Captain
Brandon Wiita

Member since May 2022 Ucluelet, Canada
Background
I wouldn't love fishing as much as I do if it weren't for my grandpa. He took me out when I was 5 years old, and I've been hooked ever since. Born and raised in Minnesota, I had no idea taking people fishing for a living was a thing. Then, I moved to Ucluelet in 2017, and my world was open to that very possibility. They say, "Do what you love, and you won't work a day in your life," that saying is absolutely accurate, and it's an honor to be able to call my passion a career!
Techniques
Primarily trolling with Scotty downriggers with 10'6 mooching rods and abu garcia center pin mooching reels, to connect you to the fish. We troll for halibut too, super slow, to cover the most ground and present the bait to the most possible fish. Jigging for rockfish and lingcod as well but alot of the time we can troll them up to as we salmon fish, inshore. Flyfishing, let me know ahead of time if this is what you prefer and want to do. you will have to provide your own fly fishing gear but I will clear the deck of everything so you have that platform to dance with your fly rod. ever hook up with a lingcod on a light weight fly rod? hold on tight, it's a blast. also, trapping for prawn and Dungeness crab.

Hey, I'm Captain Brandon Wiita

Ucluelet, Canada
Background
I wouldn't love fishing as much as I do if it weren't for my grandpa. He took me out when I was 5 years old, and I've been hooked ever since. Born and raised in Minnesota, I had no idea taking people fishing for a living was a thing. Then, I moved to Ucluelet in 2017, and my world was open to that very possibility. They say, "Do what you love, and you won't work a day in your life," that saying is absolutely accurate, and it's an honor to be able to call my passion a career!
Techniques
Primarily trolling with Scotty downriggers with 10'6 mooching rods and abu garcia center pin mooching reels, to connect you to the fish. We troll for halibut too, super slow, to cover the most ground and present the bait to the most possible fish. Jigging for rockfish and lingcod as well but alot of the time we can troll them up to as we salmon fish, inshore. Flyfishing, let me know ahead of time if this is what you prefer and want to do. you will have to provide your own fly fishing gear but I will clear the deck of everything so you have that platform to dance with your fly rod. ever hook up with a lingcod on a light weight fly rod? hold on tight, it's a blast. also, trapping for prawn and Dungeness crab.
Anglers Choice
51
Reviews
6
Fishing Reports
Verified
Our Team
Brandon W.
Captain

My Charter Listing

Minnesota Charters

Excellent
4.9 / 5
(51 reviews)
Angler's choice
Ucluelet
 Last booking: 2 hours ago
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $153

Fishing Reports

Found the fish today
Found the fish today
May 22, 2023 Ucluelet
It's been a grind lately, after the hot weather we had. Today though we found the fish and lots of them. Nice back eddy off of chrowe Island that holds lots of bait and today the bait of choice was squid. The fish we harvested was loaded down with big fresh white squid and when I matched the hatch it wa game on. Checked the prawn as well before fishing and unfortunately someone had poached me but I still managed to get 117 jumbos from one of the strings they didn't poach. There's a special place for people that do that kind of stuff.
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Prawn, salmon, halibut and lings, oh my.
Prawn, salmon, halibut and lings, oh my.
May 15, 2023 Ucluelet
Last few days have been a blast out on "the graveyard of the Pacific" Was able to get offshore and hook into some jumbo halibut, fortunately/unfortunately they were to big, so they are swimming free to make millions of babies. Salmon fishing, inshore, kind of spotty. Some days it's on fire some it's a grind but we still got it done. Redcan and great bear have been the spots with a needle fish hoochie. Ling cod and rockfish have been cooperative and have gotten limits for some of my guests. The prawn however have been spectacular! Jumbos! And lots of them. An overnight soak paid off for George and Wayne and they both got to take home a fair share of prawn for their freezers.
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Best day of fishing this year, so far.
Best day of fishing this year, so far.
May 11, 2023 Ucluelet
Sick day off, what did I choose to do with it? Well go fishing of course. Went out at 10a to check and rebait prawn traps, got my share of jumbos, so off to the salmon grounds. The status quo hadn't been working the greatest this year, so the other day I happened to find a new spot that really panned out. In front of little beach, the pinnacles create a triangle and in the triangle seems to be slack water that's loaded with bait and fish. 3 hours of fishing, 5 double headers, 20-25 Chinook to the boat. Avg 8-10#s biggest being 12#s or so. Not huge but lots of action. Lots. Status quo tells you to drop to the bottom with a needle fish, status quo was barely getting hit. Once to every 10 fish on the small herring aide spoon set at 9 84ft in 140fow. Smashed em, couldn't keep them off the hooks and eventually was only fishing with one rod because everytime I reset one it would pop off with a fish. Controlled chaos, if you will. Definitely wasn't relaxing for a sick day, worked really hard, had a ton of fun and brought home 10 meals worth of sea food with only 2 fish harvested and some prawn. Moral of the story, don't follow the status quo or you won't have as much fun. What a blast! Ps if anyone can find these herring aids in that size specifically, I'll take you fishing if you bring me a dozen of them. Nowhere on the island sells them anymore and I'm down to 2. Not entirely sure what's attracting them to it anymore since they're so beat up but still consistently working.
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The fish are plentiful
The fish are plentiful
Apr 24, 2023 Ucluelet
I have been out a few times this week and it has been a blast. lots of fish, lots of action and the sun finally came out after the last rounds of storms. biggest salmon landed this week was 15 or so #s and there have been abunch of other screamers that won the fight, the way she goes sometimes. brought this beautiful hatchery chinook home for dinner, maybe 8 or so #s. I try and advocate for the release of wild fish and take the fish that are made to be harvested. Lots of action at the usual spots, great bear and alley rock. lots of fish at sail rock as well. huge herring and squid both showed back up this week and the needle fish recently hatched too. lots of bait for all of these fish. I heard reports that 4 and 5 year old fish will be the majority this year and I would have to say that is true due to the size of some of these fish already. can't wait for Hog-ust but the way it is going, i am sure someone will pull a tyee in long before that.
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It is really starting to feel like sprin
It is really starting to feel like sprin
Apr 12, 2023 Ucluelet
Went out to check for prawn and rebait the traps and decided to drop my lines down for awhile. I have a super secret prawn spot that now has turned into a secret fishing spot. trolled over the pinnacle where I set my traps and hooked up with 2 keeper lingcod right off the bat, released to go back to their dens. got off the pinnacle and the back side of it was holding tons of bait and chinook were aggressively feeding on the back end of them. I dropped down to the bait at 170 deep and blamo! fish on! as I was playing that one, the second rod popped off and started screaming out line. The second fish seemed bigger so I loosened the drag on the first one and put it back in the rod holder to play the bigger of the two. lost it at the side of the boat, so I went back to paying the first one and got it in and released to swim another day. reset the lines and immediately got another double header of some nicer fish 10 or so #s. harvested one for dinner and went to reset the lines and before the second one was down the first one popped off the clip again and it was game on. 5 nice chinook salmon in about 15minutes so I decided to let them do their thing and head in, as the afternoon wind and swell picked up. It is so nice finding new fishing spots that no one ever fishes, one of the benefits of fishing here year round and getting to explore on my free time.
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The Salmon are heating up!
The Salmon are heating up!
Mar 30, 2023 Ucluelet
I went out yesterday, solo trip, to change buoys around, per new DFO regulations. decided to drop my lines in, since I was already out there, of course and got into some thick fish. Trolling between alley rock and great bear rock in 120 feet of water, I had a needle fish dragging bottom and my old faithful herring spoon set at 69feet. day dreaming of summer days and hyper focused on the needle fish, on the bottom, and all of a sudden the herring aid went off. What a screamer! great fight and huge fish for this time of year. I circled back around and blamo! it was game on again with another big salmon. released both of them but I would guess they weighed 15 or so pounds each. There is an early run of chinook in Toquart Bay, in April and those local fish are starting to show up, after the herring spawn. There still aren't tons of fish around but it is only a matter of time before the rest of them show up for the year but the fish that are around are quality fish.
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Customer reviews

Rating summary
Excellent
4.9 / 5
out of 5 stars from 51 reviews
See details
Boat
Excellent
4.7 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience
Excellent
4.9 / 5
Photos & videos by reviewers (53)
May fishing trip
The perfect fishing trip
The perfect fishing trip
+50
Angler rating
47
4
0
0
0
Anglers claimed
Good experience
100%
Friendly captain
100%
Recommend this charter
100%
Appropriate for children
88%
Satisfied with the boat
100%
Caught fish
94%
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Showing:
5 of 51 reviews
David P.
Excellent
4.7 / 5
Experience:
Very good
4.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Great time, great place!

VERIFIED   4 Hour Trip on August 24, 2023
Really enjoyed the trip with the captain. He was friendly, informative, and knowledgeable.  Not only of the target species,...
David P. recommends Minnesota Charters
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Liam W.
North Saanich, BC
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Best fishing ever

VERIFIED   8 Hour Trip on July 31, 2023
Best day of fishing I’ve ever had thanks to captain Brandon.
Liam W. recommends Minnesota Charters
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Calum G.
Victoria, BC
Very good
4.0 / 5
Experience:
Good
3.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Very good
4.0 / 5
Overall

Full Day with Minnesota Charters

VERIFIED   8 Hour Trip on September 1, 2023
Equipment was safe, seaworthy, knowledgable captain who was very informative and worked hard all day setting lines and putting...
Calum G. recommends Minnesota Charters
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Cathy K.
Ucluelet, British Columbia
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Always amazing fishing!

8 Hour Trip on August 21, 2022
I have the best time when fishing with Brandon! Always amazing fishing and safety is always on his mind. Thank you for such...
Cathy K. recommends Minnesota Charters
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David R.
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Excellent
4.7 / 5
Experience:
Very good
4.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Mission accomplished

VERIFIED   8 Hour Trip – Offshore Halibut on July 12, 2023
We came for halibut and we got two
David R. recommends Minnesota Charters
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