The ClubHouse Reports

July 23, 2008

Hi everyone, greetings from all of us up at Langara Island. We are now past the mid way point of the season, and the fishing continues to improve, as does the weather. Those screaming south east gales and horizontal rain seem like a long time ago. We have now been into a period of light winds and warmer weather.
 
Some nice tyee class springs are continuing to show on the east side of the island and the top end of Graham island. The usual haunts are producing some monsters for those willing to wait and put in lots of time. In the general area, I am hearing about at least one 50 lb chinook everyday, and saw a 64 caught and released by a guide friend Alex Harrison at the neighbouring lodge, well done on this great release.
 
A returning  group Bobcat visited us again and I spent the day with Troy kraft. Troy fished with me the second day of the trip, and informed me he had no luck , could not fish and was not on them. We had a chuckle as the morning got underway, and of course Troy was nervous and shanking bites, missing some smaller chinook, but his humour and effort paid off. Mid morning troy grabbed a 37 lb tyee we carefully placed in the live tank, measured, took some photos, then released. Well done Troy, who had no fish at this point to take home. What a thrill to slip this fish back into Dibrell Bay. Troys reward? A nice 31 lb chinook in the afternoon, same place, which we took. The setup on these fish was a cut plug at 60 feet on the rigger, following needlefish and diving ducks.
 
There has been herring as well passing threw Dibrell Bay. Quite a comedy act to see the guides pounce on these herring balls, jigs flying, trying to grab what they can , carefully shaking them into buckets of brine. Large herring are in short supply, if your guide can grab some, I recommend it. Nothing like fresh large cut plugs, especially with the exotic colors they flash, purples and blues, very enticing to large tyees.
 
There were a total of 8 tyees on the trip, first morning out, 53 chinook hit the dock, mid teens to 22 lbs the average. Dale brandt had a 34, William Bowman a 31, Dan Jennings a 30.5, which was released, Rex Loomis a 30lb fish, and Chuck krause a 30.
Our current trip is a little slower so far, with more teenager sized springs. That being said Mathew Mills fishing unguided grabbed a 38 lb chinook off Gunia point ,part of a double header, lost one similar sized they told me. Rosie Hamilton landed a wonderful 34 this afternoon , out fishing with Jordie, off the Jalun River dragging deep. Plenty of coho to be caught in this area, averaging 9 lbs. Lots of small eating sized halis as well. more around than in previous years.
 
Yes, the salmon are here now, and predictably, the orcas are here to, with daily visits to Langara. The sea lions are acting up as well, grabbing the odd chinook off your line which keeps it interesting. The orcas are taking a few chinook off the guides lines to, Andrew Wood had a nice set of heads, minus the body, courtesy of a orca! Keeps it interesting for sure. With the continued supply of groceries in the area, i.e. bait fish things are pointing to a good week ahead. This is the time to dream of the trophy release, a 50 lb chinook or better is a reality right now. Stay tuned, I am grabbing one this coming week for sure haha.
 
See you all soon and get ready to enjoy a awesome trip at the Clubhouse.

Screamer, Mike Tonnesen
Head Guide, The Clubhouse