It started off as a tough day of fishing at Langara, and by the high slack at 4pm I felt like I was literally scavenging the Island for some kind of action. Pinks had been showing at Andrews and Cohoe but they were hitting soft and hookups were proving elusive. A gut feeling told me that Chinooks would be moving into Langara Rocks but the wind would be setting us against the tide. Nonetheless I made the call and a few boats joined me to hunt for some real salmon action. I was very relieved that, despite the adverse conditions, we started hooking Chinooks right away.
After a few minutes, I bounced over to Harry Strandell, who had asked for some bait, but at the moment he was more concerned with the hard-fighting fish that was peeling line off his mooching reel. I turned out of the way, but stayed close because he was fishing by himself. After a good 20 minutes he waved me over, and timing carefully with the swell I jumped into his boat. Few words were needed as I readied the net. The fish was barely hooked by a small flap of skin on the outside of its mouth. Any fumbling with the net would result in an unintentional long release. Proper netting technique is always important, but in the case of a delicate hook-set like this it is critical.
The fish must be tired enough that you can coax it head first into your net bag which should be positioned so that the current will hold it open. We convinced the fish to swim towards me, but it when it saw the net it jerked away. I instantly pulled the net away and Harry tersely complimented my training. After three passes our patience paid off and we boated a bright, clean 22 pound Chinook which turned out to be the fish of the day. Moments like this are really one of the great pleasures of my job, and the long hard hunt became a dim memory as Harry and I both had our days made by this brief window of action.
Ken Beatty
Fishmaster, MV Marabell
Langara Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
