Campbell River Sept 5, 2010

We have gone fishing several times only to be blown off the water.

On Sept 5, 2010 Robert and I went North from Campbell River in the F16, past Seymour Narrows to Deep Bay just East of Browns Bay. When we got there after going through max 12 knot currents with horrendous whirl pools and outfalls in Seymour Narrows the wind was blowing from the North West at 35 so we went ac crossed the straights to Browns Bay and to have a bowl of Chowder and a cup of coffee to consider our options for fishing. After we had a nice bowl of Chowder we went back out and it was still nasty but we went north around the point and found some decent water and begin to fish. Robert purchased a special light green Hoochee the day before and he spent an hour rigging it up just as the guy at the Tyee fishing store told him to do. He also put his line down to 130 feet rather than the usual 75 feet. In a few minutes he said " Jimmy I have a fish on". It was a beautiful 18 pound Coho and it swam right to the boat and quickly got wrapped around the down rigger cable. I leaped almost over the side and got him in the net on the first try and when I dropped the net in the boat the hooks came out of his mouth. What a nice reward for the two days of getting our butt kicked hard by the wind and wave action.

See photo above.

Yesterday we went to the local museum and watched the Ripple Rock blasting movie. It is very impressive so I purchased a DVD of this largest non nuclear explosions on record. They dug a tunnel under the channel and then up into the twin peaks of Ripple Rock using 2.2 million pounds of TNT to remove the top of this deadly hazard in Seymour Narrows which had claimed 114 lives prior to this blast in 1956. Two days ago a fishing boat turned over in Seymour Narrows and the crew of 5 were rescued by a passing charter boat. The boats stern was pulled under by a large while pool and then it rolled on it's side and has been towed to a bay waiting for a salvage crew to right it and tow it into Campbell River. Seymour Narrows is still one of the most dangerous passages on the West Coast and deserves great respect. This fishing boat was loaded to the gunnels with salmon and they were making the passage with out regard to the currents.

We plan to leave Campbell River on Friday and head for Desolation Sound for a week or so before we start south.

Campbell River

These photos are of a Large Buzzard near Blind Channel. There were a dozen or so drying out their wings on a rock and they took of before I could get close to them.

We are in Campbell River with Big Sky. The weather has been very bad with high winds and rain.

Big Sky will leave us today and Robert and Janie Rath are coming in late this week to travel the rest of the way home with us. Since there is a record run of salmon right here ( best in 100 years) we will probably stay here in CR and fish until we drop. Then we will head for Desolation Sound for a week or so before we start down to Nanaimo, Gulf Islands and the border.

Blind Channel 8/28/2010

We heeded for Blind Channel and arrived just after noon. The dock manager "Nick"said he would take me fishing and get a Ling Cod within 30 minutes so I said "your on".Mark Nick and I left the dock at 5 pm and withing 30 minutes Nick caught a 13 pound Ling and I caught a rock. Next morning Kim and I went out and within 30 minutes she caught a 16 pound Ling and I caught another rock. We had an excellent dinner at their restaurant and we highly recommend this stopping off place. We left Blind Channel with Big Sky at 11 am after Kim got her Ling cleaned and cruised to Campbell River at a leisurely 4 to 6 knots to catch the slack current at 3 pm. We plan to spend a week or so in CR with guest Robert and Janie Rath coming in on the 2nd to do some heavy fishing and cruise back with us. The pinks and Cohos are in and the fishing is very good.

Port Harvey 8/27/2010

Next day with Big Sky We decided to try a new resort at Port Harvey which is about 38 miles from Sointula on West Cracroft Island. This was a good find and is run by a very nice couple,George and Gail. We did an afternoon cruise in the F16 where we found a cute little house with a for sale sign on it that read , " House is for sale by owner because my neighbor is an Asshole!" a second sign just below that sign read, "Fuck off George." This was a most unusual event and later that night at dinner we asked George the owner of Port Harvey Marina what it was about. He said this neighbor had some Scottish Highlander cattle that were wandering onto his property and destroying his garden. So he asked the neighbor with the cattle to keep his cattle off his property... and that resulted in the sign. We all had a good laugh and a great home made Pizza dinner followed up with home made chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream, and fresh sticky buns to take back to the boat for breakfast the next morning.

Drury Inlet/ Davis Bay, Kim's 16 lb King, Sointula 8/23-26/2010

Next morning we went to Davis Bay and spent a uneventful anchorage. On the way Gary got a call on the radio that the Salmon were hot at James Point so the next morning, we all (Noon Balloon, Sea Jay, Lerado and Big Sky) moved to an anchorage near Dickson Island and went fishing . Kim Nance and I went fishing the next morning and she caught a beautiful 16 pound King/Spring Salmon. What a fight it made, running three times before we could bring it aboard. This is a cool anchorage as you can run up a narrow cut in Broughton Island and get all the way to Greenway Sound. Next day with Big Sky we headed to Sointula a Finish village on Malcome Island just to see what it was like. Noon Baloon headed for Booker Lagoon and Lerado started to head south. The marina at Sointula is mostly for fishing boats but we decided to check it out. The people are very friendly and I borrowed a bicycle from the marina and road into town where I met the rest of the gang for lunch. The next morning Big Sky went to Port McNeil for supplies and we decided to stay another night at Sointula before heading south to Port Harvey.

Moore Bay 8/22/2010

From Crpress we went to Moore Bay which joins the start of Kingcome Inlet. This is a wonderful anchorage and we pulled in big catches of Jumbo Prawns. Next morning Joe, Joanne and I went up Kingcome inlet 18 miles in the F16 to see a giant Pictograph ( 28X38 feet) painted by a native artist Marianne Nicholson, on a shear rock face. It is an awsome sight and was worth the trip. at the head on the inlet and up the Kingcome river is a native village which you can only visit by invitation.

Cypress Harbor 8/21/2010

From Simoon, Sea Jay & Noon Balloon met up with Lerado at Cypress Harbor to stock up on Dungeness Crab and we hit the jack pot big time. Big Sky went to Shawl Bay to check it out.