Sund's Lodge

   Day 3 of the NPC trip started out with calm water again, and a few guests who were feeling a little groggy (hungover), but eager to get back out after a successful day yesterday.

   The bite started out slow again this morning, with only a couple of chinooks taken at first light, but the fishing did start to pick up, and soon a slow steady bite was happening all along the backside, from Point No Point, all the way to the tip of Donegal Head. Some nice teeners were caught on Cpn. Millar’s boat relatively early, including a doubleheader of twin 15lbers caught by Russ Lascink and Eric Stokes. Russ was the last guy to catch a keeper salmon on the trip, and therefore, was able to rid himself of the “banana shirt”, which will be ritually burned down at the campfire later this evening.

    Later on in the morning, the bigger chinooks began biting, and it was Darrell Liebno’s turn to shine, when he fought and landed a real slab! Fishing on Cpn. Spenny’s boat, they had just lost a good one, and were setting gear back down, when the big one hit at 20ft. on the rigger. It weighed in at 33lbs! Another Tyee was nailed within an hour of heading to the beach for lunch, on Cpn. Bergenheim’s boat! Bill Martinak was up for this one,which weighed in at 31lbs.! Several other nice chinook in the 20′s were landed before we joined the Beach Bistro Crew for an awesome lunch in the Tsiuladas Islands. The weather was fine, and everything went smoothly as usual, and the guys were soon headed back out on the grounds. 

   Beautiful flat calm water, sunny skies, and good friends, with a few chinook, coho, halibut, and lingcod thrown in the mix, made for a great afternoon on the water! Another banner day here at Sund’s Lodge.

The guides are hard at work formulating the afternoon's fishing program. Looks exhausting.

Some good ones caught off of PNP.

Nice mixed bag of fishes on Cpn. Aleksich' boat.

Darrell Liebno catches the big one of the trip, weighing in at 33lbs!!

Bill Martinak joins the Tyee Club with this 31lb. chinook!!

   One of our favourite groups arrived late yesterday afternoon. NorthWest Pipe arrived at 4:00 in the afternoon, and subsequently, we didn’t fish yesterday, but the sun was shining and everyone had a great evening hanging out at the lodge. Drinks were poured, and a fire was set down by the beach, where everyone headed, after an excellent dinner served up by the chefs.

   After missing the first afternoon’s fishing session, everyone was eager to get out on the water, and the guides were in for a longer day of fishing to make up for lost time. They left the dock at around 5:30am, heading for the backside of Malcolm. Most of the guides stopped in at the Slide and PNP, but Cpn. Millartime, who was last off of the dock, decided to stop a little short of the pack, pulling into “the Bush”. They had just dropped the Grover Deluxe rig in, and Millar was setting the other side, when it hammered off, and Pete Seley was into his first of the day! He skillfully landed the chinook, which weighed in at 19lbs. A steady bite continued onboard, and the fourpack of Gary Stokes, Bill Smith, John Tripi, and Pete Seley, ended up with a nice pile of fish at the end of the day, including John Tripi’s 27lber, which took the big fish of the day honours. John’s fish hit deep off of Donegal Head and surfaced, taking 3 nice leaps into the air!

   Meanwhile, up at the Slide area, things started out a little slower, but the boys on Cpn. Aleksich’ boat hit into a couple beauties early, as well. Some of the guides moved down to the Bush, while others stayed, but later on the bite really came on in both places, and everyone hooked into some nice salmon The guys on Samwise’  and Blake’s boat tied into doubleheaders, late in the morning, which is always very exciting, wether you land both fish or not! The guys on Cpn. Mike Hageman’s boat had a late start on the action, but when they started, they really went on a tear, hooking fish after fish, and landing several. Due to heavy rains, the call was made to  head back to the lodge for lunch, which was a nice repreive from the rain, before heading out again for halibut and salmon.

The halibut fishing was very slow for most this afternoon, though, with only one boat doing well. Gary Lewis, and Tony Eramo, fishing on Taylor “T-Bone” Logan’s boat, had their limit shortly after they started, boating 21lb. and 15lb. halis. They even had a chance at a big chinook off of Swanson Island, before heading in for the evening, but they were unable to land the slab. Hopefully, the weather is as good as the forecast tomorrow, and we can have our bistro on the beach. Wish us luck!

John, with the big one of the day, 27lbs@!

Nice Fishes!!

Filling the Samsonite bag on Cpn. Carlberg's boat!

These guys hit 'em late, but they hit 'em hard!

Eric Stokes with a high teener.

Darrell got 'er done, on this 18lber.

Taylor's Crew did well, especially in the afternoon, on the butts!

The Codfathers also caught some nice salmon!

With only minutes to go on the last morning, Matt Smith, his wife Beth, and daughter, Rebecca, were trolling for salmon with Cpn. Sammy “the Blade” Carlberg, when both of their lines hammered off of the downrigger on a doubleheader! After an incredible twin fight, with Matt and Rebecca on the rods, they landed both of the chinooks, which weighed in at 23 and 26lbs. There was a lot of money on the line, as they had put in on a big fish pool, for the morning, and also for the whole trip. Brett Wells, who was fishing on Cpn. Shaun “Burgenheim” Vanderberg’s boat, had picked up a 25lber earlier in the morning, which was holding the title for biggest of the morning, but also of the trip, until then.  What an ending to a really fun trip!

Matt takes the money with this beauty!

The Smith Family with Sam and their morning haul.

Brett Wells gets rewarded for a slow day yesterday, with this nice 25lb. chinook!

Jill bags a teener in Mitchell Bay with Cpn. "Big Wave" Dave Sund

Wanda filled out her chinook quota with this 22lb. slab.

Nick's crew with a couple of gooders.

Cpn. Burgenheim's crew, with a nice pile'o'fish!

Ron was very happy with this nice 20lber!

The hosts finally get a good one. What customer service, Steve!

Host, Dennis, gets his first chinook of the trip.

Sean Naubert  may have made a mistake today, when he declined to join the big fish pool, losing out on $440. He caught the largest salmon of the day, a very nice 21lb. chinook, which was worth a lot of dough…… if only! Instead, the money was split between 3 people, Daniel Cohen, Vince Vavrek, and Brett Wells, who had matching 19lbers.

Cpn. Samster the Hamster took the Naubert Family to Point No Point, where they got into a slow and steady bite. By morning’s end, they had hooked into 7 chinook, boating 4! They were in the right spot, for sure, as most boats had tough fishing, despite small tides and awesome weather. Cpn. Spencer Horning had a great day as well, with his crew, Matt, Beth, and Rebecca Smith, up west of the lodge, boating 4 chinook, 3 pinks, 2 very nice halibut, and the first chum salmon salmon of the season! An incredible day. Vince and Tracy Vavrek were one of the few fortunate guests to fish with Big Wave Dave Sund this season, and he didn’t disappoint, putting them into 2 dandy chinooks, and two “Ping-Pong paddle” sized halibut, which they released. Cpn. Millar had a fun day, fishing with the Courchene’s and Wayne and Andrie today. They didn’t get too many fish, but there was never a dull moment, with Jack Courchene on board! Andrie did catch a nice 11 lb. chinook, too add to their several pinks. The highlight, though, had to be Jack’s (he claims to be a master halibut fisherman) “doggy-door” sized halibut, which weighed in at over 7 lbs! Nice work. The Hag was fishing father and son duo, Mike and Daniel Cohen, and they also did fairly well at the salmon, hitting 2 nice teener chinook, and 2 coho. Not a bad day, all said and done,but let’s hope for a great one tomorrow!

Sean's 21lber, which taught him that "not" gambling doesn't pay!

Team Naubert hook some Nook!

Sean still won in our books.

Tracy and Vince Vavrek.

Matt Smith holds the first chum of the season.

Beth Smith with her nice 18lber.

Rebecca Smith with a nice 22lb. butt.

Cpn. Spenny and his crew.

Mike and Daniel Cohen with their catch. Nice work guys!

Brett Wells nabs this 19lb. chinook in Beautiful Bay, with Cpn. Bergenheim.

Jack and the girls get their boogie on, up on the main deck!

Big winner at Puquana, Jack Courchene!

Tracy and Vinny looking good as always!

Steve Kreps is one cool dude, as this picture shows.

They arrived! The wildest group of the summer…with a cast of characters like Team Quintessential, Smilin’ Jack, Team Canada, Matt Smith and his ladies, and Team Naubert! The afternoon was fairly calm and mostly sunny and there was a few nice fish taken to start the trip off. Vince and Tracey had an amazing whale show off the Wall with Captain Mike and then Tracey bagged a nice 20 lb chinook nice and close off the Wall. Don was fishing with Capt. Spenny and nailed his nice teener but the real drama came at the weigh station where Wanda’s 22 lb chinook caught with Capt. Blake just barely edged out Nick Naubert’s 22 lbr caught with Capt. Millar. It was so close the boys had to pull out the digital scale to get down to ounces! From there the party was on and guests celebrated down by the fire into the wee hours of the evening. A brilliant and rambunctious start to a fantastic 4 day fishing trip!

Don's Teener

Tracey's 20 taken off the Wall

Nick and his silver medal 22 pounder taken off Vancouver Island

Wanda and her winning fish...by ounces!

Birthday boy Will Williams started the celebrations!

The Fish Master Harold "the hit man" Millar is losing his mind!

The Queen of the Day: Wanda!

On Monday July 25, guest Kurt Blythe hooked and battled a HUGE halibut off the Atlantis fishing bump. After an hour and fifteen minutes, the behomoth rose from the bottom of the ocean. Measurements were taken and the halibut measured at over 7 feet and estimated at 310 pounds and was soon RELEASED to the bottom of the ocean. Congrats to guide Mike Hageman and guest Kurt Blythe for the huge fish…and the decision to let it go!

The best part of the story is 20 minutes after releasing this hog, the same guest (Kurt B) landed the biggest halibut of the summer, a 140 lb beauty.

On a day that started out very slow for most, the day turned  around very dramatically in the last 3 hours!

   The morning did have some great successes, though. A few people hooked into some chinook, and several of them were on the large side. Rod Nelson, fishing with guide, Taylor Logan, at Flower Island hooked into a real hog. The guide couldn’t tell if it was off the rigger, as it held deep and head shook heavily, before turning and ripping off on a huge run. They boated it after a great fight, and when they weighed in at the dock, the needle stopped at 37lbs! Holy Shnikies! Another big fish was hooked about an hour later, over in Double Bay. Jim Parker was fishing with Cpn. Hageman when they dropped into Double Bay and hooked a big fish on the first pass through. It hit the Mustard and Relish Rig, and after a slow, deep fight, it came to the net. It weighed in at 31lbs! Two tyees in one morning is always great, but amongst 6 boats, only 4 chinook and a couple of pinks were landed when the burger boat arrived. What happened later on out on the halibut grounds would change everyone’s perspective on the day entirely! Flip to side two for the rest of the story…

Cary hits his favourite spot, the Wall, and hangs another picture of a 20+ lber!

Jim Parker did battle with this 31 lb tyee. Very Nice!!

Rod Nelson and Taylor hold up his badass looking 37lber!

Rod takes the throne for a night!

After a chicken burger and other treats brought out by Chef Terrell and Daniel, the boats headed off to different halibut spots, trying to take advantage of the small tides. Mike Hageman took his crew of Kurt Blythe, John McMichale, and Jim Parker to the renewed “Atlantis” in search of some good sized butts. Nick Teichert took the rest of their six pack, Don Blythe, and his 2 other sons, Kory and Kraig there too. They were jigging side by side, when each boat hooked into a significant halibut. Kurt Blythe hooked up first, and then his brother was into one soon after. Kory’s fish was a very nice 51lber, that put up a good scrap, a great fish by all standards, but the guys on Mike’s boat soon realised that they were tied into a different animal altogether! After over an hour, and several runs to the bottom, a giant flatfish slowly emerged from under the boat. The halibut was a monster fish, shattering the previous record of 196lbs., taken 3 years ago. When they brought it alongside the boat, measurements were made that placed the weight of the fish, at or above 310lbs! An unbelievable fish, and the fact that Kurt hauled the thing up himself, made it quite a story. Yet, the story doesn’t end there!  You would think that after fighting a fish of that size for so long, that Kurt would have retired for the day, but because he really wanted some take home halibut meat, he got back on a rod and continued to fish. It wasn’t 20 minutes later, that he was into another one!! The crazy thing is he brought this one in by himself, too, and it happened to be the larger than any other halibut this season, as well. They harpooned this one, and when it hit the scale, it was officially weighed in at 140lbs! Unbelievable!! This may be a record that is almost as unbeatable as Wayne Gretzky’s record of 92 goals in a single NHL season. Over 450lbs of halibut landed by a single guest of Sund’s Lodge in one fishing session! Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, guide Geoff Millar had made a guarantee to guest Alvin Carr, that he would jump off of the dock if he didn’t catch a halibut or keeper chinook. He had been fishless for 3 days and needed a boost. After a slow morning of catching yellowtail rockfish, they went to a local halibut hole, where a series of unfortunate events led to Alvin losing 2 good fish. Fortunately, they found some chicken halibut in the last hour and Alvin gets to bring home some fish… Cpn. Spenny had the Gilman’s fishing with him , and they stopped on Atlantis for one last drift at the end of the day, when Spenny started counting down from ten, before time to pull in gear. Marty nailed a perfect 50lber in the dying seconds, and now has enough ‘halibut to share with his family! What a great way to end it.

Kory's 51 lb. halibut.

The fish hold on Mike's boat wasn't holding much of this fish.

140lbs.

Marty's last second slab!

Alvin, Steve, and Marcie's fish!

Hooooo-oooooo

Sheena fits in to the Blythe family well!

    Another fair weather day here, as it seems like summer is finally arriving here, on Malcolm Island! Unfortunately the salmon fishing was scratchy today, though. It started out slow for most, and tapered off to dead for some, but there were a few exceptions. Kory, Kraig and John, fishing with Cpn Taylor “the Fish Whisperer” Logan, at Flower Island, hit the early bite hard, catching 3 nooks up to 25lbs. in the first 2 hours. They then added a gorgeous 27lb. slab to the cooler, later in the morning. A few other nice slabs were caught, and a couple of pinks, but overall quite slow. There are a large number of Orcas (over 30) cruising the local waters lately, disturbing the fishing in various places.

    The halibut fishery was slowish too, but some nice ones were taken, with Marcie Peterson getting a big ‘ol 59lber at The Lost City of Atlantis, with The Hag. Bob Mathews nailed a 25lb. lingcod at a new, undisclosed spot, with Cpn. Millar, using his own pink salmon head from earlier in the day. The head was also tipped with roe skeins from the same fish. Probably the real story this afternoon had to be the surprising octopus fishing today on Cpn. Teichert’s boat. Marty Gilman, and son-in-law Bret Bentzinger, boated and released 2 octopus this afternoon, something that has never been done before here. Amazing!

The weather looks to remain calm tomorrow, as well, and if the whales leave us alone, we may just get into ‘em tomorrow. It also marks the return of Scott “the Rocket” Sund to the local waters, maybe bringing a fresh perspective to the scene. Wish us luck.

Taylor's crew of Kory, Kraig, and John, with a fine catch!

The Hero of the Day, Kory, with his 27 and 16lb. chinooks!

Rod Nelson with a 23 he caught near Black Bluff.

What a pretty pair!

Cary's 24lber caught deep off the Wall!

John landed this 25lber at Flower Island early.

Bret's Teener

Marcie handled this 59lb. slab with just a little help from Steve.

Roland fills in for his crew, as they all left the dock.

Boiling Dungeness crabs.

Chase enjoying the cove.

Freedom!!!!!!!

Deck time

Team Blue and Yella!

Looking good Marley!

Bret enthusiastically rubs the crab belly.