Welcome to the World's Best Giant Chinook Fishing!
"A Unique Fishing Experience" Rivers Inlet, British Columbia |
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| Our motto is: "If it ain't as long as your arm throw it back, it's too small." | ||
Trophy Fishing Jump to Good News For Rivers Inlet Resort Anglers Jump to Rivers Inlet Hatchery Program
Rivers Inlet Resort guests have caught the biggest chinook in Canada 26 out of the last 30 years. Simply put, that means you have the very best chance to score BIG at RIR... Kids Catch Big Fish Too! Guests from around the world come here for one purpose, to catch a trophy-sized salmon. While some resorts in British Columbia and Alaska define a trophy as any chinook over 30 pounds, we define a trophy chinook as anything over 40 pounds. But you won't get much attention from regulars at RIR when you bring your 40-pounder to the scale because they really are a common sight. You'll see high fives exchanged when you catch a 50-plus pounder, but don't expect the excitement to stop there. Each year RIR guests catch several chinook in the 60-plus pound category. Trophy Chinook Fishing Philosophy Harry Nelson, 29 seasons at RIR
Technique Unlike most chinook fishing locales, anglers don't need to use downriggers or heavy leads to reach the fish. At Rivers Inlet the chinook are just 10 to 20 feet and 4 to 8-ounces away. That's right, you don't need to get complicated with lots of line out and you don't have to endure the headaches of complicated fishing gear. All you need to do is bait your double hook leader with either a cut-plug or whole herring and then strip off just 5 to 10 "pulls" each of which is approximately 2 feet. Leave the rod & reel in the rod holder, set the drag loose and slow troll along the shoreline or offshore up to a few hundred yards.
Trolling/mooching Some anglers choose to troll super slow while others combine trolling with mooching. Since the chinook stay within a small area, usually from 10 to 20 feet, it means you must put the bait directly in front of their noses. By combining a slow troll with mooching you can put the bait in the right spot. Here's how it works. Troll for a little ways and then put the motor in neutral for a few seconds. This also gives your baits an enticing roll that chinook simply can't resist. Trolling anywhere in North America is no different than driving a car on the road. When trolling the shoreline always yield right of way to the boat on the shoreline, trolling on the "right side of the road." That means you'll need to troll the shoreline with your starboard side (right) closest to the shoreline. With this in mind, you can plan to fish closer to the shore while taking advantage of four rods at four different depths. Rivers Inlet trophy chinook often hug the shoreline, in 10 to 14 feet of water. For best results and more hook-ups we recommend anglers to always put their shallow rods on the right side of the boat and the deeper lines on the left side. This enables you to troll closer to shore because the shoreline will likely be shallower on the right side of the boat. We call this the slope away technique because your boat's width combined with the length of the rod will allow you to take advantage of the slopping underwater shoreline. Light drags add up to more fish in the net With only a few feet of line extending beyond your rod tip, it's super important to keep loose drags on the reel. How loose? You'll need just enough drag on the reel to prevent "bird's nests" and too reel in the sinkers. The idea is to let the fish grab the bait without much pressure, until you lightly set the hook. A light hookset is the only way to set on these big fish because anything more could break the line. Remember, these are JUMBO chinook, they have lots of power and can easily spool the unsuspecting angler. So how can you catch a fish with a light drag? Easy, just use the boat to help you regain the distance and line between you and your trophy. Your thumb can also help apply added pressure on the reel, and your thumb won't throw a bearing. It might get a blister though! Fighting time
Think of this like flying a kite in a wind storm. It's very difficult to pull straight down against the kite without angle. If you put your kite string on the nose of the kite instead of the middle you'd easily be able to control it, even during a storm. The same principal works when you apply an angle to the line, and the fish's nose. Be ready to lose some line when you increase the angle. Not all fish are created equal. After countless fights with big chinook, RIR anglers report many different lengths of battles. Much depends on the skill of the angler, size of fish and strength of fish. We've seen 35-pounders take two hours to land and 70-pounders take only 30 minutes. One thing's for sure, no matter how long it takes to land your trophy chinook, you'll know you beat the KING of salmon...Rivers Inlet chinook! Netting Rivers Inlet fish are so BIG, they can break rods, burn out reels, stretch lines, make muscules ache and even break net handles. Never try to net your trophy before its ready! don't even show the fish the net until it lays over on its side. And don't point the rod at the fish, keep a light drag, rod tip up and keep your thumb on the reel's spool. If the fish comes to life, simply remove your thumb from the spool and let the fish run. Don't try to stop the fish.
Grab the ring of the net and pull straight up. If you catch a monster chinook, grab both ends of the bag itself and lift it into the boat. This fish weighed just under 50 pounds and challenged the angler to fight the fish single-handed.
Tackle Rivers Inlet Resort provides all the tackle, bait, rods, reels, nets, knives etc., that you'll need to catch trophy chinook. We have a selection of rods chosen to provide control of the fish and be forgiving in case of angler mistakes. These rods are 8 1/2 feet in length and handle big fish without making you feel like you're holding a broomstick. Our reels are Penn and Shimano level winds with 30 pound test mono line. If you have a favorite rod & reel please feel free to bring it with you. Many of our guests enjoy the challenge of light line fishing. Last year one of our guests, John L. Beath, Pacific Northwest editor for Western Outdoors, used a 12 foot noodle rod and Ambassadeur Tournament 5600 C level wind bait caster loaded with IGFA 8-pound approved line. Click here to read the story. His amazing catch proved how much fun Rivers Inlet chinook can be on light line. Everything you need is in the tackle box provided in your boat, but you can bring the items you feel most comfortable with. The following list of items are suggested for optimum success. Extra tackle items to bring Hook file...RIR provides a stone, but recommends that serious anglers bring their own hook file. We'd provide them but they rust out too quickly so bring a decent file that you don't mind loosing to rust. Why not rust proof the file with oil? Simple, we could do that, but these fish are very sensitive to oils and other smells. That's why we provide a stone file and suggest you bring a brand new file that's never been oiled. Keep it in your pocket and it won't rust out as fast and it will be an excellent tool to ensure super-sharp hooks! Some anglers prefer using their own weight system. Our banana weights work great, but you might want to bring your favorite color, either florescent red, green or glow-in-the-dark. The majority of fish are taken on just 4 ounces, but you might want to bring a 6 and 8-ouncer too. Bring a cheap whistle too. While playing your trophy chinook you can use the whistle to alert others to stay clear. We'd provide this but you probably wouldn't use it knowing everyone else had their lips on it before you.
Pacific Northwest editor John L. Beath with his 1999 Rivers Inlet Resort season's best... A JUMBO chinook trophy... 58 1/2 pounds!
Salmon Limits........
8 Salmon Possession
Limit as follows: Remeber though, you can only catch and keep a total of 8 salmon, of which only 4 may be chinook, 2 coho or a combination of the other salmon species as listed. Jump to Rivers Inlet Hatchery Program Compare to the rest then book with the Best- RIR Rivers Inlet Resort, P.O. Box 1015 Renton, WA 98057-1015 (425) 226-4600
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© Pacific Lure Communications 2002 |
Fishing for JUMBO chinook
at Rivers Inlet Resort is nothing short of fantastic! The average-sized chinook taken by
RIR guests weighs over 35 pounds. Some years the average hits 40 pounds!
"You've got to
build up credits (fishing time) before you can spend them,"
(catching fish).
You won't be limited to just one rod either. In
British Columbia you can fish as many rods as you and your boat can handle. Rivers Inlet
Resort provides four rod & reel combos and four rod holders in the boat. That
means two anglers on a boat share four rods. It also means the single angler will
have his/her hands full if one or more fish strike the baits. One of our guests in 1999
had a triple header while fishing alone!
When you first hook-up, the fish will likely peel
line off the reel at an alarming rate of speed. Don't panic, simply let the fish run, hold
your rod tip high and wait for the fish to stop. If the trophy chinook doesn't stop begin
your chase, but don't try to tighten the reel's drag. This is the time when lots of
anglers break off, because they didn't have patience to wait for the right time to gain
control. When the fish stops it will likely "sound" (dive deep) which presents a
new challenge. Don't try to "pull" the fish straight up from the depths, use
your boat's motor to gain an advantage by increasing the angle between you and the fish.
Avoid standing shoulder to
shoulder while netting the fish. Use the length of the boat to gain a better angle at the
head of the fish. Always net the fish head first. Once netted, don't try to lift the fish
into the boat like spooning corn flakes out of a bowl of milk...it won't work and you
could lose your fish or break the net handle.
Western Outdoors
Rivers Inlet Resort is an equal opportunity fishing resort...Even non-anglers catch BIG Fish