July 19, 2010 – HIPPA ISLAND Fishing Report

Ryan Orr, Lodge Manager Hippa Island

There are numerous words that could describe the fishing this past week at Hippa. I think I will go with “AWESOME.” When the weather allowed us to get outside the salmon fishing was truly awesome. The action typically started the moment your lines hit the water and wouldn’t stop for the rest of the day. In addition to the huge number of spring salmon, there are also a lot more cohos around making for continuous action throughout the day. In fact, the biggest complaint over the past week was sore arms from reeling in so many fish!

There is absolutely no question that, for the third or fourth week in a row, Freeman Rocks was the indisputable hotspot. The various ledges and pinnacles seem to continue to hold massive schools of spring salmon. Most of the fish are in the 15-25 lb range although last week probably produced the best tyee fishing we have seen all season. Mixed in with the average sized springs there now seem to be a good number of tyees and one day in particular produced eight tyees with several in the high 30’s. The largest spring of the past week was a beauty 41 lber brought in by Jason Davids. Nice work Jason!

As mentioned, we are also seeing a lot more coho around. Right now, the most significant challenge to finding coho seems to be keeping the springs off your line! I guess this is a pretty good problem to have! Most of the coho are in the 7-10 lb range with the odd 11 or 12 lber. We are also finding them at all kinds of depths ranging from right on the surface to over 100 feet down. Springs are been found in the exact same range which has made targeting one particular species a little more difficult, although once again, a pretty good problem to have.

With the sudden increase in the salmon fishing, the bottom fish did not receive the attention that they have in weeks past. We have noticed quite a bit slower halibut fishing and finding some bigger halibut often required dedicating some time. I am proud to say that once again the largest halibut of the past week was actually released. This time it was brought up by Denis Murphy and estimated at 150 lbs. Nice effort Denis. Unlike halibut, the ling cod and red snapper fishing did not slow down at all over the past week. We seem to have a huge number of different “critter spots” and in many cases the only time it takes to catch them is the time it takes to get your line to the bottom.

For those days that the weather held us inside, the catch totals decreased significantly. Thankfully one day, or even just a morning on the outside more seemed to more than make up for it. For the past few days we have been experiencing a sustained NW system which looks to be carrying on for several days to come. This has generally meant calmer mornings and windy afternoons. Thankfully we did not see a lot of rain, and although somewhat sloppy at times, the NW winds generally remain fishable for us. We are more than happy for this trend to continue for the coming week.

If you have recently visited Hippa, thank you for joining us and we hope to see you again.  For those of you who have a trip planned to Hippa in the near future, the staff and I look forward to your arrival.  If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail me at rorr@westcoastresorts.com.

Ryan Orr

Lodge Manager, Hippa Island