Reel Reports

Seasons Greetings from the crew at Oak Bay Marine Group

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Hey Folks,

Cookie here again with my final fish report for the 2011 season from Langara Island.

What an incredible finish to an amazing season. Everybody has been catching large Chinook and Coho and the bottom fishing has been the best I’ve seen in 10 years. Boat 70 with Stuart Wallace, Rowland Wallace and Miles Metz had the MV Charlotte Princess’s first triple master with Halibut weighing in at 175lbs., 110lbs. and a whopping 232lbs. respectively.

Lots of Chinook between 20 and 30lbs. and large northern Coho have been taken from Coho, Andrews and McPherson Point. all day long. A beautiful 40 pounder by Cameron Ewen topped the list of Chinook. Everybody has limited out on salmon. The big Halibut are coming from Lacy and Langara Rocks.

I didn’t think last years season could be topped but with this finish, I think it has. Thank you to all of our guests that came out to enjoy this spectacular season and for those who missed it, don’t make the same mistake next year!

Have a great winter,

Shawn “Cookie” Pennell

Hey folks, Cookie here again.

Fishing at Langara is still spectacular. The Coho are going crazy with all guests catching plenty of Coho each day. Chinook are still being caught at all the major points with Andrews Point being hot on the high slack and McPherson Point being the place to be for low slack.

Chinook are generally being caught deeper during the afternoon (40-60 pulls) and at all depths in the morning. Coho are thick from top to bottom. Some big hooknose Northern Coho are showing up in good numbers as well.

Southwest winds have prevented any bottom fishing on the west side but nice sized Halibut and Lingcod are being caught off of Andrews and McPherson Point. This morning you could barely get two lines in without getting a strike.

See you soon,

~Shawn"Cookie" Pennell

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Hi Everyone,

I once again had the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of the MV Charlotte Princess and her crew. On this particular trip I was able to enjoy it with my mom and dad. We arrived on Thursday to sunny skies and calm seas. After a detailed orientation by the Chief Steward and Fishmaster we were off to Cohoe and Andrews Point to test the waters. We had been at Andrews Point no more than 10 minutes when our first of many battles with feisty Coho began.

These battles continued throughout the afternoon until we returned to the ship with some very respectable 10 pound Coho and a couple of nice Chinook in the 20– 25 pound range. All of the fish were caught in the 20–40 pull range.

Over the next couple of days we literally caught dozens of Coho, Pink and Chum salmon. My mom had an epic battle with a hard fighting 31 pound Chinook. The weather wasn't as cooperative on the Saturday as it was on Thursday and Friday. The Fishmaster had to close the east side of the island due to the sea state however, there were plenty of other fishing hotspots to hit. 

We jumped into our boat and head out to Lacy Island. Not only did we experience a bit of a Coho feeding frenzy but we landed a couple more nice Chinook. We departed Lacy so that we did not miss one of Chef Brian Cook’s dinner.

As we were passing Chanel Rock just north of Marchand Reef we noticed a couple of guide boats hooked up on fish. So we stopped and tossed a couple of cut plug herring over the side. Before we could get the third line in the water we had a double header of 12 pound Coho. We netted those two fish and ran the boat back over to our starting point and started the drift once again. This time we didn’t even get the second line in the water before we had a nice 20 pound Chinook hooked up. After several line peeling runs we had another nice fish in the box.

We motored back over to our starting point again and had just started our drift when my dad’s line bent over to the water and the reel started screaming out line. After five or ten minutes of this fish skulking near the bottom my dad and I exchanged looks of “this fish could be pushing the 50 pound mark”. The fish sat on the bottom for several more minutes before I suggested to my dad that maybe he should try moving the fish up from the bottom. He agreed and started the slow process of retrieving line. After he had gained a bit of his line back and the fish showing none of the tell-tale signs of head shaking and racing to the surface only to dive again we both agreed that this very possibly could be a Halibut. Considering we were only in 45 feet of water it did not take to long to see that it was in fact a very nice sized Halibut. Once we had the fish to the boat and I instructed my dad to keep its head in the water so we did not agitate it and send it back to the bottom, I netted it. The Halibut turned out to be a very nice 57 pounder.

It was an amazing trip once again to the MV Charlotte Princess and to make it even better I was able to share this adventure with my mom and dad. They both had an amazing time and are now both Captains Club members.

Tight Lines,

Steve Sinclair

General Manager, Northern Resorts

Hey folks,

Cookie here again at the MV Charlotte Princess. Fishing at Langara is still spectacular with some of our largest fish of the season coming in this past week. Tyee's are hitting the dock as well as large Halibut and hooknose northern Coho. We had a 20lb Coho, a 50lb Chinook and a 185lb hali just in the past few days.

The salmon are hitting at all the major points and bays around the Island. Lacy Island has been excellent for large Halibut in relatively shallow water(120-180ft). As I write this, a beautiful 43lb Chinook just hit the dock.

The incredible 2011 season has not lost any steam and should be awesome right to the last group, like it was last year.

Time to look for more tyee.

Tight Lines,

~Shawn"Cookie"Pennell

Hello Fisher Folk,

It's been another great fishing day at Langara. The record  for the largest Chinook of the season was broken this afternoon. Tony Berkhout and Brian McMorran brought in a 50lb beauty off Coho Point . There were several Chinook over 20lbs taken from both Coho and Andrews Point and some off Gunia as well. The Chinooks were coming in at all depths, from 15 to 70 pulls.

Several boats headed to Lacy Island and caught Coho in the 8 lb to 14 lb range and some nice Halibut up to about 50 lbs. There appears to be a bite on right now with both Chinook and Coho coming in off Chanal Reef just outside Parry Passage.

We're expecting another great fishing day tomorrow.

~ Captain Jim

Check out the latest photos from the MV Charlotte Princess.

This is the time of year for large Coho in the Haida Gwaii. Laurie Smith reeled in a nice 17 pound Coho earning her Captain’s Club member status. Pete and Randy Swenson also joined the Captain`s Club with their 15 pound Coho`s today.

Pamala Cook is leading the trip with her 33 pound Chinook. Andrew’s Point continues to be the best spot for catching Chinook and Coho.

Northwest winds have isolated bottom fishing to the east side but guests are still catching nice sized Halibut. Terry Chadders brought in a 47 pounder yesterday.

~ Ken Beatty