CH Report: "More Fish Are Finally Arriving!" - June 8, 2018

A blustery windy couple days here at Langara Island. Gale warnings from the Southeast and Southwest have made for a challenging trip for our guests and guides alike.That said, we have the first tyee of the season weighing in at 33 lbs, for the lucky angler Alain Patrice on the lucky boat - the new 31 footer with guide Jona. They took this fish out West in 30 knots of wind, with thundershowers peppering them all afternoon.We had pretty spotty fishing all week long to be honest. For every boat on a few chinook another one is struggling. Below is a photo of Brent Gallacher and his clients working out West searching for the elusive chinook in one of our 27 foot whalers.

Brent battling South Easterly winds grinding for chinook.I was fishing with a new group, the Miller's from California. We had poor fishing for the first couple days of the trip, retaining no chinook, so the pressure was on Tuesday morning. Lucky us, Southeast 35 to 45 knots greeted us at the dock at 7 am, not promising at all on the water condition front. It was screaming in the pass, I tried to sneak out to Cohoe Point but notta, lot today, 10 footers in the pass. A strong flood tide pushing against a steady 35 S.E. What to do?So we surfed out to Lacey, no fish. We checked out the lighthouse, no sign of life. We decided to try the wall in from Lacey, by Swanton Bank, no surprise no springs. At this point she was screaming, and the rain coming down in sheets. An early lunch in order? You bet.For the afternoon I had Derek Nyrose join us with Darren Miller and by this time we had 50 knots of wind. Most lodge boats were at Cowards Point, or drifting aimlessly in the pass in 5 knots of current on the no hope tack. I decided to beat the heck out of my two able bodied guests, and head out West. They were game, catch a spring and get back to camp and the hot tub.

Derek & Darren with a nice catch.Below are a couple pics. We were soaked and beat but we did grab a twenty lber in short order.

Darren Miller with a nice 20 lber.Wed. was a tough one as well, we now had 30 Southeast out at Cohoe Point and 35 Southwest on the West side, massive swells, no hope of getting out there. Believe me I tried. So we trolled off Andrews, no luck for our boat. Andrew, one of our new guides did grab a 26, one of only a handful of spring salmon retained. We snuck in early for lunch, no bites or fish in my skiff.Wed afternoon, Gallacher and myself were desperate, we needed fish. No one was out West, so I went scouting and after a one hour beating I arrived on my spot in nine foot swells with a very heavy chop. Brutal, macro kelp everywhere, screaming tide and wind, it was ugly. It never helped that I had no bites for two hours.Suddenly they showed up, as did Brent on cue, and we both salvaged the day. Below is a pic of our largest spring at 21.5 lbs, again no monster but we were happy. Kirk grabbed this fish. Brent grabbed three, 17 to 20 lbs, not hot but his clients were very happy.

Kirk Miller and his 21.5 lb chinook. Today sees the wind pattern changing so the whole island will be fishable. It appears to me more fish are finally arriving, a few happy looking guides smiling now as well. It was a tough trip, on the fishing front, but those that battled had results.I am heading out now, so stay tuned for the next report. Hopefully this trip will be a winner weather wise and fish wise.Thanks for checking in, Mike Tonnesen, Head Guide, Screamer