Hunting Washington Forum

Other Activities => Fishing => Topic started by: Widgeondeke on August 05, 2019, 10:17:48 PM

Title: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Widgeondeke on August 05, 2019, 10:17:48 PM: I was lucky enough to make the short list for this years fishing trip. It is a reward for the company I work for.

Haida Gwaii is also know as Queen Charlotte islands.

We have fished up in these waters for the last 12 years or so. This is the first time going to Queen Charlotte Lodge.
Great place, food and atmosphere. Top notch equipment and boats and my guide was great.
Only warning: alcohol is NOT included in their rates. This was a minor shock when it came time to check out. Who knew 6 guys could drink that much in 3 days :chuckle:
Previous lodges were all in.

Fishin was good with all limiting on halibut and catching plenty of salmon. Released a lot of pinks.
The "new guy" who had never salmon fished caught and released a 40lb king. He also landed 22 & 19lb kings and a 28lb but.
My largest king was 25lbs and my but was 22lbs. I also caught 3 nice rockfish with the big one being 9lbs. Sent a big ole yellow eye back down to 150' via release.
This kind of trips are a once in a lifetime for most, I've been lucky to make a few now 8)
Pics in order
25lb king
40lb king C&R
First days catch(3 guys)
Last days catch(6 guys)
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Dan-o on August 05, 2019, 10:38:46 PM: That's a great one you're holding. :tup: :tup: :tup:
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Alchase on August 06, 2019, 07:20:46 AM: Nicely done!
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Mfowl on August 06, 2019, 07:27:02 AM: :tup: Looks like a blast!
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: jackelope on August 06, 2019, 07:47:54 AM: Atta kid! Nice fishes!!
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: WSU on August 06, 2019, 07:54:08 AM: My wife and I went there a few years ago. We did self guided, which worked out great and we brought home 150 lbs of fillets. It was spendy but we had an awesome time! I’ll be back for sure!!
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: X-Force on August 06, 2019, 07:56:44 AM: Very cool
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: WSU on August 06, 2019, 07:58:28 AM: I’d add that the booze is really expensive. I’m sure they make a pretty penny on booze. Next time our luggage will be full of crown, which it turns out is pretty cheap in Canada.
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Widgeondeke on August 06, 2019, 10:37:58 AM: Quote from: WSU on August 06, 2019, 07:58:28 AM
I’d add that the booze is really expensive. I’m sure they make a pretty penny on booze. Next time our luggage will be full of crown, which it turns out is pretty cheap in Canada.
yeah, in the past we would always hit the Duty Free to get a bottle per person.
They do push the alcohol, always asking if you want a drink.
I came back with 77lbs of filets. Gave some to the office staff, so maybe 65lbs hit my freezer
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Huntin Hounds on August 06, 2019, 11:58:40 AM: I've been to QCL a couple times now. My buddy and I just got back from trip 20. The salmon fishing wasn't as good as last time but it's still a great time. Most of the kings were out deep with the coho which made it tough to get them. Our biggest king was only 17 but I did get a 13 lbs coho. We stayed on the driftwood which is not quite as comfortable as the lodge but we get to fish more. We did get into quite a bit of large rock fish and lings along with some good halibut. It is expensive but worth every penny. What guide boats were you on?
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: WSU on August 06, 2019, 12:04:55 PM: How is the driftwood compared to the lodge? Also, PM where you got the lings and on what, if you don't mind. That's the one thing I didn't have success on when I went there.
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Huntin Hounds on August 06, 2019, 02:49:25 PM: I have never stayed at the lodge so no way to compare but if you are going up there to fish then the driftwood is where you want to stay. The rooms are small and no options on dinner. Everyone eats together but the food is usually really good. We wake up at 5am and are fishing by 6am. We stay on the fishing grounds so we are fishing within minutes of getting on our boat. The chef and captain will tell us the night before what time dinner is the next day depending on tides. We would come in eat and head back out to fish. One evening we fished till a little after 10pm. The one thing I don't really care for is not being able to walk around much. After a few days I like to be able to stretch my legs.
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Stein on August 06, 2019, 04:51:40 PM: Nice fish, it's been many years since I saw a 40# salmon get netted.
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Widgeondeke on August 06, 2019, 08:49:48 PM: @huntin hounds

We must have passed each other in the Masset airport. I was on trip 21. Our first 2 days were slow for kings. Only 3 kept between 6 of us on day 1. Day 2 saw 2 more kings, but day 3 was AWESOME!. A new run came in and all 6 of us limited on kings that day, plus a few more Coho, one last halibut and a few last minutes pinks(nonfishers dont know the difference) most were given away.
We fished on the new Bridgeview boats. Those are some NICE boats. They have a built in urinal in the front :tup: it's a good thing cuz the sides are way to tall for going over the rail :chuckle:
Our guides were Jaxson(Big Jax) and Tristan(Youngblood). Tristan is only 20 years old, but has worked at QCL for 5 years. He KNOWS fishin and is a flyfishing guide in the off season. Jax is knowledgable
and consistently found halibut & rockfish for us. He teaches scuba diving in the Caribbean during his off season.
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Huntin Hounds on August 08, 2019, 09:10:29 AM: @Widgeondeke

Those are some really nice kings you guys got and those new boats are pretty slick. We had some time Friday morning to look them over while we waited for you guys to find a stewardess for your flight. I can't believe they held up your flight for that. Those guides and employees live some pretty interesting lives. Lots of them go traveling in the off season. Did you guys have any lost to sea lions? We couldn't get away from those things. I lost a fish to one 3 miles offshore and had another follow us from Klash to bird 2 before we pulled our gear and left.
Title: Re: Haida Gwaii '19
Post by: Widgeondeke on August 08, 2019, 03:08:40 PM: @Huntin Hounds

Yup, someone was hungover and didn't show up. Wait they said she was "sick" :chuckle: That cost us a couple hours of fishing

we didn't lose any to mammals :chuckle: Only had a sea lion follow us for a bit @ bird 2, so we left
One of the rookie fisherman with us did lose a couple due to him not lettin 'em run :bash:
There was a guy on another boat that only brought in the head & shoulder of a nice king. Shooter(Duane) got pics and displayed them on the TV @ The Bell Ringer. The balance was eaten by an orca :yike: