M.V. Charlotte Princess, Langara Island - Queen Charlotte Islands

BC Sportfishing Outlook

Hey all you anxious anglers, Fishmaster Cookie here with the projections for this years salmon fishery for our Northern Resorts.

The science of predicting salmon returns is still only moderately accurate although great strides have been made in recent years. A lot of what you see in the media is only the bad reports. There are some great success stories for a lot of runs of salmon, especially here in B.C. where some rivers have rebounded from previously endangered status to stable and increasing. A great majority of Chinook runs in B.C. are at normal historical levels and some are receiving greater than average returns. Because of conservation measures taken in the last 10 years such as moratoriums, slot limits, and area closures, our Coho fishing in the north has been, and is expected to, be extraordinary this year.

The MV Marabell and MV Charlotte Princess up at Langara are expected to have excellent fishing right from the get go. All of the Queen Charlotte local runs and the masssive Skeena and Nass runs for Chinook are expected to be in abundance. That means we should see great numbers of those big 40 lb. plus Skeena and Kitimat fish with the early runs showing up in May. My personal fishing diary tells me it should be an excellent big fish year for Chinook. The Columbia River runs are going to be almost double what they were last year and those fish start to filter through Langara in June along with hundreds of other migratory runs that stop for a meal at Langara.

The Coho fishing is forecasted to be excellent and we should see some good numbers starting in the end of June. There should be an abundance of those big hook-nosed northern Coho in August as well.

The halibut and lingcod fishing was better last year than I have ever seen it. We have been actively researching this fishery so I expect that with all our expertise and the awesome new improvements on our gear and bait systems it will be the best bottom fishing year ever.

The MV Salmon Seeker in Kano Inlet is an easy one. They have had the best Chinook-per-angler ratio of any other spot on the coast for the last three years and the outlook looks even better for this year. The increase in the Columbia River run-size this year, as well as excellent returns to the Puget Sound-area rivers, should only improve an already first class fishery. Our guides deadly halibut techniques brought in more 100 lb. plus halibut last year than the Masterfisherman board could support. We expect these trends to continue.

King Salmon Resort in Rivers Inlet looks like it's in for some great fishing. The Chinook runs through the area are predicted to be at normal levels. I have an inside contact that has lived in the area for his entire life and works actively with the native hatchery program there. He expects an above average to excellent year for those giant Kilbella and Wonnock River fish. Hey, isn't King Salmon Resort right in front of the mouths of those 2 rivers?

One factor that works in our favour coast-wide is that La Nina has cooled down the ocean to premium salmon fishing temperatures. That means bait balls on the surface and 40 pounders running shallow and I can't wait.

Shawn “Cookie” Pennell
Fishmaster, MV Charlotte Princess
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands

Langara Resorts Equipment Update

All winter long our Queen Charlotte Islands crew has been working to make MV Charlotte Princess and MV Marabell guests' trips even better.

MV Marabell boats get a major refit

T-Rev, Fishmaster on the MV Marabell, has been working hard on the ship's fleet of Boston Whalers over the winter.

Here's a quick look at the updates

• We have added a dark grey non-skid paint throughout the floor.
• The rest of the boat has been painted white with new decals.
• To create more room within the boat, we moved the new Yamaha gas cans forward under the each of the seats.
• We designed a new stainless steel bracket to hold the railings and added a hook to hold the net in place on the port side.
• We moved the marine radio to face the driver. It will be flush mounted in the side of the dry box and have a plexi glass roof over it.
• We rewired the entire boat.
• We changed the seat base system (no more wobbly seats!).
• We will have all new seat cushions.
• We added an additional rod holder up forward to accommodate the hali rods and an extra salmon rod.

In addition to being more asthetically pleasing, all of these changes will make the boats much more functional for our guests and we are very excited to hear what you think.

MV Charlotte Princess

Guests on the MV Charlotte Princess will notice the awesome new Lowrance X67c colour sounders. We have also purchased more halibut reels and changed our reel repair supplier, so we are expecting improved performance out of our equipment.

Both resorts

We have changed our halibut line to Jinkai, which is a commercial line that is stronger than the line we used last season, but is thinner in diameter, which equals more line on the reel.

Fishing season is almost here!

If you haven't booked your 2008 trip yet, now is the perfect time. Space is filling up fast! Call 1-800-663-7090 or contact us online to reserve your trip.

Tight lines,
Brook Castelsky
General Manager, Northern Resorts

Fishmaster Ken's season recap

Early in the season, some of the best Chinook fishing was, weather permitting, at Lacy Island and McPherson Point. McPherson was particularly reliable, with virtually every pass at the 140 foot shelf yielding a fish. Lacy Island, while less consistent, produced overall, larger fish.

Through July the drift from No Name Point through Langara Rocks was the hot spot, giving us most of our 40 to 60 lbs Chinooks. The shelves at 170 and 250 feet were the key depths there. August was marked by great fishing at all locations, with the last light pass at Bruin Bay rewarding a few boats with nice Tyees, and the surprising arrival of huge runs of mature Northern Coho. The August fish seemed very scrappy, with both Chinooks and Cohos putting up epic battles.

Throughout the season, Cohoe Point and Andrews Point were great spots for people new to Langara to learn the system and for veterans to get back into the rhythm. This year’s solid Coho fishery helped fill the spaces between Chinook bites and at times they were so abundant that it was almost impossible to get bait down more that 5 pulls without hooking into one. As always, the key to enticing Chinooks was going dead slow and most salmon, regardless of species, were hooked with the boat out of gear. With rare exception, the best bait cut was a slow roll, with 25/25 degree angle close to the gill collar. Highlights of the salmon fishing season included Steve Scherling’s 60 lb. Chinook and Sean Mims 50 lb. Chinook. There were also over a dozen Chinooks in the 40 lb. range and at least 30 new members of the Marabell Tyee club.

Bottom fishing at Langara provided great sport this summer. Many halibut in the 50 to 80 pond range were boated, and Ryan McNally joined the Master Fisherman Club with his 135 lb, “barn door.” As well I would like to give my special thanks to those boats that came along and helped me when I got in over my head with halis that were too big to pull into the Zodiac (you know who you are!).

The early season saw some great fishing on the west side between Cox and Lacy, with the Lighthouse area coming on strong as we moved into July. We all breathed a sigh of relief when, at the end of July, the Chicken Ranch was re-discovered off Pillar Rock, 2 miles east of its old location.

The Ling cod fishery is still strong at Langara and I was quite pleased when many guests chose to release the large breeding stock of this species. A myriad of strange creatures inhabit the bottom at Langara and I was frequently called over to identify a Long-Nose Skate, Wolf Eel or Red Irish Lord.

I would like to thank all the guests who fished on the MV Marabell this summer. Your enthusiasm made my job easy and I hope you share the feeling that we learned from each other. I look forward to seeing you all again next year. Special thanks go to my Father, Fishmaster Senior Ed Beatty, for teaching me every thing I know about this sport.

Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands

An unbearably punny fish report

This fish report is best summed up by the story of two of our first time guests, Dave and Dean Bear. The two lads were excited by the tales I had to BEAR at the Monroe Sportsman show and decided to come join us for some late August fishing on the MV Chartotte Princess.

They showed up yesterday with the BEAR necessities, BEARly knowing what cut-plug-herring fishing was all about and couldn’t BEAR the thought of waiting another single minute before getting fishing. So off they went. Once they got their BEARings they found Andrews Point and BEARly had their second line in when they got their first Chinook.

After and emBEARassing fire drill of a double header they found themselves with both 33 and 29 lb. Chinooks in the box amongst some nice Cohos as well. The next day they wondered what else this fishing paradise (as they describe it) had to BEAR. Their questions were soon answered with a 32 lb. Chinook, 15 and 17 lb. Cohos and a 50 lb. halibut all caught in the same spot off of Andrews which I officially have named the BEAR Hole.

Their story is a reflection of the awesome late season fishing we have been experiencing this last week with most people limiting on big Cohos and Chinooks. If you’re on your way up start doing some dumbbell work because you’re going to be busy.

Thanks for BEARing with me

Shawn “Cookie” Pennell
Fishmaster, MV Charlotte Princess
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands

Bonus Fishmaster takes to the water

The guests received a bonus yesterday as Captain Kite took to the water as Fishmaster while I manned the bridge. A veteran fisherman, Captain Kite brought his unique perspective to the job and, dropping a line here and there, proved decisively that several locations had no fish. I am happy to report that the MV Marabell did not hit anything during my stint at anchor watch.

Fishing continues to be strong at Langara, with bites coming on at all major points throughout the day. Langara Rocks was particularly good yesterday, with long-time guest Pat Cooper boating a 42 lb. Chinook in 400 feet of water at 50 pulls. The Coho bite was also hot, with lots off 10 to 12 lb. fish coming on the stern line at 5 to 8 pulls. An overall trend of shallowing is evident in this weeks salmon catch. Coho are being taken in the prop wash and Chinooks are heating at 15 to 20 pulls. While we shouldn’t give up on the deep line altogether, it’s great fun nailing fish at or near the surface. 

An impressive number of Sockeye have been caught on Herring this week. Because they will rarely take Herring, this makes me suspect that there are large numbers of Sockeye in the area. Hopefully this is a sign that the run is late, and the crisis being predicted on the South Coast right now will be averted.

Bottom fishing trips continue to be productive. As a rule, the more boats that come along the better. All that bait in the water creates a strong “scent field” drawing Halibut and Lingcod from miles away.

Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands