Kayak Fishing Expedition in Kyuquot Sound August 2018

Yes, I caught this Chinook from my Romany sea kayak.

Sometime in 2017 Justine Curgenven suggested that I go kayak fishing with JF Marleau. She said she knew I'd love it. So I looked up the information on the kinds of kayak fishing trips he leads. A number of them sound great. I ended up going for their five day trip salmon fishing in Kyuquot sound in the northwest of Vancouver Island the first week of August 2018.

It turned out to be an amazing trip. I enjoyed the journey getting there and hanging out in Victoria, BC, the campingon Spring Island, kayaking in amazing wild country that I'd never seen, fishing from my kayak, and the great people I spent the week with.

JF Marleau led us fishing and the camp on Spring Island in Kyuquot Sound was run by his friends at West Coast Expeditions.

I've put a few pictures from this trip in the following posts. These photos were taken by me and JF Marleau.

Traveling to Fair Harbour

Settling in on Spring Island

Fishing in Kyuquot Sound


I'd never been that far north in Canada. Here's a quick map view of where we were camped:



And here's a zoomed-in view:




Yes, we were out there.

Fishing in Kyuquot Sound August 2018

We fished for several days from our base camp on Spring Island. Each morning we were up before dawn to have cup of coffee and get our boats on the water just before daylight. The water was like glass on the little bay we were camped on. We'd paddle around the north end of Spring Island and did most of our fishing on the west side of the island. We did a lot of trolling for salmon in Brown Channel to the west of Spring Island. Then for bottom fish we'd jig closer to Spring Island.

JF is a great fishing coach. He helped us get our gear situated, taught us how to troll and jig from our kayaks, gave us lots of guidance about where and how to fish. And importantly taught us how to hook and slowly bring in our fish!

I was very happy that I'd brought my Romany for this trip. It provided such a stable and maneuverable platform for fishing. And I know it so well.

I was surprised how much drag the trolling gear put on our boats. It was like work to paddle fast enough to keep our lures moving as the needed to.

I didn't take a lot of pictures while fishing. I was either paddling or holding a fishing pole or catching fish!

That said, here are a few pictures of us fishing. Most were taken by JF.

To start, here's one of an appr. 25 lb Chinook salmon I caught. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Once I hooked her I could feel that she was big. JF was nearby and asked if I needed any help. I said yes and he came over. Firstly, this fish was big enough to both pull my boat around and pull me over. JF rafted up to my boat to prevent both of these from happening. He then coached me through the technique to land such a big salmon to a kayak. First she went deep. JF coached me to just keep the fishing pole up and keep tension in the line. I slowly got her to the surface. As soon as she saw our boats she headed away fast! JF said to just let her run. That she was a big fish and it would take time for her to tire. That we were in no hurry. This is what we were here for. That fish ran and dived several more times. Each time she came to the surface she'd see the boats and run again. Finally, after about four runs I got her to the boat. JF netted her and plopped her on the deck in front of me. She was a great fish! He took care of killing her and we stowed her in a drybag in the cockpit of my kayak with me.

The biggest fish I've ever caught.

And now more fishing pictures:

Settling in on Spring Island

For this fishing trip we were camping on Spring Island. The good folks at West Coast Expeditions who are good friends of JF's have a very nice camp on that island. They do a range of trips for people who want to get out and experience nature in that far northwest part of Vancouver Island. Most of their trips are kayaking trips where they lead people with wide ranges of kayaking experience to explore the waters of Kyuquot Sound. 

David Pinel heads up West Coast Expeditions. The week we were there he and four guides helped us and kept us fed. 

Most of the guests were there for a five day sea kayak tour. There were just three of us there for fishing: JF, Jeanne and myself. 

The camp was great. It's on a protected bay on the inside (east) of Spring Island. The main area was a clearing with a fire surrounded by seating and a driftwood structure that held the kitchen and dining room. It also held all of the kayaks and gear. Not far from there were hot showers. And just down the trail from there along the bay there are large tents for guests. Pretty darn comfortable.

A few pictures of the nautical chart showing where Spring Island is, starting from most zoomed in view:

Once we got our gear off the water taxi we all circled round the fire and Dave Pinel welcomed us, we introduced ourselves, and he gave us an overview of what we'd be up to all week, info about the camp, and led us to our tents. 

Here was my home for the week. Pretty comfy and nice view of the bay:

Then some of the First Nations folks from the village of Kyuquot came over and made us a dinner of salmon roasted over an open fire. During dinner they told us of the history of their people and about their lives now.

Then after dinner JF worked with Jeanne and I to help us get gear together for fishing the next morning.

Since we'd be getting up before dawn the next day to go fishing it was now time for bed!

Traveling to Fair Harbour August 2018

The trip to Fair Harbour on the northwest of Vancouver Island was long, but ended up easier than I expected. The long part was:

• Driving from San Francisco to Portland
• Driving from Portland to Port Angeles, Washington
• Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, BC
• Driving from Victoria to Zeballos
• Driving from Zeballos to Fair Harbour.

All in all, about 1250 miles.

On August 3rd I drove from Portland to Port Angeles then took the ferry to Victoria. 

I love trips where I'm taking a ferry. I feel like the vacation has really started when I get into the line for the ferry. Here I've made it to Port Angeles:

Amazingly, I'd never taken the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria before. It was a fairly short sailing. Took about an hour for about 10 miles. It had been ages since I'd been to Victoria so I enjoyed seeing it coming into the harbour.

I found an Airbnb in the Fernwood neighborhood of Victoria. I really like that part of town. I highly recommend it. It has a couple good restaurants and pubs.

On August 4th I drive from Victoria to Zeballos on the northwest of Vancouver Island.

I wanted to get as close to Fair Harbour as I could the night before we took a water taxi to over to Spring Island where we'd be camping. I also wanted a town where I could get some dinner and it was clear that Fair Harbour didn't have any restaurants, so I stayed in a little motel in Zeballos , an hour or so drive from Fair Harbour. Unfortunately, the restaurants in Zeballos were all closed for the season when I got there so dinner was various protein bars and snacks I had with me. 

That ended up being about a seven hour drive. The last few hours were on gravel logging roads. This was the part of the drive I had been most concerned about. Not because of the roads -- I have lots of experience driving on dirt and gravel forest service roads. But because of the logging trucks racing along those roads in order to get in as many trips as possible during a day. Amazingly I didn't see one logging truck on that trip. I'd later learn that due to the very dry weather that logging had been temporarily halted due to fire danger.

On August 5th I drove from Zeballos to Fair Harbour to catch the water taxi to Spring Island in Kyuquot Sound, where I'd be camping with fellow kayakers for five days. 

And here it is! The one business in Fair Harbour!

Yes, I had heard that Fair Harbour is kinda rustic. Here's a view of the harbour:

Serendipitously I ran into JF Marleau and Justine Curgenven just as I was driving into town. Justine and a friend were just about to launch their kayaks for a trip down the west coast of Vancouver Island to Tofino.

I unloaded my kayak and gear from my car and had time to relax before the water taxi arrived to take us to Spring Island. Here I met my fellow paddlers for the week.

The water taxi ride was about an hour. It was a great way to start to take in the beauty of the area.