They say: Time flies when you’re having fun… Well that could explain why we suddenly see only 4 weeks left in the 2013 fishing season! We sure have been having a lot of fun this summer! The weather has been exceptional; maybe one gale warning in the past 70 days and certainly more sunshine that we ever expect to see. The fishing, from Day One, has been amazing – if we tried to choose one word to describe it. There may not have been as many “big” fish as we often see and we haven’t broken any records, but the action has been very steady. The fish, particularly the Chinooks, have been so strong and exciting to catch that anglers are often just exhausted when they return to the dock. The 2013 crew here at the lodge and on the Driftwood have been a joy to work with – our guests love them! Thank you.
So as we enter the first week of August we’re not surprised that QCL guests are catching all the fish they could want. Saturday and Sunday afternoons this weekend produced excellent salmon bites from Klashwun Point to Cape Naden. Last week’s northwesterly winds settled back to light southerlies, giving glassy smooth conditions Sunday and the halibut fishing really shone with lots of nice 20 to 50 pound flatties coming to the scale. Anglers did find a few of those “too big to keep” halibut – spawning females that we’re happy to see going back – and they celebrated their success with lots of ringing at the Bell Ringer and presentation of our Halibut pins to mark the occasion.
Salmon highlights of the weekend had to be Adrian Neilson’s beautiful matched set of 36 pound Tyees – one taken close in to the kelp at Cape Naden and one on the Bird 2 to Parker Point drift. Congratulations to Adrian and his guide Matt Burr – a derby winning effort to be sure! And Brenda Smith pulled the big move in the final hour of the family fishing challenge on Sunday night – edging out her son Wyatt’s 35 pounder with a stunning big Tyee that guide Kerry Bueche taped out to 42 pounds! Beautiful fish Brenda! Thanks for letting that big one go!
This week we’re enjoying light variable winds through to Thursday when moderate northwesterlies (and sunshine) return for the weekend. The tide range is building again and will peak on Saturday with a 13 foot change. It’s all shaping up to be another great week at The Lodge.

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Watson Lake