Home / Archive by Category "Fishing Reports"

Archives

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report: Friday, October 24, 2025

Vancouver_saltwater_salmon_fishing_winter_chinook_Oct'25

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report  It’s wet and windy out there this Friday, but the marine forecast for wind doesn’t look too bad for the weekend.  Unfortunately, the rain looks full on and the high looks to be 10C or less with wind factored in.  So not ideal conditions, but at least it won’t be crowded out there!  This rain will certainly push all but the last of the late run chinook and coho up the Fraser and into the tributaries and other coastal rivers.  It’s been a great season with strong runs, so I hope all those fish have favourable spawning conditions in the months to come.  We have officially moved into “winter chinook” season and are now focusing on these fish, also known as…

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report: Friday, October 17, 2025

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Welcome to mid-October, the days are getting shorter, the weather is getting moody, and most of the mature migratory fish are in their rivers now.  So, what does the Vancouver ocean salmon fisherman do this time of year?  Well, we go winter chinook fishing of course. It’s that time of year where we start to poke around the usual winter chinook spots in Lower Howe Sound.  It seems there are more winter chinook around each season and there are already a few being caught with many more on the way.  These are also known as feeder chinook, so these are fish that hang around our local waters and feed on the abundant herring and anchovy all winter long, making for some great fishing. It’s a long season, so pick…

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report: Friday, October 3, 2025

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report  Welcome to October! It’s hard to believe how fast September flew by. Although the month has wrapped up, it brought us some terrific salmon fishing from the Sandheads to the Cap Mouth. For those not ready to put the boat away just yet, don’t worry– October still offers excellent opportunities, and the months ahead are arguably some of the best for winter chinook.  This past week we’ve seen things slow down at both the North and South Arm of the Fraser. The recent rain hasn’t raised the river levels much, but it was still enough to trigger a push of salmon into the river on their way to the spawning grounds. Fishing off the Fraser can remain productive into October, but…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, September 26, 2025

Vancouver_saltwater_salmon_fishing_hatchery_coho_Sept'25

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report The past week required a bit more finesse, but the saltwater fishing has still been productive at the Fraser Mouth and closer to home. The weather over the past few days limited our ability to head south, but earlier in the week, before the northwest winds set in, boats at the Fraser Mouth had no problem hooking into chinook and coho. Later in the week, stronger winds kept the guide boats in the harbour, though this is the time of year when the Cap Mouth starts to heat up.  The Capilano has shown some good moments but remains a bit tricky. Bite timing has not been very consistent throughout the flood tide, although the PA guide boats have had the…

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report: Friday, September 19, 2025

Vancouver_saaltwater_salmon_fishing_chinook_Sept'25

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report  We’re halfway through September and the fishing is shaping up right where we’d expect it to be for this time of year.  The action off the Fraser Mouth has been steady, and the local hotspots are improving by the day.  Mid-September is typically the peak of the fall migration of white chinook heading for the Fraser tributaries.  Year to year it can shift a bit, but history tells us we’ve got a few more weeks of solid fishing before it begins to taper off in early October. That said, it’s not uncommon to see lights-out days well into the Fall.  This past week also brought a big push of coho that has nearly doubled the action off the Fraser mouth.  Fishing…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report : September 12, 2025

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  As we wrap up the second week of September, we are right in the middle of peak migration for the large “white springs” that are headed to the Vedder/Chilliwack River and Harrison River.  These large chinook have white flesh instead of orange or red flesh.  Here is an article explaining these fish in more detail.  Island Fisherman Magazine “Red vs White Spring”  These are without a doubt the largest chinook that we fish for out of Vancouver.  Every year there are fish in excess of 30 pounds caught in September and some have even hit the 40 or 50 pound mark.  Those fish are here now!  We have seen some excellent returns in past seasons, with DFO goals being around…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, August 29, 2025

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  Well, August was quite the month with excellent coho fishing to start off, great chinook fishing off West Van and the Gulf Islands, then the pinks showed up by the millions, and we even got some sockeye fishing in.  The best part is we are just about to open for prime-time chinook fishing!  September 1 chinook are scheduled to open back up to 2 a day, greater than 62cm, either hatchery or wild.  This means we will be back to fishing off the Bell Buoy, and off the Fraser Mouth in area 29-3.  Make sure to stay out of the SRKW closure off the North Arm while fishing for chinook this September.  All the info you need is here SRKW…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, August 22, 2025

Saltwater_chinook_fishing_Gabriola_Aug'25

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  Fishing has been great this past week.  On our 5-hour trips we have been fishing Vancouver Harbour.  If we want a LOT of action, we have been fishing around the Bell Buoy and Mile Markers with pink hootchies and getting a lot of pinks and some sockeye.  If we are looking for chinook salmon and fewer pinks we have been fishing from Point Atkinson down to the Cap Mouth.  Both strategies have been productive and providing world class salmon fishing only minutes from downtown Vancouver.  On our longer trips we have been making the run to Gabriola Island.  The chinook fishing continues to be absolutely fantastic there and with some coho and pinks around too.    This August has truly been…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report: Friday, August 15, 2025

Vancouver_saltwater_salmon_fishing_mixed_catch_Aug'25

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  The fishing off West Van from Point Atkinson down to the Cap Mouth continues to be productive with a mix of chinook, coho and pinks.  We have also had some good success off the Bell Buoy for pinks and the occasional coho.  A reminder that fishing for chinook off the Bell (Area 28-7) is closed, and by that I mean it says “no fishing for chinook” so you can’t be targeting that species.  What is opening in 28-7 is sockeye, albeit for a limited time.  “Subject: FN0810-RECREATIONAL – Salmon – Sockeye – Areas 11 to 15, 17 to 20, 111, 121, 123 to 127, and Subareas 16-1, 16-19 to 16-21, 28-1, 28-2, 28-7 – Opening – Effective August 16, 2025 …

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report: Friday, August 8, 2025

Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report  August 8th and that means we are only 3 weeks away from the Fraser Mouth area opening for 2 chinook a day.  It will be here fast, but in the meantime, there is a LOT of amazing fishing going on right now!  So much to talk about, so let’s get to it.  Sockeye and pink salmon numbers have been a hot topic lately, so I devoted an entire section to it in this week’s report.  Make sure you check that out.  There is some great news on the early component of the sockeye run and the pinks are already thick of South Bowen and West Van, with millions more on the way.  Locally we have been fishing Point Atkinson and E…

1 2 3 33