Vancouver Salmon Fishing Report
Looking back at March, we had excellent winter chinook fishing right up until closing day on March 31st. It was a great winter season, and all indicators are pointing to an excellent summer coho and chinook season.
Some nice chinook were harvested right up until March 31st this year!
Now that we are in April, chinook fishing is closed in Area 28 and 29. The regulations are no fishing for chinook, which means you can’t actively target chinook. This means no catch and release chinook fishing. If you cross over to Area 17 it is open for non-retention of chinook (catch and release) and if you fish in Area 17-6 and 17-9 it is open for 1 hatchery chinook a day, 62cm or greater.
Coho are currently non-retention and will open for 2 hatchery coho per day, 30cm or greater, on June 1st. A reminder that lingcod and rockfish will open in Area 17 on May 1st.
We are collecting DNA for DFO to help them work on their stock composition for chinook in and around the Vancouver area, so we are able to fish for chinook in April and May under this program. All fished are measured, DNA sampled and carefully released. Crabbing and prawning is also excellent in these months, so if you want to catch some chinook (and there are plenty around) and head home with some Dungeness crab and BC spot prawns, we can make that happen!
Prawning and crabbing is great in April and May!
I am also happy to report that DFO has been doing some focused test fishing for juvenile coho and by all accounts there are lots around in our local waters. This means we are going to have another excellent summer coho fishery. The fishing was amazing last June and July, so make sure to lock in your prime time coho dates now.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli