Our 35th Fishing Season is a Wrap

Tony W. (with wife Lloanne & son Kendall & family) who has been coming to the lodge for over
30 years was finally able to bring his grand kids to show them the "magic" of Rivers Inlet. 
Talk about the "ultimate" family Vacation!

We are just back home after an amazing summer at the Lodge. The Kelly Family started the Lodge back in 1984 so we marked the milestone of our 35^th summer of operation with the usual fun, adventure & shenanigans. The fishing, the weather, the guests, the staff, the food, all combined to make for an incredible season. So many guests left happy with full fish boxes & even fuller memory banks of the adventure of a lifetime! Even more satisfying was to see so many new guests who were blown away by their experience with us & universally proclaimed that the had found their new fishing vacation spot & that they would be back again with their friends & family. The weather was a big bonus. We can’t recall a summer with so many hot sunny days in a row. And we were beyond the reach of the smoke from wildfires that engulfed much of the province of BC so that was the good news. And then it was the spectacular fishing. After a slow start it was hair straight back the rest of the summer with most guests leaving with their limit & carefully releasing many others. There were so many fish that we often had to send fish out on extra planes & have the boxes delivered to the guests at their hotel in Vancouver. This was a great problem to have & a direct result of strong returns & almost no commercial fishing effort. Commercial fishing has been almost completely curtailed in the effort to conserve some specific runs of salmon that are mixed in with some very abundant runs. The result for us was spectacular salmon fishing! The halibut fishing was just OK & as a result many anglers did not put the time in & with reduced fishing effort the catches were down. With the closure of the rock fishing for conservation more effort was put into lingcod fishing & catches were way up. Most of the good fishing was at nearby spots minutes from the Lodge. When it was not on locally we made the 20 minute run across the Sound over to Calvert Island where the bite was almost always on. And with our well equipped, comfortable, fast stable vessels a bit of boating is always fun & gives you more opportunity to see more of the area & along with that whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, eagles & river otters.

 We will give a more detailed fishing report in our next Newsletter. In the meantime, we are already getting booked up for next summer so don’t delay in making your fishing plans for summer 2019!
 

Whale Report

Whale sightings in Rivers Inlet are very common & a huge part of the Sportsman’s Club “experience”. Typically you don’t have to go too far from the lodge to see one of a number of different species of whales that frequent our waters & this summer was no exception. This shot of the spinning whale was taken at the mouth of our bay by staff photographer Joern Rhohde. Whale watching is a wonderful compliment to our world-class fishing & breathtaking scenery. Amongst the several species of whales that include humpbacks, orcas, false killer, the whales we most often are the mighty grey whales. The grey whales are known for their very lengthy annual migration up to 6,000 miles from Alaska to the shores of Mexico.  This is quite a journey & one of the reasons that they stay in our area for much of the summer. The pristine waters of Rivers Inlet are alive with all things that the whales eat so they remain in our area for extended periods during our fishing season to feed & fatten up for this long an arduous journey. So next time you are thinking of a whale watching excursion think of the Rivers Inlet Sportsman’s Club where you can catch giant trophy salmon with whales breaching in the background!

Recipe – Creamed Spinach

Ingredients
½ cup butter
1 cup flour
1 medium onion fine dice
3  bay leaves
3  cloves
½  tspn nutmeg
1 tspn garlic puree
4 cups milk
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
4 Bags/Bunches Spinach (or frozen spinach)
Directions:
This is a basic type of Bechamel Sauce.
-Melt butter on medium heat.
– Add onion, bay leaves, cloves, garlic, nutmeg.
– Cook out onions until they become translucent.
– Slowly add flour & cook, constantly stirring, until flour becomes more white in colour.
– Slowly add milk 1 cup at a time stirring CONSTANTLY.  If you don’t it could burn.
– Once it has thickened cook for an additional 20 min or so to get rid of
flour taste. Thin with milk if too thick.  Sauce should be silky with
no flour lumps. 
– Strain it to get rid of bay and cloves.  Better is to you can pick
that out and the onions are a nice touch.
– Steam the spinach.
Add as much of the (Bechamel) sauce to make the desired consistency that you want.  If your sauce is too thick you can thin with milk or water. 
-Season with salt & pepper to taste.
– If you are using pre-cooked frozen spinach make sure its thawed & squeezed dry & no steaming stage is necessary.

ENJOY!

Sue & I were at your lodge this past summer & had a fabulous time. We had guides & caught our limit along with that huge Lingcod which you may remember. The staff were courteous & helpful & the guides did a fine job, all of which you probably have heard before. What I wanted to say is how important Simon is to the whole atmosphere at the lodge. At least with his guests, he is always upbeat, happy & positive. He gets a lot into his talks at a rapid pace throwing-in humor & “sotto voce” comments in a cleaver & sometimes surprising manner which causes his guests to laugh & smile and sometimes shake their heads.  Few can pull off what Simon is able to do, he becomes a mentor & an entertainer at the same time which makes the fishing experience productive & fun.  And because of his intelligent, fast & up-beat personality he has developed a loyal list of repeat customers. His guests all know he is on their side & wants to see everyone succeed. He offers advice & encouragement but also humor & honest criticism.  Simon, you have a lot to be proud of & I congratulate you on your management style & competence.  I have become a Sportsman’s Club convert &  we will spread the word down hear in Santa Barbara about your fine operation. We have already re-booked for next summer look forward to our return to the Rivers Inlet Sportsman’s Club.
Sincerely. John B./Santa Barbara CA.