I spend most of my summers at my family home up in British Columbia and while there I fish morning and evenings for Chinook and Coho salmon at a number of locally known spots. My house is at Bliss Landing, which is right at the entrance to Desolation Sound and home to both resident fish and large runs of Chinook that come down from Haida Gwaii. I am particularly proud of this 13lb Chinook as I had a lot of variables stacked against me on this particular night. I was by myself and in a small tin boat that had one downrigger and a 2-stroke motor that didn't love maintaining trolling speeds very consistently. Our proper fishing boat (27’ Skagit Orca) was having engine issues and was in the shop, so I borrowed this one for a few nights just to get on the water and jig buzz bombs and Pt. Wilson darts while I had guests in town. Once the guests left I had the place/boat to myself and the monotony of trolling was no longer an issue posed by guests seeking more "action".
The night before I had been casting a green buzz bomb while my guests jigged and was hooking some shakers. This was a nice uptick in activity and the next night I decided to go back to the spot, called "Fred's Hump" after the owner of the oyster farm in the bay where we were fishing and the rock formation below the water that bait fish seemed to love. I was casting my buzz bomb and getting more shakers and then I let my lure fall a bit while I fiddling with my drag and when I got back to action I got a huge hit. I fought the fish for less than a minute before it popped off. Bummed but not discouraged, I was happy to know that there was something bigger down there.
With this bit of info I went to the north end of the bay and dropped my trolling gear down to 85 ft and started my troll along the edge of the bay where the depth was a steady 105-110 feet before it dropped off to 300 or so the farther you went out. Within two minutes the rod bends, downrigger clip snaps, and for the next 10-15 minutes I’m fighting this fish, my first hooked using an Islander mooching reel. After fishing in BC for twenty plus years my Dad wanted the true Canadian salmon fishing experience and so we shelved the Abu Garcias and switched over to Islanders. It's not too steep of a learning curve as I've used their Steelheader reel for years, and it's something else hearing that drag do its thing on a Chinook that is making run after run. I finally tired the fish out sufficiently to where it was rolling on its side and I felt it a fine time to begin my attempt at netting. I lost 5 larger Chinook last year while fishing by myself in another tin boat at this same spot and I honestly had been thinking about redemption every day over the winter. Unfortunately, the big net was on the big boat and I was left with my smaller river net with a much shallower scoop in it. I managed to slide it in on the 2nd swipe, popped out the gills, bled it out while celebrating vocally to one in particular, and into the cooler, . It's not a Tyee but it will absolutely suffice given the situation and my past history of losing fish in tin boats by myself.
I’ve fished all around the Desolation Sound/Powell River area and if any of you are making a trip to that part of the world I would be happy to offer up tips and share some spots that I’ve had success at in a PM. It’s an amazing part of the world with not only salmon fishing, but also dependable crabbing, clamming, oysters, and spot prawn trapping all through the summer months.

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