CH Report: Tyees, Coho & Clubhouse Tales – July 29, 2025

Hello all, from The Clubhouse here on Langara Island. A gusty July night here on the island, southeast winds and some rain, which reminds us that we are situated in a rainforest here in Haida Gwaii.

Fishing has been very good for well over a month in our local waters. June was very strong - the lions left us alone for the most part, and Boulder Bay was constant, if not excellent, for the first month of the season. We fished in tight to the Boulder and along the kelp with great results, including several over 30 lb tyee releases. The top fish at our lodge was angled by Mikee Johnson’s crew. The photo below shows how gorgeous this fish was - 38 lbs and, of course, released! Well done, guys.

The beginning of July marked the start of the coho run, and the fish in this run are still going strong, increasing in size weekly, topping out with Alexander’s 14 lber, a great size for mid-July. We angled this fish up on the east side off Andrew’s Point, plenty of action there for the coho.

The chinook action continues to be great in most areas, although we are now working the west side more. DJ snuck into his private top-secret spot, well, Pete told him to go try it, and you’d never guess what happened… he quickly angled a 41 lber with his guests. I have no pics as of yet, but well played, DJ, with Pete getting partial guide credit for dispatching him to the fish.

Salmon sharks… you know it when you set a hook and the reel just screams off and never stops. You can’t budge the fish and gain minimal line… minutes turn into hours if you let it happen, or you wise up and break the shark off. Or the shark does you a favour, rolls on the line, and snaps off. Or you have a shark that takes both rigs and you land it, as Bob and I did. Picture below of a very nice shark, landed rather quickly at Cohoe Point.

Our last trip saw Brent and his group land the largest fish of the season to this point, a released 45 lber. Photo credit to Jeff V., a pro photographer flown in for the trip. This fish was angled in the Fish Bowl a couple of days back. Great camera work, Jeff, and awesome fish released, guys.

Our current trip sees me guiding one of my long-time guests, Doug Gowland, coming up to fish with us, and with me the latter years here at The Clubhouse. Doug has supported us for many years and has fished the B.C. coast, including Rivers Inlet in the ’80s when I was there, and followed us north to Naden Harbour in the early ’90s and on to Langara. He has never lost his touch with the rod and easily lands any fish that bites - and did so yesterday, first day of our current trip.

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Wow, it’s a good one, landed expertly and into the release tub filled with chilled seawater, right from the net, immediately submerged and breathing.

It’s a hatchery fish - no adipose fin, we notice. Look at that girth!

A quick pic, and off she goes like a bullet!

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Here at The Clubhouse, we use the formula: length x girth, divided by 800, for the accurate true size of the fish - not 750. This fish measured in at 35 lbs.

This particular fish hit in tight to the wall in the Fish Bowl, screaming down the wall in a hurry. All the guides were great avoiding entanglement of lines and showed the professional abilities we pride ourselves in.

Paul and Korey were on fish as well, for sure - Paul and his crew landing a nice fish in the pic below.

The sun does shine—promise. Here’s some evidence.

Lucy and Cinde like sun and calm seas… goodnight from The Clubhouse, on behalf of our guide team, dock crew, and of course, LUCY.

SEE YOU SOON,
Mike Tonnesen, Head Guide, The Clubhouse

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