The Fish

The Queen Charlottes are well-known for their world class salmon fishing but they also offer an abundance of bottom fish. We target Pacific Halibut (Flounder), Lingcod (Greenlings), and Yelloweye Rockfish (Red Snapper). Fishing opportunities in salt water are superb in Haida Gwaii. All that rain and the rugged topography mean that the forest is criss-crossed by innumerable streams and pocketed by countless lakes, all running into the ocean and creating incredibly nutrient-rich waters. With a huge variety of species to target, you can determine what you would like to catch.

June

This is the month where we first get a very consistent catch of chinook salmon on the west coast.  In fact some years this is when we catch our biggest fish as these are some big chinook destined for the Skeena River.  The average fish is probably 25 - 35 pounds most of the season, and anything over 50 is a true trophy.  By the end of the month we start seeing a lot of coho salmon being caught.  The coho are quite small in June as they feed heavily during the summer and put on dramatic weight by September.

July

The chinook fishing is very strong throughout the entire month and the coho are typically in abundance.  Halibut fishing tends to pick up and be very good in July.  The coho will have already packed on a few pounds and are averaging 9-11 pounds by this time.   Just like the coho the size of the halibut will increase over the summer.

August

Early August brings a run of the biggest chinook that pass through the Queen Charlottes.  The coho fishing can be excellent at anytime during August and they are starting to get very large with some pushing 20 pounds.

September

By now most of the chinook have passed through on there route to their natal streams.  However we still manage to catch them.  You can still get into some incredible chinook fishing by these runs typically move through quite fast, here today gone tomorrow.  The highlight of september is the coho fishing with is amazing quantity and quality.  We can even target them at times in the kelp beds with fly rods, or by trolling flies near the river mouths.