We missed posting a report last week, but this week and last didn’t see much change to the fishing patterns.
A high pressure system has been locked in for the past 10+ days, fuelling a steady NW wind that has kept us to the east side of Langara and the Graham Island shoreline.
We’ve been enjoying lots of sunshine lately, but fog has also been a factor lately, settling in around the island most mornings, and these conditions look to be sticking around through this next trip.
We have had a few opportunities to stretch out the boundaries — the wind has slowed enough at times to allow us to get out as far as Langara Rocks, but only on the flood tide.
Andrews Point and Cohoe Point have been fished the most lately, and are yielding the most salmon. Every tide of every day seems to have the salmon sitting at different depths of water, so we’re still working for our bites.
Off Andrews, the Chinook will be close to shore at 10-20 pulls one day, then way out in 300 feet of water the next. Lately the fish have been on the shallower side, but a few tides this trip found them offshore at 50-60 pulls.
Cohoe Point is producing, and boats venturing in towards Egeria Bay are also finding fish. Little Cohoe and Egeria have been a good place to start the day the past few mornings, late in the flood tide.
Both Chinook and Coho salmon are present in these east side waters. Chinook have been mostly average size, but a few larger Coho were found here, including a 16-pounder, the largest this season. Coho tend to gain weight rapidly, so they should be getting bigger by the week through August and into September.
Larger Chinook have been found along the Graham shoreline, from Bruin Bay to Boulder Point. Boats hanging out in Bruin through the ebb tide, and a bit into the flood, have been rewarded with a few flurries of fish. Gunia Point has also been best on the ebb tide.
Boulder has been pretty good, as well, but it’s been a bit busy lately. The shallow waters in tight to Boulder have been holding some nice fish, so there’s a bit of a queue here at times.
Needlefish have been massed in this area for a few trips now and the Chinook seem to enjoy targeting them in these shallow waters.
We’re finding salmon sitting at 10-15 pulls on the kelp corner of the point, and just 6-10 pulls in the shallow bay on the other side.
Our largest salmon of the season — a 53.5-pound Chinook (above) — was caught and released off Seath Point last week. Several 30+ and a 40-pounder were also found this week.
It’s been a great week to work on your salmon ID skills — you’ve got a good chance of finding any of the five species on your line right now. In addition to our favoured Chinook and Coho, Chum, Pink, and Sockeye are also here in numbers.
Gorgeous Chum! 99 years old and Bob Sr. is still reeling them in!
Posted by Langara Fishing Lodge on Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Chum are always a fun catch and pound-for pound maybe the hardest fighting salmon.
Sockeye are not herring consumers so they’re not interested in our bait, but we’ve still caught our share this week, most around 6-7 pounds. They can often be seen jumping in a very distinctive style: they swim along the surface on their side while jumping numerous times, sometimes in a circle. Hopefully, they’re returning this year by the millions to the Adams River.
And it amazes me how Chinook and Coho can tease us by nibbling and stealing bait all day long, but every Pink that bites seems to get solidly hooked!
Halibut fishing has been hampered by the NW winds at times — even fishing at Al’s, about a mile east of Cohoe Point, has been challenging some days. But anglers are finding halibut closer to Andrews and Cohoe when free spooling to the bottom, a little more offshore in the deeper water.
A couple of humpback whales have been hanging out close to shore around Pillar Bay and Egeria Bay, feeding on the needlefish in these waters. The larger groups of these whales seem to be farther offshore of late.
Killer whales, both Transient and Resident, have been around lately, and were even spotted hanging out in the same waters once. A few Transients whales were sighted recently right in the Pass outside the lodge.
Tight lines!
Tufted Puffin
Peregrine Falcon