The ClubHouse Reports

June 22 - 23, 2008

South easterly gales greeted the guides this AM at Langara, a good news, bad news situation. The good news was The Clubhouse had the eastern side of Langara all to themselves, the big Boston Whalers are the ticket when the wind screams up here. Windy enough to blow my wig off today, Brendan Hodge and myself fishing the Lester group had Boulder Bay to ourselves. The chinook fishing was okay and we both hooked some nice fish, with Barry and Shirley Lester landing three kings in the teens and Brendan’s boat losing a very nice fish. This kind of weather can be crazy as we were fishing the drift in very large seas with a wicked chop, at one point my net blew off the railings, coolers flying, tea not staying in cup, quite a gong show, but the only area holding fish this AM.
 
During the afternoon the seas flattened and new guide Cody King, radio handle Cod...y Ling, took Gary and Linda Grant up to the lighthouse to try something different, and boy did they strike gold. Came back with a 52 lber, caught right in front of the light where the tide rips crazy fast. I was told Gary caught the tyee on a green teaser head, 66 feet on the rigger, 15 min. fight. Well done! The guide said "only salmon bite" with a couple bass takes in the mix.   
 
 This trip started yesterday, the 22nd, and three tyees were taken on an otherwise very slow day. Dwight Fritzler fishing unguided with family showed us how to do it catching the fish of the day, a 39 lb chinook, his first chinook ever landed. My first chinook was four lbs off Sooke casting a buzz bomb off the rocks, some guys have all the luck! Dwight took his fish out of Cohoe Point at 6pm, the boys from Alberta have a great fish to take home. Wilson Wong grabbed a 37 lber fishing with Chris Dunn in the Boulder Bay area, and Jorge Lymn snuck a 38 lb chinook back to the dock , with a happy Andrew Wood doing the coaching. 
 
I am mentioning the big fish, but the current fishing is slow, some might call it dry, some might call it sightseeing! Although there are some very big fish being hit, the standard 18 to 25 lber,s are  few in numbers and we are fishing hard for every chinook. All areas are squeezing out a couple fish, with no area being consistent. In general we are fishing shallow and with bait, the hardware has not come in to play yet. Forty to sixty  six feet on the riggers has been okay, many guides running dummy flashers and teaser heads. The teasers are effective with the small herring , and with this wind the bait stays on with the fast troll. You need to bring some patience with you now as the chinook hits are not what we are used to, and a large early run of pink salmon are in the area, especially Cohoe Point to Langara Rocks, where waves are coming threw, thousands at a time on the surface. These fish gobble anything in their eyesight, hitting bare hooks if dangled, driving even seasoned veteran guides to tears. The best idea is to pick up and move locations as your bait bucket will empty in seconds and your chinook fishing time evaporates.

Another great release I forgot to mention from the previous trip June 19-22nd, was guide Chris Jarvis and guests Frank Fezza teaming up for a 48.88 lb fish and current Spring Challenge leader. This fish was again taken in the lighthouse area and could stand up for first place and a great payoff! Mike Dusterhoff caught a football of a tyee, measured by guide Brendan Hodge at 40 in, by 27 girth ,went 36.5 lbs at the scale, a very fat chinook.
 
On the halibut front slippery Bud Stafford snuck out west and caught and released a 120 lb fish with guest Frank Pagura, then grabbed a couple 40 to 50 lbers for eating. Bud told me he had to work at it, the bottom is not paved with fish, but a full shift should produce a few nice halibut. The trollers are now working offshore and the discarded guts seem to help the fishery, as do the pink salmon. We will see the halibut fishing improve as July rolls in.
 
Heard a great remedy for sea sickness from my guests the Lesters today. Seems vet guide Cat Stevens.....aka Pat Simmons has the cure so here goes, take a slice of bread, cut off crust and discard. Knead bread dough into ball and swallow. Dough will expand and fill stomach cavity, easing seasickness. Take one slice every four hours or as needed. Hmmmm I know, I am still howling myself, and I am now guiding with a loaf in the tackle box.
 
Tomorrow winds are set to ease and all the guides are heading in different directions looking for the chinooks. We have bait holding in the Boulder area, the Reef, and Cohoe Point, so with the groceries here, the fish should soon show in numbers. We hope to help you enjoy this area and all that it has to offer, and with some weather improvement on the way, we are confident you will have a great time.

Mike Tonnesen - Screamer
Head Guide, The Clubhouse