Well, it’s November, so time to post up a winter chinook report and pictures. Admittedly we have been holding off a bit, we needed to catch our breath after an epic fall season! That being said, there have been quite a few reports and posts on social media, so the cat’s out of the bag it seems on the local winter chinook being around already.
If you are a regular reader of this report, you already know the Strait of Georgia has been very productive for a number of years in a row now. Good numbers of herring and anchovies have been around Howe Sound for quite a few years running and this means the local salmon stocks are doing well, especially the feeder chinook aka winter chinook.
As mentioned above, I am very pleased to report the 2023/24 season is off to a strong start, not unlike the past 4 or 5 years. We are finding fish in all the usual Howe Sound spots, South Bowen and in Vancouver Harbour. We actually started getting our first winter chinook while fishing the Cap Mouth and West Van shoreline for mature chinook and coho in late September and early October.
A nice feeder chinook caught in late September with PA guide Jake Comrie. All smiles from the client on this one, as it was a nice surprise in between the action for coho and mature chinook that time of year.
Below is a picture of a productive day recently. PA guide Josh Lo has been doing very well on the setup you see in this picture. A Gibbs STS flasher, which is a green glade with moon jelly on one side and glow on the other, with a 5 to 6 foot leader and 3.0 or 3.5 Kingfisher spoon in #671 Homeland Security spoon or 3.0 or 3.5 Gibbs G-Force spoon in the Outfitter colour pattern.
A very solid day for PA guide Josh Lo and guests, with the STS flasher and Homeland Security spoon getting the majority of the action.
We have 5 months of winter fishing ahead of us, so as usual, pick your days, keep your gear close the bottom, troll fast, cover water, and have fun!
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli