Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
Cold sums up this weekend’s conditions! The winds don’t look too bad but be on the watch for the snow later Saturday afternoon and into Sunday morning. I don’t expect it will be too busy out there given the cold temperatures and snow in the forecast.
Speaking of cold, the fishing did cool off a bit this past week and a half. There were some days with plenty of action, but all undersize. Also, some days of abundance with 6 fish in the boat. Overall, the fishing this winter has been very good, so really nothing to complain about. I think we got a bit spoiled the last 2 months and were expecting 4 fish or more on every trip, so a few trips to bring us back to reality are nothing to worry about.
Great to see so many healthy winter chinook around this season!
Fishing for the last week of February and into the first week of March should remain consistent. The next thing on the horizon will be the algae bloom and when that decides to kick off. It will depend on temperature and sun, but usually mid-March. This can make the fishing a bit tougher to figure out as you have suspended fish as the bait comes up a bit but you also have fish on the bottom still. It seems to take the chinook a week or two to adjust to the algae as well and they can be a bit stubborn. You can see them on the sonar but they don’t seem to be feeding heavily. We will just have to wait and see how this March plays out.
On the fisheries politics front, there is a proposal in place to have portions of Howe Sound open for 1 hatchery chinook a day from 62-80 cm from April 1 to May 31. I have been working on this via the SFAB process and will let you know how things progress in the coming weeks. So far, I would say things have been positive, but at the end of the day it will be the Minister’s decision.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli