Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
Well, it was about time we were able to keep some chinook this week and what a great few days it was on Monday and Tuesday. The seas were literally flat calm so all of our boats headed across to the Gulf Islands and we were greeted by a lot of eager chinook. Fishing was fantastic and our guests soaked up the sun and enjoyed bent rods with lots of double headers. There were countless chinook hooked from 150-250 on the downriggers. The hot setup was a Salty Dawg flasher with a chartreuse splatter back hootchy or chartreuse glow double skirt. The hook ups were so steady we eventually just used a dummy flasher and a spoon with no flasher. Productive spoons were larger, in the 4.0 and 5.0 sizes as the fish were stuffed with herring. Hot colours were Herring Aide and Outfitter in the G-Force 4.0 or 5.0.
Check out all this bait and the chinook arcs on top! Just a little bit of life in the Salish Sea right now! No chinook crisis in these waters.
There were more than a few of these this week!
Unfortunately, things got nasty on Wednesday with lots of wind and rain, so we kept it local. We were into a few hatchery coho and a few chinook on our shorter trips that day. Yesterday we managed the same, despite the strong winds. It is hard to get a feel for what is really going on locally though, as the winds the last 72 hours have not allowed us to fish off South Bowen, out on the Hump, or even in Vancouver Harbour for that matter. Prior to the winds there was some decent action in all of these spots for coho and there are a few chinook in Howe Sound as well. Speaking of chinook, there were also some nice chinook hooked off the Bell Buoy this week as well.
Brett’s guest Morgan is all smiles with this nice chinook!
Looking at the forecast for the weekend, there are a lot of options. Locally there should be some coho off the Hump, South Bowen, and Point Atkinson to West Van. If you are after some chinook for the BBQ you can focus just inside the Bell Buoy towards the Mile Markers, as some Fraser fish are showing up and there is retention for 1 a day from 62-80 cm in Area 28. You can also fish in Howe Sound, as this is Area 28 too. If the winds are looking good and you are up for a crossing, you can retain a chinook in Area 17, again 1 a day form 62-80 cm. It really is going to depend on the wind, the amount of time you have, and the size of your boat. The fishing is pretty good in all these spots, but for chinook I can’t help but give the head nod to Gabriola up to Entrance and Five Fingers.
So lots of spots to choose from this weekend. Good luck out there and if you need some help getting set up, come by the shop and talk to our expert staff.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli