Hello from Port Hardy as our season comes to an end,
To say it was memorable wouldn't be doing it justice. It was the best weather year we have EVER seen, with over 45 days of the summer being flat calm like a lake...absolutely crazy! Chinook salmon fishing was absolutely dynamite all season, with only one 6 day lull all year. The odd one day lull here and there, only due to low pressure systems moving in as well, but 95% of the days we were into an absolute ton of Chinook salmon and limits were pretty easy to get. Coho salmon had a spurt in June and then starting showing up in better numbers come August, with spin casting at the end of the year an absolute blast on light gear...while BBQ'ing on the back deck!
A few highlights had to be catching and releasing a
62.5 LB Chinook in August, as well as catch and releasing a beautiful 43lber in June (see attached pictures for both). The 62.5 was the largest Chinook caught on Vancouver Island this year, and from what we heard top 4 in British Columbia! We want to keep these fish's genes going so our kids can catch these monsters too, so any monster we catch and release after getting measurements and a few pictures!
Halibut fishing remained great throughout the season and even now in September it is on fire. Some crazy bites this year with lots of big fish and a ton of fish in the 35-70lb range, as well as one pushing 300lbs and 27 halibut over 100lbs this year. Lingcod fishing, as always, was as good as you'll find on the coast. Our largest of the year was 53 lbs released, once they get to that size they aren't even close to as good of eating as the better 15-25lbers. Unless a funky, weird tide that doesn't happen too often lingcod limits in an hour or two occurred virtually daily.
Our guide crew this year was top notch, can't thank Colin, Trevor, and Gary enough. My Dad and I had an absolute blast on the water as well. Our great guests really make our jobs so much easier and makes waking up at 430am everyday all summer a lot more fun! Thanks to everyone who came up this year, and looking forward to seeing most of you again next year. If you are thinking of taking a trip out to see us in 2020, let me know, as we only have 4 dates left in June, 4 dates left in July, and 5 spots left in August! These will go super quick as we have more and more return guests booking as the fall approaches. We also have a single looking for one or two more to join end of August/early September (
15% off) to spin cast for Coho on light gear, some Chinook around still too, and tons of bottomfish and halibut still. Let me know if interested.
Enjoy the pictures, I know throughtout the off season I will open this thread just to get me through the winter...as I already can't wait to get into some insane Chinook fishing come May.
Tight Lines,
David Jr
Serengeti Fishing Charters END OF YEAR Report 2019
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