The Filomi days weekend takes place in Port Hardy every year on the third weekend of July. The town lights up with live music, beer gardens, activities for children, fireworks, and the Daiwa fishing derby.

Rob and Kolby chose Leisure Suit Charters to take them out fishing for the day, and it was perfect timing for the derby. The boys picked up their derby ticket along with their fishing licenses and met me the following morning bright and early at the boat launch.

This was Kolby’s first time out on the ocean, as he is a river and lake fisherman. The weather wasn’t perfect, but he was all smiles regardless of the wind and sloppy water.
We ended up catching some Halibut, Coho and Chinook salmon, we just didn’t didn’t have the size to make it to the podium. We decided to try a different salmon tack looking for another fish before we head back to the dock. Rob reeled in the last salmon so it was Kolby’s turn to reel the next one. We make our first pass tight to the rocks, using bait (of course) and had the gear fishing for ten minutes when the shallow rod pops off the down rigger and immediately starts peeling line.

Colby grabs the rod and plays this monster like a champ. 15-20 minutes later Kolby has this salmon in the boat. A 36 lb’er had the number one spot when we left the dock, and ours weighed in at 38 lbs.

Kolby holding his hog. Think he was worried about getting slime on his clothes?

Beating 1st place by 2 lbs we now had a fish to bring to the weighing station.

Kolby’s fish is now sitting in first place for the derby. There is still one more day of fishing before we find out who wins the derby.

“And first place in the Filomi Days Derby goes to Kolby!”

Good job on the reels boys, I had a good time fishing with them and hope to see them next season for another day on the ocean. 38 lbs is going to be tough to beat, but I’d sure like a shot at it!!

When coming to fish on the Northern tip of Vancouver Island, you have the option to fish out of three different areas. Port Hardy, Port Mcneill and the Westcoast (Winter Harbour). Leisure Suit Charters is the one company that fishes out of all three Northern Vancouver Island ports. We can take you to the fish!

Summer is here, and so are the fish! The June air was brisk. but even though its only a couple days into July, it feels as if it’s warming up daily. The wind sure has been co-operative. Glass calm days are starting to feel like the norm.
The Salmon fishing is starting to have plenty of action. Constant bites and “Pin-Pops” have been keeping us on our toes and eye’s on our rods.

The Halibut have been willing to take on the jig or troll. Catching halibut with salmon gear can be a lot of fun!

Here’s Steve with his 72 lb’er that he caught on salmon gear.

Thinking of coming up to Port Hardy or Port Mcneill to go on a fishing charter? There are still some prime dates left. Everybody has “hooked up” and taken home plenty of fish. See you soon!

The salmon and halibut are here! I’ve been spending a little time fishing out of Port Hardy, chasing some early runs of salmon and halibut. Now the quality fishing has moved down into Port McNeill and Telegraph Cove as well. Time to enjoy some fishing without all the tourists and whales! OK I like whales, but can live without having to share a salmon tack with a pack of out-of-state boats.

June…The last month before everybody finds out there’s a grip of fish to catch up here. Come and visit before the mayhem! If you were thinking of coming to visit and wondering what the fishing has been like, I will leave you with a few pictures to show you.

On guided trips I will hand you the rod. OK well…. You might have to grab it!

It’s mid May, and with the mild rainfall we’ve had has kept the rivers in good shape. So with sunshine in the forecast, it would be absurd to sit at home when there is fish to catch. I went out last week hoping to find the first summer run steelhead of the season, but had to settle for a couple nice rainbows instead.

It was fairly cool 10 degrees with cloud cover. Not quite dry fly conditions, but hey I seen winter steel take bugs on the surface so who says it has to be “perfect” weather to huck the dries? I didn’t see much life on the rocks as for casings or notice much for bugs flying around so I went with the oatcan special, an egg sucking stone fly. I ran it through the first couple pools with no immediate action.

A few runs later….. I cast out and starting the swing and am caught off guard with a sound coming from behind me. Startled, I turn upstream to see if there was any wildlife watching me. With my head turned and paying more attention to my surroundings than what my fly was doing, a fish hit and almost ripped my rod from my hands.

I got to see a glimpse of chrome and it took 2 nice runs before it popped the hook. “Well at least there’s something in here”. I work the run with a couple of other flies before leaving but never got the fish to take again.
As I was walking back to my truck I notice a little frog jumping by my feet. Hmmmm, anybody ever tried any frog patterns?

Vancouver Island has year round fly fishing opportunities. Leisure Suit Charters will take you there.