EASY IN THE ISLANDS
Discover the old-world charm of Legacy Lodge
Partly owing to boats designed to comfortably accommodate two anglers, Legacycaters to "couples", whether man and wife (or significant other), parent and child, or simpaticofishing buddies. Here, mother-and-daughter angling team Tracey and Madison Ellis, demurely display the results of manning their own boatand rounding up their own salmon.
Have You Driven a Fjord Lately?
One of the unique concepts fostered at Legacy is the policy encouraging self-guided, "full use" boats. To ensure safety, reliability and ease-of-operation, the lodge outfitted itself with a fleet of custom-built Scout 175 (17.5-foot) sport fishing boats, one of the most inherently stable and maneuverable marine craft ever devised. How stable? I watched with morbid curiosity as two more-than-slightly overweight Albertans leaned in tandem, side by corn-fed side, over the gunwale while jockey-ing to land a salmon. The boat didn't even flinch. And because the Scouts feature center steering consoles, decked out with electronics, and beefy 60 HP four-stroke Yamaha outboards, they're as quick, responsive and quiet as panthers.
Although it sure wouldn't hurt to have clocked some time at the helm of a powerboat, little prior experience is necessary. After a day on the water at Rivers Inlet, everyone becomes not only confident manning the tiller, but downright salty. In keeping with the spirit of the operation, Heath remarked that Legacy had contracted for these particular boats (no small investment) precisely so that clients could experience the satisfaction, the freedom really, of "taking out his own boat and poking around."
Salmon Sojourn
Legacy Lodge (877-347-4534, www.legacylodge.com) represents a graceful blend of the old and the new. Though undeniably remote and woodsy, floatplanes promise new-world accessibility. While the accommodations are modern, no small achievement in this rough-hewn setting, the service and amenities amount to pure old-world charm. And while the staff at Legacy nurtures an old-fashioned spirit of independence on the water-you go your own way and fish as hard as you want-as soon as you step foot onto the lodge's pier you're treated with a deference normally reserved for the likes of sheikhs, potentates, presidents and Leonardo DiCaprio.
"Wok on the dock" may be described as nothing short of a must-not-miss culinary event.
The fishing itself embodies a potent mix of the old and the new. Legacy, which prides itself as a teaching lodge, equips anglers, both mentally and physically, with everything necessary for mooching-the oldest known method of hook-and-line saltwater fishing in the annals of the sport. Lodge guests are outfitted not only with technologically advanced inshore style boats, but also with the lightest, most responsive angling equipment available today. The herring, of course, are perfectly primordial-a legendary bait.
During the spring, April through May, Legacy Lodge kicks off the year with heli-fishing excursions for wild steelhead in entirely savage rivers draining into B.C.'s coastal outback. The window of opportunity for "traditional" chinook and coho angling in Rivers Inlet occurs from mid-July to mid-September. Then a shorter adjunct season, involving heli-fishing for late-arrival northern coho in secluded backcountry rivers, takes place from late September through most of October.
There's no way around it: the heli-fishing trips are undeniably pricey. Inordinate measures, namely the necessity of helicopter air-time, entail exorbitant means. On the other hand, Legacy's traditional inshore salmon fishing packages are, at least by today's standards, downright reasonable and moderate. If I'm any judge of these things, Legacy Lodge (which first became operational in 2003) is a place-a quietly unique place-bound to be discovered. I predict that it won't be long, maybe a year or two, before interested parties must resort to arm wrestling each other just to get on the waiting list.