SHEARWATER RESORT

As the plane flew over the coastal mountains of central British Columbia I was just a little intimidated by the water and scenery that unfolded underneath the wings of Pacific Coastal flight to Bella Bella. Located just south of the Queen Charlottes this community of 1800 people is located on the major shipping route between Alaska and Vancouver. Just across the bay from Bella Bella is Shearwater Resort and Marina, our destination on this salmon angling adventure. Shearwaterâs development as a destination along the central coast can be attributed to its unique history which began with the onset of World War II. The Royal Canadian Air Force chose the Shearwater location on Denny Island as a reconnaissance base because of its sheltered harbour and central location. After the war, Andrew Widsten and two other partners decided that the location was to valuable to go down the drain and developed a thriving marine base, followed by a fishing resort.

Mostly importantly , because of itâs remoteness, the fishing has remained outstanding. The same passages that see luxury cruise ships travel, act as natural migration routes for huge chinook and coho salmon.

After our arrival, we headed out with lodge manager Jim Hadley to pursue the chinook salmon that start showing up in early July in this part of the world. The chinook run lasts usually until the middle of August, then the coho take over until the third week in September.

As luck would have it, the rain that had been plaguing the west coast for the previous seven months disappeared and the sun shone on the mighty Pacific and on the three foot swells that we were riding on. On this day Jim would set up two downriggers with cut herring with a 10 metre leader behind the downrigger release. Jim Hadley has guided for 23 years on the west coast, and he emphasized how important it was to get the bait away from the downriggers. Who could argue with success? Within 15 minutes we had the first strike, with friend and fellow outdoor writer Gord Ellis setting the hook on a bulldogging 22 pound chinook. All bright and silver, this handsome fish took Gord around the boat a few times, making the single action mooching reel scream. Finally after about 15 minutes the fish was in the net and congratulations were passed around.

The next fish to hit, some 40 minutes later, popped the bait off of the downrigger release like it wasnât even there. I grabbed the bucking rod out to the holder and hung on for dear life as the rod laid over to the salt water in protest. Our guide quickly helped me loosen the drag and the fish went screaming back out to the middle of the ocean. It was an incredibly strong run from a big fish and when I looked over to Jim in reassurance, he just laughed and said we had 400 feet of line on the reel. My cameraman, Kim Bell from Winnipeg was in the next boat filming the action for The Complete Angler television series.

Finally after about 15 minutes, there was a flash of silver in the water near the surface as Jim peered down in the clear water. "Big fish Don!," he yelled, as if I didnât need any more adrenaline to flow. The fish then charged straight out and turned around and came straight back at the boat. Reeling as fast as possible to keep pressure on, with the barbless hooks that are now mandatory in B.C. for salmon fishing, the fish dove straight under the boat, giving us another look at the immense back. "This should be the last dive", said Jim, but he might have underestimated this fish just a little bit. Thatâs because 10 minutes later the fish was still screaming out line with Jim using the motors to try and keep up.

Finally with straining wrists and sore arms, Jim put the net on the fish of a lifetime, a 47 pound chinook, affectionately know to west coasters as a "Tyee" or to Americans as a "King". Whatever the name, it was indeed the fish of a lifetime!

For more information on fishing at Shearwater Resort call 1-800-663-2370 or visit their website . You wonât regret you did.

Shearwater offers very reasonable fishing packages. In fact the B.C ferry stops there from Port Hardy. That means you could even take your own boat if you wanted to but Shearwater has dependable craft and excellent guides plus a whole range of services which are outlined on their website at www.shearwater.ca.

For more information on fishing in British Columbia visit the Sportfishing B.C. website at www.sportfishing.bc.ca

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