Fishing the Queen Charlotte Islands

[AstoriaDave]

I've driven logging roads in the Charlottes, ferrying sea kayaks up top, in a small pickup, quite a bit. Expect a dust/mud bath, with some chance of the odd rock pinging the windshield, with consequent ding. If you've driven the road to Bamfield out of Port Alberni, you've had an experience similar to what the roads in the Charlottes have to offer. Some boaters on the latter shroud the bow with a protective cover (bow bra) to reduce gel coat chips.

Log trucks in BC are enormous, half-again-wider than log trucks in the states. And, because thoe roads are truly "private" roads, owned by the timber licensee, they run hard and can be intimidating. But, they are not out to run you off the road, although at times it might seem so. Now and then, they do not want you on specific sections.

The comment about "big radios" is accurate. Some VHF's (my ICOM M-88 handheld, for instance) have the capability to TX/RX on "land" frequencies, once you get the necessary HAM license. If you truly want to talk to those guys or listen to know when they are coming, I bet you could find out what frequencies they are using and dial those in. Somebody here must know more about this.

That said, I would avoid towing my boat a lot on those roads, just because of the rock dings, and wear and tear on the trailer. I won't tow to Bamfield, for example. I can run down from Port Alberni, on 30+ miles of inlet, and have a better experience, from a good launch ramp, in lieu of 50 miles of logging road and a sketchy ramp in Bamfield.

[Hunkydory]

[AstoriaDave]

[dutch123]

From my experience driving logging (bush) roads if you clear the loads and call you kilometers remembering they are big and can't stop quickly you should have no problems, of course you would not even consider travelling these roads without the proper land frequency!

[CAVU]

Well the die is cast. We departed this morning for Prince Rupert and eventually the Queen Charlottes. After many calls and a lot of internet research I decided to go with Hidden Island Resort. We will camp there for a month. My hope is to do a lot of fishing off the north shore of Graham Island, some exploring of the local area, and of course eat as much of the local seafood as possible.
We are at a campground in Cache Creek, BC. Left Spokane this AM and made 400 miles today. The temps today were amazing. We showed 102 degrees on the highway today just before reaching Cache Creek. I had no idea that BC got that hot.

[chromer]

Ken,

Sounds like an experience. How are you going to care for your fish? Bringing any back to SpokeVegas?

[lloyds]

Brace yourself. I have seen 107 in the Broughtons, don't remember what it was in C', but hot is hot, and on the water that is absolute hell.

[starcrafttom]

what are the docks like? I did not see anything on their web site about a launch or dock. I do see that they have hispeed internet so I expect fishing reports Ken.

[Bess-C]

Ken,
I'm really happy to see that you're getting to the Queen Charlottes. You're taking enough time to find the fish. It's an interesting place. I look forward to your report when you get back. Which fishing buddy are you taking along?
Lyle

[wailedcentipede]

My brother inlaw caught a 75 pounder in that area (few years back) sooooooooooo catch a bigger one i can shut him up .... wc

[CAVU]

Chromer,
I am taking a small freezer-loaded in the back of the C-Dory. We have done this at Ucluelet for years and it works great. The rules allow you some latitude in how you process your catch, but generally we gut and head salmon and freeze whole. When we get home, if the fish is larger that 10-12lbs, we will use a sawzall with a large tooth pruning blade to cut into serving size chunks and then vac-pak. This sounds strange, but works quite well.

Tom,
We were not able to get dock space, so we plan to launch and retrieve each day. Will try to post full info on launch ramp, parking etc.

Lyle,
Mike and Lyndon are both going with me. Talk about cozy in a truck camper! Seriously though we are having a great time already and we are still on the road.

Today we made 351 miles and we are camped in Vanderhoof, BC. The wx is quite a bit cooler today-only 89 degrees.

[CAVU]

We made it to the Queen Charlottes without any problems. Ferry trip was uneventful except for one little surprise. The ferry only has one door so I had to back the boat on down a long winding ramp. They have great helpers and it went very smoothly. We got set up in camp and had to wait two days for high winds to die down. First day out today we did very well. Caught and released 12-15 small pinks and coho. Kept one 17lb chinook and one 8lb coho. I expect we will eat most of those two in the next few days.

Anyone contemplating a trip here: Hidden Island Resort is a very nice place to set up. Very large private campsites with full hook-ups. The govt ramp is free but no dock. This would make it very difficult to launch alone, but with help it works out ok. There is a seaplane dock about 200 yards up the beach where you can pick up the driver after launching the boat. Truck and trailer parking is ok in a gravel parking lot.

Fishing areas are fairly close with 5-10mile runs out a very narrow inlet. You need to watch the tides because of very high currents on the ebb.

Great start for the trip.

[CAVU]

Weather continues to be great here. No rain since we have been here. So far big salmon is 42lbs and big halibut is 41lbs. I have posted some pix in my album.

[Jazzmanic]

Sounds like a great trip Ken! I would love to go up to the QCI's to fish. Keep us posted and be sure to post some pics of your big fish.

[CAVU]

We released several smaller coho today and kept a 36lb chinook. Lots of coho in this area but we still haven't found any of the large "northern" fish the locals talk about. Everyone says they should be here by now. I have posted pix in my album.