Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
Well it’s official, the wave of springtime chinook showed up in full force this week, and right on schedule! As usual, we are seeing a mix of whites, reds, hatchery, and wild fish. It’s nice to see some of the larger whites showing up as well, into the low to mid teens. There are always a few 20 pound plus fish taken in the next 3-4 weeks and even the odd Tyee. So time to take off those old leaders that have been sufficient for the 6-10 pound winter chinook and get some fresh gear on!
Jason with a nice white chinook from yesterday’s trip.
This past week there was good to excellent fishing at pretty much every major springtime spot. So that includes the Bell Buoy, QA Marker, Hump, and South Bowen. Sunday and Monday were really on fire and things slowed down a bit mid week with the low-pressure system, but it was still pretty good out there. There is no “one spot” this time of year as these packs of hungry chinook are cruising around looking for bait and are really on the move. One day the hot spot is Cowan, the next day it is the QA, the next day Roger Curtis, etc. I usually give a spot a few hours and if I haven’t hooked any fish or seen any bait or fish on the sonar, time to make a move.
Derek’s guest from Texas, hooked up on a chinook out in the harbour.
Hot depths have been in the 90-120 range. Productive flashers have been bright, so think chartreuse and green. The Salty Dawg, Lemon Lime, BC, STS were all very good this week, as was the Phantom in chartreuse. Spoons, bait and hootchies have all been very good. I would give bait the edge for bigger fish this past week, but there are so many small fish around it can be better to fish artificial so you can get your gear back in the water quickly. Top teaser heads have been glow chartreuse and glow green versions in Rhys Davis Anchovy Classic with a 5.5 anchovy or Rhys Davis Bullet Roll with a red size (small) or green size (small/medium) size herring. G-Force and Skinny G spoons have been hot. For G-Force the 3.0 and 3.5 size is working well in colours that have glow and green on them like BC, Trailhead, Outfitter, and No Bananas. The same colours in the Skinny G have been very good as well. Yamashita hootchies in regular size or cuttle fish size in chartreuse and green with splatter back have been good with about a 32-inch leader.
As noted before, the fishing was pretty awesome this past week, so get the tarp off your boat and get out there, it’s time! So I know what your next question is. When it comes to fisheries announcements, your guess is as good as mine at this point. All I know is they are working on something and there will be some sort of announcement. We were expecting it this week, but nobody really knows, so for now it is business as usual. Here is a letter from the SFI that is worth a read Seeking Balance . The SFI has been hard at work, fighting for our access to sustainable chinook stocks and putting a lot of pressure on this government to follow the science and not the politics. If you want to help out, join and donate to the SFI. They are very active in behind the scenes and all anglers owe them at the very least a membership and a donation in my humble opinion.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli