Well, it is May and that means one thing. The spring chinook are here and it is time to get out in your boat or book a Vancouver salmon charter for some of the best chinook fishing of the year! The sunny days bring on the NW winds that can be annoying when trying to get out to S. Bowen or Gabriola, but those who have made it out have been getting into some fish. Many of you have seen or heard of the 31lb slab caught on Soloway in the back end of April, off the Hump. We also heard reports yesterday of a fish of similar size somewhere over at Gabriola, so there are some pretty big slabs out there right now which of course adds to the allure of Vancouvers local salmon fishing!
The chinook salmon fishing at the Hump off S. Bowen has been decent of late. The best depths seem to be in the 80-110 range with some chinook being taken as shallow as 60 and as deep as 160, but most around 100-110. The algae bloom is in full force and the heat we are going to get this weekend will get the Fraser River freshet going. So expect the water colour to be dirty in our local waters. That means glow flashers, glow teaser heads, and glow spoons will all be working well. We have good stock on all the top glow flashers, including double glow flashers, a huge selection of glow teaser heads, and of course all the top glow spoons like Irish Cream, Glow/Green, Yellow Tail, and Homeland Security. We also have good stock on anchovies right now, including some nice 5.5 inch ones. Some of the nicer ones I have seen in awhile.
The North Shore Fish and Game Club Derby is this weekend so if you want to enter give Derek Hardy a call at 604-444-9117. This is a great event with some awesome prizes and lots of good company. Unfortunately I am out of town this weekend so I won’t be able to enter, Eddie is guiding all weekend on the Salty Dawg so he won’t be able to enter either. Hopefully the winds won’t be too strong and some nice chinook get caught. Last year the fishing was excellent!
I was out last Saturday and the wind was brutal and the pursuit of a good chinook was tough. A sharp contrast from the fishing I enjoyed a few weeks before. We had to hide in behind Bowen for a little while but we did manage to spend a fair amount of time on the Hump but were unable to find any fish. A few other boats were out that day and the odd fish was taken but it was a little slow. Eddie has been out a few times this week and has found a few chinook at the depths and lures mentioned earlier.
Things seem to be picking up over at Gabriola right on schedule. There have been chinook taken offshore in 800-1000 feet of water and 120-180 on the downriggers. The usual hootchies and spoons are working; Irish Cream, Glow/Green, Yellow Tail, Night Rider, Kitchen Sink, Homeland Security for spoons with a 6 foot leader to your flasher and for hootchies, the glow green or glow blue spatter back are working well with a 30-34 inch leader to your flasher.
Eddie will be guiding on the Hump this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and I am out of town for a week so I won’t be heading to Thrasher, but can’t wait to go there when I get back! Our days are filling up fast for this exciting fishery so if you want to book a day over at Thrasher Rock on Gabriola Island, for some of the best chinook fishing of the year, you should give us a call right now! To keep up-to-date with everything Pacific Angler check out their Facebook page or sign up for the Pacific Angler Newsletter to receive the famous Friday Fishing Report.
See you on the water,
Jason & Eddie,