QCI fishing

[scott h]

Hey guys
I'm driving up to QCI next weekend and was wondering if anybody has been out there fishing yet this season. I've never fished there this early but I'm hoping to get some of those big early season springs (and halibut). Any first hand info would be great.
Thanks

[muledeercrazy]

we used to do pretty well for halis early on, and the spring fishing could be pretty good too. Sometimes spotty.
Where are you fishing out of?

[scott h]

Going to be fishing out of Masset for sure. Taking a new truck up that will hopefully pull the boat up and down that steep hill into Rennell Sound, but if it's good water up North we'll probably spend most of the time up there. That and a few crabs and clams on North beach hopefully.

[muledeercrazy]

if you get to rennel sound try freeman rocks, i have had the best fishing of my life there. Run your gear deep, 100 plus feet for salmon.. Even when not at freeman rocks.. Cone head around towards kindakun was the best there, imo.. Good weather and a day at hippa or freeman should turn up some big halli. If you want some detailed info pm me.. I guided at oak bays resort in Kano for a couple years and know that area fairly well. I would definetly try Rennell sound if the weather is good, for what its worth. Masset would be great this time of year, but probably not as good as the west coast of graham. I havent fished much east of naden harbour so i cant really say what you could expect, maybe a little slower for springs but definetly for halies..

[muledeercrazy]

Have you fished Rennell sound before ? The west coast is definitely a downrigger show imo, not like langara thats for sure...What type of boat are you taking? We would see some big springs early but the fishing could be spotty.. I think there are a few guys on here who have spent more time at langara than me, maybe they have some input?

[fearless]

Talked to some friends of mine the last couple of days and the spring fishing has been hot out of charlotte city, also rennel should be really good. This time of year the northwesterly comes up for days and masset to langara can be really ugly, at least rennel and skidegate point you can hide and still get some good fishing. Rennel sound should have lots of halibut right now, just make sure your truck can pull your boat up the hill it's steep. I've sports fished the charlottes all my life moved to van island does'nt even compare.GOOD LUCK

[scott h]

Have you fished Rennell sound before ? The west coast is definitely a downrigger show imo, not like langara thats for sure...What type of boat are you taking? We would see some big springs early but the fishing could be spotty.. I think there are a few guys on here who have spent more time at langara than me, maybe they have some input?
Thanks for the info. I've never fished at Rennell before but maybe this will be the year to try. I'll be there with my dad (84 years old) so I probably won't head that way unless we get blown off the north end of the island, but if the weather forces it I will head down there. I've got a "new to me" Sierra 2500 6L 4x4 with 410 gears that hopefully will pull my 21 foot North River Seahawk up and down that hill (25% !!!!). We will be using our downriggers almost exclusively , after we jig up a few herring off the Masset dock.

[muledeercrazy]

sounds like alot of fun, im jealous... Dont feel bad about fishing tomics or plastic if the weather is too rough to manage the bait properly... better to be fishing plastic well than getting kicked around with gear that might not be fishing... Good luck and post some pics when you get back. My advice for rennell sound, like i mentioned before is i would fish conehead around to kindakun on the south side or push out to freeman rocks. Freeman rocks will either be on for salmon or not, but is worth a shot. Groundfishing should be excellent. I caught 10 fish over 40 pounds there in one morning. Hippa is pretty cool, but a bit of a run. You can do pretty well for Hali off of cone head or kindakun rock in 2-300 ft of water.. I never did as well on the north side of rennell and did not fish the inside much at all.. You want open water for best results... Kindakun pt can be deadly, so watch running south through it. In rough weather run out into deeper water and around it if you get stuck. That would be a bit of a run for you and i dont think it would be worth it. There should be a bunch of guide boats around, chances are they will have some good advice.. there was a guy that runs a charter boat out of Rennell, I cant remember his name but he might have some good advice. Put a line down to 111 ft with a cut plug for me if you get to freeman rocks.. good luck and post some results

[fearless]

The guides name is Terry Jenz he's not there anymore, but if you decide to go to rennel don't forget your prawn traps, good crabing and can catch pretty much all typs of fish. Price of marked gas was 1.44 litre last I heard so not sure if you want to run to hippa but then if you can tow your boat on to that ferry you can afford the gas. I no that island better then the haida so if you need to no exactly where to go or what you will need pm me. Don't be scared to try anchovy and flasher you won't have any better fishing.Deer hunting opens on june 1st really good eating, not very big, but you can have 5 in posession.

[muledeercrazy]

right, thanks fearless. Would you fish Masset over Rennell this time of year? We usually did pretty well for springs early on, sometimes spotty and weather dependent. I think i caught more springs early on at kano than i did at langara, just not as many hogs onboard.. I have never seen anywhere as good as hippa or rennell for hali fishing, early on being pretty good usually.

[fearless]

Hard to say which is better this time of year, had some real good days off of cape edenshaw and shag rock, but had good fishing at indian head off of tartu and some good slabs. You're right about the hali fishing in rennel and hippa, but it can be good off of masset as well, masset has alot of tide and weather can make it awful. Myself I would fish rennel right now, there will be lots of bait fish whales and springs around. Only thing is you can hit some good chicken farms so you'll be catch and releaseing lots since your only aloud one a day do'nt want to waste it on a chicken. Rennel does'nt matter what the weather is like you can catch something anywhere crabs, prawns, cod halibut and springs and if things are real bad go shoot a deer. Kano and Langara good spots but a long run.

[Weatherby Fan]

Im taking one of the Lodges up for June 11th,we will be anchored in Nesto Inlet(behind Hippa Is) from Rennel Sd to Hippa great all round fishing as mentioned in posts above,Freemans can be very productive,the Spring in my avatar is 36lbs caught off Kunakun Pt north side of Rennel Sd,make sure you work any bait balls or drop on bait if you see it on your sounder can be very productive for springs also.
I will be there until June 21st,we work on VHF 69 give me a call if your around there,we should be fishing by the 14th,not sure if you will be there that late.Or PM if you want !
Good Luck
WF

[scott h]

Just got home from work and starting to load the truck up. I'm taking a load of wood, cement and steel roofing up to build a boat shelter. I'll be putting in some base board heaters also, as I'm getting tired of paying for heating oil for heating an empty house!!
I'll be meeting my dad at the Rupert dock for the sunday night ferry , so we should be untarping the boat Monday sometime.
I'm really looking forward to getting out on the water and tying into a fish (chinook , halibut , cod , I really don't care at this point!!!!). Thanks guys for all the tips for the Rennel area , hopefully this will be the year to test those waters out. We will definately be out at seven mile and Edenshaw early on and then hopefully....... who knows.
I'll monitor 69 Weatherby fan and thanks for the tips. Keep an eye open for a North River driven by someone with a sh*t eating grin. I'll be flying out on the 22nd out of Masset.

[Sitkaspruce]

There there already boys!!!!

What a pig of a fish!!!!!!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/reeltimenorthwest/2015224457_massive_king_salmon_caught_off.html

Can't wait for the season to start!!

Good luck Scott h

Cheers

SS

[Weatherby Fan]

SS that is a whopper,I'm looking forward to some Spring fishing myself.

Scott h,good luck fishing !

WF

[pro 111]

The guides name is Terry Jenz he's not there anymore, but if you decide to go to rennel don't forget your prawn traps, good crabing and can catch pretty much all typs of fish. Price of marked gas was 1.44 litre last I heard so not sure if you want to run to hippa but then if you can tow your boat on to that ferry you can afford the gas. I no that island better then the haida so if you need to no exactly where to go or what you will need pm me. Don't be scared to try anchovy and flasher you won't have any better fishing.Deer hunting opens on june 1st really good eating, not very big, but you can have 5 in posession.
Nothing worse than some a hole that moves away and then gives people info that he kept a secret about when they lived up here. You cant use my boat anymore. HA HA . LOL.

[Gunner]

THere was a 70.8 taken at Henry Point a couple of days ago. Gunner

[tonywtc]

Im surprised that no one warned him to make sure he brings a spare tire or two if he goes out to rennel sound, unless the road is better now then it used to be

[fearless]

Pro 111 you can calm down I did'nt give up my top secret spots, and if I show up I'm going to take your boat whether you like it or not HA HA.

[muledeercrazy]

Im taking one of the Lodges up for June 11th,we will be anchored in Nesto Inlet(behind Hippa Is) from Rennel Sd to Hippa great all round fishing as mentioned in posts above,Freemans can be very productive,the Spring in my avatar is 36lbs caught off Kunakun Pt north side of Rennel Sd,make sure you work any bait balls or drop on bait if you see it on your sounder can be very productive for springs also.
I will be there until June 21st,we work on VHF 69 give me a call if your around there,we should be fishing by the 14th,not sure if you will be there that late.Or PM if you want !
Good Luck
WF

What lodge is running out of Nesto now? Sounds like you have a good summer ahead.

[pro 111]

Pro 111 you can calm down I did'nt give up my top secret spots, and if I show up I'm going to take your boat whether you like it or not HA HA.

Good , I will take out some extra insurance on the bottom end , should be some easy money to be made with you at the wheel.LOL.

[Weatherby Fan]

What lodge is running out of Nesto now? Sounds like you have a good summer ahead.

The Lodge I take up is Charlotte Queen Adventures,and the other Lodge in there is West Coast Resorts,they moved their Lodge up from Tasu last year.
WF

[pescado]

Wow, thats a nice fish. Starting to come down the pipe a bit earlier this year. Right on.

[scott h]

There's been a strong north wind since we've gotten here on monday, so we've been building and clearing the back end of my lot ( great more grass to cut).....
Haven't even fired up the engines on the boat yet but I did just get back from the town dock were I slayed some massively huge HERRING.......:mrgreen: can't have to much bait. We are going to pour some cement tomorrow and then rig up the boat.
Saturday looks like the day!

[tonywtc]

If you need any tools for your project Queen Charlotte has a business called Echo Bay Tool rentals, they should have every thing you need

[Dutch]

Hey Weatherby fan Hope you can keep them on the line this year,that catch then release before you see them really sucks lol

[fishmonger]

Hi guys, this is my official first post. I'm more of a fisherman than a hunter (did some birding in Manitoba in my early days), but I saw the thread and had to sign up! I usually hit the Charlottes and specifically Rennell at least twice a year. Been doing so for at least 10 years. We know Rennell like our backyard and we ALWAYS come home with a freezer full of halibut. The new possession limits have made it tougher, so we have to target bigger fish (there's a topic for a new thread...how the braintrust at DFO have "protected" the fishery but imposing a 1 fish limit, only to have fisherman keep all the big breeding females as a result). We rarely keep anything under 80lbs these days, unless we are feeding ourselves back at the beach camp. This year may be a bit tougher for us to make it out, hoping we find our way out there sometime in late July. A usual Sept trip is definitely in the works though.

Scott h...how's Masset fishing this year? We had a tough time there last year, getting blown off the water pretty much EVERY day. It's hard fishing in what can best be described as a "blender set on chop" in a 13 foot Zodiac! I miss it though, not much of that kind of excitement here in the Alberta foothills!

[tonywtc]

I only wish I could go out there twice a year fishmonger, my dad who lives in Charlotte City would appreciate it too. I grew up in Sandspit so I know quite a few people on the islands.

[fishmonger]

Hey Scott h, how's the fishing been? For those of us that are stuck in the prairies we need a fix....

[nitro hunter]

Everyone that uses the clappan basin site down in rennell are getting their campers and boats out (bottom of the hill to left,end of the road)as the road has been slated to be deactivated,Dont know exactly when but it is going to happen and soon.So there goes the only decent boat ramp on the westcoast and free camping.

[fishmonger]

Which road is set to be deactivated? Rennell main?

[fearless]

Most likely the road going back to the old camp, its owned by a guy from germany. That road washs out every fall probly getting tired of fixing it, so there goes the camp ground and boat launch, maybe they'll put one in at the bottom of the hill.

[Weatherby Fan]

Hey Weatherby fan Hope you can keep them on the line this year,that catch then release before you see them really sucks lol

Your a funny guy Dutch !
Just got back Tuesday,had an awesome 6 days fishing,best spring fishing Ive ever seen,brought 4 home largest was 30lbs,released 30 more myself,some days couldn't get to the bottom without hooking a chinook.

scott h-how did your trip go ? did you and Dad make it to Rennel Sound ?
WF

[fishmonger]

On a similar topic...does anyone know if the logging road from Pallant Creek (Moresby Camp) to Englefield Bay (West coast access) is driveable these days? I have never been down that road, but I understand that in days gone by it was passable and brought you into some great fishing!

[Stresd]

Your a funny guy Dutch !
Just got back Tuesday,had an awesome 6 days fishing,best spring fishing Ive ever seen,brought 4 home largest was 30lbs,released 30 more myself,some days couldn't get to the bottom without hooking a chinook.

scott h-how did your trip go ? did you and Dad make it to Rennel Sound ?
WF

Fishings Sounding Good.8-) I'm heading to Naden harbour on the 29th for 5 days. May get a little wet as he weather is not looking to good.

[scott h]

From what I understand it is no longer passable, this is second hand info from an islander that spends a lot of time in the bush up there.

On a similar topic...does anyone know if the logging road from Pallant Creek (Moresby Camp) to Englefield Bay (West coast access) is driveable these days? I have never been down that road, but I understand that in days gone by it was passable and brought you into some great fishing!

[scott h]

Your a funny guy Dutch !
Just got back Tuesday,had an awesome 6 days fishing,best spring fishing Ive ever seen,brought 4 home largest was 30lbs,released 30 more myself,some days couldn't get to the bottom without hooking a chinook.

scott h-how did your trip go ? did you and Dad make it to Rennel Sound ?
WF

Hey WF
We had a good trip but spent way to much time working and not near enough time fishing. Their is a lot of springs around this year to be sure, everyone seemed to be into them. The largest I heard of this trip was around 30 but ours were all around 20.
We also did well on halibut . We got into some clam digging one day and had a good feed and then the next day they closed it down due to a red tide across the water in Alaska. The crabs have just started coming in to North beach for breeding and we got a enough of them for supper one night. I didn't quite get the roof on the boat shed so I'll be heading up again next weekend for another couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll get way more boat time this next trip and I'll probably pick up my QCI deer tags and throw the BLR behind the seat. Unfortunately I didn't get down the Rennel yet , but the summers just started, and I've got a couple more trips planned .

[Weatherby Fan]

scott h
thats sounds like a good trip for sure,a little bit of everything,I will be back up to Hippa Island for July 12-19th and then back up at the end of August to bring the Lodge down for the season,eitherway Im looking forward to a few more days on the water as the fishing was awesome.The road and boat launch must be open to Rennel as I met a cpl of guys from QC City out fishing last weekend at Kunakun Pt.Had to ask them if it was you ! Hopefully we will see you up there
WF

[Weatherby Fan]

Fishings Sounding Good.8-) I'm heading to Naden harbour on the 29th for 5 days. May get a little wet as he weather is not looking to good.

LOL just wait 15 minutes and the weather will change up there,
thats one thing about up there usually get some sort of precipitation most days,raingears a must but the fishing is awesome so no worries about the weather !

[nitro hunter]

From what i have been told is that Husby has somewhere around 40 thousand cubic meters to log in the clap basin area and again from what i have been told the deal is that they(husby)would deactivate the private section of the road after they have finnished logging/hauling over it ,This is all just hear say tho.But starting this weekend there will be some people downthere to form a blockade ,they will let people and pick-ups pass but no heavy equipment.There was something about this situation on CBC this morning.

[scott h]

Here's what they have in the local news on the situation in the area.
http://www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=5002


From what i have been told is that Husby has somewhere around 40 thousand cubic meters to log in the clap basin area and again from what i have been told the deal is that they(husby)would deactivate the private section of the road after they have finnished logging/hauling over it ,This is all just hear say tho.But starting this weekend there will be some people downthere to form a blockade ,they will let people and pick-ups pass but no heavy equipment.There was something about this situation on CBC this morning.

[fishmonger]

From what I understand it is no longer passable, this is second hand info from an islander that spends a lot of time in the bush up there.

Crap. Had plans to try getting in there this summer/fall. Thanks Scott h, appreciate the info.

[fearless]

There is another spot you can launch your boat if it's not to heavy(soft beach) between the hill and the other camp sight to the right of the hill. Anyone thats spent time out there new this was going to happen at some time. Every fall that part of the road washes out.

[Dutch]

scott h
thats sounds like a good trip for sure,a little bit of everything,I will be back up to Hippa Island for July 12-19th and then back up at the end of August to bring the Lodge down for the season,eitherway Im looking forward to a few more days on the water as the fishing was awesome.The road and boat launch must be open to Rennel as I met a cpl of guys from QC City out fishing last weekend at Kunakun Pt.Had to ask them if it was you ! Hopefully we will see you up there
WF Hmm hope you can keep a little calmer could hear you screaming fish on in Hardy basin,,take it easy on the fishmaster to not over 4500 rpm or I will have to listen to the chief when I go up in august, more cheese with your wi....

[Better than Fearless]

You think you know more than the Haida?You got a pretty big ego dude!Too bad you were such a shitty faller or you'de still be up there working and following the Skidegate guys around to find the fish!
Sorry for the negitive post!Will try to be nicer :)