SALTWATER REPORTS
Beach Fishing West Vancouver
I was out on the water Monday to Wednesday this week, with Tuesday being the most productive day out of the three. I hit 3 fish and landed one and like last week I had to change flies numerous time to get a bite. A lot of other fishermen where into fish as well with both fly and gear.
The full moon helps with the low tides and also aids the salmon to navigate towards their native system. There were a few different pods of fish anywhere from 1.5lb to 6lb. It is safe to say that the beach fishing is well on the way now with the arrival of pink salmon in 2 weeks time. This week the tides are low in the afternoon, so get out there if you can, it will be tougher under the bright sunlight but you can still catch fish under these conditions.
KK with a nice coho landed earlier this week.
See you on the beach,
Andre
Local Saltwater
June was the warmest on record and I would have to say it was probably one of the windiest as well. The NW winds have been punishing of late and kept us stuck in the harbour on many more days than we had hoped. Looks like the chinook at Gabriola and Nanaimo will continue to be safe from much angling pressure, as I am writing this report it is gusting 28 at Entrance!
Luckily it is right around this time of year the coho fishing starts to get more consistent and things are right on schedule as we have been into coho on most of our trips along W. Van. There have been a few days where we have been into double digits as we intercept aggressive biting schools of coho that have just moved in. Other days they are the sounder, you know they are there, but the bite seems to be off. We have been doing well on Yamashita hootchies with a 28-32 inch leader in White UV Pearl (OA12R) and Double Glow Pink Dot (OG77R). Basically any white, white UV or white hootchy with a bit of pink or red on it will get the job done. There have also been some good catches of fish on small Apexes in white, white and red, and pink. Try fishing these with a 5 foot leader off your flasher or run a dummy flasher and then the Apex on its own. The most productive flashers for us have been the Oki Tackle Green Onion, Purple Onion, Purple Haze, Green Haze and Betsy.
White and pink is the go to combination!
There has also been some decent action up Howe Sound around Hole in the Wall and up to Sunset Marina. We have done some trips in this area this past week and we have hooked chinook and some early pinks and even a few coho. If the NW winds and ebb tide make it too rough to fish W. Van then try fishing up Howe Sound as it is usually a lot calmer. Getting there can be a bit tricky during a NW and ebb tide if you have to get past Point Atkinson, but take your time, go slow, and before you know it you should be in some calm water as you approach Horseshoe Bay.
Eddie and guest with a double header!
This area usually picks up for chinook after Canada Day so this is a good place to go if you are looking or are willing to search the waters for a bigger fish. Bait is the name of the game for the chinook, so make sure you have some anchovies or herring brined up. Productive depths are usually somewhere from 60 down to 150. Shallower on darker days or early in the morning and deeper on sunny days or later in the day. Try a Purple Onion Glow or Green Onion Glow flasher with a 6 foot leader to a glow green teaser head with an anchovy or herring in it. The pinks will be more than happy to grab your bait as well so make sure you have enough to last the day. If the bait runs out try a Pesca 3.5 or 4.0 Gut Bomb spoon with a 6 foot leader to the same flasher.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason, Eddie, Dimitri