Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
This week we have been catching chinook and coho off Point Atkinson and the Cap Mouth. These areas will continue to produce over the next few days and into September as more chinook and coho roll in.
A Point Atkinson chinook from a trip this week
Although there has been some decent fishing off Point Atkinson, I think everyone is eagerly awaiting Sunday, September 1st! This is when the chinook regulations in Vancouver waters go back to two chinook a day, 62cm or greater, hatchery or wild.
The regulation changes will allow us to fish off the Fraser River Mouth where there are lots of chinook staging before they head up the river and in general fishing is very productive for chinook and coho all of September.
One thing to note is the Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) North Arm Fraser River Mouth Closure. This area is closed August 1st to September 30th to all fishing. Supposedly this closure gives the SRKW a sanctuary to feed on chinook salmon. For the cumulative minutes (yes minutes) the SRKW are in that area over two months, it is ridiculous to have such a closure.
These large closures look good on a map though, and that makes the government, and environmental groups feel like they are making a difference. The reality is fishing activity in this area has little to no impact on SRKW foraging activities and certainly none compared to the lineup of huge tugs in that exact area, towing massive log booms up the N Arm. Regardless of the efficacy of this closure, it is in place once again this year and you will want to steer clear of it as DFO will be patrolling the area for sure.
Here is a map of the closure on an updated Navionics chart off the Navionics App (on the left) vs the closure notice distributed by DFO (on the right). A good way to look at the closure is to stay N of the Bell Buoy and S off the Iona Jetty. If you do this, you will be out of the closed area.
Okay, so let’s get to the fishing! Now that you know where you can’t go, let’s talk about where you should go. Typically, anglers will fish the Bell Buoy to the Mile Markers if they want to keep it close to Vancouver. This is a great place to fish, especially if it is windy and too rough to fish further S off the Fraser. If the winds are cooperating, then a lot of anglers will head to the Iona Jetty and fish S of there down to the T-10 Marker. Even further down is the South Arm of the Fraser. All these spots will hold chinook and coho in the coming weeks and the hot spot will change day to day as the fish hang around the Fraser Mouth and get pushed around by the tides.
The most common technique to catch these fish is to fish a flasher with a 6-foot leader to a piece of bait, usually an anchovy or herring that has been brined with salt and put in a teaser head. Flasher choice and teaser head choice will depend on the depth of water your gear is at. We generally fish from 25 to 75 feet for these Fraser chinook (downrigger depth) and we go from chrome and UV flashers and teaser heads all the way to glow flashers and teaser heads. I did a short video on some of our top producers, which you can check out below.
We have a good supply of flashers, teaser heads, bait and salt at the shop right now. Come down to get stocked up and get the latest report on where the fish are at and what depth.
Good luck this weekend and we will see you out there!
Jason Tonelli