Reel Fish Tale from Some Happy Clients
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My wife Tiffany and I just got back from an amazing trip to scenic Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island's west coast, fishing with Captain John Wells from Hindsight Fishing Charters on his brand new fully equipped 26-foot Hourston Glasscraft fish catching machine! |
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We stayed at John's Fishermen's Guesthouse in Port Renfrew the night before our Charter trip. The accommodations in the three bedroom fully furnished house were very clean and comfortable and only five minutes to the boat. |
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We grilled up some steaks for dinner, watched a movie and went to bed early so we could meet our guide at 6:00 a.m. to head out for a day of fishing. We met John at the boat, fired up the motors and headed out of the marina in search of halibut. We ran about 25 miles up the coast in calm seas. John put us on the spot and within 5 minutes, I had my first halibut on. |
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It was a nice 25 pounder! Tiff caught the next fish, followed by the biggest fish of the day, a heavy 55 pounder. My arms were sure burning after that one! We used short, stout rods loaded with braided line, spreader bars, 20 oz of lead and 6 inch spoons in green and white in less than 200 feet of water. John is a master at finding halibut. If we weren't getting bites within five minutes, he moved us to the next hole. We limited the boat within 45 minutes, picked up the gear and move closer to shore to target big Kings. We started to troll for Kings at around 9:00 a.m. We used 7 inch Tomic plugs clipped to Scotty downrigger 180 feet down in 220 feet of water. The first pass over the spot yielded nothing, so John sensing the fish were a little further out, motored off shore to deeper water. Soon as we got the first pole down, it popped off the downrigger clip and reel started screaming. After a 10 minute battle, we netted our first salmon of the day. A real beauty at 22 pounds. |
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It was Tiffany's turn and on the next pass, she hooks up big. Tiff was grinning ear to ear and swearing like a sailor as she reeled in her prize. |
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She was rewarded with a 27 pounder. Way to go Tiff! |
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She hooks up again, this time with a nice hatchery Coho. |
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And yet again, I get out-fished by my wife. Tiff sticks a nice 25 pounder posing for a pic with our Captain. |
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Next pass, just as we finished taking care of the Coho, my rod flies off the downrigger clip and buries to the water. John yells "fish on, fish on." We knew that it was a big fish, so John reels in the second rod so I can play and wear her out. The fish puts on a show and will not come to the net, but John won't stand for losing a fish so he climbs up on the gunwale and scoops her right into the boat. |
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She pegged the scale at a healthy 30 pounds. |
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We limited on big kings by noon and headed back to port for lunch, cold drinks and fish stories. The local pub fried some of our fresh halibut and chips and we ate and drank our fill of BC's finest and freshest fish with our new friends. A picture says a thousand words. This was an amazing trip we will never forget. Book a trip with Captain John Wells in Port Renfrew today! You will be glad you did. Brian & Tiffany Dwinelle |