Vancouver Winter Salmon Fishing Report Winter chinook fishing was quite good this first week of February. There were some great catches in Lower Howe Sound and some fish are also starting to show in Vancouver Harbour off the Bell Buoy and the Freighters. Later in February some more fish usually move into the harbour as more and more and herring start gathering in the area before they head up Howe Sound and Indian Arm to spawn. We haven’t been over to the Gulf Islands in a few weeks now, but some locals we know there are catching some nice fish. Crabbing and prawning has also been decent in our local waters, with the crabbing being better than normal for this time of year in our opinion. This is a popular time to get out…
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Vancouver Winter Chinook Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, January 23, 2026
Vancouver Winter Chinook Salmon Fishing Report We’ve been seeing steady fishing action this past week in Howe Sound, the harbour, and across the Strait. There are definitely fish around but be prepared to weed through a fair number of undersized ones, as lots are coming in just under the 62 cm mark. Keepers are showing up though, so a bit of patience has been paying off. Larger spoons have been working well, but green and blue hoochies have been the most consistent producers overall. There’s plenty of bait out there and most of the bites have been coming right over or tight to that bait, so if you mark it, try to stick with it – circling back or staying right on top has been key. Prawning has been decent but not always consistent. Most…
Vancouver Winter Fishing for Chinook Salmon – Mid January Report: Friday, January 9, 2026
Vancouver Winter Fishing for Chinook Salmon – Mid January Report As we enter into mid-January, we are right in the middle of the winter chinook season, which generally starts early November and closes March 31st. Current regulations are 2 chinook salmon per day, wild or hatchery (missing adipose), 62cm or greater. Fishing last week and into this week has been great, with a definite push of larger chinook into Vancouver Harbour and Lower Howe Sound. In terms of where to go, that will depend on the size of your boat and the marine forecast, as a lot of spots are now producing some really nice fish. One of our friends and fellow guide down on Granville Island got a 90cm fish, which would put its weight into the high teens (in pounds), off the…
Winter Chinook Fishing Report: Friday, December 5, 2025
Winter Chinook Fishing Report The Vancouver winter salmon fishing season is well underway as we wrap up the first week of December. We have had quite a few trips already this season and we are retaining legal chinook salmon (62cm or great, wild or hatchery) on most of our trips. As usual for this time of year, the brighter chartreuse glow finishes have been very productive. With the dirtier water from rainfall and the darker and cloudy days, the chartreuse and green colour flashers, spoons, and hootchies always do well. Remember to have some glow on all of those, this helps them stand out even more on the dark days and when fishing deep. The Yamashita OG140R puts another one deck! There are lots of fish around in Vancouver Harbour, the Fraser Mouth, Lower…
Vancouver Winter Chinook Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, December 19, 2025
Vancouver Winter Chinook Salmon Fishing Report We don’t have a lot to report this week as it’s been difficult to get out there recently with all the wind and rain. We have a trip out today and some on the weekend as well and being that it’s late December, I am sure we will find some fish. On our last trip, fishing was solid with shots at legal fish and quite a few undersize in Lower Howe Sound and in the Freighters and Bell Buoy area, so if you are heading out that’s a great place to start. Fishing for winter chinook in Vancouver is always quite consistent in late December and into January, the name of the game is getting that weather window to get out there. We will have our eye on Vancouver Harbour in…
Vancouver Winter Chinook Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, January 02, 2026
Vancouver Winter Chinook Salmon Fishing Report The rain and the wind finally backed off over the holidays and many anglers, including us, headed out in search of winter chinook. We are happy to the report the fishing was quite good, with great catches of winter chinook in Vancouver Harbour, Lower Howe Sound, and the Gulf Islands in recent days. Earlier in December it seemed there were quite a few smaller, undersize, chinook around, but this past week a lot more keeper size chinook, 62cm or greater, have moved into local waters. Fishing should remain solid now until later in March, so we are now officially in prime-time winter chinook season. If you are interested in booking a trip, now is the time as we are launching our annual Winter Chinook Special from…
Vancouver Winter Chinook Report: Friday, November 21, 2025
Vancouver Winter Chinook Report The winter chinook season is here. The weather will tell you that much; cooler temps, lots of rain, and those low-pressure systems that bring in the SE winds. Good thing it’s a long season and we can pick our days. This weekend looks like a wet one, especially on Sunday, but that’s why the winter chinook angler invests in some good rain gear and layering pieces! I saw a break in the weather earlier this month and luckily it was on a Sunday, so I grabbed the family and we took off to Lower Howe Sound for some winter chinook fishing. The seas were calm, I was down to a t-shirt, and the fish were biting. We ended up with the 3 in the box and had plenty of time to hit Smitty’s in Gibsons for a…
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, March 28, 2025
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report The final report of March! That went by fast, probably because it was another awesome winter chinook season. If you are regular reader of the report, you know it has been great winter chinook fishing in our area since November and we are going on about 6 years of good winter seasons. Here is where we found our fish this week. The first spot was out at the Bell Buoy. It has been good in that area in 120-180 feet of water as it drops off towards the QA. Find the bait and find the fish. For depths, we have been getting some fish on the bottom but also 10-20% off the bottom. Move around to find the bait balls…
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report: March 21, 2025
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Well, it’s been one heck of a winter chinook season, and we are in the last week or so of it. Recently we have had some good fishing with some great prawning and crabbing to top it off. If you haven’t made it out yet it’s not too late! We still have until March 31st to get some winter chinook, prawns, and crab. Fishing this past week was pretty good and we had our best success in Vancouver Harbour. There are also some fish being caught in lower Howe Sound but upper Howe Sound has been slow for about a month now. If you have the weather to cross, Gabriola has also been fishing well. To book a trip…
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, March 14, 2025
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report We are in the last few weeks of chinook retention in Vancouver waters. It’s a great time of year to get out on the water, with the warmer weather and longer days as well as solid crabbing and prawning. Let’s take a look at what is going on for chinook options. Over on Gabriola, the Trench has slowed down a bit after being excellent for about 3 months. There are still some fish to be had there, but the numbers seem to be backing off a bit. There are some good numbers of fish at Thrasher and the Grande has been producing some nice fish too. So, if the winds aren’t too bad in the coming weeks, heading over…