OUTLOOK
Happy November! Where did October go? In this week’s report we touch on all our major local fisheries from the Chilliwack/Vedder, Harrison, Capilano and Squamish. Taylor also has a special feature on how to target chum salmon so, if you are looking to take advantage of recent openings, be sure to have a read of his article below.
If you are heading out this weekend, we, as always, recommend you check your regulations! There have been updates to last week’s notices on chum and coho openings which have put gear restrictions in place. Links to those notices released last night are here:
We also have a BC Interior Lake fishing report where Jason talks some productive late Fall lake fishing tactics. That said, your biggest challenge for this fishery is if you are coming from the Lower Mainland and, no doubt, will be navigating early winter road conditions!
For those thinking saltwater, our local winter chinook fishing is off to a great start so keep an eye on the weather and get out there!
Finally, we still have a few spots in Matt’s upcoming Fly Fishing Egg Patterns course. Be sure to grab your seat in this class as it sells out every year.
CLASSES AND COURSES
Fly Fishing Egg Patterns
This course is designed to teach you the secrets to one of the most productive presentations in the BC fly fishermen’s arsenal; nymphing egg patterns. This deadly method can be used for different species of trout, char, and salmon. During a 3 hour evening seminar we will teach you key concepts, strategies, and gear that will give you a well-rounded foundation during the seminar portion of the class. Then you will put those skills into practice during a fully guided day on the water.
Dates:
Seminar: Nov 20, 2024
Guided: Nov 23 or 24, 2024
Seminar Only Cost: $75.00+GST
Seminar & Guided Walk’n Wade Cost: $325.00+GST
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Guided: Full Day
INDUSTRY EVENTS AND UPDATES
Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia – Policy Conference and Big Splash Gala and Fundraiser
The SFI is hosting their Annual Conference - This year’s theme is Selective and Sustainable and our Big Splash Gala and Fundraiser on November 29th, 2024. Early Bird tickets are available until November 1st at midnight! To purchase tickets please click on the purchase ticket link or call the SFI office at 604-946-0734.
Here is a bit more info on the SFI and the gala/conference this year and how you can participate and support the important work of the SFI:
“The Sport Fishing Institute of BC is a non-profit organization established in the early 1980’s and is dedicated to promoting, enhancing, and protecting sustainable sport fishing opportunities in BC. Our Vision: that British Columbia sport fishing be known as a world leader in quality of experience and opportunity, providing the broadest range of social and economic benefits.
BC’s public fishery is almost continually impacted by changes to opportunity and access. Looking ahead, there is much work to do. Without the ceaseless efforts of the SFI and your support over the years, public access to sustainable fisheries would look very different than they do today. In addition to continuous efforts to make the social and economic benefits and values of the recreational fishery known to the government and the public, the SFI addresses emerging and ongoing issues that affect the community and fisheries. Challenges with reliable access to sustainable fisheries opportunity have caused significant impacts for BC’s public fishery over the years and require continued attention and focus.
Please help us raise funds to support and protect sustainable opportunities for BC’s sport fishing community by participating in the SFI Big Splash Online Auction. Auction items are available for preview, and items are being uploaded frequently, please check back often!
Please attend to support sport fishing in BC, and to meet with like-minded friends and colleagues. We encourage you to get tickets early and while they are still available. All ticket sales will be closed on Friday, November 15, 2024. Conference registration opens at 9:30am on November 29th and doors open for the Splash Gala at 5:30pm. For questions, or to purchase tickets directly, please call 604.946.0734 or email us at info@sportfishing.bc.ca”
FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
Chilliwack/Vedder River Fishing Report
The past week has seen a lot of scattered precipitation, so the C/V system has been running a bit on the higher side. As was predicted in a previous report, the clay slides were destabilised by the atmospheric river, so precipitation has usually been accompanied by an abrupt, sharp decline in visibility. I’m writing this report on Thursday the 31st, and water levels and viz are actually very nice as of this moment… but having said that, there’s a reasonable amount of rain in the forecast for Friday and Saturday, so there’s a chance that the river might not be in the greatest shape for the weekend. As always, be sure to check the water levels and weather forecasts before you head out and use that data to determine if it’s worth the drive or not.
There are still a ton of chum around, which is likely to be the case until the second or third week of November; fishing for them has been very good when the conditions have been favorable. Coho numbers are still quite strong, though they’re tapering off now- as is to be expected for November. The chinook are pretty much gone at this point; there are a few dark fish in the upper that may be encountered and very few fresh ones still motoring through the system, so it’s not unreasonable to expect to catch one at this point.
Taylor Nakatani
Squamish River Fishing Report
The rivers up the Sea to Sky corridor this past week have seen some interesting changes. So far in October, we’ve experienced some heavy rainfall accompanied by consistently high freezing levels which hasn’t done the angler many favours when it comes to water visibility. We saw some dramatic spikes in water this past weekend that walked the fine line between being fishable and blowing out. Despite the high levels and less than ideal visibility, the fishing has remained consistent with healthy numbers of coho being found throughout all the systems.
With the muddier water, anglers have been finding success with larger, attention-grabbing tackle. If you’re fly fishing, this means big, flashy and bright streamer style patterns, and for gear, some flashier spoons and spinners with bright colours such as chartreuse or red/orange. When the water gets challenging like it has been, making some noise down there can be the difference maker. For fly fishing, strip those flies hard!
Giving some more aggressive action to your fly can be the key when they aren’t going to be able to see it as well. As for where to target them, you must experiment a bit with your spots since the fish can vacate certain areas in a hurry when the water rises or drops. Coho for the most part enjoy their calm, “frog water”. Anywhere you see a nice slow corner or a cut off from the main flow, there is a high likelihood of encountering a coho there looking to get out of the heavy current.
A reminder that chum salmon is open to catch and release angling now in the lower portion of the river. As always, make sure to double check the regulations so you’re fishing within the opening boundary, and treat these fish with as much care and respect as possible while handling. Chum are a lot of fun to catch and are one hard fighting fish. They are a great way to get some practice with playing a larger, powerful fish on various gear setups. Purple and pink is the go-to for these salmon, and they aren’t too picky about lure or fly size.
The outlook for the next week is looking pretty good on the weather side of things. The river has settled below 3 meters, and the visibility has cleared up a lot from the brown water that we’ve been seeing. There is a bit of rain in the forecast but nothing like what we have seen in previous weeks so levels should hold steady. This being said, you’ll likely have to adapt your gear to the new conditions. As clarity improves, flies will have to get smaller to be more effective and leader length may have to increase as well. The typical go-to fly size for coho when the visibility improves is 6-10. My favourite flies are the Poison Arrow and California Neil in various colours. If they are tighter lipped than usual, try some darker colours such as olive, brown, and black. As always, stay safe and be cautious when walking the river. Nearly lost my boots last week to some nasty quicksand.
Tight Lines!
Jake Comrie
Harrison River Fishing Report
The Harrison has seen a significant increase in coho and chum numbers over the past little while, with this upcoming week showing no signs of slowing down.
Tributaries to the Harrison, along with its various side and back-channels have been productive for both fly and gear anglers, with a variety of lures and flies finding fish.
This weekend’s weather will have an impact on river conditions, so please use caution when setting out; either on foot or boat.
With higher and dirtier water, anglers will want to try their hand with larger and more ostentatious offerings such as Koho 55’s, or larger-profile swing or strip flies.
If angling in larger, sweeping sections of a river (usually lower down in a system), swinging large spoons and spinners such as Blue Fox #5’s and Koho 65’s on your longer float rods can result in thunderous and aggressive takes. Keeping your rod tip high, sweep and swing your spoon down and across the river, slowly lowering your tip as you complete your swing. You’ll feel the lures ‘thumping’ as they work their magic. Hang on and remember to set diagonally upwards downstream towards shore with a smooth pace: this should ensure that the hook sets upwards and firm.
If slower and more docile water is found, sparse flies and small lures should be reached for, with smaller more natural colours being selected. Don’t be scared to toss your smaller trout-sized Rooster Tails and Meps in these conditions as well.
If targeting chum, short-floating jigs is common practice, with anglers usually finding success on slower-moving seams. Chum will often show themselves as they ‘porpoise’ upriver. Most anglers will use heavier leaders and tippets when targeting these fish as to help put the gears to them and retire them quickly and safely.
Remember that your basic freshwater license allows you to angle for salmon- not retain. For harvesting privileges, one will want to purchase the additional Conservation Surcharge stamp found at the same website where licenses are purchased (www.gofishbc.com).
The Fly Thai-er,
Jordan Simpson
Capilano River Fishing Report
The Capilano is past its peek for its salmon run but is still holding decent water levels and has fish moving about. Most chinook found will be coloured and in full spawn mode, but fresh coho can still be found throughout the river. We had a surprisingly long season last year so here’s hoping the river holds for a little longer.
With the calendar change to November the bait ban on the Cap is lifted. Roe, shrimp, and prawns can be deadly for late running fish. We have all the pro-cures to brine and colour your baits effectively for the Fall. Spoons, spinners, and twitching jigs will still find fish in slower water where the float won’t drift.
Water levels are still decent for fly fishing. We just had a re-stock on Andre’s flies… these are excellent to fool the picky Capilano fish. Try full sink lines in the upper pools or sink tips around the lower sections.
Keep an eye on the water levels this is the time of year. Heavy rains or dam releases can swell the river making some areas inaccessible. Remember to practice your best fish handling skills when releasing coloured or wild fish.
Cheers,
Eric Peake
SPECIAL FEATURE
How to Target Chum Salmon
With chum being open to retention in many of the Lower Mainland river systems, there are plenty of opportunities to get out there and target them… but how should you go about doing that?
First things first, flossing/snagging is not the answer. Of course, flossing/snagging is never the answer, but it is especially not when targeting chum. Let me set the record straight right now: Chum are very aggressive fish and are extremely willing biters, if you target them with the correct gear. There is simply no logical reason to snag chum, end of story… especially considering how easy it is to make them bite!
Chum are not known to be fond of chasing and attacking retrieved lures such as spoons, spinners or twitching jigs- though they can and will, from time to time. The single best way to target them is to short-float a jig… simple as that. For the uninitiated, short-floating is simply setting your float in such a way as to keep your gear well away from the bottom- so, if I’m fishing an 8-foot deep run, I’d start by setting my total depth (from float to jig) somewhere around 4 feet. This is going to be counter-intuitive if you’ve gotten used to float-fishing other gear (such as beads, yarn or bait), but I promise it works.
Here’s why short-floating for chum is beneficial:
- You’ll pretty much never snag bottom, so you won’t lose much gear.
- Salmon always look up, not down. As mentioned above, chum are very aggressive and are more than willing to swim up to attack something that they’ve spotted above them.
- Chum have a tendency to suspend in the water column, so lures fished close to bottom will often run below them. Again, salmon look up, not down!
- Short-floating keeps your hook above the fish, so you won’t be snagging fish.
- The dark, moldy old boots tend to sit on or very near bottom, so keeping your gear well above them will minimize your chances of encountering the nasty ones.
Jigs are the best option when short-floating for chum. I’ve experimented with beads, blades, pink worms, yarn, gooey bobs and bait, and the jigs have consistently worked best… even better than bait, though tipping your jig with a small chunk of cured prawn can be absolutely deadly. Specifically, I’ve found any combination of pink, purple, black and/or blue to be the best colours, though I’ve had luck with pretty much any colour you could think of. Small or large jigs can be used, depending on conditions- I’ve used twitching jigs under a float to great success in the past. The technique is simple, all you have to do is cast your setup out there and let it drift with the current unimpeded- no need to give it any action. Since this is just float fishing, a 10’-11’6” medium or medium-heavy centerpin or baitcaster setup will work best, though an 8’6” or longer spinning setup will usually get the job done just fine. Chum are large, strong fish, so beefing your gear up a bit is a good idea.
Many people consider chum to be “junk fish” that are “sub-par” table fare; this is an unfair assessment that is only true if a dark fish is retained. I generally use the colour of the fish’s belly as an indicator of its condition; if the belly is still white, the flesh will be fine. If the belly is grey or black, the fish is past its prime and should probably be released. Wasting a fish that you’ve retained is exceedingly lame, so make sure you’re doing your best to use a fish should you chose to retain it- harvesting a fish for roe and wasting the meat is both unethical and illegal. I’ve made a wide variety of dishes with chum, including Teriyaki Salmon, fish n’ chips, fish cakes, fish tacos and, of course, smoked Salmon; all have been delicious. Anybody that says “Chum don’t taste good” is just a crappy chef!
It’s my humble opinion that fishing for chum is one of the most fun things you can do with a fishing rod- they’re big, strong, easy to catch and the action is often non-stop on a good year. It’s a very simple kind of fishing; you don’t really need to try especially hard… you can just relax, watch your float go down repeatedly and catch a bunch of fish. Because it’s so easy, chum fishing is very beginner-friendly, so now is the perfect time to introduce a newbie to the sport and show them how amazing our local fishing opportunities can be.
Taylor Nakatani
STILLWATER FISHING REPORTS
BC Interior Lake Fishing Report
November 1st and we are well into the Fall lake fishing season. The water temps are in the 40’s on most lakes or even sub 40 on some, with some ice forming on the edges of the higher elevation lakes.
The fish are in the shallows right now and are looking to put on the feed bag and pack on some pounds before the lakes lock up for the winter. In general, from the shoreline out to around 10 feet and along those weed lines is where the fish are going to be.
Productive tactics will vary a lot, but I like to use one indicator rod and retrieve a fly with the other. On the bobber rod I will hang blobs, leeches, baby damsels, scuds, and suggestive patterns that could be any of the last 3 I just mentioned. Static or wind drift both work well. On my other rod I am usually fishing a clear intermediate or slow sink line and will be retrieving scuds, leeches, or boobies. Line choice can change depending on desired depth and speed of retrieve, so if you are ripping a booby, you may need the type 6 or 7.
If you aren’t catching fish or seeing a few roll, best to move after 30 minutes of bobbers out and retrieving. We know the zone the fish are in this time of year and they want to eat, so move until you find the feeders. If you have forward facing sonar you have a huge advantage in this regard.
The real problem now is the highways and the weather. This fishing is good, but can you get to the Interior safely and in an efficient amount of time? The answer is yes, if you keep an eye on things and can be flexible on which days you fish. I hope to get out on some of the bigger, lower elevation lakes that can fish well right into December. Standing by for that weather window at the moment.
Good luck out there, still some a few of the best weeks of the year for shallow water hogs going on right now!
Jason Tonelli
SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Winter Salmon Fishing Report
Yes, I put the word winter in the report as we are officially switching gears into winter chinook mode now that it is November 1st. Even though winter doesn’t officially start until Dec 21st, as far as we are concerned it starts right now with winter chinook fishing!
If you are a regular reader of this report, you will know that the past few years the winter or feeder chinook fishing in local waters has been exceptional. We have been poking around the last few weeks and so far, so good with some nice fish around already.
Last November was very productive for winter chinook and I think this one will be also, so if you are looking for the best eating fish and some prawns, now is a great time to book trip!
Give us a call at 778-788-8582 to book your winter chinook and prawn trip today!
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli
