Thursday, June 26, 2013. Last time we were in this area we noticed lots of boats fishing just south of Ketchikan at a place called Mountain Point. So off we headed this morning still looking for our first salmon. There were just a couple of boats there when we arrived so we stopped at a likely spot and got the gear ready to put in the water. Pat put hers out first and then mine went out. I turned around to walk back to my seat but before I could sit down, a fish hit. I ran back to grab the rod and just than a fish hit Pats rod. Double header!!!! We landed both fish in a few minutes, but now what do we do? Two fish is plenty to eat and we have only been out 10 minutes. We decided to keep fishing and we caught and released about six more salmon in the next hour. All I can say is that when there are fish in the area we can catch them. Everyone was catching fish, not just us. I was beginning to think the new boat had a bad luck spell on it.
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| Fish we caught in Ketchikan. |
Friday, June 27,2013. We left the dock at 6:00 am and headed for the fuel dock that didn't open until 7:00 am. I thought that would be plenty of time to arrive early, tie up to the dock, transfer some fuel that remained in the tanks, and wait for them to open. Well, there was already three large commercial fishing boats tied up so we drifted along a short ways from the dock and waited. Big fishing boats take a lot of fuel and it takes awhile to pump that fuel into them. So we drifted along for about an hour. Finally it was our turn, we fueled up, and got under way headed for Foggy Bay. By the time we arrived the ocean swells from Dixon Entrance were starting to build and we had the stabilizers on to smooth out the ride. About two hours later we turned on the VHF radio to listen to the weather forecast. They were talking about wind the next few days and it might be several days before we could leave. We could look out of the anchorage and see the water and the wind had let up and the swells were much smaller. It was now 3:00 pm, a little late to start out across this body of water, but if we left immediately we could be in Prince Rupert just before dark. As we were approaching Venn Passage, a whole parade of commercial fishing boats were headed in for the night. We paused a few minutes and let them all pass then we fell in behind them. When we were finally anchored up in Pillsbury Cove in was after 10:00 pm. Up here that is just when it’s getting dark. A very long day!!
Sunday, June 30, 2013. When we awoke this morning it was quite foggy so we waited until 9:00 am to leave. The further we got out into Chatham Sound the foggier it got. We had to stop once for a boat we could see on our radar that kept coming directly at us no matter which way we turned. Turned out to be a small fishing boat, apparently without radar. At 2:30 we pulled into Captains Cove on the northwest end of Pitt Island. This is a new route we are taking this year and is a little further west from the one we took on the way up. We are 60 miles east of the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Monday, July 1, 2013. This morning there was more fog so we had to wait awhile for it it lift. Today it will be a short jaunt to Spicer Island. It is fairly close to the open ocean so we can feel a slight swell. We went bottom fishing and caught quite a few rock cod, which we released.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Today we had a beautiful ride down Petrel Channel and into Principe Channel. Very pretty but there is a lot of wood adrift here. It washes down the Skeena River and finds its way down these channels to the ocean. We found a nice place to spend the night in Moolock Cove. We went bottom fishing right in the cove and caught several nice rock cod.
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| Cruising down Petrel Channel |
Wednesday, July 3, 2013. We were and underway at day break, trying to beat the winds predicted for the afternoon. Had smooth waters the whole way. We anchored up in Hawk Bay on Fin Island. We saw lots of salmon jumping on the way here and some killer whales in the area so figured this might be a good place to fish. We were right!! We went out at 9:00 am and soon lost track of how many fish we caught. They were mostly all pinks which aren't the most desirable of the salmon, so they were all released. But they were fun to catch. Besides, we ate salmon for dinner for four nights and four lunches so we don’t need any more right now. There are very few other boats in this area. Yesterday we saw one other boat and none today while we were traveling. Tomorrow we will get back to the most commonly traveled route and I’m sure we will see other boats again.
Thursday, July 4, 2013. Happy 4th of July!! We were under way at daybreak as there is a long way to go today. The first five hours we did not see another boat but than came upon about eight of them bunched together. Several were commercial fishing boats from the U.S., so they are headed for Alaska. We anchored in Bottleneck Inlet with two other boats. This seems to be the only way we can get away from the fireworks is to be in Canada. The dogs are scared to death of them. Saw a mother black bear with three cubs on the beach.
Friday, July 5, 2013. It was a short three hour ride to Rescue Bay where we anchored up with two other boats. Saw some salmon jumping outside the bay so decided to give it a try. By the end of the day we lost track of how many Chinook we caught. Kept one for dinner and released the rest. Saturday we caught more and they were bigger than yesterdays. I estimate the largest was about 30 pounds. But I can’t prove we caught any as no one else is out here fishing or even saw us fishing. NEWS FLASH!!! I was out fishing by myself this evening, trolling for salmon about 60 feet from the shore. The water was quite deep so there was no need to be any further out. I just happened to glance in back of me and saw a huge head of a whale come out of the water about 50 yards behind me. He was doing the same thing as me, fishing close to the shore and headed right towards me. There was no time to turn out away from the shore, so I just grabbed my camera and got ready for the photo opportunity of the season. I started to focus in the camera and discovered the battery was dead, so I reached into the bag and grabbed the video camera. Just then I looked at my fishing rod and it was bouncing up and down with a fish on it. Now what do I do? There is a whale coming toward me ( I still didn't know what type of whale) and I have a fish on. All I could think of was if it was a Orca, he will probably go after the fish I had on and then what would I do? Well, as it worked out, I landed the fish and the whale turned out to be a small humpback ( about 30 feet), and he swam right by me underwater and I never got a picture. But I had lots of things to think about in a few short seconds.
Sunday, July 7, 2013. Today we cruised down to Shearwater and tied up to their dock for the night. This is the first time we have been ashore in about 10 days. We took the fishing boat over to Bella Bella, and Indian village close by, and bought some groceries. Very expensive!!
Monday, July 8, 2013. This morning we headed out for Ocean Falls to spend a few days. We stopped here on the way north and it is one of our favorite places. We will spend a few days here, catch some crab and maybe some more prawns.
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| Ocean Falls |
