The Perfect Christmas Gift: A Ucluelet or Nanaimo Fishing Charter
It was a beautiful crisp morning with the sun breaking over the coastal mountains as we headed out from Departure Bay, Nanaimo BC. What a perfect beginning to what would become a morning the two of us would never forget, especially for my neighbor who had never fished for Pacific salmon. Our destination, the Five Fingers, a famous place where many large fish have been caught over the last few decades. We slowed the boat down just as bottom dropped to about 500 ft on the northwest corner and got the gear ready. Dropping the first ball down to about 120 ft, I moved over to the other side to the boat to ready the second downrigger. However, before I could even attach the line to the clip, I heard the sound of my reel sing and saw my rod tip throbbing wildly. “A fish” I yelled to my astonished friend who couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. I grabbed the rod and held on for dear life. After a few moments, I cried out, “oh no, we’ve got a seal” (seals are plentiful and Nanaimo and the Five Fingers have lots of them that like to take an easy meal). I held on to the rod as line continue to rip out while I instructed my neighbor to steer the boat in the direction of the line, hoping to at least retrieve my gear back. It was then that I felt the line slow and then…, that familiar shaking of a large fish. “It’s a salmon” I yelled to my friend and gave him the rod. As I turned the boat away from the fish to keep the line tight, my friend held on to a beast of a fish that shook, ran, and made every hair on his body stand on end. After a few more runs, he was able to bring the fish to the surface. Oh my I thought to myself. I continued to instruct my new recruit on how to bring the fish close enough to the boat where upon I netted one of the largest chinooks I have ever seen come out of the Nanaimo waters. After a few convincing taps, the fish lay at the bottom of our boat with two fishermen open-mouthed in awe. Every muscle in my friends body was vibrating. And to this day, I believe the passengers on BC Ferries heading into Departure Bay heard us as we hooted and hollered. What a fish! What a morning!
Off course, moments like these don’t happen every day, in fact they happen very seldom. However, almost every person we take out has a wonderful time and a unique story to tell whether it be witnessing a beautiful sunrise, feeling the tug of a feisty Chinook, watching as a crab trap is pulled with crabs crawling over each other, or reconnecting with and being refreshed by the smells and sites or the amazing outdoors we have in the beautiful BC. So for those of you looking for a great Christmas gift, look no further. Contact us a Reel Time Fishing Charter and lets put a something together that will create memories that will last forever.
Skipper Turk
Owner and operator of Reel Time Fishing Charters
Vancouver Island BC.