OUTLOOK
Happy Friday everyone! We have a summer storm incoming this weekend. It looks as though we will see drizzly weather for the next 3-4 days with a sizable dump of rain showing up tonight into Saturday morning.
If the weather man is on his game this will change things for several fisheries. The fishery we have the closest eye on is the beach and Capilano coho fishery. The rain will stir up the fish staging at the mouth and if they open the dam this could mean for good river angling. Eric has details on what we are expecting for both in his report this week.
On the saltwater front, things have been unpredictable this last week with the bite turning on and off with little rhyme or reason. Jason has details on what we have seen and how the storm might change things.
Matt has some details on the Skagit because when things start cooling at the end of August into September you can see some of the best hatches and it is still well worth getting out.
Finally, the cooler weather has us thinking about upcoming fisheries. Interior lake fishing and fall salmon season is just around the corner, and it is time to plan! If you are new to fishing in the Lower Mainland, September to November is a special time. Interior lake fishing gets good again and all our valley salmon rivers turn on. This week, Taylor has big overview of the major Valley salmon fisheries with some notes on timing so you can start planning and we’ll be chatting all things interior lake fishing in the coming weeks!
CLASSES AND COURSES
Introduction to Fly Fishing
This course was specifically designed to give the new fly fisher the basic knowledge, casting skills and fly fishing strategies to effectively fish our local BC waters. This course is comprised of two sessions; 3hr evening seminar and a 3hr casting session. The dates below show the seminar date first and casting date second.
Dates: Sept 18 & 22
Cost: $180.00+GST
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Casting Time(s): 10am – 1pm or 1:30pm -4:30pm
Fall Salmon River Fishing: Floats, Spinners, & Spoons
This 3hr evening seminar covers float fishing, spinner fishing and spoon fishing; the three most productive techniques to catch BC salmon in a river.
Seminar: Sep 24, 2024
Cost: $75.00+GST
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Introduction to Fly Tying
There is no greater satisfaction than catching a fish with a fly you tied yourself. This Introduction to Fly Tying course was specifically designed to give you the fundamental skills needed to tie proven fly patterns used here in BC for trout, salmon, and steelhead.
This course consists of 3 sessions; each session is 3hrs.
Students are required to supply their own vise, tools and materials. A 10% discount is available on fly tying materials and tools purchased for the course.
Dates: Sep 25, Oct 2, 9
Cost: $125.00+GST
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Fly Fishing for Salmon in Rivers
Fly fishing for salmon is one of the most exciting fisheries in the Lower Mainland. Let us teach you the techniques and the hot spots to catch salmon on the fly in our local rivers. In the 3hr evening seminar you will learn about rod, reel and line, sink tip, and fly selection. Then put the skills into practice during a fully guided day on the water where you will learn how to read water and swing the fly!
Seminar: Oct 16, 2024
Guided: Oct 19, 20, 26 or 27, 2024
Custom Trip Dates Available
Seminar Only Cost: $75.00+GST
Seminar & Guided Walk’n Wade Cost: $325.00+GST per angler, minimum of 2 anglers per guided day on the water.
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Guided: Full Day
FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
Fraser Valley Fall Salmon Fishing Update
Valley Salmon Season Is Almost Here!
September is on the horizon, and with the end of August comes the start of the fall salmon season in the Fraser Valley. Rivers like the Chilliwack/Vedder, Stave and Harrison all get healthy returns of fall salmon, though what species they get, and the timing of their runs will vary between systems. Here’s a short overview of what you can expect from three of the most popular systems in the Valley:
The Chilliwack/Vedder (C/V)
The C/V system is home to every species of salmon that can be found in North America- sockeye, chinook (both varieties), coho, chum and pink. The Sockeye and red chinook are mostly summer-run fish, and this isn’t a pink year, so that leaves us with white chinook, coho and chum- the “Fall Trifecta”. The past two years have been plagued by extremely low water levels due to the extremely strong “El Niño” events, which result in sub-optimal fishing conditions. They’re saying that this is likely to be a “La Niña” year, so perhaps this won’t be as much of an issue this year.
The white chinook start to arrive in late August, with the fishing typically picking up around the second week of September and tapering off in mid-October. These fish average 8-20lbs and are very plentiful these days due to a mis-directed DFO initiative in which hatchery chinook production has been massively increased to “save the whales”. While this program isn’t helping the whales at all, it is resulting in simply outrageous numbers of chinook in the C/V system- so many that they can become a nuisance at times. I’m expecting this to be another excellent year for fall chinook in the C/V, so make sure your gear is up to the task of turning these big, angry things.
The coho typically start to arrive around the second week of September, with fishing picking up in mid-late September and tapering off in late-October. These fish average 4-8lbs and are also very plentiful due to heavy hatchery production. In fact, they are so plentiful that the hatchery is scaling back their coho production due to an over-abundance of adult coho in the system; we should start to see the effects of this reduction in production next year. I’m expecting this to be a great year for coho in the C/V, as usual.
The chum normally start to show up around the third/fourth week of September, with their numbers picking up in the first week of September and tapering off in late October. It’s worth noting that there is a small run of “Blackheads” that show up in early November and stick around until early December. The chum runs in the valley have been very poor over the past few years, and this year is forecasted to be the same- as such, I’m expecting a poor chum season with no retention opportunities in the C/V.
The Stave
The Stave is home to oho, chum and a relatively small run of pinks- again, this isn’t a pink year, so the coho and chum will be the backbone of the fall fishery. It’s worth noting that the Stave has not been a chinook-bearing stream since the dam was completed in 1930. Having said that, there have been more than a few chinook caught in the Stave over the past few years; probably some lost fish from the C/V or other local systems. Perhaps they’ll establish a natural population over time, who knows.
The coho start showing up around the third week of September, with fishing picking up in early October and tapering off around mid-November. The Stave isn’t usually seen as a good coho fishery due to the historic abundance of chum, which used to crowd out the coho and make targeting the coho a challenge. The unfortunate collapse of the chum fishery over the past few years has resulted in better coho fishing due to the reduced competition for space. I’m expecting a good coho season in the Stave, due to the poor chum return that is being forecasted.
The chum typically start showing up around the first/second week of October, with the fishing picking up in mid-October and tapering off around mid-November. As mentioned above, the Stave chum run has been in very poor shape lately, due to a combination of poor ocean survival rates and, quite frankly, the extreme amount of poaching that happens in the Stave. Needless to say, I’m expecting an abysmal chum season for the Stave with no retention opportunities. I hope I’m wrong.
The Harrison
The Harrison, much like the C/V, is home to every species of salmon in North America. The main attractions during the fall season are the chinook, coho and chum, though the system is home to a significant fall-run of sockeye. These sockeye may not be retained or targeted, so proper identification of your catch is essential. Also like the C/V, the Harrison has fallen victim to low water levels over the past few years, which have made the fishing a lot tougher.
The chinook usually start showing up around the last week of September, with numbers increasing through late September and tapering off around late October. Unfortunately, the Harrison white chinook have been doing rather poorly over the past few years, mostly due to poor survival rates in both salt and freshwater. Surprisingly, last year was one of the best in recent years, so there is some hope for the Harrison whites, though I’m not expecting any retention or targeting opportunities for Harrison chinook this year.
The coho normally start showing up in late September, with the fishing picking up around mid-October and tapering off sometime in mid/late November. The coho numbers in the Harrison system are usually quite good, the issue is that the Harrison is a large river that can be tough to fish, especially if you don’t have access to a boat. With there being an aggressive hatchery program for coho on the Chehalis, I’m expecting this to be another good year for coho in the Harrison.
The chum normally start arriving in early October, with the fishing picking up in mid-October and tapering off in early/mid-November. Much like the Stave and C/V systems, the chum forecast for this year is not looking good, mostly due to poor ocean survival rates for chum over the past few years. As such, I’m not expecting any opportunities for targeting or retaining chum in the Harrison this year.
The main takeaway from the above should be this:
- I’m expecting good to excellent chinook returns to the systems that support them, especially the C/V.
- Coho fishing should be very good to excellent on the systems that have hatchery programs.
- The chum forecast is poor to abysmal, so I’m not expecting opportunities for targeting or retention of these fish.
So, in short, this should be another great fall season in the Valley, and the “La Niña” has the potential to ease the low/clear water conditions that I’ve been aggressively complaining about for the past two years. I’ll be unbelievably happy if we get a fall season with “average” water levels- not too high, not too low. Obviously, this is a lot to ask for, but a man can dream.
There are other systems in the Valley that support significant runs of salmon and are open for salmon fishing, but I’ll stick to talking about these three for now. As a general rule, the systems on the north side of the Fraser have salmon runs that start and end a bit later than the systems on the south side of the Fraser; this is especially true with coho. As always, be sure to check and double-check the regs on the specific system that you are going to fish, as the rules will usually vary from one system to another, and in-season changes are not uncommon. It’s an angler’s responsibility to make sure they are aware of and are following the rules, and the fines for being in contravention of the rules have increased a fair bit recently. Remember to stay safe, have fun, respect the resource and fish ethically!
Taylor Nakatani
Trout Stream Update
Fall is one of our favorite times to hit the river trout fisheries. It is not Fall yet but after this storm passes, I expect the cooler weather to stimulate some more intense hatches.
When it comes to the Skagit, keep an eye out for Green Drakes and Spruce Moths. An elk hair classic is a perfect imitation. Bull trout fishing will slow down as they pod up and start thinking about spawning in the Fall, but the rainbows should be hungry over the next week as long as you can dodge the weather. Sunday into Wednesday looks good for things settling and getting good.
If you head out send in the reports and if you missed this fishery this summer, remember that September is one of the most fun months to get out.
Matt Sharp
Capilano Update
The beach was busy this week with many anglers looking to capitalize on the schools of fish in the salt. Results were mixed with a few fly and gear anglers taking home fish. It seems that fish have been encountered in deeper water. This is common on hot stretches as fish opt to stay in the deeper cool water and not the warmer shallows. We have some rain in the forecast that should shake things up for the river.
Gear anglers can be confident fishing spinners, buzz bombs, spoons, zingers, and hoochie/spinner combos. I also like to throw the odd new presentation in the mix. Try using the small hoochie/smile blade combo from Mack lures. This is usually a Kokanee lure but works for coho. It’s a great smaller presentation when fished behind an egg weight for distance.
Fly anglers have picked fish up on Andres flies, rolled muddlers, and smaller pink flies. We have a great selection of new beach flies in for anglers looking to re-stock the fly box. If you find yourself casting to deeper water, try using a sinking tip or intermediate sink line to get down deeper. Aggressive sinking tips and larger flies dredged in the deeper water will be needed to temp those elusive beach springs.
At time of writing this we have an estimated 30mm of rain set to hit the North Shore. I do not expect the dam to open. I expect the water to cloud a little and offer some cover to traveling fish. This should move a good number of fish upriver. In my experience, these fish move fast, but if you intercept a pod the fishing can be excellent. The river won’t be up so lighter density sinking lines are popular along with smaller spinners and spoon offerings.
After the rain we have some good morning tides through the rest of the week. Expect the beach to gradually improve with the better tides and fish schooling up in the estuary after the river settles. There will be some busy spots on the water this week so give space to your fellow anglers and remember to leave your fishing location cleaner than when you found it.
Eric Peake
SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
On our shorter trips we have been fishing from Point Atkinson down to the Capilano Mouth, as this area is open for chinook retention (see regs for 28-6 and 28-9). This is a dynamic fishery that changes tide by tide and as one would expect some tides have been more productive than others. Things should be a more consistent this coming week as we are now right in peak migration of summer chinook into the Fraser. Hopefully more fish get pushed over to West Van on the flood tides this weekend and next week, resulting in some nice chinook catches!
It won’t be long now until the Fraser Mouth opens for 2 chinook a day! September 1st the chinook regulation will change back to 2 chinook salmon per day, 62cm or greater, hatchery or wild. This fishery is a lot of fun as the chinook are shallow (often 35-65 on the downriggers), there are lots of them, and there are some big ones around!
Each year there are multiple Tyees (a chinook over 30 pounds) caught in this fishery, usually around mid-September when the big “white” chinook show up that are headed to the Chilliwack and Harrison rivers. These chinook have white flesh, hence the name “white spring” vs the “red springs” that we catch early in the year that have a reddish-orange flesh colour. Whatever you call them, chinook, spring, reds, whites, there are lots of them around in September, so get ready for opening day!
On our longer trips we have been heading over to Gabriola and Entrance Island and the fishing has been great. These productive waters always fish well all of August with lots of chinook, coho, and lingcod. This July and August has not disappointed, with excellent catches all summer long. Sometimes we keep fishing here even September, even though the Fraser Mouth is open, because it is just that good!
If you are looking to head out on one of our charters, give us a call at 778-788-8582 to book your trip.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli
