My friends, I have got to be one of the luckiest people I know (and that tends to fall on both sides of the coin ) But once again, I've found myself in the right place at the right time.
Allen Sensano, the guy who caught Jaws in his kayak (huge salmon shark) last year or so ago and the same polepole who was with YotF, Jon S, and msgdan on their Alaskan Adventure, had planned a trip to the Queen Charlotte islands (30 miles south of AK) for over a year to catch HUGE (100lbs+) halibut from the yak. At the last minute real life imposed itself on him and his day job really needed him.
This was a bigwater trip and the plan required a group of 5 anglers (one in a zodiac, and two pairs of yak fishermen to watch each others backs)and he could not leave them light an angler. To make a long story longer, he negotiated repayment for the the lost trip and a replacement kayak angler with big water experience. In other words, Me (that and the fact that I had exactly that time available with 1.5 week's notice) Allen my friend, I REALLY owe you one.
I checked my passport, drysuit, scored a bit of heavy fishing gear (some 16/0 circle hooks, 16oz jigheads, 10" plastic grubs.....) and camping gear and found myself at the airport with an Air Canada boarding pass for YZP exactly one and a half weeks later. A bit of the other side of the coin showed up when none of my fishing gear and half of my camping stuff appeared in a stop over in Vancouver. I was assured that it would be there the next day but that was useless as I was getting off the plane in Sandspit and on to a boat to take us to a wilderness campsite that day (had to catch the tide)
I met the other fishermen in Vancouver for the flight to Sandspit. Jesse, who won the the kayak angler division of the 2007 Everette Bay Coho derby; Lucian, an Ocean Kayak pro and part of the Michigan contingent that comes down for the Jacksonville Classic; and Tim, the editor of Kayak Angler magazine, all exchanged greetings and made our way to the next plane to Sandspit. There we met our host Jeff, another Ocean Kayak pro, and owner operator of Extreme Kayak Fishing Expeditions and The Kingfisher Guesthouse who assured me that he had enough gear to cover me and to hurry up, get in the truck, we gotta go! So we did.
We left the dock in Queen Charlotte city at about 4 pm Saturday and had a great ride out to our camp in a 54' motorsailer
Our captain deposited us on a tiny island in an undisclosed location at about midnight with a really impressive display of making landfall at night single handed.
We spent the night on the boat then ferried our stuff to camp by kayak and WaterWolf's (our host Jeffrey's) little zodiac. Everybody seemed to forget we were supposed to pack light
We quickly set up camp then headed out on the first mission by about 9 am Sunday morning. This camp is perfectly located in a number of tiny islands that are surrounded by fjords with depths that drop from 2' to 500' all within a short paddling distance. We were in a hurry the first day so we worked out a towing regime with the inflatable. Look out surfers, tow-in kayak fishing is born.
KayakAngler (Tim) scored first with a nice ling
and by the time he had his to the boat Lucian (Lucian) howled "Fish-On!".
I guess that was our opening ceremony, because that's when the lying began (who's ling was bigger). I connected with a bunch of good rock fish, but could not find Bertha Butt (mama halibut)
I look like the Michelin Man because I didn't burp my drysuit.
We thought we'd found mama halibut when Espiga (Jesse) took off towards Japan on the first sleigh ride. But after a couple of minutes, he came up with a fair sized rockfish that could not possibly have towed him as a far and as fast as he went. We were pretty sure mama butt just opened her mouth and Jesse's hook never actually saw her.
Jesse found Nemo and Marlin (sorry kids)
Jeffrey as Quint from "Jaws".
It was a great morning and we slayed them.
We motored back to camp and had a quick lunch and a beer (Canadian beer is,,,, strong) and the boys went out for a second session. I wussed out, as at the last minute I had a nature call and did not want to hold up the crew while I did the fish dance to get out and back into my drysuit. I stayed at camp and made pee-ce with my maker and cooked dinner (after washing my hands) That was a mistake (not dinner, dinner was fine ) I should have gone with them as that's when Lucian whacked a 37# nook! (That was a VERY nice fish!)
Then the weather caught up with us. On Sunday night it blew 20-40 knots and the swell went from 2' to 12'. Monday dawned wet and we were on the water by 7, but we were bounced around like toothpicks floating in a bath tub with a great Dane. We retreated to some more protected inlets, but the bite was off. Everyone caught dogfish, so we packed it in and built a great fire on the beach. Being stuck in led to some creative cookery and we ate VERY well.
The rest of the week followed suite and the weather beat us up pretty good. But this was a hardcore crew and the wind and swell only kept us in one day
I still can't seem to get that goofy smile off my face.
This was yak fishing 301, but this was a graduate level crew and we handled up. Thursday, our boat came to pick us up and naturally, the sun came out and the seas laid down. To paraphrase John Gierach:"the measure of a good fishing spot is how well it'll fish next year" This will be a phenomenal trip next year. Bottom line, the fishing was off the hook even though the weather tried keep our hooks off the water. Did I mention I had a HELLACIOUSLY good time? That was GREAT! Thanks again Allen for letting me a attempt fill your bigazz shoes! I had a ball and you were sorely missed.
*All dead fishys pictured were happily devoured by weeks end.
Excellent report and great pics,glad everyone had a good time and made it home safe, I hope the other guys post there pics here so we can live through you guys for a moment. .
FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!!
Posts: 1385 | Location: Belford Jersey | Registered:: April 16, 2006
Now that's the way to tell a fishing story. Great trip, in spite of the weather and the conditions it produced! Just got to love riding those swells while you're busy fishing.
Posts: 4459 | Location: coastal GA | Registered:: April 04, 2005
Wali, really great post and great pictures! I was lucky enough to spend the week with Allen and the crew on Montague Island a few weeks back and all your pictures made me wish I was back. It looked like the conditions were not the best but with an experienced crew everyone made the best of it.
(that and the fact that I had exactly that time available with 1.5 week's notice) Allen my friend, I REALLY owe you one. 
) I should have gone with them as that's when Lucian whacked a 37# nook! (That was a VERY nice fish!) 
Great trip, in spite of the weather and the conditions it produced! 
