SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
For the most part the fishing this past week has been nothing short of exceptional. There was the odd morning where it was a little slower because some transient orcas passed by, but besides that, the fishing has been very consistent.
Most of the fishing pressure has been around South Bowen, and for good reason, as the bait has been thick and that means chinook. Most of the fish have been full of 3-4 inch herring and we have seen some anchovies in the mix as well.
Nice double header off Cowan earlier this week.
When we have ventured out of this productive area (when it slows down) we have been rewarded with some great fishing off the QA and Bell Buoy too. There really is a lot of chinook in our local waters and they are definitely not confined to South Bowen. There has been some great fishing along the Mile Markers, Bell, QA, and the Hump. So pick your spot based on the wind. Speaking of wind, it looks like we are going to see a pretty big NW on Saturday, so expect it be a bit lumpy out there. A good tactic would be to grind out to the QA and fish back into the Bell or Mile Markers with the NW on your stern.
Khoi and his guests with some nice ones from a trip on Thursday.
Productive depths on the downriggers in all our local spots have been from 70-130 for the most part. Flashers with UV green and chartreuse blades with glow tape on one side and reflective tape on the other have been working well. Some good ones for us have been Salty Dawg, Lemon Lime, BC, and the Phantom with a chartreuse blade. 3.5 and 4.0 Kingfisher and G-Force spoons have been good, as has the Skinny G. There are a lot of good ones to choose from, so if it has some green and some glow on it, you are good to go. We have also been doing well on hootchies. Splatter back hootchies in green, chartreuse are working well, and so is Army Truck glow. We are generally fishing 4 rods on our boats and 2 will have spoons and 2 will have hootchies and we put gel herring or anchovy scent on all of the. These are aggressively feeding fish, so trust your spoons and hootchies, cover some water, leave the bait at home, and catch fish.
Jason and his crew from the saltwater course after another successful day on the water.
With all the fish locally there is definitely less pressure at Thrasher this year. The fish are there, and just like our local spots, the fishing has been good to exceptional. We haven’t had the conditions to run across on some days and even if we did, it takes a few hours there and back and 2 hours of fishing locally can be a lot of fish these days, so we are sticking closer to home until it cools off around here. If you do decide to cross, the fish have been deeper, and productive depths have been 140-180 on the riggers. There are fish offshore on the “Highway” and there are fish on the structure, so take your pick.
PA good guys Greg & Darcy rocking lucky PA hats over at Gabriola. Lots of fish and calm waters that evening.
Want to be featured in the Friday Fishing Report? We love hearing about your success. Send us some photos!
The commercial prawn fleet is out there now, so best to leave your prawn gear at home and focus on the crabbing, which has been pretty good lately.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli