. The big fish was truly gone. As the lady reeled in the empty hooks a small 12 inch Coho juvenile salmon had raced after my red hooks mistaking them for krill shrimp. He was now hooked and coming quickly to the boat. Before I could explain anything, the exhausted lady angler had brought the tiny salmon to the side of the boat. She looked down in disbelief and exclaimed that if a 12-inch fish could fight that hard she did not think she would be able to land a really large salmon!

Brian Clive

I guess we could call it the height of our summer! The past few days of brilliant sunshine delivered some of those iconic deep colours that say it’s summer at the lodge! The fishing effort was largely focused on the waters from Yatze east to the Mazzaredos and the salmon action was quite steady overall. Anglers were busy reeling in lots of nice Coho mixed with a bunch of Pinks; punctuated by a chunky Chinook every so often! We managed to find a few Tyees in the mix, between 30 and 36 pounds – and lots of those amazing 20-somethings, the top target of our salmon anglers! We caught a break on Thursday and the winds died right off to send the entire fleet offshore to load up on halibut and lingcod, which they did quite successfully.

Seeing as it’s already August 13^th (or Foggust as many call it) we’ve been really lucky to avoid much fog in the area so far. But a big bank rolled in late Thursday; we usually watch it creep in from the north and settle over the east side of Naden Harbour. Combined with a brilliant super-full-moon, it made for another dramatic visual this week.

I hope you enjoy this eclectic collection of photos that pretty much describe how the week went! But don’t worry, the weekend, so far, has been different! Tune in next week for the update!

A classic northwesterly system is bringing us big blue skies this week – the staff are enjoying our version of beach life and our guests are doing the great drift on the seas rolling down from Shag Rock past Cape Naden. While there are excellent opportunities hunting for Chinooks that lurk around the kelp beds at Yatze, the Bird Rocks and Parker Point, the offshore drift along the 120-foot line is usually quite productive and fairly unpredictable in these conditions. Depending on your depth you can hit good numbers of Cohos and Chinook, but you can also find lots of action from Pink and Chum salmon along the way. Bottom fishing will have to wait for Thursday when we will be able to access the offshore waters again.

We’ve seen some great Chinook action this past week with a number of big Tyees in the area. Normand B masterfully brought a huge Chinook to the net for his guide Alex K on Thursday… after a measurement and a quick pic Alex carefully revived the big beauty to watch it pull away with a few strokes of its massive tail. She scored at 49-pounds and was cause for some serious celebration at the Bell Ringer on the final night of the trip! Great job guys and Congratulations!

On the weekend Myron N was able to follow suit, releasing a stellar 33-pounder with his guide Chris M. Bill G celebrated a 31 on the dock on Sunday along with a nice 32-pounder for John M to cap off a terrific weekend of salmon action. We also had outstanding lingcod catches on Friday when Mo N returned to the dock with an impressive 32-pounder, only to be upstaged by his fishing partner Scott N, who weighed a 42 – the largest of the season so far! Kudos to their angling skills – and those of their guide Alex!

In 2020 I had been involved in rowing for close to half my life. I had rowed as an athlete for ten years and transitioned into coaching after a spinal injury in the lead up to the Rio Olympic Games ended my career. I spent 2015 to 2020 as the head coach and then general manager of the rowing centre where I first learned to row, on the gorge in the heart of Victoria. I loved my role working with people and had no plans to change my chosen career.

When COVID closed the club I had worked so hard to build I went back to my first passion in life, fishing! I grew up in Jasper, Alberta. I learned to love fishing in the family canoe with my father, fishing for pike on Talbot lake with the goofiest spinning frog lure you’ve ever seen. I still have one. As I got older I got into fly fishing and spent most days that the water wasn’t frozen chasing trout on the fly.

When I got into rowing at age fifteen, fishing largely fell out of my life with the exception of a few days swinging for salmon and steelhead in the rivers of Vancouver Island. With Covid opening the horizon, as it did for so many, I dove head first back into the sport. I’m still fairly young in my guiding career but it feels very familiar to me because to be a guiding is to be a coach. You are enabling success, achieving goals and teaching guests to the skills to take their QCL experience in their own hands and make the most of it.

Just like coaching you need both “soft skills” and “hard skills” guiding salmon fishing. The hard skills are the tangible things like knowing where the fish will be, what they’ll be feeding on and when they’ll be feeding. The soft skills are more subtle such as a hand on the back when a good one pops off. Soft skills are needed to build relationships to enable your guests to learn and land the fish of their dreams. I love both sides of the job but strongly believe that the softs skills are where the guides at QCL set themselves apart.

We see all kinds of guests and each have their own expectations and goals. Just like coaching, our job is to learn those goals and impart the knowledge and skill for the guests to achieve them. I grew up in a team environment and I have enjoyed being a part of this guide team immensely. Knowledge is power on the water and I’ve been humbled to learn from some of the best rods on the west coast while I’ve been here and what I continually find amazing is their willingness to teach and enable newer guides like myself.

If you asked me in March 2020 where I would be in two year years, I never would have thought I’d be tough tacking Cape Naden in ten foot seas and scraping kelp beds for a clip popping hog but after the first time I came around the dolphin I’ve never looked back. Every time I see the joy in my guests eyes when “that fish” hits the bag I fall in love with fishing all over again because just like coaching shared success is always sweeter than individual success.