OUTLOOK
We are hitting the middle of our winter season. During this time of year cold sunny days can be a challenge for the river fisherman. We will be talking about how these conditions have affected the rivers. Next week looks as though it will be back to cold clear weather but some rain is coming today and tomorrow. We expect good things for the next 48 hours and then it will probably slow Sunday as the temps drop.
Jordan was out on the Squamish Wednesday and though they struggled with the cold low water they did find fish. Matt was also out last week and got luckier with the conditions. Both of the guys found fish and in the Squamish report we will look at both trips and how the guys changed presentations to cover the conditions.
The Vedder is also dropping and this might actually be a good thing. Steelhead are not as affected by clear water and the upper river has been a little colored with slides over the last 3 weeks. Cold clear water is never ideal but at least for the weekend we expect good clarity and fishing. Check out more details in the Vedder report from Alex.
Though it is still early you will see in the Squamish report that Matt found some salmon eggs that were close to hatching. The cold weather will slow things down but it is time to start thinking about cutthrout on the Harrison and Fraser side channels. We are holding off this week because of the cold weather but next week Andre will have his State of the Union address for the cutthroat anglers out there and we expect things to start fishing well at the end of the month. Stay tuned for his overview of the fishery and expectations for this season in next week’s report.
The cold clear weather can be a pain for river fisherman but as long as the wind does not throw a curve ball, winter chinook fishing is in full swing and there is nothing better than a great day of saltwater fishing on a crisp sunny day. Jason and Eddie have been out on the water a ton over the last week and the reports have been very positive. Check out more info in the saltwater section at the end of this week’s report.
A beautiful day on the Squamish!
CLASSES + COURSES
We’re midway through February so its time to start looking at our March course calendar. Grab a seat in Andre’s Tying Epoxy Fry Patterns Course or his Chironomid Patterns Course (or both) and get your fly box stocked.
We’ve got a two-spots left in Matt’s Introduction to Fly Fishing Course and one in his on the water Spey Casting Course. Call the shop to sign up – 604.872.2204.
Introduction To Fly Fishing – TWO SPOTS LEFT FOR FEBRUARY!!
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 Feb 21 & Casting Feb 24
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Casting Time(s): 10am – 1pm or 2pm -5pm
Cost: $125.00 +GST
If the February dates don’t work for you take a look at our March dates:
Dates: Seminar Mar 13 & Casting Mar 18
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Casting Time(s): 10am – 1pm or 2pm -5pm
Cost: $125.00 +GST
Introduction To Spey Casting – 1 spot left!!
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.
Dates: Seminar: Feb 28 Casting: Mar 3 (Squamish)
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Cost: $150.00+GST
Tying Epoxy Fly Patterns
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.
Date: Mar 6
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Cost: $45.00+GST
Tying Chironomid Fly Patterns
80% of a trout’s diet consists of chironomids whose patterns vary from lake to lake. This 3-hour evening seminar will teach you how to tie a variety of the most effective chironomid patterns used in BC’s world-renowned lakes. You will finish this course understanding the very specific technical aspects ranging from beads, ribbing, colors, and body shapes. Students are required to supply their own vise, tools and materials. A 10% discount is available on materials and tools purchased for the course.
Date: Mar 12
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Cost: $45.00 +GST
FEATURE SALE ITEM
Lowrance Electronic Package
Are you looking for a great electronic package and a reliable autopilot? We have this system on our guide boats and it is awesome! You will see bait balls, individual chinook, and the autopilot will keep you heading in the right direction, hands free, so you can work the gear. The wireless remote is amazing and allows you to make adjustments to your tack while you are in the back of your boat fishing fish, working gear, or just relaxing.
This package is Pacific Angler guide approved, brand new in the box, full warranty, priced at wholesale, you won’t find a better deal. We have one extra so we are passing the savings on to you!
This is a one only, first come first serve deal.
- Lowrance HDS 12 Gen 3
- Navionics + Regions Map Card for Canada & Alaska
- Lowrance P66, 600 W Transducer
- Lowrance Outboard Pilot Hydraulic Pack
- Lowrance WR10 Wireless Remote and BT1 Bluetooth Base Station
- Lowrance XT-12BL Extension Cable
- NMEA 15 foot Cable (qty 2)
$4,856.00 CAD plus tax.
If you’re interested in this package please call the shop and ask for Kathryn or email to kathryn@pacificangler.ca
FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
Chilliwack River Fishing Report
It’s finally starting to sound like steelhead season out on the Vedder, and this week it’s definitely going to feel like it as we are set to receive bluebird skies and plummeting temperatures. The water is shaping up nicely now and should continue to drop to low and clear conditions by the end of the week. We have been seeing and hearing about some bigger fish showing up and numbers seem to be up from January so it is starting to look a little more promising. It still hasn’t been gangbusters but it will definitely be worth a look in the next 7 days and might even be worth shelling out the gas to travel from Vancouver!
Clearer conditions mean we can start downsizing our presentations. For the gear guys that means smaller gobs of pro-cured roe, single beads, thumbnail sized wool ties, size 2 colorado blades, and 4-inch worms. Of course there are many other great options too. Fly guys will finally get the clarity to swing flies effectively like popsicles, general practitioners, and egg sucking leeches to name a few.
Get out there and get bit!
Alex Au-Yeung
Capilano River Fishing Report
We have not heard much form the Capilano this week and expect water levels to drop with the cold weather. This might make it easier to spot fish in the upper pools so it is still worth a trip. If you spot a steelhead you will need very stealthy presentations to fool them in clear water so have a good selection of small egg ties and roe setups on your leader boards with lighter than normal fluorocarbon leaders. We will report back if we hear of any good news over the next week.
Squamish River Fishing Report
It is going to get cold for the next week and with it we expect very challenging fishing up the Sea to Sky corridor. Very cold sunny weather makes for challenging fishing on the Squamish system and bulltrout fishing in general. When the water gets clear and cold, this is a double whammy for fishing because the fish are spooky and their metabolisms shut down so they do not feed as much.
Jordan with a fish caught in cold clear conditions.
If you are heading out this weekend all is not lost. Over the next 48 hours we are expecting good things. We will get a short bump of warm wet weather today and tomorrow. This should add some colour to the water and get the fish moving so get out if you can. When the cold comes Sunday/Monday we expect things to slow right down.
Jordan was out on Wednesday. The river dropped below 2 meters and fishing was tough. Small, stealthy presentations were key and he did manage a sold number of fish considering the conditions. Most fish came on pale, solid beads or small olive or white streamers. With similar conditions expected all next week, small flies and spoons with stealthy light leaders will be key.
Come down and pick up lighter fluorocarbon for leaders and make sure your presentations are not too bright or large.
Zach with a fish from his trip with Jordan on Wednesday.
Covering water is also important but methodically fishing the deep slow spots around cover can sometimes be your only hope in challenging conditions. Move super fast when you can see the bottom or when there is no structure. Slow right down when you hit deeper spots where you can no longer see the bolders on the bottom of the river. Also, wade deep and cast long. Most of the time this is a fishing faux pas because you can walk over fish but when things are cold and clear you need to reach the deep spots and in most runs on the Squamish this will be on the far side of the river. Fish will not be hiding in shallow areas nor will they move far for a short cast.
The smallest fish of the day when Matt was out last week (the net man and camera man was never in the right spot to get a pic of the big ones).
Matt had some better conditions on Saturday last week. They were surprised at how warm it was. They hooked a good number of fish and a couple of really big ones. From what Matt saw we were optimistically predicting an early salmon fry hatch. The river was a 2.5 and relatively warm by midday. Matt took some time to hunt for salmon fry. He didn’t find fry but he did find a couple eggs that had fully formed fry in them. If the warmer weather had continued we would probably be talking about using salmon fry patterns instead of eggs in this week’s report. As it stands the weather shift has dashed all hopes of this happening this week but we feel the second we get a warm spell it will be time to break out the fry patterns. Salmon fry hatch based on how many days they have been exposed to warm water. Yes, this is a simplified explanation of a complex process but if we see 3-4 warmer days in a row they should hatch. This could happen at any point over the next 30 days so keep an eye on the weather and temperatures and we will keep you posted.
Good luck,
Matt Sharp
Harrison/Chehalis River Fishing Report
Coming Next week!
Stave River Fishing Report
The stave will be affected in a similar way to the Squamish when we get this cold spell. Clear water will make the trout fishing challenging and you will need to get stealthy with presentations. This is also a system that will turn on when we get a warm spell so keep your eyes on the weather and get out there if we get 3-4 warm days. We will keep you posted in next week’s report.
SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
We were on the water a lot this past week and spent some time over in the Gulf Islands, in Vancouver Harbour, and in Howe Sound. We picked up some nice chinook in all locations and lots of smaller fish as well.
Eric holding up a nice fat red spring from a trip on Monday!
As usual, keeping your gear close to the bottom is the way to go this time of year, although I am starting to see some suspended bait balls and chinook signals, so I don’t think it will be too long before we start picking up a few fish mid water column in some spots. So far the fish have been on herring, so we will have to wait and see if the anchovies show up again this spring and we can have that shallow water fishery that we enjoyed the past few years. For now though, I would suggest 2 rods close to the bottom.
Glow flashers and glow spoons have been doing well. The black glow flasher with moon jelly on one side has been good to me lately, it is called a CB55 and that paired with a Kingfisher 3.0 or 3.5 Herring Aide spoon has been a top producing setup. Of course you have to have down a chartreuse glow flasher like a Salty Dawg and 3.0 or 3.5 Irish Cream, as this setup is also very productive.
This chinook fell for my 3.0 Irish Cream which if you look close can see is very well used with lots of teeth mark.
Prawning has been decent and so has crabbing, so we have been dropping traps on most of our trips. We are looking forward to the days getting a big longer now as well. This will give us just a bit more time to drop traps and keep the lines wet a touch longer.
If you have taken our Mastering Saltwater Salmon Course, we are having a VIP event for past students this Thursday evening, so if you missed that email, make sure you contact Kathryn Sharp via email (kathryn@pacificangler.ca) or phone at the shop 604.872.2204.
See you in the shop or the water,
Jason Tonelli