Fly-Fishing at Nimmo Bay

The Magic of Hovering

During those first few years, they fished the ocean waters, swam, and explored the little piece of the rainforest they inhabited. They’d settled into a routine, but Craig was eagerly looking for the next adventure that would blow people’s expectations out of the water. Craig found it one day, when he went up in the air with friend and helicopter pilot Peter Barratt, who flew him up to a remote river where they encountered gorgeous steelhead trout. The light clicked on in that moment, we could use helicopters to fly guests into isolated freshwater fishing spots.

The First of Its Kind

The opportunity to fish remote waters via helicopter was revolutionary. Nimmo Bay was the first to offer this kind of adventure in North America and it catapulted the resort onto the map. The ability to access 50,000 square miles of terrain, including over 50 isolated rivers and streams drew anglers from around the world to the remote lodge. It became an instant bucket list destination. These are rivers where very few settlers had ever fished, let alone seen. The first heli-fishing guests were beside themselves, as the abundance of fish in the rivers were indeed beyond expectation. Realizing this, Craig immediately implemented their own catch-and-release program to ensure that the angling experience would remain for future guests and generations.

The Theory of Hospitality

Heli-fishing is one of the first examples of Craig unknowingly practicing the Theory of Hospitality that he and his children would develop in 1999. On a flight to Newfoundland that December, he pulled out Time Magazine’s Person of the Century issue from the back of the airplane seat. Albert Einstein was on the cover along with his famous Theory of Relativity, E=mc². This served as the inspiration for the soon to be coined Theory of Hospitality. During this one flight, they had it dialed in. E²=mc – Expectations exceeded equals memories created. This is the ultimate goal for anyone in the hospitality industry and has been the guiding light of Nimmo Bay through its continued evolutions.

The Evolution of Fishing

Nimmo Bay has now been operating for more than 40 years. A lot has gone on in four decades. Craig and Deborah are now enjoying retirement, while their son Fraser and his wife Becky, have taken over operations of the resort. While times have changed, Nimmo’s connection and respect for nature is still a core value in all we do.

As Nimmo has grown and evolved, we continue the deep desire to protect the ecosystem that Nimmo Bay exists in. Their end goal is to make sure anything taken for the lodge—energy, fuel, food—is offset in a way that keeps nature in balance.

This is the same value carried on from Craig since the beginning, and we’ve shifted away from being a fishing lodge to something more. The adventures we’ve dreamed up have expanded greatly. We offer thrilling coastal safari’s, speeding through the ocean inlets, a full wellness menu with floating saunas and hot tubs, and world-class food and wine tasting experiences.

Salmon Conservation

Wild Pacific Salmon are the backbone of our ecosystems, coastal cultures, and much of our economy here in British Columbia. With Nimmo Bay located right in the Great Bear Rainforest, we are concerned about how fishing and aquaculture practices are pushing some ocean ecosystems to the brink of collapse.

Citizen Science Initiatives

One of the key indicators for species survival in a changing environment is their genetic diversity. It’s important to have data on what populations are carrying genes that might make them less likely to catch new diseases or adapt to warming waters. Catch-Clip-Release is an incredible citizen science project launched by the Salmon Coast Field Station, aimed at improving the amount of data on salmon in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Prior to 2015, there was very little information on the salmon populations in the waters surrounding Nimmo Bay. We were thrilled to offer our volunteer efforts to the program! When our fly-fishing guides would go out heli-fishing with guests, they collected a single fin clip from their catch, packaged it up for genetic analysis, and released the salmon safely back to the river.

Respect and Care for our Catch

While Nimmo Bay is no longer exclusively a fishing lodge, we do still offer heli-fishing excursions. Many of our long-time guests still enjoy the heli fly-fishing that they’ve been participating in since the very beginning. However, we do take conservation in mind when we fly up to these fresh-water river systems.

• When you book a heli fly-fishing excursion at Nimmo, we make it an entire experience. It’s not simply about the number of fish that you catch on the trip, it’s more than that. It’s about touching down in the remote mountains of the Great Bear Rainforest and finding the most awe-inspiring location to cast your fly. Wading into the waters where few people have been, is a moment to truly appreciate.
• We encourage our guests to target trout instead of salmon as the populations are much healthier and abundant. Trout are also far less seasonal which allows us to spread out our impact over the course of 6 months instead of targeting a spawning species.
• We always fish using barbless hooks. This helps to prevent injury and reduce stress on the fish. It’s easier to remove the fish from the fly and reduces the time that the fish is in the net or exposed to air and can swim off again into the fresh river water.
• It’s important to practice proper fish handling. Be gentle with them. Keeping hands wet when handling the fish is important, and reducing its exposure to the air is critical. We remove the hooks with the fish in the water whenever possible.
• Our guides are always equipped with any and all tools they will need when fly-fishing. Their kits include nets and pliers, etc. for easy hook removal.

Ultimately, it’s essential to treat each fish that is caught with respect and care, while still offering a superior and exceptional experience in the wild of the Great Bear Rainforest for our guests.