The saltwater fishing over the past week has been excellent. Sockeye fishing from the North Arm down to Sand Heads has been getting better day by day. Jason and I hosted Breakfast Television on the Salty Dawg this past Wednesday morning. We took Dawn over to the North Arm for a little sockeye action and we had a blast! If you haven’t already seen the video, be sure to check it out here. We started our tack just inside the North Arm Jetty and immediately started hooking fish. We were marking giant schools from 40-70ft on the sounder, and most of our fish were hooked in the 50-60ft range.
A happy Guest with a gorgeous Fraser sockeye!
Around 9:30-10:00am, it seemed that most of the schools moved deeper. Guys heading out in the afternoon have reported having a tougher time limiting out than in the morning. However, anglers who have started to run their gear deeper in the mid day (60-90ft) have had some great fishing after most have packed it in for the day! With still tons of fish coming down the inside, we should be in for at least another couple weeks of great sockeye fishing.
Netting another North Arm sockeye
Plenty of reports of chinook getting caught on sockeye gear is a good indication that they are about in numbers. Don’t forget, if sockeye were not open, we would be chasing big mature chinook salmon from the Bell Buoy to Sand Heads. If you are all “sockeyed out”, try running some chinook gear. Bait is key for these fish, Anchovies in glow teaser heads and chartreuse glow flashers are the standard for Fraser chinook. We are excited to see some big chinook released during this year’s Labour Day Chinook Classic!
On the West Van front, coho fishing has been quite good. With far less boat traffic than usual due to the sockeye opening, the fish seem less pressured and very willing to bite. Chinook fishing will also get better day by day until the heavy fall rains arrive. For coho off West Van, try running your gear fairly shallow. Koho killers, white squirt hootchies, and the 2.5 “Leprechaun” or “Skittles” Pesca spoons are all great choices. For chinook, fishing your gear deep is important. The chinook off West Van will often sit right on the bottom, fishing anchovies or herring down deep is often what it takes to hook these strong fish.
Good luck on the water,
Max Stickel