June 14, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Ucluelet, Fishing
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"Fish on! Fish on!"
Music to any fisherman's ears, this shout was heard early and often aboard Nootka Princess, part of the Canadian Princess Resort in Ucluelet. I did a weekend fishing trip here in mid-June and had a fabulous time.
Day one: Sunny skies and calm seas find us five miles offshore. We drop our lines and minutes later we have the first fish of the day - a 45lb halibut! There were 12 of us onboard and we call caught at least one halibut. The salmon were a bit more elusive, we ended up with 6 nice Chinooks. One of the other boats from the resort hit the hot spot: 30 nice springs (Chinooks)!
Day two: A gale warning sends us into the sheltered waters of Barkley Sound. The fishing was pretty slow but we did land a few nice salmon, and lost a few good ones, too. A great meal on the deck of their floating resort when we got back in was a perfect end to the day.
The charter boats at this resort are either 43 or 52 feet long and are fast, wide, comfortable and easy to walk around if you want to check out the action. Our skipper, Don, and deckhand Coco were great - easy going, friendly, and patient, especially when the inevitable "birds nest" got into our reels....sorry about that, Coco!
When we checked out all our fish were cleaned, packaged and ready to go. Two glorious days on the water and fresh halibut for dinner when I got home...does it get any better than that?
This was my first time at a fishing resort and I had a great experience. I will definitely be back!