07-23-2007, 06:52 PM
I know its not Utah, but it is fishing.
We just returned from a great fishing trip to Queen Charlotte Islands BC Canada. We left Sunday afternoon and flew to Vancouver BC. We stayed right at the airport in the hotel there. At 4 AM we left to board the next flight from Vancouver to Masset. Masset is a small town on Graham Island. It is a very small airport with a couple double-wide trailers for a terminal. We then boarded a 12 passenger helicopter for another 30 minute ride to the doorstep of Queen Victoria Lodge. After a brief orientation meeting, we were headed of on a small aluminum boat with our guide, Dave. The lodge is in Naden Harbor, at the site of an old whaling station. A 30-45 minute boat ride got us out to the fishing grounds. We were fishing by 9:00 am. We caught some nice silver or Coho salmon and some larger Chinook or King salmon. I caught the largest of the trip on Monday, a 40” 31 pound king salmon. We fished until about 4 pm.
The lodge was quite nice with comfortable lounge areas and great food. We stayed in the Charlotte House, a separate cabin with 5-6 rooms. The next day we got on the boat at 6 am and had another good day of fishing for Kings, Cohos, rock fish and small halibut. Tuesday we kept a few fish for the cooler. The biggest being a 38 lb Chinook.
Wednesday we had the most exciting day of fishing. We left the dock in a thick fog and proceeded to the fishing grounds. After an hour or so of no action, we were rewarded with a fairly close sighting of a couple killer whales. Shortly after, I hooked up with a 35+ lb king salmon. I fought this one for 5 minutes or so when a large sea lion grabbed the fish and took off with it. Our guide told us to hold on, then proceeded to drive full throttle at the sea lion when it surfaced with the fish, all the while I was attempting to reel in slack line and keep the line tight. The sea lion dropped the fish twice and we gained line on the fish. The second time we got the fish to the boat with the sea lion in hot pursuit. We had the net in the water and attempted to net the fish when a second sea lion appeared and we lost the fish again. The guide told me to put more pressure on the fish when the 10-12 weight rod broke, sending me head over heels in to the boat. Now with a broken rod, we had little change of landing the fish. The sea lion kept the salmon in its mouth, but we ended up breaking the line and loosing both the sea lion and the fish. I fought the fish and sea lion for about 20 minutes and was exhausted when I finished. The fog cleared for a fantastic day of smooth water and more good fishing.
Thursday was much slower for the big fish. We only landed one 18 lb Chinook, but 10 or so silvers, and filled our limit of 10lb halibut.
Friday was travel day, we just reversed the sequence, and with a slight delay in Vancouver, arrived home by midnight Friday. I ended up with about 60 lbs of salmon and halibut filets.
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We just returned from a great fishing trip to Queen Charlotte Islands BC Canada. We left Sunday afternoon and flew to Vancouver BC. We stayed right at the airport in the hotel there. At 4 AM we left to board the next flight from Vancouver to Masset. Masset is a small town on Graham Island. It is a very small airport with a couple double-wide trailers for a terminal. We then boarded a 12 passenger helicopter for another 30 minute ride to the doorstep of Queen Victoria Lodge. After a brief orientation meeting, we were headed of on a small aluminum boat with our guide, Dave. The lodge is in Naden Harbor, at the site of an old whaling station. A 30-45 minute boat ride got us out to the fishing grounds. We were fishing by 9:00 am. We caught some nice silver or Coho salmon and some larger Chinook or King salmon. I caught the largest of the trip on Monday, a 40” 31 pound king salmon. We fished until about 4 pm.
The lodge was quite nice with comfortable lounge areas and great food. We stayed in the Charlotte House, a separate cabin with 5-6 rooms. The next day we got on the boat at 6 am and had another good day of fishing for Kings, Cohos, rock fish and small halibut. Tuesday we kept a few fish for the cooler. The biggest being a 38 lb Chinook.
Wednesday we had the most exciting day of fishing. We left the dock in a thick fog and proceeded to the fishing grounds. After an hour or so of no action, we were rewarded with a fairly close sighting of a couple killer whales. Shortly after, I hooked up with a 35+ lb king salmon. I fought this one for 5 minutes or so when a large sea lion grabbed the fish and took off with it. Our guide told us to hold on, then proceeded to drive full throttle at the sea lion when it surfaced with the fish, all the while I was attempting to reel in slack line and keep the line tight. The sea lion dropped the fish twice and we gained line on the fish. The second time we got the fish to the boat with the sea lion in hot pursuit. We had the net in the water and attempted to net the fish when a second sea lion appeared and we lost the fish again. The guide told me to put more pressure on the fish when the 10-12 weight rod broke, sending me head over heels in to the boat. Now with a broken rod, we had little change of landing the fish. The sea lion kept the salmon in its mouth, but we ended up breaking the line and loosing both the sea lion and the fish. I fought the fish and sea lion for about 20 minutes and was exhausted when I finished. The fog cleared for a fantastic day of smooth water and more good fishing.
Thursday was much slower for the big fish. We only landed one 18 lb Chinook, but 10 or so silvers, and filled our limit of 10lb halibut.
Friday was travel day, we just reversed the sequence, and with a slight delay in Vancouver, arrived home by midnight Friday. I ended up with about 60 lbs of salmon and halibut filets.
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