Quatsino Lodge

The annual trip for Steve and Rod included Tony this year. They were on a mission. Tuna. Day 1 10 tuna. Back to the ocean. Day 2. 26 tuna. Hmmmm .... brought small car and not enough coolers. Day 3 ... relaxing fishing for something else....; These fellows always join Walter for his birthday and the event went well. Check out Walts new hat. Who prefers the old one? The new one?

This fun fam. had their normally scheduled early May trip cancelled because of covid. But they persevered. Then the airlines caused havoc. But they kept on keeping on. Finally, they arrived August 25th and spent a wonderful 3 days with Walter. Thanks to all of you for sharing a few shots of your time. The almost 4 months difference in the usual fishing time also caused Joe to say "WOW. I didnt know you had so many plants in the garden." I have the chaos garden this year I have to confess. It has covid hair like everyone else....

T=TOTALLY U=UNNATURALLY N=NOT BELIEVABLE A=AMAZING What a day. Aug 29th. Epic.

August 25th - an amazing morning had by all. Well especially Chief John. He won the Ab Mohammed memorial fishing derby at the last moment with a 30.5lber. He beat out Michi who also had a 29lber the same morning. This picture is for you Tom Hassan.

Dave, Cal, Judah and Jevan are welcome back anytime. It was a pleasure to host you boys. And thanks Cal for your kind words. "Another fantastic trip to Quatsino lodge filled with great memories, big fish and warm hospitality. The boys had such a great time they both told me last night that next year was a definite to miss basketball camp and come to Quatsino instead forsure! Lol, I guess that tells us how mich they enjoyed it.Thankyou Walter, Blondie, Mike ,Breanna and the whole lodge crew!!!"

Quatsino Lodge is all about family. And our last groups were a mix of fathers and sons. It was pretty neat to have some under 20s sons with Dads, mid 20s son with Dad and mid 40s son with Dad. We see the future when we see fathers and sons fishing together. If a son doesnt get the opportunity when he is young he may never think to go with his own sons. Here are a few photos from the youngest family group. Big smiles.

Hello Blondy, I wanted to Thank you and ALL the crew once again for the AWESOME trip. As usual everything was impeccable! I was telling Walt that I have never been to a lodge where the owners are so engaged and he comes to the dinner table smiling from ear to ear! The whole CV thing makes it tough to conduct business but your doing a great job of it!... Thanks so Much, looking forward to next year already! Ron Thanks Ron. The boys have sent a couple pictures. Hoping to get more to share. We had a great time too. Pretty wet - probably the wettest 3 days of the year but lots of smiling faces. Congrats on your 29lber.

Just emailing to say thanks for a great fishing trip. We had a great time. Everything was first class, Mike was an awesome guide and the hospitality and meals were incredible. We hope to be back next year ! I attached a few pictures we took while we were there. Thanks again, THANK YOU SHAWN AND MAC!

Dan and Gary; the two sweetest men that ever fished. Covid made their travel plans rearranged and so they did the "once-in-a-lifetime" fishing vacation instead. Dan lost a big one - so big he couldnt sleep after the first afternoon. And the word on the street is that on the morning of the trip Dan woke up at 3AM and told his wife "only a quarter of a sleep left". Such enjoyable folks having such a fantastic time is contagious. Thank you both for sharing.

The internet here is not so great folks. I have had pictures for days. Just finally able to access FB. Sigh. Pierre Frigon thank you for sending your friends and fam. And hard working guys that sat down at the table one night with Blondy and helped her shuck fave beans. Wow. Please come again!

Mac and Dick have been coming with a group of friends for more than a dozen years. Speculation has it more like 15. We are not sure. But it is always a pleasure to host them and the gang. We are missing brother Allan this summer with covid concerns. Mac kindly shared these two photos of his trip.

We have regulars. We have folks that come every year. We have folks that come once a decade. Some come every 4-5 years. And some come every 2 years like Jeff and Co. Such a great group of fellows. 5 years ago they caught a 49lber on their first afternoon. Every time they come they have a super time with each other and Walter. And this time was no exception other than the high seas which Eric mastered after day 1... Always a pleasure fellows....

We had a great fishing trip! The salmon were bigger than we have caught for many years. Weather was pretty good, one morning was rough and I sat, Bryan and Randy caught the fish...Randy fell on his ass once. Bryan loves the whole experience...Les was great. Bryan is not fond of having his picture on Facebook. I do not have a photo of just Randy and me on the dock. I will send you a picture of Randy and Les and me and Les in the boat and you can post it on Facebook if you like. Sure was a good time. The meals were very good!

Another wonderful time with some of our favourite long time guests and friends, Bill and Jo-Anne. I thought Jo-Anne can say things far better than I can so here are her comments. Dear Walt & Blondy, Thank you and the wonderful staff at Quatsino Lodge for another great year of fishing and great memories. Our 12th year back at the lodge and it feels like "home". Over the years weve fished with Terry, Mike and Walt. The guiding is top notch, no matter who youre out with ...and the boats are comfortable with great rods and tackle. Weve also shared lots of good food, laughter and conversation with the other guides and staff...not to mention meeting some really nice fellow guests who we enjoy seeing from year to year. Quatsino is more than just a fishing lodge, its a place where you become part of the family. Today, on our last morning, we fished in front of the lodge hoping to pick ups some elusive coho. Boy did we ever!! The water was boiling with coho after krill. At one point a seal ripped into the school of coho and as it got a fish an eagle came flying down to try and pick up some bits if salmon. All this against a beautiful backdrop of the sun rising and lighting up the sound. Every year we come home with beautiful photos of the area and the sound of eagles calling to each other as they nest around the lodge. We dont take too many pictures of the fish but heres a few for you and one of the beautiful morning. Looking forward to seeing you same time next year. Bill and Jo-Anne Photos..Jo-Anne and Walt with the elusive coho ( I wont stick my hand in a fishs mouth lol) Jo-Anne with the days catch Quatsino Sound, suns up!

The boys wanted to show the girls the west coast and fishing. The girls were game. The seas were huge one day and folks were sick on every boat. The fish were all over the place and many varied types - big uglies too. Last morning coho dotting the viewscape. By the hundreds. And the girls will be back! Tyler their host was wonderful and the ladies were real troopers. The boys are smiling all the way home with a job well done.

And the fun continues. Colleen proudly holds her 31lb ling cod. Thanks for sharing your photos guys. Mikey was top of his game for these folks.

It is part of the spirit of the lodge when folks who havent met before simply get along, get to know each other and enjoy the whole experience. In covid world that does mean a few changes but here is a sample of some folks sharing the experience albeit from a distance from each other. Sure was a beautiful day July 13th.

We were loving this family of 6. And they chose to celebrate a very special occasion here at the lodge - both a 27th wedding anniversary AND an engagement. Fishing was the order of the day and they nearly sunk the boat with the boxes of fish on the way home. Looking forward to the next trip guys.

The HASSAN ASSASSINS strike again. Well in fact it was half the assassins because the others are stuck in the US but the Canadian brethern held it together and kept the family name high on the rankings. I cannot believe the size of this young man now too. So awesome to see the youngs as they grow up. This fellow is on his 3rd trip to the lodge and he is easily 14" taller than the first time!

It was a fantastic day today - great weather and pretty much a safari of crazy species. More than just the normal, Mike figures they caught around 80 fish of all the various species, chinook done first thing and a day spent playing.

You gotta love these guys. Having some quality family time and experiencing Tylers magic. Thank you for sticking with us through the crazy times and going fishing when the opportunity presented itself.

It was the first time to Quatsino for most of these boys. They have fished high and low and hither and yon. As Russ put it so eloquently "been all over the map and this place sits on top"

The boys are back in town .... and those halis -one is 62 the other 43. Cliff and David have sore arms. John and Bayan brought us some new blood!

It has been fantastic folks. But quiet. Where are you? Fishing is unbelievable. Here is just a taste of the last 3 days. Summer daze.

Guess whos back! You know it is summertime when you see this beautiful face at the dock waiting to greet you. Tyee has recovered from his knee surgery and he is eager for the fishing and fishermen. Hope to see you soon.

We are very pleased to finally be able to announce that we have redone our website. We have moved into the 21st century and the site is far ore mobile friendly. There are still a few things to tweak and add but it is there. Please check it out at www.quatsinolodge.com or, I suspect, click the picture? Ohhhh. Tech.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. Well there will be a few over the next few days. This one is first. OUR BABY SALMON HAVE ARRIVED. We had 57K+ dropped into our net pen on Monday and they are thriving. Hannah, everyone will remember Hannah who has been working for us for 4 years, has volunteered her time to tend the babies and the net pen till we are allowed to open. We want to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to MOWI, our local salmon farmers, who have been ...so incredibly supportive of this project. Without their help we wouldn t be able to do this community project. MOWI provided the physical pen, they provide the feed (super expensive and very high quality, and the provide constant support in the form of scientists ho come out daily checking our water for naughty plankton species. I am attaching an article from our local paper as well that will fill in the gaps for this part of the story. We also have the youtube video up entitled QUATSINOS BABIES if anyone missed that one last year. And best news is that the second instalment of that movie is coming out this summer. Will definitely let you all know when that comes. Thank you to all the volunteers and financial supporters and the hatchery staff who give selflessly of themselves. And a really big thanks to MOWI. https://www.northislandgazette.com//video-salmon-babies-/ See more

QUATSINO LODGE Then and Now. Just reaching out to touch someone sharing a picture of what the lodge looked like before we bought it and another fairly current one from summer. Folks we are gearing up. Please contact Blondy either by phone or email to find out what is in store this summer and if there is room for your gang to join with us.

A HUGE MOTHERS DAY GREETING to all of our wonderful mothers and their significant others. Walter a.k.a Grampa has spent the last 4 days off the west coast of Vancouver Island camping with Jack and Eli. Those of you who knownJack and Eli feel their passion for fishing. Understand this! They are taking care of the fishing for everyone. Prawns, Hal;ibut, Ling Cod, Chinook, Rock fish you name it. They have caught it. But the most important thing of all is that Grampa... took them on the epic adventure. They have been camping on the SeaPig and that has to be the best part. Who needs the Lodge when you can camp with grampa on the SeaPig. So that must mean it is GRAMPAs DAY? Those of you who know Walter can feel his pain. He said quietly this afternoon "I understand why only young people have children now." But he is loving it and living through Tylenol. Folks ... we are still here and just waiting till we are allowed to operate. We will be ready to fish as soon as we are allowed to do so and we soooooo appreciate the support of all our valued family out there. Thank you so much. See more

Missing all our regulars on these late April and early May days. Wanting to share photos of these special folks who always come spend time with us these days of the year. And if you dont see your photo here and usually are with us it is because you havent shared it with us.... that is a diss and a dare. Send them in if you can!

MARBLE RIVER BABIES UPDATE We got an update and photos of the babies being ponded at the Marble River hatchery. Hi Jean! Our babies are ponded and coming on to the food like crazy. We have 53000 holding with the extra ring. They are beautiful!! Our incubation has been amazing with hardly any mortality at all. We are running all 5 circulars. 1 captroph. and 2 net pens, full at the moment. Our new pumps are keeping up with what we are doing at the moment. We received $5500.00 from the Canada Gives foundation, from the Garnett family. We are still planning to take the fish out to you in June and great to hear that you will have some staff there. I want to call you to chat. Love Deb and Grant

A while ago, before the apocalypse, we sent out a request for photos for our new webpage, which like the Peter Rabbit movie, has been delayed to a later launch date. It was hard sifting through so many amazing memories of the Lodge but we had to choose. Jay L. has won the contest and sent me several amazing shots some of which I am going to share here over the next while. One of Jays photos will be the new Quatsino Lodge banner photo. Here is a great one to check out. It makes me remember warmer times.

Here are a couple shots of what Walter and Blondy are doing in the quarantine. Probably couldnt get much more remote than this actually. We have explored the end of the Brooks Peninsula and been beach combing and camping where we saw no boats. no planes but lots of stellar sea lions. Not sure who ever thought they were endangered. There isnt enough fish in the ocean to feed these guys. We also learned that the bears are out and they eat skunk cabbage. Mostly the roots ...and bases of the stalks apparently.. And we learned Walter and I have different methods of bear management. He likes the stealth approach. I just yell at the top of my lungs "Mr. Bear, Mr. Bear." My method is the rock to his scissors. Unfortunately we didnt actually see the bear after that. And then there was the epidote of the surf... that is the back story of the kayak in the woods. : ) We miss all of you and are looking forward to starting fishing with you as soon as we are able. See more

A bright spot in the midst of the general unknown. The fish will go on. Our baby salmon are waiting in the hatchery right now and arriving in June and it is moments like this, when I receive something so special, that gives me hope. I wanted to share it with all of you. People like Don and Marg Garnett who are thinking about the future of fish during a time like this really stand out for me. Thank you folks for your support.

You folks are AMAZING. Thank you to all who sent me photos yesterday. Now we are sifting through everything. When we have chosen a winner I will post it. And then well be launching the new webpage in a couple week. MOST GRATEFULLY, Blondy

Folks we are redoing our website. We NEED a great picture of Quatsino Lodge. Does anyone have anything to share? Ours just dont seem to be just right. It would have to be a large format picture and preferably on a sunny day. Happy to make a Quatsino Lodge Jacket available for the chosen picture.