Our History

As impressive as it sounds, Peregrine Lodge was one of the first to open its doors to the public in Haida Gwaii. For over 30 years, anglers from across the globe have visited each season.

Peregrine Lodge is proud to be a family owned company. Take a journey with us from the beginning in 1985 up to the present day.

1985

Dave Husby, the owner of Husby Forest Products, purchased CIPA Industries (a Japanese forestry company) that was located in Naden Harbor, Queen Charlotte Islands.

The facility was home to the forestry camp. After the purchase, Husby moved the entire workforce to a secondary location at Eden Lake.

The First Year

1986

After a year of the camp being vacant, a decision had to be made as to what to do with the facility. The choice was between bulldozing the buildings down or converting it into a fishing lodge. After a lot of careful thought, the latter was chosen. Dave Husby would use the camp as a private fishing lodge to host Husby Forest Products corporate guests.

 

Now that a decision was made, the lodge required a name! Peregrine Fishing Lodge was chosen as the official lodge name because the Queen Charlotte Islands are a breeding ground for Peregrine Falcons. Moreover, in the old logging camp, there were a few falcons down in the area! While we know that Peregrine Falcons feed on other birds, it was only fitting to incorporate a fish into the logo to catch the spirit of the lodge,

In addition, this year marked the purchase of a  23’ cabin cruiser to be used for recreational fishing with company associates and friends.

May 27 1987- Opening Day

Peregrine Lodge’s first official opening season day was on May 27, 1987. Guests traveled commercially direct from Vancouver and landed in Sandspit and then boarded a chartered flight on either a single Otter, Goose and/or Beaver Aircraft.

In preparation for opening day, Peregrine Lodge hired a crew of 20 staff to host the Husby clientele.  Opening day invited guests included John Cosulich and employees of RivTow,  North Arm Transportation owner Leo Stradiotti (current part owner of Langara North Island Lodge.)

During our opening trip, on one day alone, a total of  64 Halibut were caught and one guest was even overheard commenting, “The halibut were floating like sheets of plywood on the water!” In addition to our halibut bounty, we had an entire dock full of salmon as well! With the success of opening day, 12 Eagle craft aluminum boats were ordered.

The opening trip was momentous as our docks were laden with fish. The seas can be incredibly rough in the month of May in Haida Gwaii and opening day was no exception. The 1987 season was a good one with guests able to retain 16 salmon and 4 halibut per trip with no restriction on size!

1989

Dave Husby makes the move to commercially sell fishing trips to Peregrine Lodge. In preparation for our move into the commercial industry, we attended our first sportfishing trade show in Anaheim, California. Before 1989, the lodge was primarily used for guests of Husby Forest Products and no commercial trips were sold.

1990

1990 was the year that our dock was built making it a lot easier for guests to easily board their boats each day. For the 1990 season, Peregrine Lodge also played host for West Coast Fishing Club’s small gathering of guests as they did not have a location in Haida Gwaii at this time.

1991

In March of 1991, Bruce McFadden joined the Peregrine Lodge sales team. Peregrine Lodge and Husby Forest Products dedicated two fish (Coho) hatcheries located at Eden Lake, Haida Gwaii.

As word about the unparalleled fishing at Peregrine Lodge spreads, a sales team is hired.

1991 is the first year of private charter and is also the year that the lodge record halibut is caught weighing in at a whopping 270 pounds.

1992-1993

In 1992, Bruce McFadden was named lodge manager. During the 1992 season, Peregrine Lodge hosted a joint fishing derby with Langara Fishing Lodge. During that same year, 25 Boston Whaler Montauks were purchased. The following year, in 1993, the vessel P1 A Canoe Cove was purchased.

1994

In July of 1994, Peregrine Lodge was home to a Ladies Fishing Derby. The Derby was hosted by Patrick Duffy, star of the hit TV show Dallas.

 

Ten Years Old

1995

This was the very first year of the Courtnall Classic Fishing Derby. All proceeds from the derby were donated to Canuck Place at Children’s Hospice located in Vancouver B.C. We were honored to have Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull as a part of the celebrity team.

1996

Peregrine Lodge hosted the second annual Courtnall Classic Fishing Derby and raised over 1.5 million dollars for the children of Canuck Place. This year, Bobby Hull joined the Peregrine Lodge Courtnall Classic celebrity team. Others who joined the charity event included Wayne Gretzky, Alex Mogilny, Scott Stevens, Trevor Linden, Frank Mahovolich, Steve Nash, D.B. Sweeney and Larry Hagman; star of the TV show Dallas.

DFO implemented a catch and release program for all Chinook.  That was the only summer that we experienced no retention for Chinook. We gladly purchased fish to give to our guests. The lodge was not notified until opening day. Political motivated as it was a federal election year. There was an overabundant amount of fish to catch but you could not retain them.

2001

Now over a decade in existence, Paul Laurie made the move from Husby Forest Products into Peregrine Lodge solely to run the entire fishing operations. In addition, new lodge buildings are completed as the company continues with growth. All wood for the building is milled at the lodge. While the cedar on the siding of the buildings was milled from logs from Husby Forest Products and milled at Craft Bay. In total, five building were replaced and the entire project had to be completed within seven months.

Our first totem pole – “The Bear” was purchased from the Pacific Salmon Foundation Gala auction. The Eagle and Raven totem poles were consigned to local Haida artist Clarence Mills.  The Totem poles were carved in the bay of the HFP office building located in Delta B.C.

In 2001, we added a pitch and putt golf course to the lodge. Check out our pitch and putt page here. Moreover, we were proud to welcome Doug Raffan to Peregrine Lodge as the lodge manager. The fleet continued to grow as we purchased our first Trophy boat.

2006-2009

In the year 2006, Henry Winkler (“The Fonz” from Happy Days) hosted a television show at Peregrine Lodge along with Mark Pendlington of Sports Fishing BC.

In 2008, we introduced our first “Mercury Big Fish Challenge” catch and release derby. The event was hosted and filmed by Mark Pendlington of Sports Fishing BC.

Our largest lodge record coho was caught weighing in at 22 pounds was caught in 2009. This year, we implemented a recycling program across the lodge.

Looking Towards the Future

2010

On June 3, 2010 the name Queen Charlotte Islands is officially changed to Haida Gwaii. The name means “Islands of the Haida People”.

Paul Laurie retires, and Georgia Husby purchases Paul’s shares. Georgia Husby is named President of Peregrine Fishing Lodge.

The lodge record Chinook (King) salmon is caught and released, weighing in at a staggering 76 pounds.

2011

For the 2011 season, five custom-designed Edgewater boats were added to the fleet. In addition, flat-screen TVs, iPod docks are installed in all guest’s rooms.

2012

In 2012, Peregrine Lodge founder, Dave Husby, passes away.

The tackle shop and dry room caught fire and new buildings were subsequently constructed.

2013

In 2013, Peregrine Lodge was happy to welcome aboard Jim Montgomery as Lodge Manager. Jim purchased an additional three Custom designed Edgewater boats for the fleet.

2013 was a banner year for voluminous amounts of fish.

The Past Five Years

Peregrine Lodge History - The Past Five Years

2014

Dennis Voisey, Peregrine’s boat mechanic, passes away.

2015

This was another record banner year for fishing. This was also the year that we upgraded the interior of the lodge and added in our new “Upside Down” dock bar and weigh in facility. Two new Trophy boats are also added to the fleet.

2016

The Tiara Vessel, a small luxury sport yacht, is added to the fleet and lands a 56 pound King Salmon on her maiden voyage!

In 2016, our popular oceanfront fire pit, four new crew buildings and a new water treatment facility were added.

2017

In 2017, we were excited to announce that Lexi Koop would become the Lodge Assistant Manager. We also added the Pursuit vessel to the fleet.

2018

The lodge now has a fleet of 21 large boats along with the Boston Whaler Montauk fleet. Peregrine celebrates 31 legendary years in Haida Gwaii, 30 of which were open to the public.

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