Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
Finally, we had some sun and calm waters this week, with yesterday almost feeling like spring with the mid-day sun bringing temps up into the teens. Looks like we are back to the wet stuff this weekend though. The winds look manageable at least, and we have some trips, so if you are heading out this weekend, we will see you out there.
A nice calm and sunny February day in Howe Sound, trolling for winter chinook.
Prawning continues to be good and we are dropping prawn traps on all of our full day trips. I saw DFO out there recently and pulled up to have a chat with them. They had quite a few traps that they had confiscated as they were set on sponge reef closures. There really is no excuse for setting on a sponge reef, as they are marked on the updated version of your map card. Make sure you take out your Micro SD map card, put in your laptop, register it, and run an update. It will add in the sponge reef closures as well as the rockfish conservation areas. Alternatively, you can download and purchase the Navionics app on your phone for a very reasonable price. I highly recommend doing this. It is a good back up in case your electronics go down and the updates are free. You can see where you are on the chart, mark waypoints, see your speed, management area lines, sponge reef and rockfish conservation area closures, etc. So, if you are going to head out prawning, get educated and stick to the open areas because if you don’t, you risk fines and losing all your gear and it just makes the recreational sector look bad. We really can’t afford that in today’s highly political fisheries management scenario.
So back to salmon and where to fish this weekend. There are fish well spread out through Howe Sound now and I really can’t say that one spot is outfishing the others. It is the typical scenario of putting in your time and you will usually get your shots at keeper size chinook (62cm or greater). Don’t discount the harbour. The fish and bait are starting to show up there, but keep an eye out for the seals. Derek stopped off at the Cap yesterday on his way back from LGM after getting some maintenance done on Spring Fling. He dropped in and the bait was thick and doubled up on 2 chinook right away, but the seals were instantly on him and took both. Bad news about the seals, but good to see the bait and chinook have pushed in, as is usual for late Feb and into March for the Freighters and the Cap Mouth. If you can work your way around the problem seals, you can have good fishing in these spots from now till late March. The more boats out the better, but if you are the only boat out, like yesterday, you are likely going to get sealed.
In terms of gear, the winter standards have been doing well. Gibbs and Oki flashers in chartreuse and glow colours are always a solid choice. Some of our go to ones are Lemon Lime and Salty Dawg. On flat calm days with lots of sun, try the UV purple or black flashers like the Madi and CB55. Irish Cream, Herring Aide, Outfitter, and Trailhead spoons have all been producing in Kingfisher 3.0 or 3.5, G-Force 3.0 or 3.5, and of course the Skinny G. Yamashita splatter back hootchies in green or chartreuse have also been productive with a 32-36 inch leader.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli