Bottom feeders, that sounds like a group of lawyers. What it realy means is the great tasting Lingcod, Snapper and rockfish we smashed today. The boys were not ready to jigg the 32oz Norse Jiggs right away. They had to work through the burn to get to the point where they did not care any more.

Four hours of Jigging the deep rocks we had a cooler full of fish. It was one of those days you dream about. Calm seas and no wind with a great medium tide allowed us to target the areas where big ground fish lurk. Our cooler looked like an aquarium by the end of the day. I hope to see the boys from Alberta next year.

This season is shapping up to be one of the best. If you are interested in trying to catch some of these great northern Chinook look up Deep Spring Charters and I will try to fit you in this year.

Three friends from Alberta greeted me at the dock at 06:00 this morning. They were first timers with me but that did not stop them from crushing their limit in Halibut and whacking a great Chinook Salmon. A couple of the boys were Halibut virgins. It took a few minutes to start getting hits. I was trying to set up a scent trail after setting the anchor. Unfortunatly the tide was comming to a stop so the Herring scent was not working well. After 40 minutes the tide started to turn and that was the time we started to get hits.

A couple of the Halibut were of good size the biggesst being 65lbs. Sending down fresh bait every 20 minutes is the key to keeping the scent trail going. Never let your bait loose its taste. The boys had no problem cranking up their lines from 175 feet.

After the Halibut slaughter we headed to Lebo Rocks. This place can produce truly large Chinook from May to August. If you hit it right on you will be rewarded with your limit in no time. Unfortunatly today the tide was not right and the sun was very bright. Early morning is the time to get there. Tomorrow we leave the dock at 05:00 to be there at 06:20. I can feel it in my bones. Early morning is the best time to bonk big Springers. We did manage to catch one Springer close to 20 lbs.

Today we found ourselves down by the Skeena River. At this time of year you must go to where the few Chinook can be found. These early run fish will gather in certain holding spots before hitting the river. They are hungry and will slam your bait like a freight train. The water is starting to turn the colour of silt. I know that the fresh water sits on top of the salt water. Ten to 20 feet under the boat is clear salt water and I like to find the exact spot so that your bait is in clear water but just under the silty stuff.

If the chinook are there they will hammer your plugs. A slow troll works well but I like to mix up the speed every few minutes. This can cause a strike at the most severe speed change.

The word is out, Springers are here and they are big. Reports of 30 to 40 pounders are filtering in. The odd fisherman is coming in with their limits. It looks like a good year for Chinook Salmon in Prince Rupert

It is great to finally have just two people to catch fish for. Sometimes the pressure to whack fish for everyone can be a little overwhelming. We were greeted with quite a unique day. There was a huge swell pumping in from the West but it was like glass on top. Tripple Island Lighthouse was taking a pounding, with each swell running up the rocks to lick at the bottom of the lighthouse.

This swell did not effect the fishing though. The Halibut were biting and it was not long before we had the 6 keepers in the box and we were heading to a favorite jigging spot. The lingers and Snapper were not ready to die today. We only managed to smack 2 nice ones. I think that this couple will be back next year.

Great weather and calm seas followed us all day. The Prince George gang whacked a few Halies and Lingers today. This is the start of it. Next week there will be a few more boats out and the slaughter will gradually slow thru the charter season. At this time of year there is no pressure on any of the well known jigging holes. We can move around and target the most agressive lingers and Snapper. We are back out tomorrow for another day of fish bashing.

We got Lucky two days in a row with the weather. To have great jigging you need wind and tide to cooperate. We started the morning with some shallow water jigging to get warmed up. The cooler looked like a saltwater fish tank. The guys pulled up a variety of different ground fish. We caught, China Rockfish, Quillback Rockfish, Canary Rockfish, Kelp Greenling, Lingcod, Black Rockfish, Yellow Eye Snapper. This filled up half of the cooler in one hour. It was time to head outside with the big jiggs.

I try to move around and not fish any pinacle more than once every two weeks. This enables the population of reef fish to keep multiplying. The most agressive fish always die first. Sometimes tripple headers are common as we drift jigg down a deep ledge or steep rock. It takes a strong arm and light touch to keep feeling for the bottom and not hooking up to the plantlife stuck to the reef.

I headed for the Pumpkin Patch I wanted to see if any agressive Snapper were there. Yes they were with Kerry getting the biggest. It was not long before both coolers were filled with Lingers and Yellow Eye. It was time to head for the crab traps back in the Prince Rupert harbour.