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Orcas, humpback whales, bald eagles, seals, flat water, mostly sunny skies and fish. Lots of fish. So went day one on the water here at the Great Pacific Salmon Lodge along the northern B.C. coast. We really couldn’t have had better conditions. Fishing buddy and official trip photographer Billy Shields and I hauled in 13 coho, two chinook, one pink, and a few bottom fish, including the dogfish pictured below (my first-ever). We also lost around eight fish, but that’s how it goes when you’re fishing single barbless hooks.
In the end, there were no giants—the biggest was an 11-pound coho—but we at least put a dent in our possession limit, keeping seven of the salmon (that’s one of the coho in the photo at left). That just means one thing: the tyee quest continues. We still have two 10-hour days on the water ahead of us. For now, it’s time to eat, rest up and compare notes with the anglers here at the lodge.
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Who else is here? None other than Outdoor Canada field editor T.J. Schwanky and his partner Vanessa Harrop. They’re here shooting footage for their Outdoor Quest TV show. Field editor Brad Fenson is also here, on assignment for the Outdoor Edge magazine, along with his fishing buddy, Dan Mosier. On second thought, forget comparing notes—I think a game of Texas hold ’em is in the works. But first, dinner. On the menu: fresh salmon. Of course.