Guys, I've got to get rid of the formalities and tell you this great story…
Charles and Anne Jesper arrived this weekend all the way from England to experience the legendary salmon fishing at Langara. Charles is an avid angler and all he wanted was to catch a large Chinook, something over 20 pounds.
With somewhat challenging conditions this year, Charles worked hard with no success. He lost one Chinook to a sealion on the first day. Chief Steward Cory Morris tried to get him into some action the next morning without any luck, and I went out with him in the afternoon. We had four hookups, but nothing was boated.
On the morning of changeover, I stuck the deck crew with my regular duties so that Charles and I could make on last attempt while Anne enjoyed the morning onboard the MV Marabell. We spent the morning at Cohoe Pt. and worked it every possible way with little results.
We tried to mix up our “mojo”. We switched drivers and fooled around with our cut-plug angles. I suggested we make a pass of the kelp line on the south side of Cohoe Pt, close to where I caught my 39 pounder earlier in the season.
Now, I’ll admit it, I was starting to have a hard time staying awake as Charles was driving the boat giving me little to do. As I struggled to keep my eyelids open I saw the back rod bounce, which at first I thought was the weight hitting bottom.
Charles flew into action. handling the strike like a true veteran. He fed out line and reeled in slowly. As the weight of the salmon came on he set the hook and the reel screamed as the salmon ran away from the boat. When Charles got the fish to the surface for the first time, we saw its beautiful pink and purple colours and we both knew he had his 20 pounder on.
Both of us became very nervous, not only that the hook would slip out but about sealion urking in the area. I pulled out the gaff in case we had to land this fish in a hurry.
As Charles fought the fish, I steered the boat to make sure we stayed beside this valued Chinook. It jumped out of the water a couple times — which only increased our level of nervousness ” but I could see the leader line and knew that this salmon was hooked well.
After about thrity minutes in this intense situation, the salmon came up on its side, signaling us it was ready to be netted. We did this with ease, and brought the salmon into the boat. Charles and I both collapsed in the boat and rested for five or so minutes before making one last pass of Cohoe Pt.
When we got back to the Marabell, most of the people had already heard that Charles had caught a fair Chinook and were waiting eargerly to see how much it weighed. I figured it would be around the 27 to 28 pound range. Well, we were both surprised when we placed it on the scale. Charles’ Chinook weighed in at 32 pounds (I guess I need new glasses). Not only was it the big fish he hoped for, but it was also the biggest salmon of the trip!
I have to admit, it was way more rewarding to watch Charles catch this salmon than it ever would have been if I had hooked into it. It was a great fight, and I was happy just to be in the boat. Congratulations Charles on a job well done.
Fishmaster Marshall Horne
MV Marabell
