Aimee and Darren holding up a couple of Gulf Island chinook from our efforts on Saturday.
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
Happy New Year to all you winter chinook fisherman out there and a Happy New Year it was indeed! Fishing over the New Years weekend was productive in the Howe Sound area as well as the Gulf Islands.
In our local waters Eddie was out on a number of trips in Howe Sound this past week and had consistent fishing with some nice keepers and lots of action from some of the smaller guys as well. Crabbing and prawning has also been decent and made for some great dinners of fresh winter chinook, Dungeness crab, and prawns!
Note that as of Jan 1 there are some winter closures for prawn and shrimp to protect spawning females including areas 28-1 and 28-2 in Howe Sound. There are still plenty of places to prawn but make sure the area you are in is open and also lookout for the sponge reef closures.
Captain Eddie’s guest with a nice winter chinook from a trip this week.
What’s better than fresh winter chinook on the dinner table? Why the addition of some prawns of course.
I was lucky enough to make it over to the Gulf Islands for New Years and had the pleasure of taking out some guests and friends from Calgary, Vancouver and as far away as Sweden. Fishing was great, with lots of bites from a mix of smaller fish all the way up to some nice size ones to keep you on your toes.
One of two double headers on Sunday. On this one, one was a keeper and one was too short.
Aimee and Darren holding up some nice ones from Sunday’s fishing.
There seemed to be two hot setups for us and you can definitely see patterns when the action is hot and heavy and you take the time to try different gear while the fish are in the mood. On the Saturday it was all about green or chartreuse blade flashers with glow tape on one side and reflective tape on the other, paired up with Irish Cream or Homeland Security spoons or Skinny G Outfitter. We tried other darker spoons like the Herring Aide and Night Rider and darker flashers like blue blades and black blades with glow tape, but the hottest combo ended up being a green blade with glow tape and a 3.0 Irish Cream. Of course the next day we started out with that hot combo on one side and on the other side a CB 55 flasher (black blade with glow tape and moon jelly) with a Herring Aide spoon. We couldn’t buy a fish on the previous days hot combo but wouldn’t you know the CB55 with the 3.0 Herring Aide was lights out. Eventually we switched the other side of the boat to a similar black blade flasher and 3.0 Night Rider spoon and started hitting fish on that side right away. So the darker gear was working that day. That’s why we love fishing isn’t it? You just never know…
From left to right some productive spoons from this past weekend. Herring Aide, Irish Cream, Homeland Security, Night Rider, Outfitter.
If you want to book a charter and get into some nice winter chinook and drop some traps for prawns and crab, now is a great time to book! Give Lars a call at 778-788-8582 and he will set you up.
If you have your own boat and want to learn more about the kind of detailed information provided into todays report, sign up for my Mastering Local Saltwater Salmon Fishing Course
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli