Vancouver Coho Salmon Saltwater Fishing Report
It was another productive week on the water for those targeting coho. With only the occasional lull, feedback from guides and clients has been overwhelmingly positive. The coho are not only around in good numbers, but they’re also putting sizing up and quickly gaining nearly a pound per week at this time of year. Some of the fish landed already have been impressively large for early July, which is a great sign of what’s to come in the weeks ahead.
A quick limit for PA guide Markus earlier this week!
On the gear front, not much has changed. I had the opportunity to take the shop staff out on Canada Day, and the classic white hoochie proved to be our top producer once again. We also mixed things up a bit and had some fun trolling deep-diving jerkbaits on a spin rod out the back. It added an exciting twist to our day.
We also had success running dummy flasher setups—a technique I highly recommend if you haven’t tried it yet. This involves attaching a short mono leash with a flasher directly to your cannonball, while your lure (spoon, hoochie, or bait) is clipped a few feet above. One big advantage of this setup is that it gives you direct contact with the fish, rather than having the flasher between you and the hook. With coho being such fast and chaotic fighters, better control during the fight can really help improve your landing ratio.
The shop crew getting it done on Canada Day!
There’s still a decent amount of chinook bycatch out there as well, so be sure to keep your gaff ready for quick and safe boat-side releases.
Tight lines,
Jake Comrie