As we were talking about in last weeks report, we figured the Gabriola and Nanaimo area would heat up this week and indeed it did. We have had a number of trips over there in the last 7 days and we have been hitting 5 to 10 fish on most trips and one recent trip we were into 16 fish! The water has been very, very clear and that usually means the bait is deep and so are the fish. Hot depths have been from 150 to 200 feet on the downriggers and we are often using 18lb cannonballs to keep the gear deep while still trolling at a good speed to cover as much water as possible.
Eddie’s guest with a beauty chinook from Thrasher this week.
Productive flashers have been the Green Onion Glow, Purple Onion Glow, Kinetic Glow, and Chartreuse Glow and Green Glow. As usual, hootchies and spoons have been working well. The spatter back hootchies in green, mint, chartreuse, and blue have been producing a lot of fish and for leader length try 32 to 40 inches. Productive Kingfisher spoons on 6-foot leaders have been the Irish Cream, Homeland Security, and Pink Sink, in 3.5 to 4.0 size. Productive Pesca spoons have been the Clupea, and Gut Bomb in 4.0, and 5.0. We fished the new 5.0 size this past week with great results. This spoon has some amazing action and matches the size of the bait this time of year.
Some nice fish landed by Dimitri’s guests this week.
Yes, the Gulf Islands are hot this time of year, but don’t forget about the Hump! This area is still consistently producing and should do so for a few more weeks. We actually saw a bait ball on the surface there the other day with birds attacking it, and without a doubt, chinook attacking it from below. Hot depths on the Hump have been from 90-140 on the riggers for this area.
A five fish day on the water last week!
If you are interested in booking a charter give us a call at 778-788-8582. From now until July 1st is some of the hottest chinook fishing of the year!
Jason