There has always been something mystical about early season, running the boat and wetting that first line.
After a long winter of tying leaders, gear shopping and prep, taking care of boat everything and hopefully making a trip or two South…kicking off West Coast salmon season is a bonifide right of passage. In our case, that meant ferrying up to Prince Rupert and running the Big Coast Bridgeview BV30 Southbound to Denny Island. It was also our first chance to run the new Mercury V10 350 SeaPros she’d been outfitted with…which was nice! Really nice!
Early season anticipation is awesome and a return to 3-mile-per-hour trolling therapy is such a welcome thing fishing results are often secondary. Now for some the wait hasn’t been long as they’ve spent countless off-season hours going deep for Winter Chinook. Whether it’s Vancouver, the Island or Prince Rupert, winter salmon fishing can be pretty cool. And chilly of course.
But the bonifide season launcher comes in Spring and dormant fishing angst returns almost in step with the change in seasons.
For Big Coast and the home base at Bella Bella Cannery, this annual phenomenon hits in mid-May as Springtime Bella Coola Chinook make their way through the Central Coast. These fish run close to Bella so there isn’t a ton of boat travel involved and success rates can be pretty decent. And you don’t have to fish deep…which in my books is money!
Anyway, fishing early last Spring was kinda shaky. A few of the local guide boats and buddies ran North to Milbanke Sound or Southbound Hakai way and trolling was slow. And that was the way most of Spring and early Summer. Meanwhile, we were getting nice spurts of fish out in Lama Passage, not far from Bella Bella and McLaughlin Bay Ferry Terminal. Even a couple Tyees and some nice big ripping fish. All for the price of lunch money instead of $800 bucks in fuel.
It’s pretty cool living near water and fishing local is always a cool thing. It’s sort of like skiing or snowboarding your favourite tree run at your local hill. We took advantage of awesome early season Denny Island access, fishing the Archie and Lama Pass. We were fortunate to kick it into high gear a couple times with a jig trip to Goose Banks with Trevor Gustafson and Jackson Raden and follow-up Springtime run to Cheney Point on Milbanke Sound looking for hawgs.
This area is traditional territory of Heiltsuk First Nation, which now operates Shearwater Resort, Marina, Groceries, Restaurant and Fuel. They’ve brought fishing charters back and are offering eco-tourism opportunities as well.
It’s always a pleasure to kickoff Big Coast season and nothing like a little home-cooked Denny Island Season Launcher to get it all going. This…is Big Coast Season 17!
