QCI Report

My friends, I have got to be one of the luckiest people I know (and that tends to fall on both sides of the coin )  But once again, I've found myself in the right place at the right time. 

Allen "polepole" Sensano, the guy who caught Jaws in his kayak (huge salmon shark) and cover boy of "Fish Alaska" magazine, had planned a trip to the Queen Charlotte islands (30 miles south of AK) for over a year to catch HUGE (100lbs+) halibut from the yak.  At the last minute real life imposed itself and his day job really needed him. 

 This was a bigwater trip and the plan required a group of 5 anglers (one in a zodiac, and two pairs of yak fishermen to watch each others backs). He could not leave them light an angler. To make a long story longer, he negotiated repayment for the the lost trip and a replacement kayak angler with big water experience. In other words, Me (that and the fact that I had exactly that time available with 1.5 week's notice) Allen, my friend, I REALLY owe you one.  I hate the fact that this was an epic trip and you missed it!

 I checked my passport, drysuit, scored a bit of heavy fishing gear (some 16/0 circle hooks, 16oz jigheads, 14" plastic grubs.....) and camping gear and found myself at the airport with an Air Canada boarding pass for YZP exactly one and a half weeks later. A bit of the other side of the coin showed up when none of my fishing gear and half of my camping stuff appeared in a stop over in Vancouver. I was assured that it would be there the next day, but that was useless as I was getting off the plane in Sandspit and on to a boat to take us to a wilderness campsite that day (had to catch the tide) 

I met the other fishermen in Vancouver for the flight to Sandspit. Jesse, who won the the kayak angler division of the 2007 Everette Bay Coho derby; Lucian, an Ocean Kayak pro and part of the Michigan contingent that comes down for the Jacksonville Classic; and Tim, the editor of Kayak Angler magazine, all exchanged greetings and made our way to the next plane to Sandspit. There we met our host Jeff, another Ocean Kayak pro, and owner operator of Extreme Kayak Fishing Expeditions and The Kingfisher Guesthouse who assured me that he had enough gear to cover me and to hurry up and get in the truck we gotta go!
So we did.

 We left the dock in Queen Charlotte city at about 4 pm Saturday and had a great ride out to our camp in a 54' motorsailer


Our captain deposited us on a tiny island in an undisclosed location at about midnight with a really impressive display of making landfall at night single handed.



We spent the night on the boat then ferried our stuff to camp by kayak and WaterWolf's (our host Jeffrey's) little zodiac. Everybody seemed to forget we were supposed to pack light


We quickly set up camp then headed out on the first mission by about 9 am Sunday morning. This camp is perfectly located in a number of tiny islands that are surrounded by fjords with depths that drop from 2' to 500' all within a short paddling distance.  We were in a hurry the first day so we worked out a towing regime with the inflatable. Look out surfers, tow-in kayak fishing is born.



KayakAngler (Tim) scored first with a nice ling



and by the time he had his to the boat, Lucian (Lucian) howled "Fish-On"!

 

I guess that was our opening ceremony, because that's when the lying began (who's ling was bigger). I connected with a bunch of good rock fish, but could not find Bertha Butt (mama halibut)



I look like the Michelin Man because I didn't burp my drysuit.



We thought we'd found mama halibut when Espiga (Jesse) took off towards Japan on the first sleigh ride. But after a couple of minutes, he came up with a fair sized rockfish that could not possibly have towed him as a far and as fast as he went. We were pretty sure mama butt just opened her mouth and Jesse's hook never actually saw her.



Jesse found Nemo and Marlin
(sorry kids) 



It was a great morning and we slayed them.



We motored back to camp and had a quick lunch and a beer (Canadian beer is,,,, strong) and the boys went out for a second session. I wussed out, as at the last minute I had a nature call and did not want to hold up the crew while I did the fish dance to get out and back into my drysuit. I stayed at camp and made pee-ce with my maker and cooked dinner (after washing my hands ) That was a mistake (not dinner, dinner was fine ) I should have gone with them as that's when Lucian whacked a 37# nook!    (That was a VERY nice fish!)



Then the weather caught up with us. On Sunday night it blew 20-40 knots and the swell went from 2' to 16'.  Monday dawned wet and we were on the water by 7, but we were bounced around like toothpicks floating in a bath tub with a great Dane. We retreated to some more protected inlets, but the bite was off. Everyone caught dogfish, so we packed it in and built a great fire on the beach. Being stuck in led to some creative cookery and we ate VERY well.





 The rest of the week followed suite and the weather beat us up pretty good. But this was a hardcore crew and the wind and swell only kept us in one day











I still can't seem to get that goofy smile off my face (even now)



This was yak fishing 301, but this was a graduate level crew and we handled up. Thursday, our boat came to pick us up and naturally, the sun came out and the seas laid down.     To paraphrase John Gierach:"the measure of a good fishing spot is how well it'll fish next year" This will be a phenomenal trip next year. Bottom line, the fishing was off the hook even though the weather tried keep our hooks off the water. Did I mention I had a HELLACIOUSLY good time? That was GREAT! Thanks again Allen for letting me a attempt fill your bigazz shoes! I had a ball and you were sorely missed.

FFTW--  World class documentation and nice pics too!  Sorry the weather wouldn't cooperate but still looks like you had a great time.  Planning on a return trip?   

Nice work Wali. Looks like an awesome adventure.

Z

How come every picture I look at appears to me like this?  Damn, I should have been there, weather and all.

-Allen

Very nice report Wali.  I'd report back about my trip to Elmira, NY but I doubt you want to hear about the development of an invasive species information transfer standard.

When do you head back to Florida and when do you due back to Portland next?

Brian

How come every picture I look at appears to me like this?  Damn, I should have been there, weather and all.

-Allen

Hmmmm, looks like its time to pass the hat.....

Holy cr@p - the stuff of Yak fishing legend! You weren't kidding about the 300 part. Looks like a great trip - I'm really jealous.

How come every picture I look at appears to me like this?  Damn, I should have been there, weather and all.

-Allen

Hmmmm, looks like its time to pass the hat.....

Oh that's ass hat material alright!

Z

Looks like a fantastic trip, even with the sporty water!

How come every picture I look at appears to me like this?  Damn, I should have been there, weather and all.

-Allen

Hmmmm, looks like its time to pass the hat.....

Oh that's ass hat material alright!

Z

Nominated by the previous Asshat and approved by a majority of the admins.    Polepole enjoy the asshat.  Wali, I gave you an avatar from your report.

Brian

How come every picture I look at appears to me like this?  Damn, I should have been there, weather and all.

-Allen

Hmmmm, looks like its time to pass the hat.....

Oh that's ass hat material alright!

Z

Nominated by the previous Asshat and approved by a majority of the admins.    Polepole enjoy the asshat.  Wali, I gave you an avatar from your report.

Brian

Oh I didn't know there were asshat rules.  Or are you just making it up as you go along?

-Allen

Making them up as I go along.  It just seemed like we reached critical mass on this one.  I think the deal is you get to keep it for a few days or until you find someone more deserving to nominate.

You better be good Brian ... I'm watching you.   

-Allen

Allen, you weren't around at the time, but I was the original inductee to asshatdom.   I imagine it won't be my last, but I'm trying to be better.    If and when it's time to pass it on, the image is in my gallery.

Brian

Hmmm ... my asshat avatar looks a little funny to me.

-Allen