Well, I don't think a summer has ever gone by so quickly for me. And they say time flies when you're having fun...that couldn't be more true than this summer. We were pretty much booked all summer at capacity and I can easily say it was a lot of fun and we had the best, and definitely most entertaining, guests we have ever had. Everyone who came left as friends, and I think every group that was on the Ms Heather III with me left with stronger cheek muscles from laughing so much
This definitely shows when I look at our 2015 calendar and see very little room open with several returning guests to still give exact dates.
The fishing was also beyond expectations. June and July saw some of the best Chinook salmon fishing I have ever seen, there was a stretch of 2 weeks where my boat tagged out on
Chinook by 730am EVERYDAY...that's 10 Chinook in the boat plus just as many lost each day...doesn't get any better than that. This year and last year the Chinook fishing has really been good right from June 1st, so because of that we are opening earlier next year, as the first couple weeks of June this year were off the charts good with non stop action of Chinook in 15-22lb range. Brad Fenson will be doing an article this winter on us when he was up June 3-5, and salmon fishing was insanely good and we also tagged out on halibut to 72lbs releasing a couple over 100lbs (including 150lber) and lingcod to 45lbs. Stay tuned for that.
August was some of the best Coho fishing I have ever seen as well. Usually the first three weeks of August is the best fishing of the season when combining size and quantity for Chinook as well, this year was slightly spottier for quantity but size was still there. I believe because of how little rain we got on west coast they were late as the last two weeks of August was some of the best fishing for that time of the year I have ever seen. Coho, coho, Chinook, Chinook, Coho, etc...fish after fish and unbelievable size of Coho as well, definitely a great time of year to come for quantity of fish as we were limiting out with 20 Coho on board in only a couple hours (and were the only boats there!!!!
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Halibut fishing...well, this was a banner year for us in that respect. Definitely more fish over 50lbs than we have ever seen. Onboard with me on the Ms Heather III we caught and released two monsters over 300lbs, as well as a 250lber and released over 26 over 100lbs, combined with the Ms Heather V we released
35 over 100lbs this year. The VAST majority of those would of been released even if the regulations didn't require it as we were limiting out most days on fish between 35-70lbs and most guests rather that than a monster anyway. For the most part we are the only ones to fish these spots, and because of that the fishing will remain great at them, and even so,
we are not satisfied. We continue every May to find at least a dozen new great halibut spots so regardless of weather, tides, etc, we will put you on some great eating halibut and even catch you a once in a life time fish!
Bottom fishing is spectacular as well, anyone who wants a ton of good eating white meat from Lingcod, Yelloweye Rockfish (Snapper), Black rockfish etc, will go home with all they can handle as it usually doesn't take long to fill the boat with these great eating, and often feisty fish. Largest lingcod of the year weighed in at 52lbs and was actually shocking how many over 30lbs we had, and even released, as best eating Lingcod are in the 12-30lb range.
I just want to thank everyone who makes it possible for my family and I to continue doing what we love, and hope that we get to see some of you up here that we haven't before in 2015. We stay out on the water longer than anyone else and make sure we go to the fish to make sure you not only go home with great memories, but also some delicious eats. One thing I'll guarantee is we will do all we can to make sure it is the best trip you've had.
We have very little open in 2015, July is fully booked except for July 8-11 (Derby, where winner gets free trip back), June is nearly booked and August is around 50%, still with several guests to rebook exact dates. I will post available dates in a few weeks.
Enjoy the pictures, love to hear your guy's comments, and any questions you may have.