OUTLOOK
The Salmon are coming and with them our Fall Salmon Sale! Next Friday through Sunday you will be able to outfit yourself for fall fishing with some amazing in store deals. If you’re on Facebook or Instagram don’t miss out on our great pre-sale giveaway. The giveaway is your chance to win a custom 3106 Sage Trigger rod OR a New Sage Pulse 890-4 Fly rod. All you have to do is ‘like’ our Pacific Angler Facebook and Istagram pages and share the post about the giveaway and you are entered. It’s really that easy! More details about next week’s Fall Salmon Sale are in the sale section of this week’s report.
Now lets talk fishing and more news on the salmon. The Vedder is already getting fish and last weekend we heard of a number of coho being caught. It is still early but now is the time to get out scouting and the chances of hooking a coho are very high. Check out Alex’s report for more details!
The Skagit is still fishing well and Matt Is heading up this weekend. Check out what he is expecting and make sure to tune into next week’s report for details from his trip.
Lake fishing is really getting going in the interior and lots of customers and friends are heading out. This is an awesome time to hit the lakes. Andre has some info on that front in the lake section.
Capilano and the beach has had some positive reports so don’t forget about them and lastly fall sturgeon season is getting going and some of the best fishing of the season is just around the corner. Check out Sam’s details on what to expect over the next few months.
Saltwater fishing was a slog this last week. Fish are showing up off the Cap but it looks as though most of the red springs have moved through and the white springs have not show up yet at Sandheads. There have been a few moments of brilliance and any day we could see hot fishing at Sandheads but it didn’t happen this week. Our saltwater report will have a full overview for you.
Good luck and see you next week at the sale!
FALL SALMON SALE
The Fall Salmon Sale is officially ONE WEEK AWAY! Be sure to save some time next weekend to visit the shop to stock up for all of your fall fishing needs. There will be amazing deals in every department. Friday Fishing Report subscribers will be the first to receive the full sale list in their inbox on September 14. If you’re reading this on our blog and would like the full sale list sent directly to you be sure to sign up for the weekly report here.
Sale Dates + Hours:
Friday September 16 – 10AM to 7PM
Saturday September 17 – 10AM to 6PM
Sunday September 18 – 10AM to 5PM
CLASSES AND COURSES
Sign up for our fall classes today!
Fall Salmon River Fishing 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 Only Cost: $45.00
Date:September 19
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 course was specifically designed to give you the fundamental skills needed to tie prone fly patters used here in BC for trout, salmon and steelhead. This course consists of 3 sessions; each season is 3 hours. Students are required to supply their own vice, looks and materials. A 10% discount is available on materials and tools purchased for the course.
Dates: September 20, 27 and October 4
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Cost: $75.00
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.
Dates: Seminar September 21, Casting September 24
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Casting Time: 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm
Cost: $125.00
FRESHWATER REPORTS
Vedder River Fishing Report
The Vedder is extremely low and clear, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping the first group of fish from coming up the river. We have heard a few reports of coho salmon being caught as well as a handful of them showing up in the hatchery! In saying that, it is still early for these fish so do not expect large numbers of them, but if you put in the time you will possibly be rewarded. Things have been quiet on the chinook front but expect them to roll in with force very soon as well.
Drifting roe is a popular and effective method for targeting both early coho and chinook, but casting spoons and spinners is also a viable option in the right water. Good bets for lures are 1/4-3/8oz Gibbs Crocs and Blue Fox Vibrax spinners. If you want to target springs, try larger versions of the aforementioned lures or spoons with a more prominent profile like a Gibbs Kitimat Spoon or the Gibbs K4 Wobbler. For the fly anglers, fishing flash flies, muddler minnows, or Coho buggers on a sink-tip or intermediate line are good bets and can be deadly in the current low conditions when a finesse presentation is sometimes needed.
If you are heading out this week, focus on the lower section of the river and start at first light. Salmon in low-light conditions are more willing to strike, thus presenting a prime opportunity for you to hook them. Any section with pools, walking speed water and/or frog water is prime holding water for these fish so be sure to cover these sections more thoroughly.
I should also note that while it is late for this particular run, there are still sockeye salmon in the system so please handle them with care. While out on the river this week I came across a small school of chrome ones and briefly had one on the line. It is also extremely important to know that the Cultus Lake strain of Sockeye, which are endangered, travels through the lower stretches of the river below the Vedder Crossing and can be identified by the lack of an adipose fin (clipped). This can sometimes be confusing to some anglers as adipose-clipped coho salmon can be retained, so if you do hook a hatchery-marked fish in the lower river it would be a good idea to double check that it is indeed a coho salmon before keeping it.
See you out there,
Alex
Capilano River Fishing Report
With the rain we received last week there was a significant bump in the water levels on the Capilano River, spurring a few fresh fish to move up. Keeping with the strange patterns we have been observing this year, there were not as many fish being reported than we would have expected. Success rate did increase though, resulting in a number of happy anglers. While the water has since receded there are still opportunities to catch coho. Blue and orange Blue Fox Vibrax spinners were the key to a good portion of those being caught as well as Gibbs Croc and Koho spoons. Twitching blue/black jigs or fly fishing with wooly buggers and muddlers minnows can be good ideas too.
In the very near future chinook salmon will arrive in numbers at the Capilano, and there are a couple of recommendations for those that wish to target these big fish. Casting and swinging a large-bodied spoon such as a Gibbs K3 or K4 Wobbler can be deadly. Alternatively, drifting with non-scented artificial egg patterns like a gooey bob or a single egg with white wool can entice these egg-eaters even during a bait ban, which is in effect until October 31st.
Alex
Fraser River Sturgeon Fishing Report
Sturgeon Fishing has been good from Richmond through to Chilliwack and there have been some big fish around too. With the presence of salmon in the river the bite has definitely been on salmon parts but sometimes fish are finicky so having a selection of bait such as lamprey, dew worms, and salmon roe is recommended. This fishery will continue to produce throughout the fall. We have a full selection of sturgeon tackle as well as bait so come by the shop to stock up and get the latest reports.
Sam
Skagit River Fishing Report
I am heading up this weekend and looking forward to the beak and hopefully some solid trout fishing. The weather is a little unstable but with temperatures rising and some sun mixed in with the cloud I am optimistic that is will be a good weekend. Next week does look great with warmer weather showing up Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday but as a new member to the weekend warriors club I will take what I can get on Saturday.
As always I will be bringing 3 rods, a 3wt dry fly rod, a 9ft6 4wt for nymphing and a 5-6 for swinging bulltrout patterns. For lines I like to run Rio Trout LT on the 3wt, a Rio Gold on the 4wt and a commando head on the 5/6.
We are still hearing reports of green mayflies coming off, as well as larger grey drakes and the usual small grey mayflies. We also had some customers fishing small black dry flies with good success. As I say every week there is no one hot fly. Every day is a little different and this is what I like about the Skagit. You will need to search, hike and experiment. Over a few trips, a few seasons or even better a few decades you will build a diverse selection of “favorite” flies that you can apply to different situations. For me the standards are a prince nymph variant, small golden stone, double bead hare’s ear, and an olive small stonefly nymph. For dries I fishing a large grey drake, small grey mayfly, a very small dark dry fly, finally a very small yellow caddis pattern and if all else fails an orange or yellow stimulator.
Good luck and tune in next week for some pictures (hopefully) and more details from my trip.
Matt
STILLWATER REPORTS
Interior Lake Fishing Report
I had some good reports from customers fishing at Douglas Lake ranch and it seems like the summer doldrums have come to an end sooner this year because of cooler temperatures.
With the cooler weather, the fish have started to move into the shallows and feed heavily in preparation for winter. It seems to be a bit of a smorgasbord right now with fish being taken on leeches, chironomids, dragonfly nymphs and various other flies without keying in on one thing in particular. You might hit a slight chironomid hatch at a certain temperature for a bit but leeches suspended a couple feet under an indicator seemed to produce the best results. A few were taken on chromies and some large bugs were hatching periodically through the day.
These fish will easily snap off 8lb leaders, as the takes are very aggressive. Fall fishing is into full swing and now is the time to get up to the interior. Keep a variety of flies in your box and keep your eye on the night temperatures. If we get a few nights of frost we should start to see a waterboatmen flight.
Andre
SALTWATER REPORTS
North Vancouver Beach Fishing Report
I had reports of a few fish caught on the fly from some of the customers who were startled to hook some big ones. Unfortunately none were landed so no pictures for the report but the anglers definitely got a taste of how fast and furious these fish are. Some chinook are being caught on gear as customers came in to put more or heavier line on their reel so they are prepared for their next trip out.
The tides are going to be good from Saturday onwards so get out there before the season comes to an end.
Andre
Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report
Jason did some after work fishing off the cap last week and got this nice spring.
