Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  Not too much to report since last week.  A lot of anglers are pulling their boats for the season and waiting until next spring.  Others are gearing up for winter chinook.  For those of you who love winter chinook fishing as much as we do, so far so good.  There does seem to be some fish around and it is worth starting to check out your favorite spots.    The nice thing about the winter season is that it is a long one, so you can pick your days.  We will be fishing for winter chinook from now until April and then we will have to see if DFO is going to shut down chinook fishing around Vancouver again.  More on…

It looks like the winds are all over the map this weekend, from N to NW to SE and some outflow in Howe Sound to top it off.   With these kind of forecasts, it’s really anyone’s guess as to what it will be like out there.  Sometimes it seems these winds never show up and you have the popular spots to yourself, other days they do, and you head home with your tail between your legs.  Such is the life of the local angler in the fall stormy season as we transition from summer winds into winter weather patterns.  It is about that time to start poking around in your favorite “winter chinook” spots.  There are a few reports coming in and we have some trips on the books for this week…

Well this is pretty much the end of the season for migratory chinook and coho.  I just took a look at the Albion chum and chinook test set data, and all but the last of the chinook are up the Fraser and coho numbers are starting to dwindle as well. Chum numbers are really ramping up, right on schedule.  Traditionally, not many or any anglers have targeted chum off the mouth of the Fraser.  If you wanted to give it a go, this would be the week to do it.  It looks like the run is forecast to be about 1,000,000 and this is considered a pretty good run as the escapement target is 800,000.  Some anglers have had success in the past trolling purple…

The crowds have definitely thinned out this past week, which is pretty normal as a lot of anglers are putting their boats away for the season.  If you are like us, and you keep your boats in the water and saltwater fish 12 months a year, I will be covering some winter maintenance tips in future reports.  In the meantime, let’s take a look at what is going on locally for salmon.   The action down at the South Arm has been hit or miss.  There have been some pretty dry days, but there were also a few days this week where some good waves of coho showed up and anglers did well for hatchery coho.  Keep in mind these fish are not pausing.  They are going to find that Fraser flow…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  This time of year, we basically have two options for fishing, the Cap Mouth and the South Arm.  Things have been pretty lack luster in both locations for the most part.  I think the rain last week, and just the time of year, triggered the migration for a lot of the fish to move up river.  Looking back in my journal, there have been some decent days at the Cap and the South Arm in October, each year is different, you just need to get out there and give it a try.   If you want to keep it local, the Cap Mouth does traditionally offer some decent opportunity in the first 2 weeks of October.  It is looking pretty dry until…

September brings us a unique time of year: there’s still fish to be had off of the Fraser, with the chinooks transitioning to coho, along with a few chum.  Though still pretty early, there have been a few reports of chum being caught by anglers down at Sandheads.  Coho numbers should increase as September turns into October. The rain this week will move fish up the rivers but at least as we are writing this report the fishing continues to be good.  With dry weather espected for  next week, we should have a few more weeks of good fishing.   Bait is still key, and is always a great choice when targeting river mouth salmon.  That said, when it does turn into a coho fishery, your white hoochies will come in handy.  Standard glow and UV teaser heads in all your favourite colours are still the ticket.  UV and Glow…

Jason is away this week, so the report will be brief.  The smoke has made for some interesting days this week including some tough visibility at times.  The entire guide team has had good days but also had to work through some tougher ones as well.   The general trend seems to be a shift to the south arm if fishing the Fraser. This is common for this time of year where the later fish seam to focus on the south arm and don’t go up the north arm as often.  We have also seen more coho and even a chum or two.   On shorter trips or on the tail end of our full days on the water we are fishing Point Atkinson to the Capilano river mouth.  The river remains low and there are fish staging.  …

It looks like the wind and the weather is going to cooperate this weekend if you are thinking of heading out, with winds light to SE and some sun.   If you are going to be fishing off the mouth of the Fraser, there has been a few fish at the North Arm and T-10 but the South Arm is generally a better bet this time of year if the winds allow you to get down there.   I just looked at the test sets and there is still some decent amount of chinook being taken at Albion.  There are few reds still around but for the most part we are catching white springs destined for the Chilliwack/Vedder or the Harrison.  Our most productive depths have been 35-75…

Well finally the forecast is co-operating, and we have been able to fish off the mouth of the Fraser all the way down to the South Arm.  Although there have been fish hooked at the North Arm, Iona, and T-10, the South Arm seems to have the edge on number of fish, which is pretty normal.  It also has the edge on number of boats, VERY busy down there, so it might be better to get a little less action but see less boats in other spots.   Bait has been good, as usual, and productive depths have been 35-75 on the riggers with my top two depths being 47 and 57.  Chrome flashers like the Betsy or Herring Aid in chrome have been good up top…

Where did August go?  It sure did fly by, but I guess that is okay because as of September 1st we are back to 2 chinook a day, min size 62 cm, no max size.  In the meantime, the poor West Van shoreline has seen its share of action this summer.  Coho fishing has been lack luster lately, and a few Fraser and Cap chinook have been taken each day, but I think most of us are ready for a change.   Once Sept. 1 rolls around, the vast majority of angling pressure will shift to the Bell Buoy, North Arm, T-10, and South Arm.  For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you will have read my post about some DNA sampling I did this week.  I am happy to report there…