CH Report: A Great Week of Fishing - July 26, 2019

A soggy summer evening in here at Langara, a steady drizzle,and dinner just hitting the tables. A great week of fishing just concluded and a lot of extremely happy anglers have left Langara with sore arms and big smiles.The fishing in northern Hecate Strait has been peeking as per usual throughout July and the chinook fishing has been very good as has the coho. Although we are not being hit with large tyees or tyees in large numbers, the volume has been impressive. It is very satisfying to see the many different runs of chinook in vast numbers passing through these waters. We have enjoyed huge bites that have lasted many hours, indicating to me some of these runs are very healthy at this point and does remind me of some of the early days fishing these waters.Some of the guides switched to plugs and spoons as the fishery demanded, one and two rod fishing was the norm last week. The 500 plug was on fire for those that wanted to fish something different. The spoons of course were hot as well. A lot of the fishery was conducted off the northern end of Langara, the contours off the Lighthouse, and the tack off second rock. Depths fished were anywhere from 85 feet to 150 feet on the rigger, and mooching rods off the stern were busy with coho.Below is a photo of Alexander Schuetz and his 17 lb coho landed last evening off Langara Rocks. This fish was actually hit at 135 feet on the rigger and was battle to land as the wind screamed in six foot seas just before dinner hour. This is our largest coho so far at The Clubhouse for this season, our boat was happy with that.

Alexander and his 17 lb coho.Another picture here of Korey and the Fox crew playing a tyee on the WEST BANK. Overall quite slow, but the very odd bite was a good bite.

Craig Fox 35 lb in the bag, on the West BankNext up we have Alexander again looking good with his mid twenties chinook, and he had several of them for sure, including several released at 20 lbs.

Alexander and his mid twenties chinook caught in tight in the Bowel!Not to be outdone father Juergen grabbed this healthy mid twenties chinook off SECOND ROCK. We had a nice patch of chinook yesterday afternoon in calm seas for most of the time and plenty chinook, 15 to 24 lbs. the bites just kept coming, most of the time the wait was non-existent. The chinook abundance was awesome to witness this day.

Juergen's best effort, a mid twenties off SECOND ROCK.Next up we have boat ten with a 27 lber in the net for the Fox group, keep the tip up at all times lol! The West Bank was productive for a couple tides. Korey, Owen, and myself found very good chinook fishing one afternoon, fishing tight to the beach and along the kelp, top fish was a 35 lber for Craig Fox I believe.

Boat ten with a high twenties in the bag, keep your tip up,Owens tip of the day!Next we have Lucy tuckered out and catching a break after a long productive afternoon. She loves her Cana hat courtesy of John Simpson.

Lucy tuckered out after a 50 chinook shift!So the fishing is on of course here at Langara. In my opinion the tyees are not here in numbers at the moment, certainly not in my skiff. That said, the last trip ending July 25 was the most productive of the season. We had a dozen chinook in the twenties in our boat alone, and those that fished the Plate had massive days, and some very nice fish, tip fish on the plate was a 34 in Nathan's Skiff.Of course any tyee I mentioned was released. We do carry revival tanks and totes aboard our large boats. These totes are filled with sea water and the fish are revived to gain full strength before being released, and they do swim off Fast and Furious and full of life. A much better outcome for the stock than a club and a vac pac most would agree. Nothing brings a smile larger to a guest or guides face than to see this important brood stock carry on to the many rivers up and down our coast.Ok, time to scurry off to the bunk, dry off the dogs, and get ready for day two of our current trip, goodnight from Langara.Mike Tonnesen, Head Guide, Screamer