Hakai Lodge Salmon & Halibut Fishing
British Columbia Halibut and Salmon fishing at Hakai Pass
British
Columbia Canada’s West Coast has some of the best salmon and halibut
fishing in North America. Budget minded anglers should also take note
that a British Columbia fishing trip to a lodge won’t break the bank and
in fact many trips are super affordable. Hakai Lodge on the Central
Coast of British Columbia offers the best
self-guided fishing on British Columbia’s expansive road less
Central Coast shoreline. Calvert Island’s coastline offers vast scenic
wilderness areas topped off at the island’s north end with Hakai Pass, a
fish-infested pass that funnels the Pacific Ocean between Calvert Island
and Hunter Island. Hakai Pass has hundreds of miles of untouched and
pristine beaches bordering some of British Columbia’s best saltwater
fishing experiences.
You
won’t find crowds, roads or other forms of civilization on British
Columbia’s Central Coast that can ruin the fishing experience. What you
will find is a unique area filled with eagles, seabirds, seals, deer,
bear and many other animals. But most important you’ll find Chinook,
coho, pink and chum salmon as they pass through the area, gorging their
chrome-sided bellies with baitfish before continuing on their spawning
journey. The runs have improved over the past few years because the
Canadian Government declared Chinook salmon off limits to commercial
fishermen, giving precedence to the fish and sports anglers. The policy
has brought obvious results in the form of more fish, more often. This
coming season should be even better than last year’s, with hopeful
anglers mooching, trolling or jigging kelp beds or fishy looking points
of land.
Lots
of great wilderness fishing areas at Hakai Pass remain a mystery because
the seemingly endless mainland and island shorelines simply can’t be
explored by the limited amount of anglers fishing from the remote lodges
of the area. Virtually any area along the central coast could provide
world-class opportunities for Chinook salmon weighing between 20 and
75-pounds and halibut in the 30 to 150-pound class. Anglers need only
bring their sense of adventure, lots of film and a willingness to enjoy
one of the west coast’s most beautiful areas.
Hakai Lodge at Hakai Pass
offers anglers a unique opportunity to experience wilderness fishing
close to the lodge. Anglers at Hakai Lodge get their own boat and don’t
have to adhere to a guide’s schedule, which makes this a perfect salmon
fishing vacation for anglers who love to fish all day. The Hakai Pass
area continually produces world-class fishing year after year. Hakai
Pass is the area between Calvert and Hunter Island. The pass attracts
lots of salmon as each high and low tide flushes baitfish in and out,
creating a natural fish-attracting area that’s easy to fish. Anglers
from around the world have experienced Hakai Pass and they continue to
book their trips during the peak season, from July through August for
chrome-sided Chinook or as Canadians call them, “Springs.”
While many consider July and August as the prime months, a handful of others opt for the awesome fishing for mature hook-nosed coho salmon in late August through mid September. When the coho salmon arrive it’s not uncommon to see every rod bend over double with coho jumping clear of the water in every direction. Fish Hakai Pass in May or June and discover top-notch halibut and lingcod fishing too. But don’t bother searching for rockfish, they’ll find you as soon as the bait or lure nears bottom.
Fishing
isn’t complicated at Hakai Pass. Simply put a cut-plug herring on a two
hook leader and mooch or troll the Gap, Odlom, Bayley or Kelpie Point
with 4 to 10-ounces of weight. Anglers can also use
Deep Stinger or
Point Wilson Dart jigs in sizes ranging from 2 ¼ to 8 ounces. Best
jig colors for salmon, halibut, lingcod and rockfish are white,
glow/chrome, pink/pearl, blue/pearl and anything with green and white.
Halibut anglers should check out the custom tackle available at
halibut.net and check all of the best squid lures at
Super Squids.
Several
world-class lodges have located within easy range of these productive
hotspots, making long runs only optional for anglers who want to go
farther in search of salmon. While these few hotspots routinely yield
the season’s biggest Chinook, anglers looking for added adventure can
explore the area and fish along shorelines that have seldom had anyone
troll or mooch near them. A few years ago, someone exploring beyond the
pass stumbled onto one of the best central coast areas, tiny Spider
Island, just an hour from most of the lodges at Hakai Pass.
Getting
to Hakai Lodge begins in Renton Washington, aboard a
Northwest Seaplane refurbished, highly maintained vintage de
Havilland Beaver float planes. The flight takes off from the southern
shores of Lake Washington and takes passengers over beautiful vistas of
water and mountains. After two hours of flight time the planes land on
the water at Fleming Spit in Campbell River to clear Canadian Customs
and refuel. After clearing customs and refueling the planes travel 90
minutes north along the wilderness, scenic coast before landing in the
small wilderness bay where Hakai Lodge sits on floats anchored to the
shoreline.
For more information about Hakai Lodge visit their website at: www.Hakai-Lodge.com or call them at: 1-800-538-3551
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