OUTLOOK
We have another great looking weekend incoming! With temps in the low to mid 20s and a little bit of cloud, it should be perfect to get out.
It’s funny; we feel a little like a broken record with a number of our fisheries. “The fishing is great, get out and enjoy it!”, has been a consistent trend this season. This week this trend continues for the saltwater fishing and the river trout fishing.
On the river trout fishing front, river levels are still at a good height and are fishing well. On the saltwater front, Jake has an update because though the fishing continues to be excellent, with regulation changes we are focusing on some slightly different spots to be able to target chinook a bit closer to home.
On the beach fishing front, we were really hoping beach fishing would light up early and while it is decent fishing and well worth getting out, it is still challenging many that head out. With all the coho in the local waters this could change at any time so check out Eric’s report and keep hitting the water. It could turn on tomorrow!
For those looking for a report a report on the Chilliwack, we don’t have one this week. The summer chinook fishing has slowed right down but we expect things to start picking back up around the end of the month into the first week in September. We will tune in more then on this fishery.
Another fishery that is fun this time of year that we haven’t talked about much this season is bass fishing. In the middle of August, it is more a morning and evening focused fishery but running top waters on many of our local ponds and sloughs is very product and super exciting. This week Taylor has an overview of what you need and how to tackle top water bass fishing around Vancouver.
On to the Report!
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
STILLWATER FISHING REPORTS
Top Water Bass Fishing In Vancouver
With trout fishing in the local stocked lakes being poor due to the high water temps, you may be wondering what you can do to kill the time while waiting for the fall salmon or trout seasons to kick off. Bass are a great option if you don’t want to go far, and mid-summer is one of the best times to target bass with the most exciting lures possible – topwaters.
For the uninitiated, topwaters are lures that float on top of the water- big surprise, huh? There are several different styles of topwater, including frogs, poppers, walkers, darters, prop baits and crawlers; all are designed to make fish come up and eat the lure on the surface. Topwater strikes are often extremely explosive, and it’s my humble opinion that a topwater blow-up is one of the most exciting things an angler can see.
The two most used types of topwater for our local fisheries are frogs and poppers- they’re easy to find in stores and straightforward to use, while being very effective under the right circumstances.
Frogs are designed to look like -you guessed it- a frog and are usually most effective when used to mimic the natural movements of a real frog. Most frog lures are weedless in nature and can be used to aggressively fish heavy cover; I’ve had the best luck by pitching them on top of cover such as lilly pads, logs or even docks and “hopping” them off of said structure, just like a frog jumping into the water. If a fish doesn’t murder the lure within a few seconds of it plopping into the water, I’ll start to make it “swim” like a frog; moving it along in somewhat jerky movements- you’re trying to imitate a frog, so make it move like a frog. The tricky thing with frogs isn’t getting a bite, it’s setting the hook when you get a bite… you’ll have to resist the urge to set the hook instantly, as you’ll almost always yank the lure out of the fish’s mouth- rather, you need to wait for the fish to turn and close its mouth before setting the hook. I usually wait 2-4 seconds, which is an agonizingly long time after such an exciting bite. The unfortunate thing about frogs is that your bite-hookup and hookup-landed fish ratios are likely to be rather poor, as missed hook-sets and poor hookups are quite common due to the nature of their weedless hooks. I lose a ton of fish on frogs, and you probably will too… even if you do everything right.
Poppers usually aren’t designed to imitate any one particular thing; but rather serve as an aggressive attractor. They may be painted to resemble frogs, baitfish, or in fluorescent, attention-getting colours. They are usually not weedless and are thus not very well suited to fishing heavy cover- I use them to cover the edges of weedlines, near structure or even in open water. Since a popper doesn’t really imitate anything, you have the liberty of fishing them however you want- you can swim ’em, chug ’em or pop ’em, whatever makes you happy. You often get much better hookups with poppers, and hooked fish usually don’t pop off for no reason like they do with frogs, so they are definitely more user-friendly… just don’t fish ‘em in heavy cover.
Topwaters fish best when water temps get near or above 16°, which is pretty much all summer in our local ponds. They generally perform best during mornings, evenings or on cloudy days; ideally when the sun isn’t directly on the water or during lower-light times of day. Having said that, they can perform well under direct sunlight on bright days as well.
Topwater Bass fishing is, as I’ve opined, one of the most exciting ways to fish; probably the single most exciting type of fishing in our local lakes, I think. It may not always be the most effective way to target bass, and you’ll probably miss/lose a ton of fish if you use a frog, but who cares? That topwater blow-up is always worth it. Largemouth Bass don’t fight especially well, and the blowup is the best part of the fight, so landing fish is just a bonus for me.
Taylor Nakatani
SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
Week one of August is in the books and we’ve got some intel from what the guide team has been seeing locally and across the Strait thus far.
As of August 1st, area 28-6 opened to chinook retention for 1 fish between 62cm and 80cm. This fishery has always had a habit of being a bit temperamental at first but begins to heat up as the month progresses with more Fraser and Capilano fish showing up. So far, it’s had a decent start! Chinook have been found in primarily the 55ft to 65ft section of the water column, and it’s been a relatively even split between bait and spoons/hoochies. Hatchery coho have also been found in the mix. If you’re marking bait and fish down on bottom, don’t be afraid to drop it there. Although these chinook are often higher up in this area, some feeder, or winter chinook as we call them, are still out there chasing bait around the harbour.
South Bowen seemed to have a bit of a lull in the past couple weeks, but recent reports are showing the coho are still around, just not quite spoiling us the way they did back in June and July. If you’re willing to put in the time and work the tide swings you are likely to run into a snap bite or two as a school passes through. If you’re finding it to be slow, experiment with the depth of water you’re in. Moving out towards 700 to 1000 feet of water can often be the difference maker. Remember, troll fast, troll high, and make it flashy!
The Gulf Islands have continued to do what the Gulf Islands do best: produce. Plenty of chinook are being found at entrance with the odd coho being caught down deep. Thrasher Rock has been producing solid numbers of hatchery coho as well as some chinook higher up in the water column.
The bottom fishing has continued to impress with some decent lingcod being trolled up on salmon gear while looking for chinook down deep in the trench!
Insert bottom lingcod photo. Caption “A nice lingcod caught on a Gibbs Power Paddle.”
Jake Comrie
Capilano Update!
The beach had some decent action this week. Reports were solid with ardent anglers grinding out fish on the tide changes. If you make the effort, you will eventually be rewarded.
Timing is everything and we have some good low tides coming up in the next few days. We are also looking at a small break in the warm weather, possibly rain on Monday. This should offer anglers cover and stretch that golden hour bite. Fish can be encountered all along the beach especially when fishing the change. Look for pods in the canal, lagoon, along the outer sand bar, and rock jetty. When the water is up, expect to find fish close to shore. As it drains out, I usually move out with it.
The most productive method has been spinners and spinner/hoochie combos. Buzz bombs and zingers continue to take a number of fish in the salt as well. Have some decent fluorocarbon leader material on hand and “confidence check” your gear often. I recommend having a few presentation sizes on hand. I fish small spoons and spinners when I anticipate fish moving close to shore and cast larger heavy lures a mile offshore during low slack. You can also rig up pencil lead or egg weights in fronts of lighter gear to gain extra distance. To that, note: The use of braided main lines over mono can also make a significant difference.
Fly anglers are getting in on the action too. As I mentioned above, fish move surprisingly close to shore during the change. I prefer to stalk for fish and intercept a moving pod. For this I keep my fly in my hand and have a plenty of running line ready in my stripping basket. I make a few blind casts as I walk the beach, but I want to see the fish and cast to them. Shooting head style lines excel at this. They load quickly and require few false casts for decent distance. Another popular method is setting up in deep water traveling lanes. Fish will move in and out along the bank where it drops off. Wade out just enough that you are casting to the deeper water. Make long casts and cover the water in-front of you. Try different retrieves and flies. You will wade deeper as the tide moves out. I like longer lines here as it gives control at distance and a more relaxed casting tempo.
A little something for the river folk. The Monday rain might help the sleep deprived Capilano angler. Some rain adds colour to the water and may even relax the notoriously lock jawed canyon fish. The river is low, low, low so keep those presentations small. A reminder that the bait ban is now in effect. This included natural baits, scents, and scented plastics.
Be sure to thoroughly rinse clean your gear at the end of the day and pack out everything you brought down to the shore. Good luck out there!
Eric Peake
