Outlook:
The Vancouver fisheries have been solid over the past week. Living on the west coast we are in no short supply of fishing opportunities. You have the choice of river fishing for steelhead, trout, char or sturgeon, saltwater fishing for winter chinook salmon, crabbing and prawning, or lake fishing for kokanee or trout. In April you can expect all of these fisheries to be fairly productive.
The winter steelhead fishing is still going strong and should remain to be productive over the next two weeks when the freshet occurs.
A chrome steelhead taken to hand by Dimitri.
Fly fishing has been good for cutthroat trout and char as well with the warmer water temperatures and the abundance of fry. Due to the cooler weather we had this past week the river levels have dropped back down nicely, making for great fishing conditions.
A beautiful cutthroat trout taken on the fly.
The ocean fishing really turned around this past weekend. Jason was out teaching the Pacific Angler Mastering Local Saltwater Fishing course and was able to hook into several large winter chinook salmon over at the Hump. Jason was pretty excited to say the least!
The lake fishing scene locally has also been good. Our locally stocked lakes should continue to be good until the beginning of June, depending on when each lake was stocked. These lakes are a great place to take the family or friends new to the sport of fishing.
Lake fishing in the interior has also been pickup up with lakes icing off every week. It’s going to be an awesome lake fishing season.
The Vancouver weather forecast is calling for a mixture of rain, sun and cloud today, rain and cloud on Saturday and then sunny conditions on Sunday. You can expect up to 10 mm of precipitation. However, the weekend and going into the next week is looking dry.
The marine forecast for the Strait of Georgia for the weekend is calling for northwest winds ranging from 10 to 20 knots. Make sure to check the latest marine forecast as conditions can change rapidly on the ocean.
To keep up-to-date with all things Pacific Angler and the local fishing scene check out Pacific Angler Facebook and on Twitter. You will find our detailed river and saltwater reports below. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to drop by our shop @ 78 East Broadway, Vancouver or give our friendly staff a call @ 604-872-2204.
Vancouver Stillwater Fishing Report:
The following lakes have been stocked by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC:
- Whonnock Lake
- Elbow Lake
- Mike Lake
- Rolley Lake
- Deer Lake
- Mill Lake
- Green Timbers lake
- Como Lake
- Gardom Lake
- Lafarge Lake
- Buntzen Lake
- Sasamat Lake
To check the most updated list of locally stocked lakes visit www.fishingwithrod.com.
Click on the link for a detailed map of each lake, stocking report, and location – Freshwaters Fisheries Society of BC Fish Map. You can also check the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC Facebook page for the most up-to-date information.
As always please feel free to get rigged up for the lake fishing season at our shop. The friendly staff are excellent at explaining not only what gear you need but how to use it!
Interior Stillwater Report:
Vancouver River Fishing Report:
Squamish/Cheakamus Rivers – Over the past two weeks the Squamish Valley has seen some unstable water levels. However, the river has been in good shape over the last 5 days. The Pacific Angler staff have heard reports of anglers doing well for bulltrout and rainbow trout with fry patterns and sculpin patterns. This is the time of year where you can also expect to catch a steelhead on a fry pattern.
Steelhead will be distributed throughout the entire river system at this time of year. So where you fish will be a choice of personal preference. If you are targeting steelhead make sure to have a good selection of flies in the medium sized range in orange, pink and black and blue. Anglers often favour the all white fly as well. This is a great colour for steelhead and big bull trout.
– Dave Fauquier
Capilano River – The Pacific Angler staff have heard of the odd steelhead being caught float fishing the Capilano River. This is a great time of year to fish the “Cap” before or after work as there are no crowds, you have a chance of hooking into a steelhead, and it gives you the opportunity to learn the river for when the coho start entering the river at the end of May and beginning of June.
Float fishermen do best on the “Cap” with the usual lures (ie. pink worms, gooey bobs, single eggs, etc.). Remember that all steelhead, wild and hatchery, must be released.
– Dave Fauquier
Seymour River – Similiar to the “Cap”, this is a great river to go for a walk before or after work to decompress, make a few casts, and maybe hook into a chrome steelhead. After all, sometimes it just feels good to get your line wet.
The Seymour River is more fly fishing friendly with some nice pools in the mid-section. I will often fish the mid-river if I can only manage a half day on the weekend. By the end of the fishing session my brain is recharged and ready for another work week.
– Dave Fauquier
Fraser River – The Fraser continues to have good to great sturgeon fishing with lots of fish being caught in the lower river from Mission down on eulachons. There has also been some good fishing around Chilliwack on eulachons and lamprey. The fish have been feeding pretty heavily on eulachons so we would recommend this as your first choice of bait. Steve Kaye has been getting fish over 6 feet on most trips, pretty much every day! This is great time to go sturgeon fishing if you haven’t tried it before. These fish pull hard and rip line off your reel and come flying out of the water! Nothing like seeing a 6 foot sturgeon come leaping completely out of the water! If you are interested in doing a trip give us a call at the shop.
We have heard of very few cutthroat reports from the Fraser itself as most of the cutthroat anglers have been hitting the Harrison and Stave. We probably have 2-3 weeks before the river really starts to rise as the warm weather sets in and the river rises up and enters freshet, so get out there now if you are thinking of fishing for cutthroat. The salmon fry are out in full force so most of the sloughs and side channels should be fishing well right now. We have lots of Andre’s epoxy fry in stock and he has being doing very well on his guided jet boat and walk and wade cutthroat trips.
– Jason Tonelli
Chilliwack/Vedder River – A dropping and clearing river leaves us with one piece of the puzzle, the fish. We are in the last 2 weeks of the season, and most of the fish to come in the river this year have arrived. There will be small pushes of fish right into the first bit of May.
From top to bottom, the entire Chilliwack/Vedder River has fish throughout. As mentioned in all our prior reports, covering as much water as possible and giving the fish the opportunity to taste test a few different baits is usually the ticket to catching steelhead. Clear water requires us to tone down our presentations. Think of baits the size of a nickel or quarter. Dropping flows also means there is a need to scale down your terminal tackle. Smaller floats, split shot or small pieces of pencil lead, black hooks and lighter leaders. There are lots of fish around now, its just a matter of getting them to bite.
– Dimitri Roussanidis
Chehalis River – There hasn’t been much to report on for the Chehalis. The river seems like a barren wasteland most days. There is a lack of anglers due to the lack of fish. The fish that are in the system are taking refuge in the canyon. Brave anglers will tempt its depths and sheer faces to catch these secluded fish. Remember to always let someone know where you are going, when you will be back, and if not, where they might find you. We are all out there to have fun and get away, but be safe doing so.
– Dimitri Roussanidis
Stave River – The river looks great but due to the limited access and parking I have not been able to explore nor have heard any reports from others. If you like to drift down or come up with a boat into the river you might have a great fishing day with less fishing pressure due to limited access. This a great river to fish as it always stays clear and fishable when other rivers go into freshet.
– Andre Stepanian
Harrison River – With the rain last week the Harrison river came up and made fishing of the banks very limited. Now that the river level is dropping it is an excellent time to get out there and try cutthroat fishing. The fish are starting to migrate downwards with the salmon fry to the Fraser River so concentrate more on the lower section of the river.
This is a great time as well to practice your dry fly fishing with the March browns. They will be hatching more frequently now so make sure to have a few in your fly box. Cutthroat trout can get picky now so try to change your fry patterns until you find the one that works at that time. Cutthroat usually show themselves so if you don’t see any surface activity keep walking and covering more water until you see them.
– Andre Stepanian
Skagit River – CLOSED
Vancouver Saltwater Report:
Jason Tonelli with a good catch of winter chinook salmon.
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, Dimitri, Andre, Dave, and Eddie