Fresh Lower Mainland Fishing Reports

The ‘2024 Salmon season is shaping up to be nothing short of spectacular!!! In 2023, salmon anglers around Vancouver and southern BC waters enjoyed numbers of fish that haven’t been seen in years. And in fact, Canada’s Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans recently released their statistics which reflects this historical abundance of salmon. Some highlights: * in the immediate Vancouver area, summer return chinook salmon (stock 4.1) to the Fraser River in 2023 were estimated at an astounding 627,000 fish - which is about 6 times the average annual return for the past decade! In addition, another indicator stock for the fall return chinook salmon to the same river was also over twice the escapement goal. * in the southern Georgia Strait, another indicator stock from the Cowichan River was estimated to be over three times the escapement goal, and has been well over this goal for the past several years. In short, most of the runs of chinook salmon on the south coast of BC are very healthy and at high levels of abundance. In addition, last year also saw a great abundance of coho (silver) salmon, and huge numbers of pink salmon as well. Bottom line - 2024 is shaping up to be another one for the record books, so if salmon fishing is on your to-do list, conditions couldn’t be much better! Be sure to book your spot early, and let’s go fishing!

Scott and his partner came out to Vancouver to attend an evening music concert and woke up early enough the next morning to enjoy one of our nicest days in February 2024. Though the water was cold we managed to find some fish and here are two of the nicest ones, both just shy of 5 feet but very feisty. In a few minutes, they were able to help measure and read the tag on one fish and see how we insert a tag on the other fish that didn't have one and then safely release them back into the river to grow some more. So more fish to add to the growing science data base of Fraser River white sturgeon. Fishing should continue to improve now with longer daylight and the waters starting to warm up. March is fully booked but there are still some empty days in April 2024 which is often one of the most productive months of the year! Tight lines.

Winter in Vancouver has been unseasonably warm so far, and the fishing for our scrappy, chrome-bright Winter chinook salmon has already been better than in most years! Good fishing and not having to shovel snow out of the boat has sure been a welcome change this winter! Our 2023 summer and fall salmon fishery was one for the record books, and luckily this abundance of fish seems to have carried over to this year’s winter fishery as well! Dropping traps for spot prawns and dungeness crabs is a fun, added bonus of the Winter Special charters only, and catches of both this year have also been strong! Uncrowded waters, and the spectacular scenery of the snow-capped west coast mountains surrounding Howe Sound make the winter fishing season one of our favorite times of the year to be out on the water. And so far this winter, the water and the fishing have been just fine!

We’ve been experiencing excellent Chinook salmon for months with anticipation of an excellent spring ahead. Great size so far.

It looks like this next year is predicted to be as good or even better than last year. We will have lots of great opportunities to play with Spring Salmon (Kings) along with endless amounts of Coho Salmon (silvers).

Well after some record setting coho fishery in mid summer to another September to remember for large and feisty Chinook Salmon returning to the Fraser River, it's time to layer up and stay on the fish. The "winter fishery" just rolled over without a lull moving away from the Fraser River arms to the more traditional grounds in Howe Sound, the Vancouver Harbour and over across to the Nanaimo side. We've have changed tactics from fishing shallow on the riggers to going deep just off the bottom of the ocean in depths anywhere from 120 feet down to over 250 feet on the riggers. We have been most successful when we let the cannonballs hit the bottom then bring it up a couple feet. Our go to tackle in the winter is glow hootchies and glow 3-3.5" spoons with glow flashers. Notice the key word "glow" as the gear is deep. There is a vast difference in glow qualities amongst the tackle manufacturers. I believe in the adage of you get what you pay for. Westcoast Fishing Tackle is the premium equipment I recommend. Charge up the glow with a UV flashlight, deck light or your cellphone and change up gear every 20-30 minutes. Using bait at these depths is not "fun" as the bait could blow out as it descends as well as any little bite requires a lot of reeling to check the bait. Troll faster than with bait to cover more distance and watch for bait on your plotter/fish finder. This is good time of the year to consider switching to a 50 lb braid mainline with a 30-60 foot topshot of 30 lb monofilament on your reels. It is much easier on you and your rod when tripping the line off the retention clip. Good luck, stay warm and "Let's Go Fishing!"