Home / Chinook Salmon / Summer Has Arrived!

Summer Has Arrived!

Summer fishing has arrived

Local Saltwater Summer Fishing

We have been hitting Thrasher hard the last few weeks of summer in search of chinook. Dimitri, Eddie, and I have had the Grady’s busy this past week and fishing has been hit or miss. One day we hit Thrasher and the fish are co-operating, the next they seem to disappear. The best depths have been 120-180 and fairly close to shore, up on the structure. The best lures have been spoons and hootchies. More specifically the Pesca Leprechaun and Bogart in 3.5 and 4.0 when it comes to spoons, and for hootchies the spatter back in green, chartreuse, or blue have been working well. During the summer when the water has been clean we have been doing very well using the Oki Tackle Green Onion and when the water is dirty a chartreuse flasher with glow tape on one side or even both sides has been doing well. We have had a few trips when we have not been at Thrasher and have been fishing locally off W. Van and at the Bell Buoy. Off W. Van the first coho have now been caught and we are starting to see the odd jumper. Things will pick up this week as more and more fish are starting to show up and the Capilano is now very, very low. Fishing is still pretty slow for the coho, but all it takes are a few more schools to show up and things will pick up. Off the Bell Buoy there are some Fraser Chinook being caught and the test sets in the Fraser are actually looking pretty good this summer, much better than last year. There actually hasn’t been too much fishing pressure off the Bell as most of the hardcore Chinook anglers have been running over to Thrasher. This will change soon as this area will slow down over the coming weeks and more and more Fraser Chinook start to show up. For these fish we like to use Green Onion and Chartreuse flashers with glow tape, a 6 foot leader, and a glow green teaser head for anchovies or herring.

Jason Chinook june 27th report.

It only takes one chinook like this to turn a slow day into a day of good laughs and big smiles, as evident by guide Jason and his guest holding a truly beautiful chinook.

Jason Tonelli

DR's client june 27thAll smiles from Dimitri’s guests!

Fishing for the most part has been great with a few slow days in the mix across the Georgia Straight at Thrasher. On one of those slow trips we had hooked fish but they got away or were undersized. We were going to pull the lines and head back to Vancouver from the Island at 3:30pm but at exactly 3:27pm a rod bounced and we landed a nice fish for dinner! Talk about a last minute buzzer beater. I had another slow day yesterday where we came back with no fish but 2 nice ones were stolen by a nasty black seal off Thrasher. I have only ever had one fish grabbed by a seal there and couldn’t believe he got 2 from me and 1 other from another boat later on. Where are the transient Orcas when you need them. Over the last week and a half I’ve been able to treat my guests to 5 Orca sightings while fishing and numerous Dall’s and Harbour Porpoises, White Sided Dolphins and 2 Humpback whale sightings while crossing the Strait. When fishing Thrasher the fish are anywhere from 120′ down to 185′ but just to try something different at the end of a trip I dropped a line down to 260′ and found one down there after seeing some bait deep. I’ve been using a mix of Spatter Back hoochies and the 4″ Cookies & Cream, Homeland Security, and Leprechaun being my top choices for spoons. This side of the Georgia Strait is now starting to produce as well. I heard of the first coho caught last Friday and even a few large chinook salmon have been taken as well of the West Vancouver shoreline. I have a few local trips booked and will have more details for you by next week. I have also heard of a few nice chinook taken in the Howe Sound areas as well. It’s all shaping up to be an excellent season not to mention the huge Sockeye run due in August!

eddie's client june 27th

Eddie’s guest with a beautiful chinook!

Eddie Matthei.

 

See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason, Eddie, Dimitri, Gordy

To book your trip give Jason a call at 778-788-8582. If you are heading out in your own boat, stop by the shop for the latest up to the day report and info on the hot flashers and spoons.