We will be able to supply you with a list of materials that John likes to use tying his patterns. Our first batch of JK flies will be showing up in mid-April just as the first few ice-off reports are expected to trickle in. This will help you be ready to stock your chironomid box with some proven deadly patterns!

This will be a one-night event and is the only night that we have available to book JK while he is in town. Join us for this memorable evening and be ready to take a few notes that will benefit you for the upcoming and all future lake fishing trips!

FIRST STEELHEAD ON THE FLY!!

James R. is a regular customer at PA and sent us this picture of his first steelhead on the fly that he caught last week!  What a gorgeous fish and a hatchery as well!  We say a huge congratulations and thanks for sharing with us!

Freshwater Reports

The Vedder:

I went out on Tuesday which was the first nice day from all the snow we had and the river level had dropped. The fishing had slowed down from the previous week. I did see one fish caught but anybody I ran into hadn’t touched a fish.

The river is rising now due to the snow melt coloring the water. Keep your presentations on the bigger side whether gear or fly and fish close to shore. With these warm temps the fish should be more active and willing to chase your offering. If you are going to the upper river please be careful as there is a lot of snow pack on the sides of the road.

Here is a picture of our friend and customer Enrico with a steelhead caught in early Feb.

Fraser Valley Sloughs / The Harrison:

This weekend onwards the hunt for the cutthroat should start. The river level is dropping which makes it ideal for walk and wade looking for any signs of fish slashing fry on top. The next 2 months is an exciting time for die hard  cutthroat fisher who love the thrill of the tug on your light tackle. Although little spinners sometimes work, ideally you want to fly fish for these voracious sea-run cutthroat as they key in on a certain hatch which you have to figure out while fishing.

Make sure you have a variety of salmon fry patterns in you box as they are known to get picky sometimes. If you can refrain yourself from blind casting do so and look for a rise, as much as a small dimple or the ultimate thrill a chasing hungry cutthroat gorging and slashing fry on top.

Capilano:

The Cap is back to being dirt low again. The melting of the new snow on the north shore wasn’t enough to let much water out. It is shaping up to be a bad season for water levels! The steelhead fishery on this river is nothing to get too excited about, however, it is a great place to spend a couple hours. Focusing your efforts around high water periods will improve your odds. Between now and late march you have a chance at encountering the elusive North-Shore winter steelhead.

Stamp River:

There was quite a bit of fresh snowfall in Port Alberni this past weekend. This system is still quite low due to low freezing levels and minimal precipitation. Very few local anglers were on the river which is a good indication that the fishing is unseasonably slow. Lets all hope for a warm and rainy march!

Here are a couple pics from my recent trip to the island – Max

Gorgeous Island Steelhead

Squamish / Cheakamus Rivers:

With a wet forecast in Squamish for the next couple days it is hard to make a call on conditions. It was very warm on Thursday. Temperatures rose over 8 degrees in the upper river valley. With the heat, the upper tributaries rose with some snow melt but the overall system remains very low.

Nice bulltrout picture was sent to us by our customer Carlos R. from a short day on the water last week!

We have not had a report from the upper river in a few days . We expect it to be difficult access with last week’s snow.  Any day now we will see a fry hatch  (if it didn’t already start this week with the warmer temperatures).  Please call in both a fry report and a road report if you head to the river. If we get a warm day I would have the Squamish system high on my list of places to fish this next week. If it gets cold I would recommend against it.

If going this weekend have sculpin patterns and fry patterns in the box.

Saltwater Reports

Eddie Matthei:

After an interesting week of weather with wind and even a good a good dump of snow I finally got back on the water. My opportunity came in the way of a very good fishing buddy taking me out on his new ride. A brand new very nicely equipped 27′ Aluminum Kingfisher. The weather had turned from overcast and snow to sunny and quite mild overnight as we set out on our shake down cruise in the morning. After dropping the prawn traps we doubled back to start of the QB marker. We found a lot of bait and arches indicating fish but no takers.

We had arrived a little late for the first low tide and trolled towards the mouth of the Capilano river and joined 4-5 other boats. Unfortunately no one had seen a fish and not much showing on the sounder either that day. We picked up the lines and went back to the QB. About midway from the QB to Point Atkinson we finally landed the boat’s first fish! Undersized but I was the only fish I’d heard about so the new boat seems fishy. It came on a 4″ Army truck spoon but with no flasher at 140′ in 185′ of water.

The sun was starting to set so we pulled up the traps and split up 196 fat prawns between us. We decided to go out again yesterday and once again had great conditions. We started a little further west of the QB and the water looked fishy. Not far from us and closer to fisheries a fishing associate got a legal fish on a 4″ Irish Cream spoon at 120′ in 150′ of water. Soon after we also hit a couple of fish but too small to keep. One off the bottom and the other at least 1/3 of the bottom in anywhere from 120′ to 185″ of water, which is also where we were marking a lot of the bait.

We hung around until the next high slack tide and hooked three more shakers. Best spoons were the 4″ Irish Cream, Green Glos and the Army truck. I have been running some spoons with no flasher which is nice for playing the undersized fish and shakers and I love hooking a big fish that way.

Unfortunately there was only the one legal fish caught yesterday but I did hear about a boat earlier in the week that had multiple fish on and managed to land one in the mid to high teens. It was taken off at the mile markers in Point Grey. I have also been hearing a few reports of Tunsell Bay and west of Bowen Island but fishing fishing lately has been a little spotty. It definitely seems more bait has come in locally and there are fish there but it’s a matter of being at the right place at the right time for sure. I also noticed the days I fished had very quick bites exactly at the slack.

We pulled the traps and got more prawns to replace the ones we feasted on the day before. Overall be had a good couple of days enjoying the sun, scenery, wildlife and testing out a new boat.

Tight lines,

Eddie

Pacific Angler Courses

Pacific Angler Feature Courses:

We have two phenomenal courses coming up in the first 2 weeks of March that still have space available (our other 4 courses in early March are sold out).  One of these courses is the “Sacred Coast Photography Workshop” taught by Aaron Goodis.  This is newest and first of its type here at PA and from what we understand, first course of its type taught by anyone in the fishing industry here in BC! This is not simply a “photography” course as Aaron has designed it to also include teaching you how to capture a “memorable” fish picture when you get that prize catch.  How do you hold the fish? Lighting to be aware of and of course how to take the picture so that when you release the fish it will survive.

Sacred Coast Photography Workshop © 2014

The Sacred Coast Workshop is a photography class helping photographers from all levels learn how to create and capture unique and dramatic images worthy of a frame and wall space. Aaron is a well published photographer from Vancouver shooting primarily fly fishing, nature, landscape and active outdoor lifestyle. Aaron leads this class through a series of slides aiming to showcase proven techniques in order to help students understand the fundamentals of photography.

We encourage those who are interested in photography at all levels from beginners to advanced to take this workshop. All cameras welcome from phone camera from point and shoot to pro DSLR.

Class Size: 20
Cost: $40per person
Seminar Date: Tuesday, March 11^th / 6:30pm – 930pm

Topics include:

• Cameras and lens selection (point & shoot versus pro dslr)
• Camera settings that help you achieve the look your after
• Shutter speed, Depth of field and ISO
• Framing and Composition – Make your images stand out
• Packing your gear – keep your camera dry
• Proper fish handling for catch & release photography – fish first every time

TYING EPOXY FRY PATTERNS – Andre S.

Epoxy fly patterns were developed here on the west coast to capitalize on the large fry emergence every spring. Pacific Angler will help you unlock the secrets to applying epoxy, which can be a very tricky material to work with. During the course your instructor will teach you how to imitate the different salmon fry species, the different methods to shaping bodies, adding eyes, and other important techniques. Course is suitable for intermediate/advanced tiers. Students are required to supply their own vise, tools and materials. A 10% discount is available on materials and tools purchased for the course.

Class Size: 7
Cost: $40.00
Dates: Mar 4 (SOLD OUT) or Mar 26 (6spots left)
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm

NOTE:  If your course is SOLD OUT.  CALL TO BE PUT ON RESERVE LIST FOR NEXT CLASS – customers on reserve list get contacted first for new courses.

To review the rest of the current courses that are upcoming please view them by downloading the Pacific Angler 2014 Course Schedule PDF.

On behalf of the Pacific Angler staff we wish you the best in your fishing endeavors and we hope to see you either at the shop or on the water. To check out the latest Pacific Angler news view the Pacific Angler Facebook page.

Jason, Matt, Andre, Max, Eddie, Jordan and Bryce