My Dad and I had an amazing fishing trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands (now known as Haida Gwaii) from June 18 - 21. 

On Friday around noon, we boarded the MV Salmon Seeker, located in Kano Inlet. After being treated to a nice lunch, our fishing adventure started almost immediately.

We started trolling for salmon in the area known as Kelp Bay. After a few hours and not many bites, except for a small rock cod, we decided we would move on and try somewhere else. 

As we were pulling up the lines, we got a big bite on one side. We knew it was something bigger than a rock cod.  After a little bit of fight and a lot of reeling, we got it up to the top and to our surprise it was a nice size halibut around 30 lbs. They call these smaller halibuts “Chickens”. Upon getting back to the main boat, much to our delight it weighed in at 36 lbs.
 
The next day, Saturday, we started our journey at 6am and traveled for an hour to a location called Freeman Rock to fish for salmon. After everything was setup, we started fishing for Chinook. Almost immediately, we got a bite on the right hand line. We started to bring in the right line and instantly, the left line hit. We had a double header.

We had to be very careful when bringing the lines in so that they didn't get tangled up with each other. When we got the right side in, it was a nice size Chinook, weighing in at 29lbs. The left side was brought up to the top and to our disappointment it got off the line before we were able to get it into the boat. We continued trolling in our circle where we were having luck. The total catch for that day was three Chinook salmon, 20lbs., 26lbs. and 29lbs., and about 30 Rock Cod (which we threw back).

The following day we started out once again at 6am to catch some halibut. It was Father's Day and we wanted to go for something big.

Our Guide, Bubba, wanted to try a location called Hunter Point.  It was approximately 30 min. from the Salmon Seeker Ship. After arriving at the new location near Hunter Point, Bubba anchored the boat and got everything setup to go bottom fishing.

We were using Shimano Fishing Rods with a big logo across the side that said INDESTRUCTIBLE, so I knew we were in for some serious fishing. We got our bait hooked on to the massive circle hooks attached to a 2lb. weight and dropped it down to the bottom of the ocean.

On the right hand side as soon as it hit bottom, we couldn't believe it, we had a big bite.  After a bit of fight we got it to the top and got it into the boat, it was a “Chicken” that weighed 29lbs. We continued on with bottom fishing and brought in another one around 30 lbs. but let it go as we knew that “The Big One” was out there.

As the morning went on, we brought in a few giant Lingcod that we put back as they were part of the breeding stock. We got a big hit on the right hand side again. It  seemed like all the action was happening on this side.

Whatever it was, it sure was heavy and wasn't putting up much of a fight. Bubba thought it might be an octopus. After quite a bit of reeling and a few breaks in between, it came up to the top and it was a giant Red Octopus. It sure was neat to see. I was pretty disappointed I had forgotten to bring my camera on the boat that day.

We then got another HUGE hit on this side again. This was it, we knew it was a big one.  About an hour of reeling in and some very sore arms, we got it to the top and it was a massive halibut.  It came in at 124lbs.

The left side of the boat finally started to pickup. After some fight and bringing the line to the top, a little dog shark a few feet long was on the end. Again, no camera but it too was very neat to see.

We dropped the lines again and the left side continued to be more active than before. Something large had taken the bait. It was another halibut weighing in at 62lbs.

Our guide Bubba decided we better head back to the big boat for lunch and unload the fish so there was room in the boat for us.  With the two fish, the two of us, and Bubba there was well over 600lbs. in the back of the boat.  It was a little slower getting back, but the 150hp engine still had lots of juice behind it.

After a nice hot lunch we relaxed awhile and Bubba cleaned and packed our fish up. We then went out to try and get more salmon in Kelp Bay. We trolled up and down the bay but did not have any bites, so we just sat back and enjoyed the scenery and had a few beers to celebrate the Father's Day morning that we just had.

Out in the boat we started to joke around with Bubba how it would be really funny if we kept our catch a secret from all of our fishing buddies until the captain announced the big catches of the day at dinner.

When we got back to the boat and were having a few beers with our Kamloops buddies they were talking about their catches of the day and we kept quiet. One of them even said to my Dad, “Someone caught a halibut over 120lbs today”. Dad just acted surprised and didn't say anything.

That night at dinner the captain came out to announce some of the big catches of the day.  He announced a 62lb. halibut caught by John Stewart. One of our friends leaned over and said “hey John, that's weird there's another John Stewart on the boat”, we kind of chuckled a little. The captain then said and today's big catch of the day is a 124lb. halibut caught by Jamie Stewart and came over to me and gave me some pictures, a Master Fisherman hat and a pin. Our whole table looked confused and then they figured out what had happened and they all started to laugh and called us a few choice names. Our plan had worked, This will be a Father's Day we will remember forever.

On our last day on the boat we only had a few hours of fishing so we got up at 4am and were out on the water by 5am. We wanted to try and get a few more salmon to bring home. It was a great morning and we trolled up and down Kelp Bay again to see if we could have any luck. We had a few nibbles but nothing more. After a few hours we had to leave and get everything packed up to head home.

This was a trip of a lifetime that we won't forget anytime soon.

I would highly recommend the Salmon Seeker to anyone looking for a great fishing trip.