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Apologies for delayed fishing report!

We have enjoyed continued good weather (albeit sometimes wet) in recent weeks and the fishing has been great!

Recent highlights include nice Tyee over 30 pounds including several in the high 30’s. Most Chinook have been coming in at 14-22 pounds. Also interesting is the amount of hatchery fish coming in this year. Easily 10 times as many as previous years.

Coho salmon are in good numbers. Most of these are now in the 8-12lb range and these fish are anticipated be in the 12-16lb range in just a few weeks.

Popular baits continue to be Anchovy/Flasher and pretty much any spoon trolled behind a flasher. Personally, I have been using the “Wonderbread” spoon with great success. This is a white spoon with brilliant pink, red and blue dots on it. Not sure what it mimics but it works great! Many of our guides are running whole and cut plug herring with good success. Its usually these larger baits which produce the larger fish.

Salmon spots are ever changing during the season and each year is a little different.  One surprise to us is the amount of fish being caught at Reginald Island and inside Louisa cove. In past years we only fished these locations when weather did not permit us to comfortably fish along west Athlone (Cheney and Cheney 2). This year however, boats are fishing these locations as they have been really producing. And, at less than one minute away from the lodge, it makes a comfortable and quick ride to the fishing grounds.

Halibut  and Ling Cod fishing has been good. The nice weather has allowed us to fish many spots along the coast and with good success.

We couldn’t be happier with our crew this year!  Life at a seasonal salmon lodge requires a certain kind of person. Long days, hard work and an ever changing operational environment is often a challenge of working where we love to be. Shea, our Chef has really stepped things up on the inside. Guests have really commented on the quality of preparation and care given to their meals. We have also circled back to having lunch on the water delivered to Cheney Point and Louisa Cove for those guests wishing to stay out. At the lodge, the meals have been tasty and short order served piping hot and fresh, Not always and easy task in a remote environment like this. Cudo’s to Shea and his team!

We are often asked about who are best guides are. As far as I am concerned we have the best guide crew on the coast. Very diligent, caring people who really love where they are and what they are doing. Of particular note I wanted to mention a young fellow who has consistently raving reviews and who is new to us this year, Nathan Blacklock. Nate previously worked up in Haida Gwaii and wanted to move from working on the dock to guiding. Having all of his certifications, Nathan came to us with and understanding he would be both Guiding and “Instructing” guests on the water. And, having him here has been awesome. Guests love fishing with him and so far he has been very “Lucky” on the water.

No matter where you fish, these are a few things truly great guides should at a minimum look after:

• Be on time and have impeccably clean, organized and well stocked boat
• Give guests a full review of all operation and safety equipment in case of emergency or if the guests want to operate the boat on their own.
• Communicate with guests a plan for each day and to discover what their guests would like to accomplish.
• Communicate well with other boats on the water to understand safety, weather, tide and fishing information.
• Care for any fish retained by handling accordingly, bleeding and keeping fish cool. To release fish in a caring fashion including the use of descending devices for rockfish
• Operate the boat in a way most comfortable and safe for all on board.
• Abide by all fisheries related regulations.
• Be proficient at the rigging of all baits and lures maintaining fishing gear.
• Have a friendly,  patient and helpful demeanour.

As always, we are looking forward to seeing so many of our repeat guests join us again during August and September. Thank You to all of you who have fished with us already and supported our business. We appreciate it!

2025 is already booking up! If you have specific dates in mind be sure to be in touch soon for best selection!

 

Take care,

George

 

 

We have enjoyed an excellent Canada Day long weekend at King Pacific Lodge! And, as far as seasons go, we couldn’t be happier.

Our guests have been amazing to meet and our crew has been doing a great job. Our Chef, Shea and his team have been creating incredible meals. The guides on the water continue to hone their skills and have provided wonderful experiences. Everything around the lodge and Milbanke Sound has been delightful and the weather and fishing has certainly been co-operating.

To date, our largest Chinook has been a whopping 43 pounds! Many others in the mid 30’s have been taken as well. Generally, Chinook have been in the 15-25lb range. Coho have been showing up also and these have been in the 5-8lb range. All the usual spots seem to be producing. Cape Mark, Cheney Point and Cape Swaine have been good. I managed to spend a full day on the water recently and tried the “Notch” on the west side of Wurtele Island. Plenty of good size Chinook were played albeit the largest was just visiting us.

Spoons such as the Herring Aid and Anchovy have been working great trolled at 40-60ft. Recently, I spent some time on the water with Kyle Bryan of Rapala and VMC trying out some of their new lures by Luhr Jensen. The “Anchovy Roll” lure really produced! We’ll be trying more of these products this summer.

The weather in the coming days will be a little stronger winds out of the Northwest. With this winds we will have sunny, clear skies albeit choppy afternoons. Good thing we have such protected and productive fishing areas such as Louisa Cove and south to Thompson Bay.

Should you still be looking for a trip this summer, we have plenty of great dates available. And, as we are booking out 2025 already, be sure to reach out soon for the best availability.

Tight Lines

George

 

 

 

Hello Anglers!

We are really looking forward to getting out on the water this summer. And, its coming up quickly! Excitement is building and our crew is anxious to get going. For those of you who have already booked in and secured your dates – Thank You. Your support is really appreciated and its nice to see both new and returning guests. If you are still looking to book for this summer, we do have space on select dates. Best to check in with us soon and see what works for your schedule!

Lisa and I are excited to announce Lorna Landry has joined our team! For many of you who have already booked for 2024, Lorna may have already been in touch regarding your trip details. Lorna, Lisa and I worked at the former West Coast Resorts organization for over 15 years.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Lorna has been in the fishing lodge industry on the west coast since  1996. And, she knows how to fish! A great experience is all in the details and Lorna is a stickler for those! Welcome Lorna!

 

 

From all accounts, we should be in for another excellent summer of salmon fishing. Our usual seasonal preparations are underway and everything is coming together nicely for opening day. There has been a lot of hard work put into stripping down and restoring the Ironwood boats. Fresh paint always looks nice and the new wiring and navigation systems are super helpful. On the dock, we are happy to announce the addition of two blast / plate freezing units. These will allow our guests catch to be frozen rock hard in just a couple of hours.

Word from our friends in the north is of nice and cold ocean conditions, lots of bait and wildlife out on the water. It seems the whales are already feeding heavily too.

Opening day in 2023 was filled with excitement. To top it off, a 40 pound Tyee Chinook was weighed in. What continued was an excellent June for fishing and the subsequent months of July and August were great.

We are happy to report a very similar crew and guests will be pleased to see so many familiar faces.

For those returning guests to King Pacific Lodge, you may recall a beautiful painted cedar Whale fin adorning our fireside lounge. This was created many years ago by a great friend, Steve Smith. (DLA’KWAGILA). Below is an image of Steve and I back in June of 2016. The season had only begun and Steve joined us at King Pacific Lodge to enjoy the excellent fishing and to paint the panel on site, on board the lodge. Upon its first standing up outside, two ravens immediately came from the forest and circled us calling to us as they flew around. From that point, the piece was named “Ravens Envy”.  

Steve is working on another stunning piece for the lodge and we are looking forward to showcasing it this summer.

Learn more about Steve, his culture and beautiful artwork here: https://www.stevesmithnativeart.com/artist-bio.html

 

Tight Lines!

George Cuthbert

 

As we approach September, the good times and great fishing continues at King Pacific.

We have been fishing the entire Milbanke Sound area from Idol Point, out to McGinnes Island and  Cheney Point. Over the past week we have seen a lot of action along the west side of Athlone Island, Cheney 1 & 2.  Very nice Chinook from mid teens to mid 20’s are common and just yesterday we had four Tyee over 30 pounds. Last trip, one of the largest Chinook of the season was taken and weighing in at over 40lbs. Cohos are regularly coming in over 10lbs now with many in the low teens.

All gear types are working well. Green  Spoons, White Hootchie,  Anchovies  and Cut Plug herring are the go to baits. Generally a little deeper from 60-80ft has produced good results.

Bottom fishing has been fantastic as our fleet has had a good chance to get around to all of the favourite spots. Excellent Lingcod and Halibut have been common catches.

The weather and sea conditions have been fantastic. Albeit, a little obscured due to the smoke from forest fires inland British Columbia. Its a constant reminder of the challenges people are facing with these fires and we hope all who are affected are safe. We are expecting some stronger Northwest Winds this coming weekend.

Thanks to all who have visited with us so far this season. We appreciate your continued support and we are very much looking forward to hosting guests until the 10th of September.

Our dates for 2024 are quickly filling in. Should you have specific dates in mind for next year, now is the best time for securing your favourite dates!

Take care,

George

We are having  a great season at King Pacific Lodge!

Fishing continues to be very good and the weather has been unbelievable. Calm seas, sunny skies -mixed with short periods of heavy cloud, fog and rain. Ok, so. not always sunny. And, yes sometimes not always calm. Always fishable.

Most of our fleet fishing for Chinook and Coho have been having very good luck on the north side of Cape Swaine, Cheney Point and Cheney 2. Standard depths have been in the 35-55ft during the tide changes and 75-85ft during the running tide.  We have an excellent supply of both Herring and Anchovy baits however most of our action has been on artificial baits such as hoochies and spoons. Seems anything green/white or Chrome/Copper is working well. Best part is, we are only fishing 5-10 minutes from the lodge.

Bottom fish have been abundant. Excellent catches of Ling Cod seem to be regular along with some very nice Halibut. We venture about 30-40 minutes out for these fish and have been fishing 250-350ft.

We enjoyed watching some youngsters on the dock last trip catching squid! Our fish processing and washing creates un resistible treats fort the squid and they have been coming in thick around the lodge.  Squid have been swimming around the lodge and even Chinook salmon have been seen gorging themselves first thing in the morning.

Guests are reporting a very pleasurable stay at the lodge this year. The evening fire pit has been alive with excellent fishing stories. The meals created for our guests have been well received.

As always we appreciate the continued support of all our guests. We look forward to seeing so many more guests this coming season.

George