Rivers Inlet Trip

[popeshawnpaul]

I talked about it last night with my dad.  He is as interested as I am.  Looks like my initial research tells me there are some Butts south of Calvert Island, way outside the inlet.  I like Salmon and ling better anyways. 

I want to do some more research on the salmon fishing... 

I would bring my dive gear and spear gun.  If the fish won't bite...I'll bite back.

[Coasthunterjay]

well if wackmaster is comming ill be there also!!! this sounds like a blast....so are there any licences or tags that we need to buy for this trip? also how many fish are we predicting on catching per boat per day? and how are the currents? i mean the last time you all were there what was the typical weather? ? ? ? does anyone have pictures yet...........hopefully this will work out....i want to bring my father with i think it would be awesome to bring him along for some excitement also......

are we going in august during a salmon run......?

and is it going to be as busy (crowded) as the pictures you posted for lake washington run?

[Coasthunterjay]

oh man i took a look at those pictures they have at the riversinlet resort.....holy crap! this look like alot of fun............

[popeshawnpaul]

I can answer some of those questions as I have fished out of Port Hardy many times.  August is the best weather.  It's not uncommon to have rainy 60 degree days, but the norm is in the 70's and some sun.  Yeah, you do need to buy licenses.  For Canada you can buy them online.  I would recommend a 3 day license and a 2 day or somthing along those lines unless you are going to fish there later in the year.  The main salmon run for this area comes in strong the 3rd week of July and continues through August. 

I can't answer anything about currents from first hand experience, but there will be some.  Fish?  I dunno, we got to let Phool answer that question...

[huntnphool]

We are leaving August 8th. I will get some pics up soon, I have some things to get done today but will post them later I hope. I need to get them off of one of my other computers and there are a few thousand pics on it, and guess what, they are not labeled, only numbered and not by date either, its going to take some time. I promise I will get them up at some point soon though.

The season for these huge "Tyees" is only about 3 weeks long, and are generally hitting the inlet around the 1st of August. There are lots of silvers up there as well. Catching them is entirely up to you. Its not a "trout pond" and your success is dependent on your abilities. Some folks catch more fish than others, some folks tag more deer than others, same principles apply. All I can promise you is one hell of a good time, if that cant happen without catching fish it might not be the trip for you unless your proficient at catching salmon.

[huntnphool]

Seriously though guys,........and gals, everyone is invited. If you have a boat that can make the trip, and please be sure it can its big water, and like to camp and fish, then come along. The weather I have no control over, wish I did. Bring gear for all conditions just like hunting. Like most outdoors activities, being prepared can mean the difference between success and failure as well as having a good time or crappy time, need I mention life and death!!!

[popeshawnpaul]

I think I'm going to run my boat up.  I'm going to put in at Vancouver, go through customs, and run it up.  It's protected the whole way, and 150 miles.  At 30 mph cruise, that's 5 hours.  At 8 gallons/hour, that's 40 gallons of gas.  At $3/gallon, that's $120 for the trip up. 

If I drove to Port Hardy, the ferry would cost almost $200 each way...  Plus gas of $150 in the truck to pull the boat to Port Hardy.  Plus, I hate that drive and waiting at the ferry.  It might be fun to run up.  Just a thought.  I'm going to have to plot it out.  I've done the trip before in a 35 footer...

shawn

[cohoho]

This stinks, I have to back out so quickly due to the dates, going to Okanogan for hockey that 10-17 of Aug.  Wish you were going earlier or later..

[Coasthunterjay]

pope......atleast have a back up and be willing to take the ferrie if need be...im not saying that you dont now how to drive your boat, but i must recommend that we try to be as safe as possable.......AJ

does anyone have any previous weather information for tides, currents, and storms in this area for last year.....boats are going to be at max compasity with gear and personnel(is everyone going to have a life preserver).....and on the way back the same thing, plus we might hopefully have a crap load of 40lbs fish to bring home and fill the fridge.......that is going to make our boats take on water alot easier if the waters get nasty.......

im just being the woorie-wart.....

pope what type of boat do you drive? if you do this is everyone else going to have a boat that they feel safe enough doing this with also?

And what is the daily limit of salmon?

[popeshawnpaul]

Jay, don't sweat it, I'll just meet you up there.  I have a 25 foot sportfisher, more than enough for anything on that stretch of water.  I'm still working on the dates as well.  It's the inside passage so it's pretty calm water.  I don't think this is something everyone should do.  It's a long haul and I might split it up over two days.  It just sounds like fun.

Oh, and I have a life preserver...   

Shawn

[Coasthunterjay]

good! lol....

[tmike]

All this talk about running up there made me pull out some of my charts. I've made the inside passage trip going up once and coming down once. I think a 25 foot sportfisher would be fine especially with radar, just be smart about it. If you do it I recommend the Marine Atlas. It lays out all the routes very nicely. I have volume 1 which covers Olympia to Malcolm Island which is on the Northern end of Vancouver. All the other charts I have go from Dixon Entrance North. So from Vancouver Island to Rivers inlet you would need Volume 2 or your own charts. I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know, but if you want to check out what I have let me know, I'd love to see the charts get some more use. The trip sounds fun, If I had a boat I'd probably join you!

[huntnphool]

It was about $250.00 for my Excursion and boat, I think they charged me for 38'. The weather hasnt been a problem up there the last few years but you must plan for everything and expect the worst.

That would be a nice boat ride up through there, but for us we cant spend that much time making the trip, we are only going to have 3-4 days for ishing as it is since it takes a day to make the trip up and onother to get home.

The fish limit the last few years was 2 kings per day, 4 in posession, you can have 2 silvers as well. We take our vacuum packer with us and fillet the fish up there. You can cut the heads off and fillet them, pack them one fillet per bag but you need to keep the tail on one of them. Label each fillet as 1 of 2 and 2 of 2, so they can tell which fish is which if they check at the boarder.

[huntnphool]

Okay I resized some pics, thesee are heading out of Port Hardy, its good to have another boat with you just to be safe. We played follow the leader the whole way.

[huntnphool]

This is one of the floating landings up inside the inlet, gas, food, even a restaurant, the other pic of Rivers Inlet Resort dock.