What is the absolute best time of year to come fishing?

When I go to fish a new area, this is one of the first questions I ask. Or, I’ll ask what time of season they would recommend for a family member or close friend. When receiving an answer to this question, sometimes you need to read between the lines. As I lay out in “Fishing Lodges Dirty Little Secrets”, numerous lodges built more than 20 years ago are in areas that currently have greatly reduced fish stocks, whether due to changes in migration patterns, ocean salinity levels, or overfishing. But because of the need to continue business operations, prospective guests are sent brochures with pictures of fish caught 20 years ago…. , or during the peak season, which is often less than 3 weeks in duration.

How many river systems supply fish to your target area?

A good follow up question to this is, “Are most of the fish you catch native to 1 or 2 river systems? Numerous lodges and charter outfits are located to capitalize on salmon returns to one river system. If the fish are later (or earlier) than expected, or if that particular river has a weak run due to flooding 3 years ago, your chances can be severely diminished. Most people don’t bet their retirement on a single stock, but invest in a wide array of financial vehicles. Personally, I prefer to fish an area that I can catch fish from any one of hundreds or thousands of rivers. If one river has an off year, I probably won’t even notice.

What is the longest time a weather system has prevented you from effectively fishing your best areas?

Some people are surprised to discover that the warm, sunny days of summer can produce incredibly strong sea winds and terminate planned fishing expeditions. These high pressure systems can linger for days and make fishing somewhat less than comfortable. Conversely, low pressure can bring stormy weather lasting for 3-4 days, wiping out most of a fishing vacation.

At what point do you consider the water too rough to fish?

Much can be gleaned from the response to this question. It can also tie into some of the other questions. If the fishing destination is on a river, the answer probably will be “We rarely have that problem”. (But then you realize you are targeting only one run of fish.) If your destination is the ocean, and you receive this response, there are four possible reasons for this.

1.) Your prospective host perhaps is a bit of a daredevil and takes pride in the fact that the weather never keeps him off the ocean.

2.) The boat you will be fishing on is so large that weather does not affect the fishing destination. Usually boats of this size are designed to fish large groups of up to 50 people.

3.) The fishing area is well protected, such as an inlet or group of islands. Trends in salmon runs, due to varying degrees of salinity throughout inshore waters, seem to indicate that inlets and well protected waters will only experience plentiful salmon numbers for a few short weeks each year. Of course there are exceptions, but of late I have found this to be a general rule.

4.) Your prospective host has so many holes in his schedule that missing a couple of days is no big deal for him.

What percent of your season brings repeat clientele?

This question can be innocuously slipped into your conversation, such as when you are talking about how well a certain group did the year before. It is not uncommon for most areas to have at least a few days of good fishing in any given season, so obviously these are the testimonies and pictures which will be promoted. But if most of the other groups were disappointed, return rates will be extremely low.

How many of your guests report that they ate all or most of their previous year’s catch?

This question can be asked in a light-hearted manner, but the answers can be very telling. There are two very important aspects of preserving the quality of your salmon or halibut. It might seem obvious, but what is the quality of the fish before you caught it? How is fish kept while still on the boat? I have seen some operators fill their coolers with water and leave the fish submerged in bloody water for 8-10 hours. Yuk!!

Is the catch vacuum sealed and flash frozen in meal size portions? Catching lots of fish is great, but having 15 pound hunks of solid fish in the freezer can be a little daunting.

More commonly though, I see charter operators send their clients home with coolers full of unprocessed fish, still on ice, that must be butchered, packaged, and frozen. Are you comfortable facing this task when you arrive home from your trip, maybe at midnight?

How much guiding experience does your least experienced guide have?

(Not fishing experience, guiding experience.) There is a big jump between experienced fishermen and qualified guides, but that’s another topic. Again, I touched on this subject in “Fishing Lodges’ Dirty Little Secrets.” Many fishing lodges are forced to recruit bare novices as “guides” because they find it impossible to hire any number of talented, well vetted guides. When I guided for a 5 star lodge on the North Coast, I saw dishwashers pressed into service and passed off to unknowing and high-paying guests as experienced guides. Experienced fishing guides don’t want to spend their season fishing in a desert, so will not sign up to guide an area where there are no fish. Therefore, the lodge must recruit guides who are not familiar with the area and don’t have the experience to be employed at more productive fishing grounds.

What is the FUN factor you try to achieve with every guest?

Let’s face it. Even with the best laid plans, fishing is still fishing. Not every day is guaranteed to be picture perfect with the fish literally jumping in the boat. What is important, though, is having a great time with your guide enjoying the chase.

How To Catch 20-30 Salmon Per Day

Maybe someday I’ll write a book where I’ll lay out in point by point detail the all the necessary factors to catch more salmon in one day than most people catch in a year. But to lay this all out in detail might take a larger manuscript than even the Bible. There are so many variables and nuances to the art of salmon fishing, it would be like writing a book on how to play golf. You can read all that has been written on the subject, but there is no substitute for experience and raw talent. So I’ll spare you the manuscript on the finer points of salmon fishing, and give you the three steps necessary to catching 20-30 plus salmon per day. I warn you though, it’s pretty insightful stuff. If you miss any of these steps…, the success of your fishing expedition will be in jeopardy. OK, here it is.

Step 1. Go to the right place

Step 2. Go at the right time

Step 3. Go with the right guy

THE RIGHT PLACE

There you have it. Having fished the west coast of North America for the last 30 years has given me a pretty good handle on where to find the best salmon fishing. Of course it’s not limited to just one area, but I do have my favorites. Vancouver Island’s west coast is a super highway for salmon from thousands of rivers and streams from central California to Alaska.

THE RIGHT TIME

Depending on the species of salmon you wish to catch, contact us for best times. Generally, the second half of July through the end of August is prime time for Chinook salmon. August through September is best for Coho or Silver salmon. Contact us for more detailed salmon run analysis for the coming year.

THE RIGHT GUY

Often the right guy will have recent pictures of fish on their website. If you see many pictures THAT AREN’T DATED, chances are they are quite a few years old and do not relay the current fishing conditions in the area. We try to post pictures on the fishing reports over the whole summer to let prospective guests see that they have a great chance of getting a well deserved fishing trip.

It’s easy, actually. Find a lodge or fishing operation that carries its’ guests in covered cabin cruisers with an open deck for fighting the fish. But here is what you need to know. Many lodges, especially those who advertise remote wilderness locations, find the cost of transporting larger boats and the necessary fuel prohibitively expensive. In order to conserve fuel, management generally is forced to make one of two decisions. Guests find themselves fishing in small open boats, generally in the 15-18 ft. range, or sharing the company of 20-30 others on a 50 ft. plus ocean cruiser. Lodges that offer comfortable accommodations and covered boats for 2-5 people often charge upwards of $1,000 per day, per person! The following pointers will help you decide which type of boat is right for your next expedition…. Please note that this is our opinion and you are free to choose which you like!

There are 3 main types of fishing boat in use today on the west coast. The hard-top cabin cruiser style, the soft –top, and open boat.

THE SOFT TOP

25 ft Grady White Sailfish

Picture of a 25 ft Grady White

The soft-top is either 100% canvas top, or canvas wrapped around a fiberglass or aluminum roof. This type of arrangement is popular on walk-around style boats, such as many Grady-White models. While the Grady-White is a good fishing boat in Florida, the 24-29 ft models popular with some west coast guides offer limited protection for all but the captain and one other person. The sad part for finding boats is that most boats are designed this way. All guests unlucky enough not to score the only other seat behind the windshield find themselves halfway under the canvas, subject to all the boat spay and rainstorms that frequent the Pacific Northwest. Some people try and extend the cabin a little which does help the two people up front. It is recommended to wear warm rain gear or floater suits while fishing this type of boat on the west coast.

THE OPEN BOAT

Boston Whaler

13 ft Boston Whaler

The open boats are often dory style or center console Boston Whaler style boats. Guests are often seated ahead of the console, not only taking the full force of the wind and rain, but also the pounding of the waves since they are so far forward along the boat’s hull. Rain gear is a must, hampering movement and providing more opportunity for sleeves and or other bulky outdoor clothing to get caught in a screaming reel.

THE HARD TOP

29 ft Trophy with twin 250 Suzuki Motors

Picture of a 29 ft Trophy with twin 250 Suzuki 4-stroke motors

My favorite type of fishing boat is the hard-top cabin cruiser style boat with an open deck and deep gunnels. The majority of this boat’s style on the market, from the cabin cruiser and motor yacht, place the engines directly under the fishing deck. Standard even on large fishing cruisers are deck gunnels that barely come past the knees. The last thing you want is for your friend to lose his balance and take an unplanned swim. It happens more than you would believe. Ask Salmon Eye about our boats with waist high gunnels or rails. An easy transition can be made from the fish fighting platform to the comfort of an all enclosed cabin with enough interior seating for up to 5 larger people.