Tag Archives: Halibut

Outlook for 2022

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2022/2023 Fishing licenses are now available online. There is a lot of new information included on these licenses which is causing a bit of confusion already! It is important to remember that retention and sometimes size limits are different for different areas on the coast. To best understand the rules, you need to read your license in conjunction with the area specific regulations. We are fishing in BC Tidal Area 3. For the most up to date information visit this page.

Here’s how things stand right now in Area 3:

These are the current regulations posted for 2022. If experience has taught us anything, it is safe to assume that there may be in-season changes to chinook retention, given there is ongoing concern about Skeena River chinook stocks.

As for all other species we don’t anticipate any change to the regulations!

If you’re interested in receiving the most current information on regulation changes, you can sign up for email notifications through the DFO website. 

Don’t forget to get your fishing license online before your trip this year!

Keep Reading ….

2021 Fishing Report

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Chinook

Chinook fishing on Dundas island last summer was quite consistent and, dare I say, at times fabulous as large number of springs in the 12-20lb range invaded our waters. Most trips saw good fishing, fantastic weather and exceptional herring fishing, which made for bright smiles on anglers faces. 

Having said that, it is clear that the downward trend continues. Despite commercial and recreational cutbacks, no-fishing zones, and protections in place to avoid spawning Skeena Chinook, the returning numbers have not been significantly impacted for the better. Stronger policies may be needed to support the long, long recovery of these majestic fish.  

Last season we experienced chinook closures and reductions in retention. Late May and saw limits of 2 fish per day 4 possession, in early June this was reduced to 1 day/ 2 possession and by mid June a 3 week moratorium on harvesting chinook salmon was imposed. Catch limits went back to 1 day/ 2 in possession for the remainder of August, and back to 2 day/4 possession for the remainder of the season. 

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans data shows that only 1 in 8 chinook caught in the Prince Rupert saltwater recreational fishery is a Skeena chinook, and 1 in 12 fish on Dundas Island is of Skeena origin. These cutbacks will do little, in my opinion, to restore a healthy system. Only an estimated 400-600 fish were saved by these cutbacks. Conservation of these glorious creatures should be of the highest of priority for all of us – recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, and first nations. Conservation of this public resource is a responsibility shared amongst all of us.

On a brighter note, Nass River fish fared much better in 2021. Even though numbers were down from the 30-year average, Chinook stocks are showing a gradual increase. An estimated 25,000 fish returned to the Nass System in 2021. The 30-year average is around 30,000 fish, the last 10-year average of returning spawners was 19,800 fish.

Bottom Fishing

When new anglers come to the lodge I am often asked “When is the best time to go chase some bottom fish?”. The truth is that fishing for bottom dwellers is likely good most of the time – however successfully being able to target them is another matter. To tip the odds in our favor I tell our guests that if you’re seriously looking for some delicious table fare, then plan your outing for when the weather is calm and sea conditions flat. This sounds a lot simpler than it really is! It may mean foregoing salmon fishing for a couple of hours. The north coast is also infamous for its constantly changing weather but if you plan it right there is usually a window of opportunity for favorable conditions during your trip. To make it easier for guests to target halibut the lodge provides anchor locations so unguided guests can tie up their boats within a short distant of the lodge in a care-free protected area. 

As for last season’s bottom fishing report, simply put, it was great! Calm seas with light winds were prevalent for most of the summer and every year we seem to add a few more spots to our repertoire complementing our tried-and-true locations. We also activated some old haunts that turned out to be extremely productive once again. Last summer we encountered some fabulous fishing for lingcod and halibut with a great mix of all sizes. It’s interesting to note that over the years certain spots will fish differently, produce more (or less) fish on certain tides and hold different species from year to year.

Like all of you – as our halibut stocks start to dwindle in the freezer – we are looking forward to getting back out there!

Herring

In a perfect world Amazon would delve into the untapped Dundas Island market and provide delivery boats that would visit Herring rocks each morning at the crack of dawn. Jiggers would provide us an array of fresh herring, ranging in sizes of 6-12 inches, perfect for whatever quarry we target that day, before sending us a text that our bait has been delivered as we sip hot coffee and baileys, fireside at the lodge. Alas, Jeff Bezos has yet to answer our plea so we must hit the water before sunrise and do the job.  There is something about humbling ourselves before the fish gods and setting our jigs over a school of herring that keeps us all well balanced. Either way, as far as I am concerned, every day is a blessing, not only do I get to do what I really love but I get to share it with all of you eager anglers.   

Jigging freshies starts our day, every day. There are no bait ponds or minions for any of us to rely on, just our experience and sometimes dumb luck. At times we are humbled, yes, but more often than not we are rewarded with the best bait on the planet, bar none. Bait that every salmon fisherman on the pacific envies! 

Photo Credit: Michael Holzhey

From a distance 6-7 guide boats and skiffs going in circles like a flock of seagulls looks a little silly. Crowded together, rod tips touching, coffee spilling with a little colorful banter being tossed around really jump-starts the morning for me.  Usually, it’s obvious when the first herring grabs your string of imitation krill flies, the quiver is unmistakable. From there – everyone has their own technique. My personal favorite is to allow the first fish to cause enough chaos that it attracts others to the flashy looking hooks.  I hold steady, twitching my rod slightly, waiting. From there I decide whether to drop deeper or do a slow retrieve a touch shallower, remembering that slack line is the enemy.  Regardless, patience is the key, full strings are the goal and hitting the salmon fishing grounds early is the reward. Remember there are salmon to catch, big ones with big teeth, ready to slash at your beautiful translucent-finned cut plug no matter how much fun you just had jigging bait. Off we go!

Coho & Fly-Fishing

Lucky for us, the 2021 Coho fishing didn’t seem to be affected by Covid restrictions, travel bans, or social distancing and on our returning Coho stocks were very, very strong. Recreational anglers all over the coast have been signaling the warning sign to the DFO on the declining Coho stocks for several years. Finally, DFO managers heeded the advice of their biologists and significantly curtailed the commercial troll fishery for Coho in 2021. The result was literally hundreds of thousands of extra fish making their way through the gauntlet to their streams of origin.  Along the way they pass through Dixon Entrance and a percentage hit the shores of Zayas and Dundas Islands where lodge guests were treated to some of the best Coho fishing in a decade.

On an evening fish with Longhorn, Ashlyn made lodge history, landing 2 coho on the same line.  Some of you might have experienced this with a fish on each hook, but Ash’s hungry coho swallow the weight and his buddy piped the herring!  Atta girl Ash!

Coho started showing up as early as late June, and in large numbers.  By August it was full blown madness at times.  Revived were the days of hooking multiple fish a day on the cast fly. The washing machines were back, jack herring were being assaulted at an astronomical rate and smiles could be found on every fisherman at the lodge. The Coho were so thick at times that while targeting Chinook we would have to move locations to avoid these aggressive feeders and keep our bait from being continuously ravaged. This was a good problem to have considering the alternative.

Buck tailing was back with a vengeance too! Good catches and thunderous takes make this an extremely effective and energizing method to target these aggressive Coho. Multiple fish tides were common, and double-digit days were not an exception.

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Haa-Nee-Naa Newsletter 2021

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In this issue …

Remember March of 2020 when we were approaching life in 2-week increments? Now we are all well versed in Corona viruses, mRNA vaccines, rapid tests, spike proteins, quarantining, and so much more. Despite this increased exposure and knowledge, so much about the future remains unknown. What I do know, is that the last two years have been very taxing on every single one of us – whether it is immediately obvious or not. These two years have forced us to re-focus on the things that matter in life like friends, family, and getting the perfect spin on a cut plug herring.  

Looking back, it was a blessing to be able to spend 4 months on Dundas Island, where COVID was not the main topic of conversation. Instead, we were able to lose ourselves in projects: Clay and his apprentice loggers beachcombed logs and hand milled lumber to make huge gains on what will become our new recycle, gym and greenhouse dock; Robyn … oh wait, Robyn’s project was desperately trying to rejig the schedule while Jason worked tirelessly bouncing back and forth from project to project and training the new lodge hires. Then as guests started arriving more consistently in early July, all of our attention turned to our eager guests.   

Last summer felt like we finally got a bit of a break – the weather was kind, the fishing was good and … the coho fishing was the best we’ve seen in years. On top of that, we had the privilege of working with wonderful, enthusiastic new staff and our dedicated, returning experienced guide team. We had the added pleasure of being visited by many of you.  

Here’s a recap of the 2021 season – just in time to get you ready for the 2022 season! To read the full articles, click on the link at the bottom and it will take you to our blog site where you can read everything in full.  We are looking forward to seeing you very soon,

Bobblehead

 

In this issue …

 

Haa-Nee-Naa Lodge Newsletter 2020

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In this Issue …

It seems quite shocking that it is already time to sit down and write a newsletter! This past year has felt surreal. Such a whirlwind of effort and emotions towing and getting set up on Dundas and then back again – these are distant memories already and 2020 isn’t even over! ‘Don’t count your chickens before they hatch’ is what my dad used to tell me. Clay prefers to remind me not to ‘high-five’ too soon. In either case, we got too excited about the 2020 season too early and it jinxed us – and possibly the rest of the world!?! The stage was set for what was to be our busiest season in recent memory, but as we all understand now, COVID-19 changed – and continues to change – everyone’s plans.

After many weeks of uncertainty last spring we decided, with the support and encouragement of so many of you, to forge ahead with the season. Looking back, we feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to open our doors and to do what we love – even if it was just for a few weeks.

Clay, Jason and I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of our guests – those of you who joined us last summer – and those of you who were unable to visit us, you showed us patience, support and understanding just the same. You all helped to make a dreadful situation much, much kinder and for that we thank you.

To our American friends – we miss you! You have continued to be in our thoughts as infection rates and general unrest have surged across the country. We hope that you are all well and taking good care of yourselves and of each other.

Please enjoy this retrospective on the 2020 season while we all look forward to getting back on the water together in 2021. We are using a new format for the newsletter this year. Instead of one really long email, click below on the different articles. Hopefully this will make for a better reading experience! Please let us know what you think.

Yours very truly,

Bobblehead

In this Issue….

They say 40 is the new 20

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As we enter the height of Chinook season things have started to heat up with healthy numbers of Chinook biting every trip. The average size of fish encountered has been an impressive 20 pounds, but we’ve seen more 40s this month than the last few seasons combined!  With this extra muscle these fish can put up quite the fight.  With multiple reel screaming runs and massive jumps, anglers must be patient and let these fish take line!  If you’re not careful, using the light tackle that we do, these brutes can bust lines in a hurry.

Herring fishing continues to be consistent in our favourite spots.  We are seeing big schools of juveniles in our regular salmon spots which is creating a lot of surface activity from Coho, Pinks, and even the odd Chinook jumping or slashing bait on top – a promising sight for anyone interested in fly fishing in August.

Many lifetime memories and new fishing stories have been created over the last few weeks up here. Among the most memorable would have to be the trip that Father-Son team Morgan and Oliver had. After 20 years of fishing Dundas, it is amazing to think that these guys could have a trip that makes the last two decades pale in comparison!  Together with their friend Heath, these guys boated 6 tyees over the course of the week, the biggest topping the scales at 46lbs – Morgan’s personal best at Haa-Nee-Naa, and the largest fish of the season so far.

Some great weather has allowed for great bottom fishing, with halibut and ling being taken from the far west and beyond. Large halibut have been common throughout the season.  It is great to release these breeding fish and they put up quite the fight!

The night bite has been on as well, with change over nights producing some really great fishing. Long time Haa-Nee-Naa guests Jason and Dan kicked off their trip with a 41 pounder on Monday evening!

With the abundance of chinook, many anglers throughout the season have practiced some great catch and release, releasing fish from the high twenties and over 30 have been returned to the water to continue and migrate to spawn. The weight of the released fish can be determined by a quick length and girth measurement in the net.  The formula we use is: (length x girth2) / 740. This has been seen to measure retained fish to be within half a pound on the scale.  

Out fishing after supper with fellow guides Noelsy and RBS, I got to hook my first personal tyee as well!  This beauty went back into the water at an estimated 33 pounds. 

With 10 more days of prime chinook fishing, and coho season fast approaching, I am excited to see what the rest of the season has in store for us. Check back with us soon!

Tight lines, Cheeks

They’re here!

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Howdy Folks, with the first few trips of the season under our belts, I am stoked to give you an update of the goings on around Dundas.

The first trip brought back many familiar faces that were just as eager to get out there and roll some herring as all of us were, and on a 7-day trip you could feel the excitement on the dock to get out there and explore the opportunities.

The fresh herring were plentiful with many of them being what I would describe as “The Perfect Herring”: 5-7 inches and not a scale missing – the perfect weapon for hungry Chinook. The jigging was also very close to home, some mornings were spent getting bait right in front of the Lodge.

The first trip of the season, beginning May 24th, had some hot days on the water with a healthy number of chances for everyone, this allowed for some great catch and release fishing – throwing some beautiful fish back into the water to continue their journey to the rivers. This followed by some slower days, but it showed that if you stick it out on the water and are patient, you will be rewarded. The forecast was sunshine and low winds which allowed for some off-shore bottom fishing days, guests and guides had the opportunity to venture out and explore some farther flung fishing spots.

This pattern continued for the next few trips: some stellar fishing days followed by some tougher fought ones, but time spent of the water is a major factor of success, and when that bite comes, we have to be ready to capitalize on those opportunities.

Hats off to Mike who patiently waited for his bite and managed to stick a beautiful 35 pound Chinook with his good friend, Ray, and guide RBS.

Mike’s 1st Tyee!

After a slow day on the water, Guide Noel was so keen to get into some fish he and his guests skipped dinner and headed back out the wall – they made up for their tough day with three Chinook on the evening bite!

Overall the early season is showing great signs of a healthy run, with some of the elusive Tyees hitting the dock every trip and with this cold water the fight in these migratory fish is breath taking with big jumps and massive long runs giving us what we all love to hear:  screaming reels.

Along with these brutes is the first sign of early coho runs, these smaller fish still pack a punch and are a great tasting bonus to take home.  This is hopefully a sign of things to come for our fly fishing guests in August. 

Derby winner Chantel with her first Tyee!

One of the questions that we keep hearing is – what are the limits this season?  At the moment the retention limits for salmon are the same as in 2017. You are allowed eight salmon, of which 4 can be Chinook.  This means you are once again allowed to retain up to 2 chinook/day with 4 in possession.  The official management decision has not been released by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, but all indications are that there will be no change in retention for the 2019 season.

If you’re interested in receiving the most current information on regulation changes, you can sign up for email notifications through the DFO website!  

Tight Lines and see you on Dundas soon!

Cheeks

Looking back on 2016

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Another summer at Haa-Nee-Naa Lodge has come and gone! We’d like to extend a big THANK YOU to everyone who joined us this year and made it a very memorable fishing season. It is always a pleasure for the staff to see your familiar faces getting off the plane and to create new relationships with first time guests! This is something we all look forward to every trip.

We have had a busy fall: With some well-deserved time off, Clay went on his annual fly-in moose hunt this September. He has been doing this two-week trip for many years now, which provides him with fresh caribou and moose meat throughout the year.

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Another trip many of us look forward to is the annual Bulkley river camping/fishing trip in October.   This year chef Paul Williams attended along with Jason, Clay, Tanis and family and friends. Enjoying his time away from the kitchen, Paul managed to catch his first-ever steelhead on the spey rod! A proud Aussie to say the least! This year’s Bulkley trip also marked a milestone birthday for Longhorn, pretty soon he will need a wading staff on the river!

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The team up here has now transitioned back into our winter lives – going to school, playing hockey, being new dads, and of course, working! Clay, Jason and Robyn are back at work, already preparing for the 2017 fishing season, doing all the required maintenance on the building, boats, engines and office work handled by Robyn. Before we get ahead of ourselves though we’d like to take a moment to look back on the last season.

Looking back here are a few highlights that stand out in our minds:

Early June we saw a good push of feisty Chinook salmon. Some guests had amazing salmon fishing hooking into double digits. I remember when the first large wave of fish came in on the 4th of June. Fishing Kelp Point during a flood tide we had two double headers in 30 minutes. Boy oh boy did that get the blood flowing!

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Halibut fishing was once again amazing throughout the whole season with our off shore spots producing numerous of large 100cm+ fish. Guide Clint and his guests, Randy and Dwight, released not just one, but two of the largest halibut the lodge has ever seen! No one will know the exact weights however according to the length chart the fish were estimated to be about 220 lbs and 150 lbs. True giants!

Veteran guide Nugget had an unfortunate hand injury during the 2nd week of June, which required surgery and put him out of commission for the season. Dan Bertrand stepped up to the plate and did an excellent job guiding. He worked very hard and guided his clients into many Tyee!

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Although it was a tough year overall on the Salmon front, it definitely had its memorable moments.  Sometimes it’s the fish you really have to work for that you remember the most fondly. I think guest Elizabeth Barnard would agree – Elizabeth landed her personal best Chinook, a beautiful 52 lber, in the final minutes before the radio call the last morning of her trip. Congratulations again on the fish of a lifetime!  Elizabeth’s fish held up as the largest Tyee landed in 2016.DSCN1671

As always the staff at Haa-Nee-Naa takes great pride in customer service and want to leave a positive impression on each and every guest. Thank you to those who joined us this year and we look forward to seeing you next year for another memorable adventure! Stay tuned for our annual newsletter coming out in the New Year.

If you have not yet heard from Robyn, she’ll be in touch soon to confirm the dates and details of your trip for next season.

See you next time!

“Modified Duties”

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Hello folks! I have been away from the lodge for a few trips, nursing an injured thumb, but have been keeping close tabs on the action at Haa-Nee-Naa and have some great fish stories to report.

The fishing has continued to get better and better as the season continues –

DSCN1660Our seventh trip of the season favoured guests with good numbers of Chinook and Coho salmon continued to be caught. We have started to see an increase of Coho salmon both in size and numbers caught. Typically the June Coho are smaller 5-8lb fish as they have not yet had time to bulk up before their journey up river to spawn, however this year we are seeing an abundance of 10lbers and some larger ones! A very nice treat for any angler fishing Dundas Island at this time of year.

DSCN1666This trip marked the 20th Haa-Nee-Naa Lodge anniversary for long-time guest Greg Shimek. WOW! A remarkable milestone, I’m sure Greg could write a short novel with all his memories over the years from fishing Dundas Island. Adding to two decades worth of memories was a hard fighting 39lb Chinook salmon hooked in Haida Bay with his old friend and net-man, Longhorn. Greg’s 39 pounder held up as the biggest fish for most of the trip until changeover morning….

DSCN1671Like we said last time, we’re always one tide away from a great day. On the last morning of the trip, first time HNNL guest but long time saltwater angler Elizabeth hooked an absolute monster! Elizabeth and her mom have been fishing up and down the coast of BC together for 20 years, and this year Elizabeth finally topped her mom’s 50 pound record holder with a beautiful 53 pounder – A fish of a lifetime and one she will never forget! Many happy tears were shed over this beautiful specimen, congratulations Elizabeth!

A Shout-out to “Growler” who year after year brings up fresh oysters hand-picked from his beach in Puget Sound. A treat everyone looks forward to every June. Yum!

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Fathers’ Day Weekend the salmon continued to roll through the top end of Dundas Island in good numbers. Plenty of Coho around to keep everyone busy while waiting for the big Chinook salmon to strike! We saw a large increase of baitfish up top on the surface virtually everywhere you fished. This brought in plenty of Humpback whales and they could be seen aggressively feeding right on the surface. An amazing sight to see that never gets old! Father-Son team Morgan and Oliver cleaned up in the derby with the two biggest fish of the trip weighing 32 and 33lbs! Nice fish gentlemen!

DSCN1678A couple large halibut were caught mooching in 40ft of water at one of our “combo” flats in which lingcod, halibut, and salmon can all be caught. The halibut weighed 40lbs and 75lbs, makes for a fun battle on the lightweight salmon gear.

Perhaps the best fishing so far this season occurred just last week. Huge pushes of Chinook and Coho came by keeping everyone extremely busy on the water! Large tides stirred things up and with them brought plenty of new fish. The guests shared many double headers on Chinook salmon and if you were into a school of Coho sometimes all 4 rods would go off! The action was fast and furious – what every saltwater angler dreams of! The largest fish of the trip was a fat 40lber caught on changeover morning by Art! Nice fish Art, a great way to end the trip.

DSCN1685A mammoth halibut was also caught and released by long time guest Denis. This fish was estimated to be 5.6 feet long and weighing roughly 148 pounds according to the Pacific Halibut Commission’s length-weight tables! Denis got his daily workout in bringing this beast up from 200ft. A well-earned trophy halibut-release pin!

IMG_2070 (1024x683)The Jigger on the month award goes out to Longhorn who successfully jigged 76 herring in 6 minutes and 45 seconds. Last month’s winner was Jason Bowers who brought in 92 herring one morning while all other boats got skunked. Stay tuned for July’s jigger of the month award.

Fishing has continued to be consistent for the current group of guests and we are expecting to see some more whoppers hit the deck! Until then, happy fishing everyone!

Don’t forget to get your fishing licences on-line before your visit this year.  You can visit the licensing website here: Online Licensing  to set up a profile for yourselves, purchase your fishing license and refresh your memories on catch limits.

Tight Lines,

The Ghost of Nugget

Chinook Salmon Fever!

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The 2016 Haa-Nee-Naa Lodge fishing season has officially begun!  Staff were hard at work during the three weeks of start up: painting, repairing, cleaning, and just about everything you can think of in-between in preparation for opening day on May 20th.

I love this time of year!  After so many months of anticipation in the off-season, it feels great to finally throw down some cut-plug herring.  Nothing beats rolling into any one of our Dundas Island hot spots and having it all to ourselves.

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The season got off to a great start on May 20th.  We welcomed back past guests and new faces to kick off the season.  It is always a treat for us guides to witness someone’s first Dundas Island Chinook – a truly memorable experience.

Patsy Cline faithfully woke us up on the first morning, getting everyone up out of bed and excited for the first full day on the water.  Along with all the other guides I had trouble sleeping the night before, dreaming of Freshie’s and hungry Chinook salmon had us all jacked up for the 4:15am wake up call.

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The first couple days of the trip yielded low Chinook salmon hook-ups for everyone.  The herring were very scattered and tough to locate during our morning hunt.  Thoselucky enough to find a bait ball of mature herring that were willing to bite their sabiki rigs had a definite leg up for the day.

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By the third day of the trip the herring were showing up in big numbers and the salmon fishing got steadily stronger.  Fishing stayed consistent through the latter part of the trip and everyone got to shake hands with at least a few Chinook.  The first Tyee of the season was brought in by Robert, weighting exactly 30lbs.  First time guest and first time salmon fisherman, John, also topped off his salmon card with a beautiful, well-earned 32 pounder.  Congratulations guys!!

The average salmon weight for the trip was 16 pounds, with a couple of Tyee and a handful of fish in the 25-27 pound range.

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Bottom fishing was excellent for all species.  Lingcod and Halibut were plentiful along with the various types of rockfish.  It is exciting to be the first rod to fish many of these humps, ledges and pinnacles that haven’t been fished since last season.  The aggressive lingcod were hiding in their caves just waiting for a freshie to be sent down!  Four halibut over 100 cms hit the dock with the largest being 127 cms.

All in all a great start to the 2016 season.  Fishing continues to get better and better everyday, shaping up nicely for great early June Chinook fishing.  Stay tuned for more updates throughout the season.  We are looking forward to seeing all of you up here this summer and can’t wait to hit the water with you.

Don’t forget to get your fishing licences on-line before your visit this year.  You can visit the licensing website here: Online Licencing  to set up a profile for yourselves, purchase your fishing license and refresh your memories on catch limits.

Tight lines,

Nugget

Outlook for 2016

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Chinook

It is always interesting to read through the collected data from the past season’s sport and commercial fishery.  Comparing the data to previous years, biologists come up with an educated estimate of run sizes for the upcoming season.  It causes us to reflect on last season’s ups and downs and pushes us to think long and hard on how to characterize a whole season at the lodge in just a few paragraphs.
 
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) forecast for our region concerning Chinook salmon always seems to be about the same: average returns, all hinging on ocean survival of outgoing smolts.  When you really sort through the data you can see some downward trends and some definite trends looking upward. It appears that the early season Nass and Skeena fish, which make up a large portion of the fish we intercept on Dundas Island, seem to be fairly stable or slightly down from the historical average.  However, the percentages of fish swimming by Dundas to the central and lower parts of the Pacific Northwest seem to be on the rise. It is only a matter of time before we get a bumper year on the North Coast tributaries and when combined with the increasing numbers to Central and Southern rivers, we could be in for some incredible fishing.
 
Last year saw some of the largest returns of big fish to our local tributaries.  At one local hatchery, fish in the 70 pound range were being harvested for brood stock on almost a daily basis. The hatchery manager on this tributary anticipates this season to be even better! These big fish are still out there and swim past Dundas – who will be the lucky one to get their fish of a lifetime this season? Our regional biologist has noted some highlights from last year: in 2015 the average weight of the commercial troll fishery  Chinook on the north coast was only 11 pounds. In most fisheries when there is a large return of jacks or smaller fish, the next year tends to get a bump in the population of 4 and 5 year olds (big fish). With any luck we will see that bump in 2016.

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Coho

The outlook for coho on the North Coast has been described as abundant for 2016. This is good news given that late run Skeena coho numbers were down last season. These low numbers didn’t seem to impact our experience – we continued to have incredible coho action on both cut plugs and on the fly throughout August and into early September. We are excited by this forecast for next season and hope to see large numbers of coho passing through the waters on the north end of Dundas.

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Bottom Fish
 
Possession limits for halibut will remain the same in 2016 (one halibut per day, 2 possession), however there will be changes in the size restrictions.  The large fish will remain at 133 cm and the second fish in possession will drop from 90 cm to 83 cm.  We are also anticipating a change in yellow-eye limits from 3 per day down to 2 per day, four in possession.  We look forward to more great fishing for halibut and all other bottom species.  Fishing may even get better as our guides and anglers are always trying new techniques and locations to further our knowledge of the area.