OUTLOOK

We are excited not to be reporting about a major rainfall event! A cold dry spell of weather is coming and it should make for some great fishing opportunities. We have rain today and tomorrow but from Sunday onwards it looks as though things will clear up and temperatures will drop. When we say drop, it is relative, as this is one of the warmest winters on record. Temperatures for next week are still forecasted to be a few degrees above the seasonal average and this should be perfect winter fishing weather. In short river fishing should be awesome as all our rivers are coming back into shape from last week’s major rain. Check out our freshwater reports below fore more detail.

Saltwater fishermen have had an interesting week with some challenging fishing in the harbour but we are consistently hearing good reports from those taking the time to fish further afield. With the dry weather next week we expect more anglers will be out on the water and as such will have some more reports coming in throughout the week. Details on what we are fishing on our guided trips are in the saltwater report below.

Matt got back from Hawaii this week and had an awesome time enjoying the sun, surf and flats fishing. We were shooting to include a hawaii report this week but there is just too much good information to compile it all for this week.  Expect the full report on what you need to know to plan your fly fishing trip to Hawaii in next weeks report. There is some amazing fishing just minutes from the beaches of Honolulu so be sure not to miss it! The picture below is a little teaser of what is to come.

 

 

COURSES

We have a number of great courses coming up this month. Two of our most popular courses are next week! Don’t miss your chance to learn the art of spey fishing, we have a few spaces left in this class and they will go fast. Call the shop to sign up today – 604.872.2204. Our steelhead float fishing course is back by popular demand, join Dimitri for an informative class that will be sure to help you land some steelhead.

Introduction to Spey Casting

This 2-part course is designed to introduce you to the art of spey fishing and establish the fundamental techniques required for basic spey casts used on our local rivers.

Your instructor’s Matt Sharp and Jason Tonelli have well over 25 years of spey fishing experience with thousands of hours of guiding on some of the most famous spey rivers in the world. The key to their instruction style is to focus on building a solid base of fundamental skills that can be put into practice for immediate fishable results.

The first part of this course is comprised of a 3 hour in-house introduction to rods, reels, lines, proper outfit set up and balancing, custom sink tips, custom heads, and leaders. We will cover what set ups are used for the different applications and fisheries and the reasons behind these. The second part of the course will have you out of on the water where we will cover all of the major casts needed to fish on each side of the river in a variety of wind conditions.

Note: For more seasoned Spey caster’s we will be offering an advanced course later in the season so stay tuned for dates!

Seminar Date & Time: Tuesday, February 17th / 6:30pm to 9pm
Casting Date & Time: Sunday, February 22nd / 10am to 4pm (Location: Squamish)
Cost: $150 per person

 

Steelhead Float Fishing

In this fishery, 10% of the anglers catch 90% of the fish. This is your chance to learn from the 10%! Our 3hr evening seminar will educate you on the gear, water types, conditions and other key variables that put veteran steelhead anglers in that 10%. Mastering this fishery will make you the envy of your friends. Upgrade your seminar to include a fully guided day on the water, putting into practice your new knowledge with a Pacific Angler guide.

Seminar Date & Time: Wednesday, February 18th / 6:30PM – 9:30PM.
Guided Trip Date: Saturday February 21st , Sunday February 22nd , or Saturday February 28th (custom trip dates are available upon request).
Cost: Seminar Only: $45 per person. Guided Day on the Water: $400 for one angler or $500 for two.

For a full listing of all our courses check our the link below!

FRESHWATER REPORTS

Vedder River

The river blew out hard during last week’s big rains but it is coming back into shape nicely. With the constant fluctuating water the fish have had no problem moving up the river. In years past, low water would trap fish below riffles and shallow spots. During different times of the season specific sections of the river would hold fish. This year, fish are evenly spread through the entire system. Simply put, get out, cover ground and you should find fish.

It will be interesting to see how cold it gets this next week. It is forecasted to be above historical temperatures but it looks to be one of the colder stretches we have seen to date this season. To start out the weekend and early next week the river levels and clarity should be perfect. For the fly fisherman, this means medium to large flies in bright colors. 3 to 4 inch pink, black and blue, and orange patterns will be easy for the fish to see and should produce results.

For the conventional tackle anglers use large presentations like medium gooey bobs, worms and your usual bait presentations. As the water clears with the predicted cooler temperatures bring out your smaller presentations. With the strong steelhead numbers this season we have seen above normal angling pressure and the second things clear up fish will become more and more spooked with the constant pressure from anglers. Smaller presentations like classic flies in more drab colors and single eggs or roe bag presentations will combat both clearing water and higher than normal angling pressure.

Good Luck on the water.

Squamish

Well we are back to the drawing board. The river rose four meters in less than twelve hours on the weekend. This means major shifts in the riverbanks and we’ll be out exploring again.  The good news is the river is coming down perfectly for this weekend.

Water clarity should be perfect and if you can find the fish they are going to be very hungry. For the sake of moving fast to explore as much ground as possible we recommend sculpin style attractor patterns this week. With these patterns you can use a swung fly technique and after every cast take a few steps down stream. The technique is perfect for this time of year especially after a blow out because the fish are hard to find on the Squamish but in these conditions they are very aggressive feeders. The more ground you cover the more likely you will encounter a pod of fish.

If you do get a few fish out of one piece of water this is a good time to shift gears and break out the egg patterns with strike indicators to cover the hot spots more thoroughly. Though it is still early we expect steelhead reports soon. The skulpin swung fly technique is designed to specifically target bulltrout but it can easily fool a steelhead and it is very common that anglers will stumble onto steelhead right after a big rain this time of year.

Good luck and remember the Squamish is 100% catch release barbless fishery so play by the rules, respect your fellow anglers and have fun!

Capilano

The Cap has been on the high side as of late with all the rain but it is dropping. We have heard rumours of some fish being caught but with this high water you can expect some fish to have pushed into the system. Fishing purple and black jigs tipped with prawns in deep canyon pools or swinging intruders of the black and blue or hot pink variety in the tailouts are some of the few ways you can target these elusive North Shore steelhead. If you are heading in to the canyon to fish make sure to keep your wits about you because the river can rise suddenly as it is dam controlled. This shouldn’t be an issue as there is little to no rain in the forecast for the weekend. This river doesn’t receive a huge return of steelhead so you’re definitely fishing against the odds but sometimes those fish are the most rewarding.

Stave

The Stave has been fishing well this season and is worth looking at over the next couple of weeks. There have been good reports from fly anglers and conventional gear anglers catching both steelhead and whitefish. For the whitefish use small black nymph patterns with an indicator or sink tip and for steelhead use standard black and blue or purple and pink combinations. It is a small river and does not have much room so be prepared for crowds. Make sure you respect your fellow anglers and go in with a good attitude.

SALTWATER REPORT

We are now well into the winter chinook season and by most accounts it has been a good one. There has been solid days in the Vancouver Harbour, down south towards Washington, over in the Gulf Islands and up in Howe Sound.

This past week we have fished over in the Gulf Islands as well as Howe Sound. The Gulf Islands definitely have been a little bit more hit and miss these first two weeks in February when compared to January. There are still some nice fish around but it seems to be hot one day and cold the next. Howe Sound has been producing some nice fish into the mid teens now for those willing to explore and put in the time.

We have been using flashers and spoons and flashers and hootchies. Without question there have been a few days where hootchies were hot. In fact there have been 2 days this season where all the fish came on hootchies and you couldn’t buy a fish on a spoon. Other days it seems to be the other way around. We usually lean towards spoons this time of year, but don’t discount the hootchy. Give it a try if you aren’t getting any luck with a spoon. We usually run both rods right on the bottom giving the fish a chance at a spoon and a hootchy. If one seems to be out producing throughout the day we will switch up the slow rod. These chinook like an active presentation so we keep our leader fairly short, usually around 32-24 inches and use 50 LB test line that is stiff so the flasher gives the hootchy some nice action.

Give us a call at 778-788-8582 to book a charter on one of our Grady Whites and get some winter chinook and Dungeness crab for the dinner table! This is also a great time of year to book one of our guides to come out on your own boat and show you some tricks of the trade and how to fish the local waters.