june 26, 2009 07:08pm

Great Day for the Bell's!!

It was a blustery, wet morning when I picked up my new friends, Bruce and Jean Bell, at 5:30 am for a day of fishing. We left the protected Prince Rupert harbour, and headed nothwest across a bumpy, white capped Chatham Sound, to fish the lee side of Dundas Island. We stayed dry, and relatively comfortable in the enclosed cabin, as waves of salty spray crashed over the bow of the Dundas Kid.Once across the open water, we arrived at our fishing destination, to find smooth water to fish in. I soon found out that the Bell's and I had a few things in common, other than a passion for fishing. They had both visited and fished Langara Island, where I have guided for a number of years, and we knew some of the same people. I also found out that they have a love for Yellow Labs, and have two at home, along with another large dog. I also have two Yellow Lab's, Rigger, and Bailey. I could tell from the start that we were going to have a great day! We started our first tack a mere 25 feet from the rocky shore line. The sounder showed huge school's of herring, so I decided to jig up a few "freshies", as they can sometimes make all the difference in the world. I put a freshy down and within a minute we were into our first Chinook of the day, a fiesty fish of about 12 pounds. We then landed a bonus Coho. We had some steady action for the next couple of hours, and had another Chinook and Coho in the box. We missed a few other bites. While checking the bait, the line was ripped out of my hand, and we were into another Chinook. Jean battled this one, and did a great job of it. She was rewarded with a nice 24 pounder for her efforts. We trolled around, and things got quiet, with not much going on, but eagles putting on acrbatics to keep us entertained. We were bucking the ebb tide, barely moving, when all of a sudden the starboard rod dipped. Bruce was on it. I looked at the port rod to pull it up and get it out of the way, when it suddenly released from the rigger. DOUBLE HEADER!! Both fish peeled out line, and Jean and Bruce had to go under and over, and dance to get the fish to cooperate. Some good caos followed, and we drifted away from the few other boats fishing with us. After about fifteen minutes, Jean's fish swam close to the boat and I was able to net a nice 23 pounder. Way to go Jean! Bruce's fish was a little more stubborn, but with good reason. Bruce's was the fish of the day, a TYEE weighing in at 36 pounds!!
0609P6250002.JPG
Jean went home with two Chinook in the mid twenties and a Coho, and Bruce caught a 36 pound hog, and a Chinook in the teens, and a Coho. While halibut fishing in the gusty waters of Chatham Sound, we had a couple of other notable experiences. A Humpback Whale cruised past us at about a hundred yards away. a twenty pound Giant Pacific Octopus, orange in colour, also paid us a visit. After a quick picture, it slipped from the hook and swam back down to the depths. Once again, every day is different! We were all happy to be back in the dry cabin of the Dundas kid for the bumpy ride home, as the wind was picking back up later in the afternoon. I had a great time introducing the Bell's to our beautiful region of the coast, and hopefully gave them a memorable experience with Adrenaline Sportfishing.

643 comments | Comment

More About Adrenaline