Blackfish Lodge                                            

by Phil Johnson

photos, courtesy Blackfish Lodge

I’ve never thought of fishing as a spectator sport. But when the one doing the looking is a grizzly bear standing erect on its hind legs on a river bank about 30 feet away, paying attention becomes a shared experience.
 

Another cast? Right now? Fugetaboutit!

Fortunately the bear’s interest was fleeting and, after a few seconds, it wandered off into the bush.  Guide Chris went right back to the business of guiding. Guidees Phil and Brigitte stood there, not completely registering what had just happened. After a few seconds, we went back to fishing.               

Just another Discovery Channel moment at the Blackfish Lodge.

Wildlife encounters – we saw other bears, sea otter, orcas, a mother whale breaching with her calf right behind, and salmon, lots of them – is just one feature of this fly in- floating lodge tied to one of the many small islands east of the northern end of Vancouver Island near the coast of British Columbia..  

We came here to fish. What we left with was an adventure. In addition to the close encounter with the bear, there were some remarkable small streams filled bank to bank with migrating salmon; great food, which included shrimp and crab harvested from traps pulled on the afternoon boat trip back to the lodge; and wonderful Canadian wine from the Okanogan Valley, just right to lubricate the story telling and camaraderie that always seems to come with sharing the day’s experience with the other like minded guests: in this case four others. A good night sleep in the private room with two beds and a bath room was a comfortable end to each day. 

A special note about the hosts: guide Chris and his wife Hannah are the resident managers. Hannah does the cooking. And she is very good at it. The meals are varied. And all were outstanding. Chris and Hannah with their two children and Labrador retriever live at the lodge year round. They make up a significant portion of the region’s population which can swell to maybe 100 with logging camp transients in the warm weather.

Getting to the lodge is part of the adventure. You can go from Vancouver. But we chose to fly Kenmore Air from Seattle which bills itself as the largest al float plane service in the US. With more than 20 planes based at the north end of Lake Union, it is not a claim I challenge.

We were lucky, our flight day was beautiful. We flew north over the San Juan Islands and into Canada, stopping after an hour at a dock in Nanaimo, BC to clear Canadian customs. Then off again, flying over the Vancouver Inside Passage, making stops at small islands and camps to either drop off or pick up passengers. Our plane held 11 and the cruising, touchdowns and take-offs were such a pleasure that travel to and from Blackfish Lodge is an integral part of what made this vacation a special treat.

The plane pulls up to the deck of the main lodge. We get out. Our luggage is unpacked and brought to our room which is about 40’ from where the plane is tethered. Guests who are leaving board up and their frozen salmon cartons are loaded with their luggage. The plane taxis out into the bay, takes off, flies over the camp with a tip of the wing. And we are now in residence.

Within the hour we are out in the bay trolling for salmon. Ten minutes after that, we are in full fight mode. Ten minutes later, a 15 pound chum salmon is on board. We’ll have a salmon carton of our own to take when it is our turn to leave.

The next four days of fishing was a mixed bag. We were interested primarily in fly fishing streams so that meant a boat run each morning and a combination of walking and wading after that. The hiking was not especially taxing. But there was some walking involved because guide Chris wanted us to see some special areas that many guests never get to.  An upstream waterfall and pool was a visual treat.  There were some small Dolly Varden to be taken but we didn’t hook up with any of the sea run fish were hoping to spot.

The salmon, on the other hand, were remarkable. There would be a 30 foot wide stream curling through the woods. And it would be full – bank to bank – with salmon, each one seemingly determined to ignore whatever fly we tossed. They even moved aside to let the fly retrieve go uninterrupted We tried everything, from the classic egg sucking leach to menacing looking things I’d seen before only in 50’s horror movies at the drive in. No luck. Oh sure there was an occasional snag hook which tested the drag system on the fly reel. But we landed just one fair hooked salmon on the entire stream experience.

Disappointed? Yes! But the setting was so remarkable, it didn’t matter that this time, the fish won. And there was always dinner to look forward to.

If there was a disappointment, it was that we didn’t get to fish the Wakeman River. The Wakeman is a limited access river that turns a gorgeous green in summer. Depending on the time of year, it can have salmon, steelhead and various other trout in its pools and riffles. It is a day long float trip. But not in high water. Rain that fell in the early part of our trip created high water so the Wakeman was out for those of us at the lodge that week.

The final day was the try for a large salmon in the straight between BC and Vancouver Island. This was trolling with a 30 pound or more salmon the prey. Lodge guests catch several each year. But we didn’t add to the total. Just one modest size fish that brought our take home total to two for the week.

The trip home was again blessed with great weather so the float plane schedule of six stops was a perfect cap to a great week in the wilderness.

The Blackfish Lodge operates from mid May through the end of September. The high season is July and August. Typical stays are two to five days with a maximum of eight guests at any time. Americans are now required to bring passports. If you go, the Blackfish Lodge will package flight arrangements with your stay.