Hey guys,
Well...the fishing season is essentially done for us now, one more Coho/bottomfish trip for a couple days next weekend but other than that it's all over for the most part.
I have to say, of the many seasons I've had on the water, this season was the best. Best for big halibut as our new tactics at getting the big ones really paid off. A few days with more than 2 halibut over 100lbs being brought into the boat plus limits of all the bottomfish. My boat alone, not including my Dad, caught 45 halibut over 70lbs, and many many many more in the 40-70lb range, my average size halibut was just shy of 60lbs this year...not too bad!
Brought in 2 halibut over 150lbs this year as well, over half a dozen over 100lbs.
Salmon fishing was once again spectacular, best on the coast hands down. Most of the days in July we limited out on Chinook salmon within an hr and a half, average sizes usually around 24lbs, with average size in August boosting up to about 27-28lbs. We had one day where our average size (limits for both boats) was just over 40lbs!! I can definitely say with confidence we experienced the best overall fishing anywhere on the coast of BC and possibly even further.
Bottomfishing for Lingcod and Red Snapper (Yelloweye Rockfish) is superb, whenever our guests wanted these tasty fish, it was no problem at all...limits caught in very short order most days. Some real big fish as well, although in my opinion the best eating Lingcod are in the 10-20lb range, still get lots of meat and fight, but the meat is much more firm and tasty, plus keeps the stocks healthy.
2012 is looking to be another great year, we have spots we go to for salmon that
no one, literally, else knows about, and even in the slower years it is absolutely dynamite at those spots, so having to worry about that is not a concern at all. We are not one of those, should of been here last week locations...we go to the fish, and literally hit almost
every run that is going down the coast. Our one spot, through DFO hatchery head information, has runs heading down the mainland as well as the WCVI fish, hence the amazing fishing.
If you are thinking about taking a salmon/halibut trip in 2012, definitely give us a look, we are booking up extremely fast though, with August almost fully booked with a spot or two open, and most of July is beginning to get solid as well. Here are some pictures from the year, if you want to see all of them go to:
http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z...ishing%202011/
Fellow AO members
End of Year Salmon/Halibut Report with Pictures
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