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Langara Fishing Update
MV Marabell - August 25, 2008The solid fishing I hoped would continue in my previous report has not come to fruition. Rather than focus on this as a problem, I prefer to see it as an opportunity for our guests to refine their skills. Really, what fun would it be if the fish just jumped into the boat?
One of the major challenges we face right now is the abundance of needlefish in the area. The salmon we catch are literally choking on them, so I can’t help but think they are not very excited by our herring presentation. This is borne out by the increase in foul hooked fish I am seeing It therefore becomes more important than ever to handle the boat properly. Go slow, don’t troll and cut your bait so it has the slowest, most even roll possible.
Andrews Point continues to be the best spot and the fish are running deep, with Coho and Chinook found between 40 and 70 pulls. Guest Jack Seedhouse has just visited again and proved that careful application of time tested methods can still produce excellent Chinook fishing at Langara. As always, I am grateful to people like Jack who are so generous with their knowledge and experience when they visit.
Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
More of the unexpected
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - August 18, 2008In a year where the fishing has been defiant of tradition, we seem to be finishing off with another unexpected trend. The fishing was uncommonly strong this week at a time when we expected things to be slowing down. The salmon finally seem to be setting and feeding in their usual spots at Cohoe, Andrews and McPherson. The Chinooks are finally cooperating with our desire that they lay in close to shore and take herring at the relatively shallow depths of 10 to 40 pulls. The Cohos are feeding actively and are being found everywhere from 50 to 500 feet of water. Bottom fishing on the west side has been tough because of weather, but when we can, Cookie and I continue to test this area and have been able to open up several new, very productive halibut spots. It’s been a bit of a wait but it seems like the good fishing is here to stay for the rest of the season.
Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Send to a FriendA Dozen Tyees
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - August 13, 2008Hey folks, I’m back with some tales from the great silver north.
Some of the best fishing of the season continued today with most boats either limiting or coming close to limiting on salmon. There are some big Chinook around with over a dozen Tyees coming in today. Jim and Shirley Ruble had a great day with Chinooks numbering 39, 30, 25 and 20 lbs. I managed to nail a 30 and my biggest of the season, a 44 pounder off of Andrews Point while fishmaster Ken got in on the action with a load of guests and nailed a 32. I still need to show you guys I know what I’m doing, eh!
McPherson, Andrews and Cohoe all produced fish equally today, with 50 pulls being the magic number. Bruin Bay showed off it’s ability to produce big fish with a 47 and a 38 coming from my favorite bay yesterday while fishing shallow in the kelp. I believe these big ones are some of the monsters bound for Rivers Inlet so get ready King Salmon! Although this group has been confined do to some poor weather it looks like all are likely to limit on salmon with half of those being Chinooks.
Phil Garrett nailed a 106 lb. hali off of Thromb Point in 240 feet of water making it the 5th 100 lb. plus hali this week from our new hotspot. This is Langara at it’s best!
See you soon.
High tension lines,
A very happy Shawn “Cookie” Pennell
Fishmaster, MV Charlotte Princess
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Halibut Trip Pays off Big Time
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - August 9, 2008Hey folks, Cookie and Ken here with some more Langara fish stories for all you eager anglers awaiting your next trip.
An impromptu halibut fishing trip attracted a dozen boats and paid off big time for everyone. Michael Silverberg nailed a 102 lb. beast only to be upstaged by young Dakota Porsniuk with a 132 lb. slab! The rest of the group did excellent on halis, Lings and yellow eye as well.
An excellent bite at Andrews Point was highlighted by several double headers on Chinooks, with most fish being caught at 15 pulls or less. The average Coho size is now pushing 11 lbs., which is still a full 3 lbs. above the normal average size for this time of year. The Chinook sizes are still trending high as well.
Tightening our lines,
Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Shawn “Cookie” Pennell
Fishmaster, MV Charlotte Princess
Gunia Point a Hali Hole?
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - August 6, 2008Large schools of bait are dominating the waters at Langara. Normally this is a great thing but not so much this time. It’s possible that our presentation, as good as it is, simply cannot compete with this massive, free buffet. Salmon seem to be working in very small pods making interception, and staying on top of them, a bit tricky. The morning bite is definitely stronger than the afternoon, with Andrews Point and Langara Rocks continuing as the hot spots.
For the weird bottom fishing story of the week, 70 and 90 pound halibut have been taken out of Gunia Point as incidental catches on salmon rigs. Bottom fishing trips to Gunia Point are being planned.
The weather has been improving steadily. Occasionally the crew stares into the sky and wonder swho lit the big fire. With the wind calming down and water temperature rising I am optimistic that there is some good fishing ahead of us.
Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Quebecois Rock Langara
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - August 3, 2008Hey folks, Cookie here.
Our longstanding annual group from the belle province of Québec just left with a few more Langara stories to share with their friends. Michel Cloutier won the trip lock with a beautiful 35 lb. slab taken from Andrews Point. Along with 34, 32 and 30 lb. fish there were several other large Chinooks which kept our average Chinook size well above 23 lbs. The average Coho size is still 10 lbs., a full 3 lbs. above the usual average size for this time of year.
There was an excellent bite at Andrews Point and Langara Rocks at the low slack this morning with all boats getting into several salmon. We also had a 79 lb. hali come from Gunia Point of all places yesterday.
I had a good chat with a guest today and I realized how much I take for granted the wildlife we experience every day up here. We have our salmon guarantee up here at Langara but there are a few other things that I could personally guarantee you will experience here at Langara: killer whales, humpback whales, minke whales, stellar sea lions and bald eagles are five rare species of wildlife that seem to be increasing in abundance every year here at langara. In the zodiac every day I see at least 5 humpback whales during my travels and we have over 60 bald eagles living in the trees right beside the ship. The killer whales, as much as they can temporarily disrupt salmon fishing, are quite a sight. Anyway I hope to see you up here soon for the spectacular fishing and scenery.
Shawn “Cookie” Pennell
Fishmaster, MV Charlotte Princess
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Excellent day at Andrews Point
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - July 31, 2008Hey Folks,
Cookie in motion here with a Langara update. After a few days of unseasonal, winter-like storms, things have come back to normal with an excellent day at Andrews Point. Most boats got into several salmon with some huge Coho being the most abundant.
Three boats hit the Lighthouse this morning and all three limited on Lings and hali with quite a few yelloweye as well. Breaching killer whales and fighting sea lions topped up the morning fish and, with the beautiful sunshine we’re receiving now, I think it will be a tremendous afternoon.
Tighter lines,
Shawn “Cookie” Pennell
Fishmaster, MV Charlotte Princess
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Langara Fishing Update
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - July 30, 2008South-east winds over the past few days have kept us close to the ships. On a particularly wind-blown afternoon, Len McNabbs decided to try for halibut off the side of the Marabell. Success is measured in different terms on these occasions, and luckily everyone was very entertained when Len’s 40 pounder managed to escape from the dock back into Henslung Cove!
Twice this year people have decided to fish Cox Island for salmon and both times it has produced a Chinook. Yesterday Mike Cooper pulled a 27 pounder out of fifty feet of water. In the past, I would not have recommended this spot for salmon but a trend is developing here that bears further investigation.
Meanwhile Pat Cooper joined the Captain’s Club with a 31 pounder at Gunia Point. The east side of Langara Island has finally opened up thanks to some westerly winds (finally) and Coho and Chinook are being caught at Andrews. Traditionally August is a good time for big fish, and I know we’re all looking forward to that trend continuing this year.
Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Best fishing of the season
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - July 26, 2008
Today saw the best fishing of the season in my opinion, with almost all boats limiting on Chinook. and Coho. The fishing was topped off by a couple of nice 33 pounders.
The leader of the group still sits comfortably with a 50 lb. slab taken in Bruin Bay on the first afternoon. Andrews Point at the triangle marker was hot all morning and then again in the afternoon. Coho and McPherson also produced quite a few fish. The magic numbers were 25 and 50 pulls. A fifty pound hali topped off the bottom bouncers today and almost everyone who tried limited on halis. It’s going to be a long night for the dock boys!
Tight lines and loose sea lions,
Shawn “Cookie” Pennell
Fishmaster, MV Charlotte Princess
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Langara Fishing Update
Langara Island Fishing Resorts - July 24, 2008The fishing at Langara has slowed down from its fever pitch of two weeks ago, but we still expect to see some major runs of Chinooks and Coho coming through. There can be a surge of activity at any time, as happened last night. After a hard day of searching for fish, we finally found bait and tide conditions that lead to a great evening bite at Andrews Point. Intense battles with Coho filled the air with the distinctive ring of our Shimano mooching reels. A few resident Chinooks were in the mix with the largest being in the high 20s. The Chum are starting to show up as well, and I am continually amazed at the fight they put up. Their strength-to-size ratio is the highest of all the tidal salmon, and if you decide to keep one, St. Jean’s Cannery makes great Indian Candy with the meat.
There was a nice joke at my expense three days ago. While I was leading a marginally successful bottom fishing trip off the lighthouse in 300 feet of water, Peter Raja, on his own initiative, dropped down in 90 feet of water east of Langara Rocks and bagged a 78 lb. halibut. I am often asked, “where are the big halibut?” While incidents like this leave an opening for a witty answer, the bottom line is that you can find halibut in the strangest places. Last year I caught a 40 pounder in the kelp beds west of Bruin Bay.
One entertaining spectacle that I think we would be happy to live without is a massive pod of Orcas that was hanging around the east side for the past few days. They were feeding heavily and their effect on the fishing was not good. Luckily I did not see them yesterday, so I wish them well as they move on.
Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
