Our journey from the boat launch, which is just out of town, was pretty uneventful, weather held out for us and the water was pretty flat. I guess the most important thing on trips like this is ones safety, especially if you plan to head out into open ocean at any time. Greg's Lowrance (not as good as mine!) had the coastal Navionics chip in it so directions were no problem, even for him! We had the full complement of safety equipment with us which included numerous items of clothing in order to be prepared for whatever the coast may throw at us, and it did try. I think heading out into the ocean is one of the "scary" fishing adventures that all us "inlanders" (this story/term will come up later!) want to do. To Greg's and my benefit we had both been salt water fishing before, he in Prince Rupert and myself out of Powell River and, been in some pretty big water, but this was a whole new area to us out by ourselves on the West Coast.
The scenery up to Critter was nothing short of spectacular and pictures as usual, just don't do it justice. It took us about 45 minutes to motor up to the the resort where we had booked a suite for one night and my partners big plan was to sleep in the boat the second night. For some reason he had a brain fart and only got one night because of the dates HE picked, the second night would be at the moorage dock and sleeping in a stinky boat, on the floor, by the bilge! Anyways, that's another story for a bit later!. Long story short, Critter Cove and its people were nothing less than excellent! We were welcomed with open arms and a friendly smile from everyone we spoke with, and they couldn't help us enough. In a remote area like this, service is the name of the game for us anglers and there was no shortage of it at this spot. And, to our surprise and delight, the prices that they charged for various goods such as hooks or ice, were not overinflated in order to gouge the guy that was out in the middle of nowhere but, prices that were even better than we could get back home! Throw that in the mix and the fact that their gas prices at the dock were better than what they want on the channel here in Sicamous and what more could you ask for! OK, how about fresh coffee for your thermos and mugs when you leave at 0500? I've been to the fully catered lodges on the Coast (thanks to Mr. Kimble!) and while they too were great, for a "self serve" kinda operation this was real homey. Oh ya, the fishing.
After we got settled in our cabin for ONE night we kinda stumbled outta the gate and headed for a couple spots that a friend of Greg's had recommended. The spots were obviously popular with others because there were boats at all the spots we had marked on our Hydrographic map. We stayed in the Critter Cove area and worked most of the spots that the other boats did, putting on our versions of what we thought would catch fish. I always wondered what the sounder would show when in the ocean but it wasn't much different than what I saw in our freshwater for markings. I went with my Shuswap Lake fav of grn Coyote.grn flasher while Greg pretty much stuck to the cut plug herring or else anchovy in a teaser head. I worked the 70' depths where fish were marking while Greg stayed up higher in that 30-50' range. The results at the end of the day? He got zip, that's what he got! Although I did manage 5 fish to the boat, 2 were small springs in that 2-3 lb range and the other 3 were small rock cod that weren't worth the effort to fillet them up! Hey, that's not bad action for a couple of guys that had never been here before. At the end of the days fishing we checked the fish board back at the resort and found that there weren't many fish being caught by anyone, and our "haul" was pretty good! I'm guessing here, but I'd say out of 40 boats there weren't more than 15 or so fish caught! Now that's slow fishing and indicated to us, and by talking to others there, that the run of Chinook had not yet hit. Gord, a friend of ours who was there with other "old" friends (either serving or retired Members) Gary, Dean and Frank, managed one nice spring that went 22 lbs but that was it for their day.
Day two and with weather reports were pretty good so we decided to do the "outside"
trip and go for halibut. That meant a half hour or so boat trip up to the
opening of Nootka Inlet and then into open ocean about 5 miles or so. If
you haven't been out on the west coast before it doesn't take long to make you realize how fast
weather can change around these parts. It was smoking hot the previous
day, cooled off in the evening to the point where the shorts wearers switched to
jeans and a jacket and, in the AM everything was soaking wet from the moisture
overnight and a bit of a cool to cold breeze in the inlet. Don't
go
unprepared for these adventures, there's nothing worse than having a miserable
time simply because you didn't think you'd need an extra jacket or some dry
socks. Stuff it all in a garbage bag and seal it shut and your trip will
be that much better.
We were met with a bit of chop and tide swells (3-5') when we first got out there, hali gear down, Greg had the Gibbs Mudraker on while I had the Delta Hali Hawg. I don't think it was 5 minutes and I had the first (and last!) halibut on. A very small one by most standards, in that 8 lb range but, a keeper regardless. The problem we had was that we couldn't get out far enough to where the alleged "good spots" were, big water will do that to you. We kept jigging for a good hour, that's when the wind/weather/chop turned to actual waves. Although Greg's Hewes 18' Searunner held its own out there, the big 10-15' rollers with white foam on top were indicators enough that not many boats should be out there at all. So, we headed back into the inlet and fished around Friendly Cove area where the light house is situated. There were reports of fish being brought in this location yesterday so it was worth a shot. I managed a small Chinook, 2-3 lbs, once again on that grn/grn setup. After about an hour of getting a few more hits and a rockcod this spring hit and put up a bit of a fight. Not the biggest one in the ocean but again, a keeper, and at the rate everyone was catching fish it wasn't time to be fussy! We carried on trolling around this area for the better part of the morning but other than bites and a couple more small rockcod, that was it. We moved back towards Critter and flogged that area for the rest of the day without another fish being taken, just the occasional hit here and there. Once back at the resort for the evening, the fish board again looked pretty bleak! Check out these pics of a float plane taking off right in between all the boats! Is that legal? Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic3
Day three and the last day of the trip, once again up early and we headed
for "the outside" to try more hali fishing. It seems that if there's a
time to do some jigging its first thing in the AM before the winds and
big
tides pick up. This time we ventured even further off shore, the ocean was
kind to us and there was only a small 2-3' swell out there, almost pleasant!
We tried to get further offshore and wound up about 6-8 miles out but, still not
the area we really wanted. We threw the jigs down and again, it wasn't
long and this time it was Greg hooking up with some nice red snappers! We
were fishing in only about 160' of water and it was merely guessing as to where
to put the jigs down. He took those two fish about 20 minutes apart and
then not a thing, I had one bite. We moved "blindly" again, heading for
other boats that were bobbing around and tried several spots, but not another
fish to be had. We actually wasted more time driving around than we did fishing,
this is where it pays to know particular spots and just head to them and fish
them. We did have areas that were pointed out to us as "great" spots but,
we were limited as to where we could go due to the size of our vessel vs Mother
Nature. For future trips we know exactly how we'd play the game and by not
wasting time racing around, maybe even get into more fish.
Also, just to let you know how much my buddy worried about my safety, you see that bigger snapper he's holding, well, it attacked me! That's right, we just were getting under way and Greg says "toss them in the fish locker" , of course while we are rocking and rolling in the waves, so I pick up the big fella by the gills to toss him in. I don't get the fish half way there and it comes alive and does a whoop de doo twister right outta my hand and skewers me with one of its dorsal spines, right in the knee! And, if that wasn't bad enough the spine breaks off! Well Greg of course is pissing himself laughing and its all he can do to drive with the tears pouring out of his eyes. Me, I'm working the spine out (went in about 3/4") and my knee instantly swells up and hurts like a bugger. So there I am peeling my pants off to clean up the wound track, popping Benedril because I'm allergic to stings and stuff and he's still laughing! Nice guy! Then he makes fun of me for the next couple days because I'm limping, what a partner!
As the day wore on and the fish became even more elusive, we were just about to pack it in and head back to the Gold River launch when we got a little action back by Camel's Hump? Some spot right across from the resort anyways. Greg had something clean his cut plug off, bit the line right off! Then I got a couple of good bumps on the grn/grn again and then, here comes the fish story about the one that got away, fish on! It didn't even pull out of the rigger clip but I yanked it outta the clip and gave it a good hook set and then the fish fought, a bit. After a couple of runs we finally got it close enough to the boat to see it and wow, it was a huge fish! Greg actually thought it was a big hali at first because when it rolled all you could see was this big slab of white. The strange thing about a fish this size, is that it had not taken the big screaming run that these fish are well known for. In fact, that small spring I caught had put up more of a battle then this one did. I guess I should have clued in by the rapid head shakes it was doing, that something wasn't quite right. What happened next had Greg and I both reaching for another frosty, the hook simply just "ripped" out! Right behind the boat and not 15' from the net! Nearest thing I can figure is that the hook had wound up in the side of the cheek or just behind the gill plate, and the fish thought he had a herring or something stuck in his gills and was trying to hork it out! Our estimate on it size wise would be at least in that 30 lb class if not even more, beaut of a fish! (Next Page)
