The photo of week shows Ron Wakita with a Kitimat ocean feeder "Winter Spring" (Chinook-King) Salmon landed in the Kitimat Harbour on Friday, November 27, 2009. The fish weighed 24-pounds. I made a video clip of this catch. Please scroll below for "all" the text details and a direct link to the video. Hope you enjoy it!
Noel Gyger - WEEKLY FISHING REPORT dated November 22 November 29, 2009
Dear Fishing Friends:
SUMMARY: Winter is closing in fast. Temperatures are getting colder. There is snow on the ground and lots in the mountains. Many of us who like to use our jet-boats are trying to get out as much as possible as we know we will have to put them away soon. Steelhead are the only target fish now along with the smaller resident and sea-run Cutthroat Trout, Dolly Varden Char, Bull Trout and White Fish in rivers. There is ocean Winter Chinook fishery out of Kitimat and Prince Rupert starting now but is weather dependent. When out in the ocean why don't you drop a Prawn or Crab trap. The Kalum River Coho are slowly dying off after spawning and the Steelhead are easier to catch. I have received many reports of "good" Steelhead fishing now. I have a report that the Zymoetz (Copper) River is fishing "excellent" for Steelhead using both spin and fly gear. River fishing for Cutthroat Trout in the Kitimat River is "good" and depends on the weather. Check out the Ron Wakita report below for local Cutthroat Trout and winter springs in the harbour plus some excellent Crabbing.
November 29, 2009 One ''New'' clip posted on Video Clips
I was invited to go fishing with Ron Wakita and his good friend Wes Owens (Charter Boat owner) and his dog Shyla in the Kitimat Bay for ocean feeder ''Winter Springs'' (Chinook-King-Salmon) and Dungeness Crab on Friday, November 27, 2009. We fished for only 3.5 hours but were able to land one 24-pound feeder Chinook and 17 Dungeness Crab. We had a couple of other bites and landed a ''shaker'' Chinook. The ''winter spring'' was above average size, normally the feeder Chinook weigh around 8 to 15-pounds. Crabbing was excellent! We were only one Crab short of our limit of 18 (six per person).
The name of Wes' boat is ''Little Kris'' and is a very comfortable 30 foot Bay Liner with a 12 foot beam. Wes has fished in the Douglas Channel for almost 40 years and has owned many boats. Wes prefers to focus most of his fishing efforts on the Kitimat Harbour Fishery and knows every rock and shelf in the harbour. Wes is considered by many boaters as the ''Top Charter Boat for Kitimat Harbour Fishery''.
The 24-pound feeder Spring (weighed by Wes' digital scale) was caught with a Shimano rod and reel,Gibbs www.gibbsfishing.com UV Flasher and purple True Roll Lure and Gamagatsu hooks Rapala www.rapala.ca Cast on this link to watch the video: click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h1N9aw9MyQ It is also listed on the Video webpage: Title: Ocean Winter Springs and is 2009 Chinook video clip #0077. It plays for 5:21 minutes.
NOW BOOKING for 2010: Let me know if I can be of service to book you with the ''best'' fishing guide and/or fishing lodges for both river and ocean. There are NO extra charges to book through me, just a lot of free information and advice from a person with years and years of fishing and fish guiding experience. It is like hiring two guides for the price of one. I will promptly answer your questions and concerns. Cast here http://noelgyger.ca/special-guided.htm to read more of what I have to offer.
Don't miss the opportunity to be guided for Steelhead on the Kalum River the last two weeks in March 2010. Season opener begins March 15th. Please contact me for details. Limited spots available!
Many people book three trips per year to our area; one trip in the spring (March-April-May), one trip in the summer (June-July-August) and one trip in the fall (September-October-November). They love having the same guide but fishing for different fish in different areas.
Be sure to check out my website at www.noelgyger.ca for news bulletins, mid week fishing updates, conservation, my history, quality waters strategy, special guided fishing trips, video clips, podcasts, scenic river photos, wildlife photos and others, comments from past guests, informational articles, archived fishing reports from 1996 through 2002 and a sportfishing market place. I hope it meets with your entire satisfaction. I am at your service.
FISHING GUIDE REPORTS FOR THIS WEEK ARE FROM:
Ron Wakita, Ariel Kuppers and Todd Haynes
CURRENT REPORT and summary for Skeena and Tributaries:
TYPE OF FISH CAUGHT: Steelhead, Trout and Dolly Varden Char for river. Salmon, Halibut, Bottom Fish and Dungeness Crab for ocean.
Thank you for using barbless hooks! (This is a BC fishing regulation)
FISHING THIS WEEK: POOR FAIR GOOD*** EXCELLENT
LARGEST FISH OF THE WEEK: River: none reported this week. Ocean: Ron Wakita with a 24-pound winter Spring from the Kitimat Harbour.
WEATHER: Periods of rain. A few flurries near noon. Temperature steady near plus 3. Sunrise 8:30 AM Sunset 4:16 PM. Today's yearly average temperatures: Maximum 2 degrees. Minimum -3 degrees.
WEATHER REPORTS VIA TELEPHONE: Terrace 250-635-4192 Kitimat 250-632-7864 Prince Rupert 250-627-1155 Smithers 250-847-1958.
SKEENA RIVER: Water has been up and down all week. Late fall Steelhead should be coming in now plus "excellent" fishing for Trout and Dolly Varden Char.
Skeena River height: http://scitech.pyr.ec.gc.ca/waterweb/fullgraph.asp
KALUM RIVER: Late fall and early winter Steelhead fishing is in full swing. The Coho are slowly dying off after spawning and the Steelhead are easier to catch. I have received many reports of "good" Steelhead fishing right now.
ZYMOETZ (COPPER) RIVER: Both Class 1 and Class 2 sections are fishing "excellent" for wild Steelhead using both spin and fly rods (single and spey). Access is still good, but be careful driving on the service road. Logging or construction vehicles could be coming towards you on a blind corner.
Fishing Report from: Ron Wakita of Reliable Guide and Charters
Cast on link below to view New flyer: http://www.noelgyger.ca/images/Instore_Flyer_Oct_2009.pdf
Cast on link below to view New Christmas Flyer: Merry Christmas Everyone!
http://www.noelgyger.ca/images/2009-Christmas-Flyer.pdf
KITIMAT RIVER: Trout Anglers who are getting out fishing are still being rewarded by some good Trout fishing. Layering with quality fleece is the key to staying warm and Gore-Tex is the key to staying dry. Helly Hansen, Simms and Cloudviel are some of the quality products in fleece and layering to stay warm. Redl Sports www.redlsports.com , Trophy XL, Bare and Simms are some of the quality Gore-Tex products available at different price points to help anglers stay dry. Staying warm and dry is the key to enjoyable fishing trips in the North West.
Worms and small lures were the most productive methods. Fly fishing this week was not as productive as it has been. Some Fly Fishers think that the Trout have gone into the deeper, slower moving pools.
Nov 24 Ariel Kuppers, Justin Lowes and their friend Travis James fished the Kitimat with their Fly rods. Fly fishing was not very productive and Justin landed one Cutthroat Trout using tackle at the end of their trip. Justin was using the ''Worm Combo''.
Nov 25 Ariel Kuppers, Justin Lowes and Travis James landed 9 Cutthroat on the upper Kitimat River geared up with the Trout Combo. The ''Worm Combo'' is a Trout rig developed by Pat Oliver. The ''Worm Combo'' is a 3'' Pink Bubble Gum Worm with a piece of a Dew Worm put on to the same hook. It is best fished with a Gibbs Float adjusted so that the worms are just above the river bottom.
Pat Oliver was an employee of our tackle store and an Associate Guide for Reliable Guide and Charters who has relocated in Vancouver. Pat has moved to bigger and better opportunities in the big city but the legacy of his ''Worm Combo'' lives on in Kitimat.
Congratulations on some great Trout fishing to Justin, Ariel and Travis with special recognition to Pat's ''Worm Combo''.
Summary One angler commented, ''that it didn't seem to matter which Gibbs 3/16 oz. Crocs he used as long as it was 3//16oz." All the colours worked.
Ariel, Justin and Travis caught a bunch with the ''Worm Combo'' Other anglers had good results fishing a Dew Worm on its own while others had good results using Berkley's Power Bait 3'' Bubble Gum Worm without the Dew worm.
Ariel said that, ''we counted 15 Eagles perched in the trees on Wednesday and we caught a lot of Trout that day. One of the Trout we caught had scratches on it from an Eagle's talons''
Smart Money this week was to use a Worm of some kind or a Gibbs 3/16 oz. Croc and to fish where the Eagles fish!
Nov 24 Special Report Glen Kilcup and his good friend Mike Primeau were Steelheading and Glen had these comments:
''Well I finally convinced my good buddy Mike Primeau from Terrace to take a chance, and upgrade to some nice equipment. He purchased a Shimano Calcutta 400TE and he put it on one of my all time favorites, a nice 10' 6 steelhead rod from St Croix, wild river series. If you know anything about reels, you know this is some of the best and it goes well with the totally affordable rod. All items were purchased from my good friend at City Center Hardware, Ron Wakita. The day, and the new rod didn't disappoint as together with flies and spoons, we landed 9 Steelhead, 1 nice Dolly and lost a couple here and there. There were only 2 other anglers on the river that we saw, and foot prints were not evident as most of the runs hadn't been touched today.
The fish were OK. Not seeing a lot of larger fish this year or the numbers on a consistent basis. Top left was a Gibbs Koho 55 blue scale with red stripe.
Oh ya...another note to your editorial...Mike caught ALL does yesterday and I caught ALL Bucks! That usually happens with Bonnie and I!''
Well done Glen and Mike. Very nice fish! Congratulations on a great day of Steelheading!
DOUGLAS CHANNEL:
Nov 22 I had the pleasure of fishing with my very good friend and Charter operator, Wes Owens on Sunday, despite that the weather forecast was calling for snow and some high winds for the weekend. We canceled our fishing trip with our good friend Noel Gyger that we had planned for Saturday based on the forecast.
Sunday morning, Wes made a trip to the Marina to ensure his boat was secured because of the forecasted snow and windy conditions. While he was at the Marina he looked out into the Kitimat harbour and water was like glass without a ripple. Wes called me to join him to fish for some winter Chinook and do a little Crabbing. Within half an hour we were fishing in mirrored water conditions with Blue sky above us. We both commented at the awesome weather conditions and how could the ''weather guy'' have gotten the forecast so wrong. We lost one Winter Chinook and we harvested 12 Dungeness Crab but we put back 32 other keepers. We didn't find the numbers of Winter Chinook we were looking for but we sure found a bunch of Crab. I felt bad for Noel because we intended to catch some Cab for Noel's lovely wife Gail, during the trip we had cancelled due to the incorrect forecast. In the weather guy's defense we received the wind and snow that he had forecast late Sunday night. The Marine weather guys don't usually get it wrong.
Nov 22 Jason Bunn reports hooking three ''Shakers'' on Sunday in the Kitimat Harbour. Jason said they were all small and he only spent a couple of hours.
Nov 27 6:00 AM Friday morning I awoke to a call from my good friend Wes Owens saying the weather was good and we should head out fishing.
I called Noel and we scheduled the trip for 8:00 AM. We set the Crab traps and by 8:45 we had lines in the water. By 10:45 we had hooked 3 Winter Chinook landing a 24lb and a ''Shaker" (a very small feeder Chinook) which we released and lost another. We decided to head back to the Crab traps and try to get me to work by noon.
After harvesting 17 keepers with the help of the Ace Line Hauler Crab and Prawn Puller I am pleased to announce I made it to work at 1:00 PM which is noon in Fisherman's time.
The Stars of our trip were the Gibbs www.gibbsfishing.com Highliner UV Flasher with the green strip and the Dark purple True Roll Lure. This set-up hooked all three Winter Chinook this morning and hooked last weekend's Chinook at 55'. When I spoke to Dan Milanese (owner of True Roll) he said his favorite colour was dark purple. Thank You for the tip Dan! The dark purple True Roll Lure rocked in a very short time! Dark Purple is now my favorite colour for Kitimat Winter Chinook and it will be the first lure in the water on our next trip.
The other Star of our trip was the Ace Line Hauler www.acelinehauler.com Built West Coast Tough, Vartan Chorbajian (owner) has developed the best Crab and Prawn trap puller on the market, in my opinion. When you fish with older and wiser fishing partners it is important to have the ''Right tools for the job''. When we approached the traps my older and wiser fishing partners had strategically positioned themselves with Wes at the wheel and Noel with a camera leaving me to pull the traps. Simply turning out the bolt of the Scotty Electric Downrigger and securing the Ace Line Hauler with a pin, in seconds you can switch from trolling to pulling Crab traps. With the lifting power of a 100lbs at 100 feet per minute the Ace Line Hauler makes pulling the Crab traps as easy as steering the boat or taking pictures. :-)
Noel, Wes and I are also pleased to report that the Crab promised to Mrs. Gyger last weekend was delivered today. Bon Appetite Gail!
Summary The Winter Chinook will continue all winter and when the Herring are in the harbour the Winter Chinook fishing can be outstanding. The beauty of this fishery is that once you are out of the marina, you put the lines out and you are fishing in minutes. Noel and I are also planning to do some Tackle testing for our friends at Baitrix www.baitrix.com, Rhys Davis and Lyman as I just received some more samples of their new products. Any boaters wishing to try some of their new products please feel free to contact me in the store. 250 632 3522 or email wakita@telus.net I can also pass on the tips given to me by the Tackle manufacturers. Gord from Baitrix www.baitrix.com Tom from Rhys Davis and Colin from Lyman are all avid anglers who all share our passion for fishing. They are also the best source of the finer details of how to best fish their products.
Another note is that the Crabbing has been really good for this time of year. Noel, Wes and I did very well (17 keepers) in a 3 hour set on Friday and Sam Avila of Ocean Breeze Charters also had similar results during his last outing for Crab. Stay Tuned!
We are booking for the 2010 season. Any interested anglers please contact Noel noel@noelgyger.ca
Thank You everyone who provided photos and info for this Fishing Report.
Good Luck Good Health and Good Fishing!
Hope you enjoy the report!
Sincerely
Ron Wakita
Fishing Report from: J & E Tackle Shop, Prince Rupert
Hi Noel, Some fishermen took advantage of the nice weather last Sunday and were rewarded for their efforts with one angler reported hooking into 6 Chinooks, from the Airport Ferries Dock to Tugwell Island. Two other Chinooks were reported being caught in the Tucks Narrows area.
With the return of the winds and rain this past week no other reports have been made.
BLUE KNUCKLE DERBY UPDATE
"19th Annual Marc (Dezi) Desautels Memorial Blue Knuckle Derby" is held on Dec. 27th
With the involvement of the Prince Rupert Lions Club and other charitable organizations we have to move from the previous "winner-take-all" format to a split of funds generated.
Largest Salmon Caught
1st Prize $1000
2nd Prize $300
3rd Prize $200.
Lots of door prizes to be won
All surplus funds raised from the ticket sales will go to the Salvation Army.
The weigh-in and prize money PRESENTATIONS will be held at the Moose Lodge in Prince Rupert.
More details of this event will be available in next week's report.
e.g.
- Start and finish time of derby
- Where to purchase tickets
- Time and place of Weigh-in
BLUE KNUCKLE DERBY SPONSERS
PRINCE RUPERT LIONS...Organizer
ASTRAL MEDIA Radio Coverage
HAWK AIR 2 Tickets - Prince Rupert/Vancouver Return
LOYAL ORDER OF THE MOOSE Accommodations
Prince Rupert Tide Charts:
http://www.waterlevels.gc.ca/cgi-bin/tide-shc.cgi?queryType=showFrameset&zone=18&language=english®ion=1&stnnum=9354
Thanks. Jeff Carlson owner
Fishing Report from: Nautical West Adventures
Hi Noel, It's time again to make those reservations for the 2010 Season. Make your reservations now and take advantage of huge savings on next seasons regular rates. All inclusive packages available. Contact Noel Gyger for more details and book it!
A few dates left for spring Steelhead available!
Cheers & keep your hooks sharp!
Todd Haynes
PRODUCT PROFILE: Lure Jensen www.rapala.ca
Within the Luhr-Jensen www.rapala.ca selection of salmon and steelhead plugs, you'll not only find the most productive lures of their kind, you'll find the lures that have defined techniques for decades. What we now call back-trolling was once called ''Hot Shotting'', named for the lure that created the technique. The Kwikfish represents the number one river salmon lure of all time, and the J-Plug is its counterpart in the ocean and Great Lakes environments. And while these perennial favorites continue to fill fish boxes, we haven't rested on our landing nets. X-Series Kwikfish benefit from the latest construction technologies to offer better balance, more action and deeper dives, while making these performance features easier than ever for novice anglers to enjoy. Please note: The Kwikfish has become the favorite lure of some of the guides in North West BC.
AREA RIVER RECORDS: Chinook Salmon: Skeena River, 92.5-pounds; Kalum River, 85-pounds; Kitimat River, 74-pounds; Steelhead: Skeena River, 45-pounds; Coho Salmon: Skeena River, 27-pounds.
FISHING REGULATIONS WEBSITES:
2009-2011 BC tidal waters and non-tidal (Federal) Salmon fishing information:
www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/recfish
Effective April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2011
2009-2011 Freshwater (Provincial) Fishing Regulations Synopsis:
www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish
Effective April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2011 (Note regs good for two years)
GUEST FISHING PHOTOS:
*** If any of you have special fishing photos, testimonials, scenic river photos, wildlife photos or articles I would love to see them.
Catch & Release formula:
- Chinook: girth squared x length x 1.54 divided by 1000 (inches)
- Steelhead: girth squared x length x 1.33 divided by 1000 (inches)
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The following are Sponsors of this fishing report. Please check out their websites at your convenience. Thank you.
www.dartjigs.com
www.sportshrimping.com
www.halibut.net
www.outdoorbooks.ne t
Cast here to check out some super deals for Halibut tackle from Halibut.net
GOOD LUCK and GOOD FISHING!
Yours sincerely,
Noel F. Gyger
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