August 28, 2007

What a day up at Langara, the weather was screaming south east this morning and we all took a good beating. I was ecstatic my guide boat of choice was a 27 foot Boston Whaler, as the east side of Langara was closed to fishing as a safety precaution for all other Langara lodges. Once again these big Whalers showed their value, as guides  Kenny, Dan, Serge and myself spent the morning alone at Cohoe Point. The weather was nasty, and it was a two rod situation, it was all I could do to clip my mainline into the rigger release clip without propping myself!

I fished in tight where the swell was huge, trolling 60 feet on the rigger, and with all that room had some awesome fishing for twenty lb springs, in fact limited out three guests on Springs in two hours. We had some fine coho to, including a 14 lb northern with a huge hooked nose. Some of the boats only stuck in there for a couple hours, but everyone was on some fish. Most of the other boats were out at Lacy, where it was extremely slow. This time of year the west side of the island is barren we find, but they gave it a good try.

On another exciting note, on Aug 25th Kenny Tsang was shocked to fill his net bag with a 52 lb spring at Cohoe Point, with a very happy Phil Dreaver landing this monster. Ken was trolling 84 feet with his cut plug carefully prepared in about 120 feet of water. I know this because I was behind him observing and was a bit envious when that downrigger rod buckled and the line screamed. I picked up my lines and tied up alongside Kenny as he measured and released this fish, and we all took amazing photos. That Kenny has a big grin when a monster over 50 is aboard. Kenny told me it is as good as a Stanley Cup......although how a good boy from Vancouver would know, I'm not sure.

Phil fished with me the day before and grabbed a 34 lb spring, 125 feet off the rigger in the same area. The PCL group led by Brad Nelson had a awesome trip with limits of Springs and lots of Coho. The Coho have appeared again and we are regularly grabbing them while trolling for Springs. Try a back rod or mooching rod, 12 to 15 pulls out the back, Chums are whacking the cut plug shallow too. The first run with a big Chum is crazy...often guides having to start the main engine and give chase, only to be mocked on the radio as they are fooled thinking the Chum was a world record Spring. A foul hooked Chum - look out, what a thrill......these fish are underrated.

We are now on the third day of our trip which started Aug 26th. Our biggest tyee is 37 lbs caught by Ashfaqul Haq and guided by Ian Barbour. Linda Blair released a 36 lber fishing with Happy Jack, also from Coho Point. Alain Charette had a 33 lb tyee fishing with Todd, and Ewam Downie with the Canaccord group grabbed a 32 lber.

Fishing is still good for Springs and Coho, with all of our efforts at Cohoe Point.  Boulder / Gunia has dried up completely with NO FISH being hit in this area. This is a pattern I have seen for years, with the first tyees of the season and the last tyees all coming from Cohoe Point. Try your downriggers at 60 and 80 feet early morning then drop one down to 90 or 110 feet and keep a sharp lookout for bait balls on the sounder. Bait is the key when fishing slows down, you must locate baitfish to mooch around or troll threw.....I like to fish on the edges of the herring or just above the bait.

So this week should see lots more Springs coming threw, as we are getting closer to spawning time. This is one area where you get good Springs right into mid September, with tyees a common sight on the dock. We are spoiled here at Langara, the Chinooks start going by here in numbers from early May, right into the third week of September. So get ready for some Chinook action, all of the guides look forward to making this happen. This is a great time to fish up here, see you all soon

Mike Tonnesen
head guide

August 24, 2007

Good news from Langara, the Chinook are building in numbers again and the action has heated up! I am excited to pass on Greg Martin caught, measured and released a 55 lber, fishing with Guide Happy Jack! This monster was jagged at Gunia Point, first pass in the am. A very happy Jack was screaming on the VHF with measurements.....I think he squeaked out 47.5 inches by 30.5 inches. Well done Greg. Both Jack and Greg’s smiles were huge, and built all morning, very proud of the monster tyee release! Way to go!

The same trip but a day earlier Devon Brown, fishing with World Famous Kenny Tsang snuck a 42lber into his tote, only to be one upped by Kim Roy who released a 47 with the Mortician, guide Jarod Ridge. Ridge and Kenny guided these monsters right out of the sweet spot at Gunia, nice going boys. Kory Fletcher had a nice morning guiding Fred Auch to a nice pair of releases, a 31 and 32 lber.  Guide Jordie snuck Geoff Streeton into position for a 36 lber as well, excellent work everyone, lots of great releases.

In the last week, we are seeing Boulder - Gunia, lighting up and the Chinooks are being hit regularly shallow on the riggers and 12 pulls on a weighted rod. This is fun fishing as often we are only in 60 feet of water, so the fish cannot dive, but scream out heaps of line often cart wheeling in the air! What a sight to see your tyee, two feet in the air, twisting and turning, trying to throw that barbless hook. We have some needlefish in this area now and the fish tend to come threw in waves, dead for a period of time then look out, big Chinooks hammering your cut plugs. There are lots of red jellyfish in this area so make sure you check your lines often. You know you’ve hit a jelly when your mooching rod takes a heavy dip in the rod holder and the line screams out 10 feet. No that’s not a monster, but you now need to redo your bait and clean the jelly off your cable and hooks.

As of today, August 22 John Simpson fishing with the Screamer has, the largest chinook of the trip, 37 lbs, caught on a whole herring teaser, 38 feet on the downrigger. We were trolling at a brisk pace, 2.4 mph. to get these teaser heads rolling nicely and having great success. You do not lose many fish when they clobber your herring at this speed, and the hit is awesome. Huge headshakes and a corked rod, with a screaming chinook, wow. The teasers seem to keep the pinks away too, although most of them seem to have passed threw the area now. This trip is seeing good tyees hitting the docks; with guide Todd McIntyre putting on a show, helping Jackie and Debbie Charles land two tyees, one of them coming from Andrews Point, which I saw them land today. I also saw Cecil Lewis with a 33 lber, and Jeremy Van Staalduine with a 33 lber. This looks like a good tyee trip with a day to go.

The weather sure is helping too; calm no wind, warm and sunny for the most part. I have never seen it this wind free up here. I made a classic guide error on change day though and got cocky, went out with no rain gear or boots, in fact no sweater or anything but jeans and a tee shirt. I set up at Boulder and within 25 minutes, the heavens opened up and struck great vengeance and fury upon me, soaking me with hideous rain for a hour before Korey saved me with a load of raingear. I felt pretty stupid out there dressed the way - Note to all, always have rain gear onboard!!

Halibut fishing remains fantastic with all boats that get out having success. Matt Anderson now has six releases over 200 lbs, and with the calm weather hali fishing is staying strong. Many fish 40 to 70 lbs, with plenty of soakers. Plenty of blue sharks to go around out there too. We carefully release these - sure makes a cool photograph. The Ozone is alive with halis and sharks.

The coho fishing is the one weak area, as they are not showing in numbers. The guides are challenged to find coho right now; we will wait and see if they show better in the days to come. Thankfully, the Chinooks are our target species here at Langara.

So in closing, get ready for the chinook action to surge this week as we see a run move into this area. There are big fish in the mix, so play all chinook carefully and you will be rewarded with a nice one for sure. This is a awesome time to be here with the weather and the fish on your side, and the guides can’t wait to help you get into some fish and show you this inspiring area.

Mike Tonesen  " Screamer "
Head Guide- The Clubhouse

August 15, 2007

Just scrambled up the hill and thought I better let you know what is happening on the fishing front. That hill does get easier as the season goes on but the key is pack light and set a brisk pace. All the guides should be in top physical condition by season end.

Chinook fishing is best described as spotty at the moment, with springs averaging low twenties. We just had a 42.5 weighed in by veteran anglers Tyler Hayden and his father Gary, who has fished with us many years. Kenny was the guide and they jagged that fish at Gunia about 5 pm this afternoon. Very few springs were hit, but I did see a tyee come off Matt Andersons boat from the same area. The pinks are pretty thick in there keeping guides from drinking to much tea and coffee. I witnessed Matt tripled up with pinks and I seemed to get my share too.

I fished Coho Point with Dave Climie and his son, along with John Fader and we scratched a 29 lb chinook  along with a 23. Those were our only two chinook takes. I see Al Shankles name on the fish board with a 32, Jay McCauley with a 33 and Ward Tregoning picked up two, 31 and 34, so a couple tyees around but we are in a drier spell the last couple of days. The coho are slow too, although they are now bigger, with several 14 lb ers coming in and 11 to 12 lb coho now the normal. These fish are always a hit with our guests and just the right size fillet for the barbecue.

Chinook fishing for the trip Aug 9th to 12th faired better with top chinook caught by first time angler Norbert Stahl fishing with the Screamer. We were up at McPherson and his fish took a cut plug herring at 110 feet off a Scotty downrigger. What a look on his face when that fish was slipped over the side. The AFG boys were up with Tom Holloran and hit several nice tyees, including Hilton Berger’s 33, Steve Moran’s 32, and Richard Scott’s 33. Ken Black had a 35.5 release fishing with Serge at McPherson as well.
We had a clown wig derby amongst the guides, the guides who did not land a twenty lb fish on changeover day had their names put in a hat, and the name drawn was obliged to wear Rob McAdams’ clown wig for a shift. I am telling you it was a sight seeing Matt strap that wig to his balding head for a morning in the scorching sun. He was a great sport and we have some good photos. Maybe a calendar shot.

On the hali front, the west side of Langara is the good news story, as the weather has been good and the hali biting. Plenty of good stories and the guides with anchors are cleaning up. Especially hot is Bud, along with Pierre and Dan, these guys do not miss weather permitting. Lots of 25 to 55 lbers, and always a 100 plus every trip hits the dock. Checked out the meat on a 40 lb er tonight at the dock and it was perfect, firm, almost translucent, just the right thickness for cooking. The key is to bleed these fish immediately and keep them out the sun. Do not leave the halis or any fish in a tub of bloody water as this just deteriorates the meat. Keep your fish covered and moist, this time of year it is warm on the water!

So if you are heading up here the fish are now moving into the Boulder Bay area and that shallow tack along the reef to Gunia is starting to produce. At lot of boats as you can imagine and competition at it’s finest. We had a bunch of boats in there tonight.  When there is fish at Boulder, especially tyees, it will draw a crowd. Shallow fishing and big fights  are what makes this area special. The east side of Langara has fish as well at all depths, nothing consistent. So you just have to move around a bit and stay in touch with the radio. We all need help some days!

Look forward to seeing you all soon and on behalf of the guides we can not wait to get you into some fish and show you this special area, here’s hoping for a big week ahead and anticipating a surge of chinook into the Langara area.

Mike Tonnesen - Screamer
Head Guide, The Clubhouse

August 10, 2007

Hello again , just stormed up the hill from the dock and thought I would send you a overview of the fishing for the past week. The totes were a little light tonight but lots of springs and coho are still around and you can walk on the pinks.

The chinook fishing continues good and the fish are now being hit shallow and deep. The riggers have been on fire for about a month fishing 90 to 125 feet up at McPherson Point. Needlefish continue to hug the bottom and the springs are too. I cleaned a couple of chinook and they were plugged with the needlefish. This area has been on fire with a heap of tyee class fish landed over the last couple weeks, but seems to have slowed a notch since Sunday. Our Boeing guests are visiting us now and Chip Hull fishing with  guide Sergio grabbed a 35.5 measured it up and released it....right in front of my bow. Chip was one of our several catch and release guests -  well done putting the tyee back. Todd was guiding Paul Craig and slipped a 37.5 over his transom  in the same area. I saw a number of high twenties being taken and many coho were being hit mostly 7 to 9 lbs with a big coho being over 12 lbs.

Guests are pulling some monsters out of the Gunia/Boulder tack as well, fishing shallow here. I am hearing of some fish up to 47lbs hitting North Island Lodge’s dock today, slower fishing but two over forty today, and a hand full of tyees. I was amazed at the pinks boiling in this area this afternoon, jumpers everywhere. A pile of coho too, if you fish chinook here you will be busy baiting hooks, a real understatement.  I still do not see the numbers of chinook we are used to seeing in this area, and the bait and ducks are not around so we will see if Boulder Bay lights up later in August.

On the hali front Hani Faris grabbed a 260 lb halibut fishing with guide Dan. This of course came from the west side of Langara. The weather has been north westerly for a bit now so a strong stomach is a must right now. 250 feet of water and a nice piece of bait and you will get halibut. Fresh bait is always best for halibut, they love the salmon carcasses and leftovers from the cleaning room. I learned long ago halibut are finicky and are not interested in rotten bait. Take time to prepare properly when halibut fishing, and the success ratio will go way up!

We are having a foggy drizzly spell the last couple days but the winds are dropping for tomorrow. If you are heading up here count on some fast paced fishing, no cut plug is safe this time of year. If you go ten minutes without a fish or a hit check your bait, I would guess it is GONE. This time of year you have to work the gear and stay on top of it. With the jelly fish and pinks around those who work hard consistently out fish the other boats.

We look forward to getting you out on the water and enjoying this incredible fishery. All five species of salmon are here right now. Stop by my boat at the dock and say hi and I will pass any information along that I can, including the various radio codes and nicknames of any guides you are curious about. Always wondered how Kenny was named the Thermos; Sergio...mumbles;  Jarod...Mortician;  Bud....fun Bu;, Matt....Bitterauchy; Korey....Henrik, Todd....captain sensible, or just Rod; Ian....this is Ian?  That is amusing !

Lots of fun up here right now, see you all soon,

Mike Tonnesen ( Screamer)
Head Guide- The Clubhouse

August 7, 2007 

Calm seas and warm sunny weather , a very nice week at Langara . A monster fish caught and released on July 26th ,so here is the story on this incredible fish. Thursday night Joe Delahouyasse, fishing with the Screamer hooked into a 65 lb Hippa at McPherson Point and successfully landed it after 45 minutes on a extremely corked mooching rod! What a heck of a battle. 15 pulls on a back rod with a 8 ounce banana weight and a fresh cut plug was the weapon of choice. Those back rods do nail the odd monster! We hooked it at 6:15 pm and knew right away it was a monster “something” - Joe saw it and said it was brown , like maybe a big hali. I was thinking what the heck? We were in a 180 feet of water but stranger things have happened up here. I thought maybe a shark the way it was peeling out line and running along the point, deep into the bay, then back out to the tide line .The fish never showed for 25 minutes, boiled and I almost got sick, wow. The rod looked like it was going to snap for sure with the max pressure being applied by Joe. I radioed over to Ken Tsang to stick around with his live tank and thanks to him and the Mac Realty group we had a audience and a official witness to measure the fish before release, 50 inches long with a girth just over 32 inches.. The chinook fought with all it had and was in net range three times, but would not roll or swim into this guides net, for another 20 minutes.  Thanks to Kenny  for helping me revive this monster and get beautiful pictures, I owe him for sure. His guests were awesome too and what a feeling for all of us to see that monster swim off, the huge tail powerfully propelling the  chinook off on its trip to the spawning grounds. I have to say it was a tough job getting ones hands around the tail and also supporting the belly of the fish, so thank you Ken for the help again, a once in a lifetime situation and a incredible memory!

On the fishing front we are starting to find fish at Gunia Point and Boulder Bay. Nothing is super consistent depth wise or location wise. Tristan Hodge guiding Owen Lane Grabbed a 46 lber up at McPherson in about a 100 feet of water, this fish was released as well, great going guys. We are finding fish up there deep, like 110 feet on the rigger, as a lot of needlefish are hanging on the bottom. Some tyees are still shallow though, as Mike Throne and myself grabbed a 32 lber on a purple haze teaser head, 25 pulls out on a back rod. The whole herring tends to slow the pinks down which are here in large numbers now. I threw out a favourite 500 Tomic plug to get a break and had a tyee to the boat before the hook let go and flew at my face.  Sergio had a great bucket fishing in Dibrell Bay , late this afternoon, a limit of chinook 19 to 23 lbs. Dan Ackerman had Brian Nixon down at Boulder Bay and snuck a 34 lber over the side fishing shallow. So there are some tyees around but we are working very hard to find them. The small fish keep you busy to, lots of releasing and bait changes.

we are looking forward to getting another surge of chinooks this week, the last few days have been a bit slower, which is not the norm.  This time of year is usually a very busy time when it comes to the chinooks. The last two years the fish have been passing threw a bit later so we expect a extremely good August run, with big fishing right into September. The coho continue to stage in the area and any shallow rod will pick up these fish in large numbers with coho being hit right down to 140 feet on the riggers. Lots of fun and keeps everyone busy.

The hali fishing continues excellent with all boats doing well. The guides have the spots tagged on the GPS and with the calm seas they are having huge fishing with plenty of fish of  all sizes. Guide Mike V helped Idaho’s Gaylen Harken bring in a 255 lber yesterday, with other guides such as Pierre , Korey, Dan and Bud demonstrating they know how to get any size fish you desire. I always like the 20 to 50 lb size myself, easier to deal with and package up for home use, really nice meat and nice to leave the monsters to spawn and keep our fishery going. Thanks to all who are continuing to release these incredible huge female halibut.

With the good weather forecast  for the next few days look out, we are going to produce some great fish as we get into August. You can not beat these calm seas and the  warm temperature is a welcome thing of beauty. We are fishing in tee shirts, wow, who would think that is possible? So get up here and start enjoying this fishery, we can not wait to get you on some fish and out on the water. See you all soon!

Mike Tonnesen (Screamer)
Head Guide , The Clubhouse

July 25, 2007 

Here is our updated fishing report from The Clubhouse, where all is good and the fish are biting! Just got up from the dock and saw some excited guests and some great tubs. The Don Haggen group is currently visiting and good timing I must say as some nice chinook are showing up again. Had a glance at Kenny’s tote and had to ask, how big? Sure enough a proud Ron Gai answered 40.2 lbs! John Ferlin was even more excited with his 43 lber, caught earlier in the day with Ed Chutter! Saw some nice halibut too, a few around a hundred lbs and some nice 40 lbers coming from the west side. Don Haggen set the bar yesterday with a beautiful 34 lber, and it seems these bigger fish are filtering by Langara again.

These big chinooks are all coming from the McPherson Point area where we are taking full advantage of our Scotty downriggers, picking these fish up at 110 to 140 feet deep. We are fishing close into Explorer Bay. There is a deep hole in there and needlefish, as well as huge herring balls are holding on the bottom. Our mooching rods are mostly quiet as the downriggers are making it easy getting a cut plug herring to the bottom....deep deep deep fishing. Some of the guides shallow up along the kelp and the point then drop the cable as soon as they work out along the lip of the bay, slow trolling between the tip of McPherson and the north side of Andrews. This is a fantastic tack but can get crowded when the fish show in there, mostly our boats and everyone seems good about bringing in the gear if a guest hooks a big chinook. Very few fish are being wrapped up in fellow guides cables. These bigger fish just showed up after taking a week off, we are pretty excited with the return!

On July 19th a monster was taken by Rob Weiss and his guide Pierre, a 62 lber fishing out off Andrews Point. What a nice fish, our largest to date. The 19th to the 22nd trip started hot with this big chinook as well as a number of tyees including long time guest ...Rob McAdams grabbing two nice tyee fishing with myself. Rob has been coming up to Langara with his boys Darren and Brad since the eighties....always nice to swap stories and catch up. We had to work hard for our fish for a few days as the chinook vamoosed as quickly as they showed up. We worked all over the Island but ended up back at McPherson fishing deep on the baitfish.

The halibut continue to be strong on the west side with lots of fish being hit. I know of at least another half dozen monsters over 200 being released, well done guests and guides - we will make a difference. There seems to be plenty of eating size halis to go around, weather dependent of course. Hali fishing is heaps of work but on a calm day with a slack tide look out, Langara is regaining its reputation as a world class halibut hotspot.

We are now fishing right smack in the middle of the prime chinook and coho fishery. There are lots of these Coho in the area, 6 to 10 lbs mostly and they are hitting cut plugs like they are going out of style. I can suggest trying a large 6 inch Tomic plug when you need a coho break, a 602 or a 500 are magic up here and I have had them out this week on and off. Pretty much all your hits will be Chinooks! With all this action a guy needs some sleep, so I am going to do just that. The weather is co-operating finally with no wind for a week and sun actually shinning - rain gear is actually being shed!

See all of you soon and get ready for heaps of action , all the guides look forward to getting you out on the water .

Screamer, Mike Tonnesen
Head Guide , The Clubhouse

July 16, 2007 

Wow.....the big chinooks returned this week , with too many success stories to mention everyone and all the big fish. July 6th to the 8th saw some incredible tyee fishing, topped by a catch and release 51 lber reeled in by Ross Henderson. This fish was taken at Cohoe Point, off the downrigger deep, a very nice tyee!
The area known as Rat Bay by the clubhouse guides was going off, with some heavy chinook fishing and many happy guides and guests. I have to thank Kuiama, lodge brother and guide fishing for North Island Lodge, for putting us on them. A great VHF radio call that paid off for all of us. The PCL boys were up and timed the trip perfectly getting in on the big fish. Lucky angler Dave Filipchuk had a trip of a lifetime, grabbing a 46 lb tyee fishing with guide Dan Acherman, then jumping ship and taking a 38lber with this guide they call screamer, and somehow managed a 70 lb halibut guided by Bud Stafford. Archie Roberts snuck a 34 lber out of the kelp bed right off the hot corner that put a huge smile on his face.

Korey Fletcher was guiding the Baileys and finished the trip off in style coaxing a 34 lber out of the kelp right in tight to Macpherson Point. Korey has this tack down, and I find he hits them in 60 to 80 feet of water, mooching his cut plugs through the needlefish. Try to get in there, and if you get a chance cut him off for me, so we can get in on the action! Fish 40 feet to 50 on the rigger or mooch 13 to 25 pulls. There are many big Boston Whalers working this piece of water right now, if you need some peace and quiet slide over to Cohoe Point, less boats and some big tyees as well. Jack Finkelstein, guided by Dave Nickerson did a great job grabbing a 39 lber here, and Steve Chutter scooped a nice 39 lber as well with the Mcadams! A lot less traffic and some big monsters - well done boys! 

As I write this report, Tuesday July 10th, this run appears to be moving through! We are still hitting some tyees, but not as hot as the 6th to 9th. Could be whale related as the Orcas gorged on their fair share of chinook, a big part of an Orca whale’s diet. The sea lions a causing havoc as well, actually pounding the hooked chinook hard. We have video footage of a lion grabbing the net and a nice chinook out of a guide’s hands, and heading to shore for a lunch. Amazing footage for sure, and some stunned guests and guide.

On the hali front the fish are there weather permitting, with guides Bud Stafford and Matt Anderson leading the way. If there is such a thing as Superman, these two are it. What a show they put on with Bud releasing another 200 lber yesterday! Bryan Pitkin battled a 197 with Matt this week, and I am amazed at how consistent these two boats are on the grounds. They are anchoring up and cleaning house, with plenty of nice 30 to 70 lb fish and huge smiles on all their guests faces! 

All the guides are pumped right now with these huge Chinooks in the Langara area, and we look forward to a tyee encounter with all of you. These are special fish and this is an incredible chinook fishery. We can all do our part to conserve these huge chinook over 40 lbs with some great incentives, from the club. I have always enjoyed the 18 to 25 lb fish for eating; the meat is firm and the portion size perfect. What a thrill to release a tyee, so we can enjoy this fishery for a long time. On behalf of all of us at The Clubhouse - see you all soon and bring those cameras.

Mike Tonnesen (Screamer)
Head Guide, The Clubhouse

July 4, 2007

Hello everyone, just got off the water and thought I would update you on behalf of the guides at the clubhouse. A south easterly wind brought gale force winds and rain showers today, and this guide was glad he had a nice Bimini Top to hide under. The fishing has slowed a bit the last two days, and we are now seeing more springs in the high teens, low twenties. I checked a few guides totes out, noticed Jordie’s had several nice coho along with a limit of high teen chinook. Most of the guides had to work hard and battle the wind at Cohoe  Point to boat any chinook. I found the bite came on at 11 am and they hit hard until 1 pm. We were working the needlefish at little Cohoe in 100 feet of water, trolling 50 and 70 feet on the riggers. No shortage of action for us, although it was a battle to keep the lines out of the kicker. Lots of kelp was blowing threw as well, 6 foot seas with a heavy chop, but those of us who stuck it out all took nice chinook.

The trip June 28th to July 1 faired a lot better, highlighted by Mike Throne and his son John Throne releasing the first 40 lber of the year at the Clubhouse. I had the privilege of releasing this monster for Mike , what a thrill to see these fish swim off to spawn and continue on the gene pool for the future.  I should know better when we hooked up, first pass change over morning when Mike said ' screamer we have a real one here'! The chinook screamed down the kelp, boiled then rolled in the dead calm seas about 100 feet from the boat. I swore it was about 25 lbs but Mike had his A game on and convinced me it was a huge tyee, and proved it when I netted it and hoisted it aboard. Right away Mike said lets put it back, so we carefully measured the tyee, took a few great photos and watched as a 40 lb salmon swam back into the kelp. Well done Mike. We also connected on a 33lber as well as a 30 lber earlier in the trip.

Todd McIntyre ran his guests down to the Jalun River and quickly grabbed a 36 lb tyee, although he told me most of the springs down there are about 15 to 19 lbs, lots of them that day for sure. Also by looking in the guides totes I saw lots of 10 to 17 lb chicken halis coming from this area. A bunch of 6 to 7 lb coho are swirling around the needlefish in this area too, lots of action.

Ken Tsang fished his guests Peter Dickson and Bruce Keltie up at Rat Bay and tried an offshore tack , grabbing a nice 30 lber and said there was nice chinook to be had in this area for sure. Guide Dan Acherman grabbed a 35 lb tyee with his guests in this area as well, although he was fishing the kelp in tight.

Overall the Cohoe Point area is the most consistent at this time as the bait continues to pour into this area. It is all needlefish, and the humpbacks are breaching and slashing, putting on a great show. This is the most needlefish I have ever seen  holding at Cohoe and explains the consistent fishing. You can not go wrong dragging a cut plug herring at 50 feet on your downrigger right now.

Other areas such as Gunia Boulder are slower and spotty, as the bait is not holding in the shallows. A few fish are coming from this area, but not the usual flood of monsters!

Hopefully with the weather coming down tonight we can work the east side of Langara hard tomorrow and connect on some nice chinook. The guides are eagerly waiting the next flood of chinook into this area and can’t wait to coach you into  some great fish. We will see you all soon and look forward sharing some of this incredible fishing with you, Mike Tonnesen, head guide.

June 27, 2007

Well here we are on our June 24-28 trip date and would you believe it, the south east gales returned yet again, blowing us out to Lacy Island today! Winds howled a steady 35 knots with a good chop. The setup was again a drift from Mutton Bay out past Lacy and pretty much out  until you started to see the albatrosses, a large gull like bird. Mutton Bay was named long ago after guide Paul, originally  from New Zealand. Here he once claimed he was into 39 chinook by lunch and called the bite. We all headed begrudgingly deep into the bay after a early lunch break only to find our well prepared cut plugs gobbled up by black bass and various other bombers.

It turns out there is some chinook to be had on this tack, fishing relatively shallow, 40 to 50 feet on the cable or 20 to 25 pulls for the moochers. The chinooks averaged about twenty lbs but there were some larger in the mix up to the 33 lbs caught by Stuart Sasser fishing with guide Bud Stafford. Bud loves this tack in his 27 foot Boston Whaler Predator, as the wind just pushes him with ease out past Lacy where in a previous year he grabbed a 60 lber!  I had a good look at the fish totes hitting the dock and the guests who hung in there were rewarded with very nice chinook and a few coho, which are now averaging 5 to 6 lbs.

The June 21 to 24 trip produced some heavy fishing with guides hitting the docks looking like they were almost exhausted. The Don Morgan Group was up and although the larger chinooks were harder to find the 18 to 25 lbers were stacked at Cohoe Point. Lots of guests released a half dozen chinook a day and easily retained what was needed for home. Again we were fishing a tight tack along Little Cohoe shoreline picking off great chinook at 40 and 50 feet on cut plug herring. I found just working the fallen tree to the eagle’s nest was very productive, as the needlefish were stacked in the bay. A lone humpback was pounding the bay feeding heavily, as well as a huge flotilla of auklets and assorted diving ducks. The best fishing was on the flood, and for the three days the chinook poured into Egeria Bay. great fishing and heaps of fun.

On the halibut front, the weather backed off for most of the previous week and wow, when it calmed down and the tides slackened the game was on. I must say what a great thing we’re seeing starting to become the norm here at Langara, releasing giant halibut! Without further delay the guides and myself want to thank the Don Morgan group of anglers and especially Kevin Mather for releasing a 200 lb plus hali with Matt Anderson providing the guidance. Matt told me easily 200 lbs, and they retained a 59,39, 25 for eating as well as releasing a 40 ling cod. Well done boys. Bud Stafford’s guests caught and released a 225 lb plus hali as well the same morning! Several other guides were on the halis including Ken Tsang landing a 175 lber and Pat Simmons...perhaps the guide who enjoys ground pounding more than anyone ever fishing Langara, seen dragging more than a few 60 to 120 lb halis down the dock.

The boys got together after work, and guide Dan Acherman fishing with fellow guides Bud, Matt and Korey caught and released a 86 inch halibut ( on the size charts this monster scaled out to 349 lb!) , after shooting some great video. These are big female halibut capable of producing a lot of eggs and many more fish in the future here at Langara.  It sure is nice to see the guides onboard this idea of conservation, and thanks to all the guests who participate!

The bait continues to show up and large amounts of needlefish are holding on the east side of Langara. All the usual points will continue to produce, and we will see first hand tomorrow as the wind is predicted to change to a westerly flow. Some of the guides are buzzing down to Green Point and are finding good action with lots of 17 to 23 lb chinook and an amazing number of chicken halibut. Guide Korey Fletcher was up in arms ,flailing away, as all his lines were snapped up by 10 to 15 lb chickens as I drifted by. These halis were everywhere, 30 feet to 60 feet, no cut plug was safe.  Guide Tristan suggested trolling at 30 feet, no deeper, to keep the cut plugs in the chinook zone. Korey did return to the dock with a 29 lb spring, looking happy and relieved!
 
In closing the guides look forward to getting you out on the water and experiencing this incredible fishery. Every week the chinook are continuing to increase in numbers and the coho are getting larger, a pound a week now. So get those arms ready and do not forget the cameras, see you all soon.

Screamer (Mike Tonnesen)
Head Guide, The Clubhouse

June 20, 2007

The Hippas are in now.....a term used by guides to describe the large strain of chinook holding in the Langara Island area. Excitement and big smiles are all over the dock tonight as a second large Hippa Hog was weighed in by Jim Kessler, 41 .5 lbs. Jim was fishing with the suddenly hot Ken Tsang at Cohoe Point and successfully boated the monster. The weather was testy, bordering on extreme, southeast gales and a six foot swell with a heavy chop. Evidently no problem for these big Boston Whalers we are guiding out of, as most of the afternoon we had Cohoe Point to ourselves, and the fishing was awesome. Lots of springs in the 18 to 28 lb range with three other tyee hitting the dock.
 
Yesterday was a awesome day weather wise and fish wise with Ron Bruhaug grabbing a 46.5 lber to take over fish of the year honours again caught at Cohoe Point fishing with world famous Ken Tsang. Springs averaged 20 lbs with several tyee class fish landed. For the trip we are at six tyee and counting, with another full day to go.
 
The weather has been unpredictable this spring with more gales than normal, but the guides are certainly all working hard and finding lots of great chinook. We are trolling and mooching 40 to 50 feet deep, mostly using cut plug herring, although a few of us are trolling whole herring in teaser heads with great results. Purple Haze and the glow green heads do the trick nicely. Lots of good comedy with the gale force winds, as many guides are finding themselves in the kicker motors at times, lines wrapped around downrigger cables. The odd nice chinook is escaping to spawn as they scream through the boats and find other guides lines. We all have been kidding Kenny, asking him if he has been sharpening his rigger cables.
 
The fish are now here and right on time. The coho are in the mix but still on the small size, four to six lbs. Lots of needlefish in most areas. Boulder Bay and Gunia Point producing some great chinook in the mid twenties to low thirties. We are fishing the shallow tack along the kelp beds pulling very nice chinook out of the needlefish schools. Any time now the first large Hippas will be hit in this area.
 
Halibut fishing has been tougher with the big winds but veteran guide Matt Anderson set the anchor out on the west side and produced some great halis in the seventy pound class. He commented it was slower fishing but productive in the weather window. Guide Pierre hauled a nice ninety two lber over the side in Boulder Bay while fishing for chinook, a great catch on a salmon rod for sure.
 
As we hit our longest days of the year fishing is very good with a lot of excitement on our dock. The guides are pumped to see these large fish passing through and as always we look forward to releasing these giants to spawn and continue this gene pool for the future. The guides all carry digital cameras and will measure your trophy and take a great picture of your monster chinook if you choose to release it, always a fantastic feeling. 
 
So in closing we can hardly wait to see you all and what a year it is shaping up to be. On behalf of all the guides we look forward to getting you out on the water and showing you firsthand one of the greatest chinook fisheries in the world.

Screamer, Mike Tonnesen
Head Guide, The Clubhousee

As week two concludes fishing has picked up and large schools of chinook have arrived at Langara! The weather has certainly chased us around as southeast gales pounded the east side of Langara ,moving us out on the Lacy Island Express. The guides drop the gear in at the rock and go with the wind and tide, sometimes gusting 40 knots. We would head due west for a 20 min drift and were picking up lots of twenty to 25 lb chinook, with a few tyees in the mix. The key was the depth, with most guides hitting great fish, forty to fifty feet on the downrigger. The bait was stacking up right from Lacy out to 200 foot ledge. Great fishing for sure with lots of happy guests and guides.
 
Guide Serge put on a show guiding  superstar guest Caesar Traverso to the fish of the trip, 35 lbs, following that up with a nice 32 lb chinook. Well done Caesar!
 
Jarod Ridge came up for a week to guide and showed us all how to fish high slack at Gunia Point successfully landing a 46 lb chinook ,the largest of the season. Long time guest Bob Young along with his brother Bill, teamed up with guide Bud Stafford  for the trip, and dragged a nice 41 lb  chinook out of Boulder Bay. I saw  Bud’s tote when he hit the dock and also saw three springs in the high twenties! Again Boulder Bay is hot and cold but will pick up as the needlefish move in, usually the end of June.
 
Earlier in the week, unguided guests but very experienced  Hans Auer and fishing partner Marcel Gregory ran out to the hali grounds and brought home a monster 288 lb beast! Rumour has it a guide, while attempting to help drag the butt out of the boat pulled a bit to hard and fell off the dock, soon yarded back aboard by Clancy Barr. Everyone had a good laugh and the razzing began!
 
The halibut fishing slowed somewhat, some of which was weather related, but most guests who worked hard at it grabbed a couple nice chickens, 25 to 40 lbs. Lets hope this wind continues to drop off and we can get back out for a ground pound.
 
As of the 11th of June the chinooks have moved back into Cohoe Point and there are lots of them. We are hooking up regularly at 50 feet on the downrigger, fishing around the bait and humpback whales out front from the fallen tree! Nice fishing with lots of 16 to 22 lbers with some chinooks in the 25 lb class mixed in.
Humpback Whales are now here for viewing, as the bait continues to pour into the area. I have counted dozens feeding actively outside Lacy island, as well as what seems like hundreds of eagles. All signs are pointing for a hot fishery and we will keep you posted.
 
Look forward to seeing all of you soon and on behalf of the guides and staff we look forward to getting you out on the water to see first hand this incredible fishery and all the surrounding sights!

Mike Tonnesen-" Screamer"
Head Guide, Clubhouse

May 31st, 2007

A big hello from the West Coast Fishing Club as the 2007 season begins. Great improvements have been made and all returning guests will be surprised with our new Marine Centre. The fish cleaning and processing area is amazing and in my opinion second to no other at any lodge.

With fishing underway, the guides are having lots of success landing chinooks in the 17 to 24 lb range. Most of the fishing is concentrated on the east side of Langara, with all the usual spots producing. Highlights included Ted Walter landing a 40.5 lb beauty on May 29th at Cohoe Point, a fish that jumped six times in extremely rough water with Ted kneeling on the floor of his 27’ Boston Whaler - rod tip up of course!

Also notable, guide Ken Tsang went old school and took Ben Lindbergh into Bruin Bay on the ebb tide and mooched a nice 31 lb chinook out of the kelp, well done Ben.

Todd McIntyre took advantage of a nice day with our Mercury engine reps, and ran east to Cape Edensaw, and successfully guided Eric Nelson into a 37 lb chinook that was measured and released, largest released chinook to date and always a great feeling to see these giants swim away to live another day!

On the halibut front Pat Simmons took long time fishing partner and guest Anthony Lawler to the west side June 4th and battled a monster hali some 244 lbs, largest to date. Our other guided boats did well on the eating sized 20 to 45 lb halis. Weather permitting, all signs point to another great halibut season, so get those arms in shape and ready.

So, look forward to seeing you all this season and on behalf of the guides and staff we can’t wait to get you out on the water enjoying the incredible Clubhouse experience.

Mike Tonnesen .....Screamer
Head Guide- The Clubhouse