Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  So far, September has been a great month for saltwater fishing.  The T-10 and South Arm were hot the first two weeks of September, then the Cap Mouth picked up right on schedule mid-September and there have been good coho numbers in all 3 locations.    The sockeye fishery was definitely a “too little, too late” opening, and I have already let DFO know that.  I am sure there will be some meetings about it this winter.  I will keep you posted on how those go and what the final counts are.  I think you will find we didn’t harvest even close to our total allowable catch and DFO bungled our opportunity.  Can’t say that I am surprised.  So where…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  If you are wondering about sockeye, you can read my report in the Fraser River Sockeye Openings & Opinions piece, but in this report, I am going to focus on chinook and coho.  Opening day and the 72 hours after it were fantastic for chinook at the Bell Buoy, Iona Jetty, T-10, and South Arm.  There were a lot of fish around and the catches were great.  In last week’s report I covered in detail hot depths and tactics and those held true this past week.  In short, if you were fishing flashers, teaser heads, and herring or anchovy in the top 70 feet of the water column you would have done well.    The orcas did come through on Sunday…

Vancouver Salmon Fishing Report, September 2nd, 2022    Well, it’s official.  The Sep 1 chinook opening was very good!  Our guide boats did very well opening day and we had multiple reports from customers who also were into a lot of fish.  It was decent at the Bell Buoy for those who kept it close to the harbour, Iona Jetty down to T-10 was good and South Arm, aka Sand Heads, was excellent.    I just checked in with our guides this morning and it sounds like the fishing was very good again today.  How long will it last?  That’s hard to say.  Currently there is a mix of red and white springs.  At our cleaning table it seems to be about 50/50 so far.  The…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Sockeye Update: Well, it doesn’t look like we are going to get a sockeye opening.  The original run estimate was 9,500,000 and it has been downgraded multiple times and the current run estimate is around 5,000,000.  Pretty frustrating considering there has been US commercial fisheries and there are lots of gill nets in the river for First Nation food fisheries.  The number of fish required to sustain a modest recreational harvest is miniscule compared to the consumption of these other two user groups, yet we remain closed.  Not surprised, as this is consistent with DFO’s lack of respect for public fisheries.   Chinook Update: We made it across to Gabriola a few times this week and the chinook fishing remains…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Sockeye Update: In last week’s report I mentioned this week’s test set numbers were going to be critical.  We really needed a big push of fish to change the general outlook which has been trending in the p10 to p25 range.  If we had more low number test sets this week, the door to getting an opening would be firmly closed.  Luckily, we did see some encouraging test sets in Area 12 this week.  This is keeping the door open, albeit slightly. What we really need to see is consistently high test sets, not just a short bump up in the numbers.  Early reports are that test set numbers did back off a bit after some strong ones mid-week.  There…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report    Sockeye Update: The phones are ringing constantly as everyone wants to know about sockeye.  So, let’s get right to it.  I was in the DFO & SFAB Sockeye Working Group meeting this past Wednesday and here is what I learned.  Here is the latest info.  The estimate of 9.7 million is based on a p50 forecast.   The run is tracking closer to the 10% level, especially the past week and a half, so that is called a p10 level.  A p10 level will not be sufficient to allow a commercial and recreational harvest and even a p25 level of around 4.35 million in total when the run is said and done, will likely not be enough to trigger an…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Lots to talk about in this week’s report, coho, chinook, sockeye and of course the weather. Let’s start with the weather and then local fisheries. If you are heading out this long weekend keep an eye on Saturday as Windy is showing some stronger NW winds, especially if you are trying to cross over to the Gulf Islands.  It seems to have gotten better than previous forecasts though, so it will likely be a game time decision.  Sunday and Monday look better, particularly in the afternoon.  Those 2 days are setting up for a nice late morning crossing and some late evening fishing and a smooth ride home.  Locally you will have your pick of spots and wind shouldn’t be…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  Well, it’s 5:00 am Friday morning and I am having my morning coffee, looking at the marine forecast and deciding if I am going to make it over to Gabriola this morning.  Looks like it will be doable for most and the SE backs off later in the day for a slightly smoother ride home.  After this SE some NW comes in for the weekend.  Currently, Saturday looks like the transition day and the calmer of the two weekend days with Sunday having some NW winds forecast in excess of 15 knots that might make crossing too rough.    I was over on Tuesday and fishing was great.  There are lots of chinook around in all the popular spots.  As usual,…

Vancouver Salmon Fishing Report, July 8, 2022  Well, we are a week out from July 15th and the question on everyone’s mind is will we get a chinook retention opening in Area 29 and 17 like we have had in the last few years.  The reality is nobody really knows until the Fisheries Notice actually comes out.    We are also waiting for the Integrated Fisheries Management Plan to come out.  The IFMP usually comes out in June and has wording that will indicate what we can expect in the months to come.  The actual Fisheries Notices are the legal notices that open and close the fisheries and reflect the wording in the IMFP.  The IFMP is at the Fisheries Ministers office, Joyce Murray, so pretty…