Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report  I am pleased to report that once again this year we are seeing some really nice size fish.  This time last year we got into some fish in the twenty pound plus category, a lot of them hatchery, and I wasn’t sure if that pattern would repeat itself.  Well it did, and some of the spots that produced last year are producing these hefty fish again this year, almost to the day and tide.  That’s why you keep a detailed journal, it pays off with big fish like this in our local waters.  For the most part these fish are suspended, and we are seeing then on our sonar from 80-140 feet and are adjusting our depths on the riggers…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Hard to believe it is June and I am writing this report while I am taking a break from working on the fleet.  Usually I am doing this in April, not June, but it feels good to be down on the docks and getting boats ready for trips. If you are thinking of booking a trip, now is a good time.  The chinook fishing locally and over in the Gulf Islands has been very good.  You can’t keep a chinook right now, but just being on the water and fighting this powerful fish on single action reels and 10-foot 6 medium action rods is a lot of fun.  Crabbing is also very good so there is a good chance you…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Fishing has been pretty good this past week, as is usual for this time of year.  There are lots of places producing fish, like Howe Sound, South Bowen, and Thrasher Rock.  Sometimes it is hard to say where to go or which spot is producing the best, but this week it was pretty clear that Thrasher was the place to be.  There were still some good amounts of fishing being caught locally, and some big ones, but Thrasher has been on fire for about 2 weeks now.  Hard to say what it will be like this weekend, it can go from hot to cold in a tide change, but chances are it will still be good for a few more…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Looks like there is a mixed bag of NW and SE this weekend, so be on your toes if you are heading out.  Fishing continues to be pretty solid in Howe Sound and around Bowen.  Gabriola was the standout this past week though, with multiple reports of big fish and lots of them.  In most cases about 70% of the fish were hatchery.  It goes without saying it is extremely frustrating we can’t retain these fish! With the Fraser in full on freshet mode, that dirty water is well throughout the Salish Sea.  It made it over to Thrasher and that means the fish are shallow, 80-140 on the riggers.  The hot depth there on Monday was 127 for our…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Well what can I say, its mid-May and there are a lot of chinook around including some big hatchery fish.  We are still waiting to hear from DFO if they will accept some of the SFAB chinook management proposals.   We might see some decisions early June.  In the meantime, we have been heading out a few times a week and doing some DNA sampling for the Avid Angler South Coast Stock Assessment Program. There are a lot of options for chinook right now.  There are fish in Howe Sound, off South Bowen, the Hump, the QA, and over in the Gulf Islands.  Productive depths have ranged from 60 to 220 and it really depends on the water clarity and what…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report Look out, here comes the sun! What I should be saying is here comes the NW.  As usual, the high-pressure system and heat of the sun brings in sustained NW winds and it looks like this weekend will be no exception.  You never really know with the NW, it can be 5-10 or 20-25, so it can often be a game time decision on where you can or can’t fish, or if you even want to attempt it.   As far as chinook fishing, for those that have been going out it has been pretty good.  Fishing has been consistent the last 3 weeks off South Bowen from Cowan to Roger Curtis, 80-140 on the riggers.  If it is blowing…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Report It’s pretty nice and sunny on this Friday morning but looking at the forecast for the weekend it looks like we are in for some wind and some rain.  Likely going to be a bit chunky if you were thinking of crossing, so I think the bottom dwellers will be safe for a few more days. As many of you know, May 1st is opening day for lingcod and rockfish in some areas.  Make sure to check out the regulations for areas that are open and for rockfish conservation areas.  We have a great selection of bottom fishing rods, reels, combos, and a huge variety of different lures.  Give us a call if you have any questions on how to get…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report A big thank you to all of you who wrote letters last week and over the weekend regarding the SFAB Chinook Proposals.  This is exactly the kind of pressure we need to put on DFO to get chinook opportunities on the South Coast. If you didn’t have time to write a letter last week, please, take the time to do it now.  They are still accepting letters and it’s all about volume.  If you missed the Special Chinook Report from last week give it a read.  Everything you need to write a quick letter is in there, and so is the science on why we should be open right now, especially for hatchery fish.  If it wasn’t for Covid-19 we…

Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report I hope you received my special chinook report on Thursday.  If not, stop reading this report and check it out here. It is critical you check out the proposals for our area and write a letter of support. I am hoping we get some areas opened up and this will give us some opportunity as we continue to push hard for larger scale opportunities like marked selective fisheries for the Salish Sea. Okay, back to straight up fish talk.  Well they sure showed up.  There are all sorts of chinook around now and there was some good to awesome fishing this past week off South Bowen and over at Thrasher.  Hot depths really depended on water colour as some areas…