Quote:
Originally Posted by PFKGSP
I can't imagine going on a guided boat. I like to do it all myself. Bait the hook, set the hook fight the fish. All part of the fun. No downriggers, just manual controls.
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I knew I’d have a bit of a tough time with using a guide myself, but it was a trip through our social club at work and a good buddy of mine wanted to go since he’s never fished the West Coast before. In total there was 24 of us. We also sold our Whaler this past spring since my dad hasn’t been in good enough health the last few years to get out and I live 1800 Kim’s away from where it was in Campbell River, so my options are a bit limited now.
The first day out our guide wouldn’t let you look at the rod and he did everything. We also never caught a fish and only had one hit the whole time out. He was also a bit socially awkward.
I asked for a different guide for the next day and we got lucky with getting one that was not only easy to talk with but knew what he was doing. Fishing was slow but by the end of the day I had him letting me run one side of the boat.
The next and last day was our derby for work with the largest Spring taking the prize of $560 split between the guide and the fisherman that got the largest fish. We ended up with 6 springs in the boat and the top 3 spots in the derby with a 23lb winning it followed by a 20 & 19. The other boats did ok but the biggest was 18lbs. Overall 23lbs was the biggest Spring officially weighed all 3 days, so fish were small but in-line with what I’ve seen at Nootka the last 5 years.
I don’t think a guide would normally give up one side of the boat for a customer to run but between the two of us we knew a lot of the same long-term guides in Nootka and I guided there myself each summer in the late 90’s, so he felt comfortable doing so. It made the trip for me and actually made the day a lot easier for him, so it was a win-win.
Would I do it again? Probably not but the lodge itself was great, the staff were excellent and I really enjoyed fishing with our second guide. The boats were also like nothing I’ve ever fished out of before, so that was an experience on its own. It’s tough spending the money to go on a guided trip to Nootka because I don’t value the experience the same as most. After fishing there in my own boat for 25 years where I did everything it’s kind of weird to have someone else run the gear and be in control.