Pacific Angler Outlook
The hot weather made for some great fishing the last few days. Although the weather has also brought a few adversities for different fisheries around the province. Wind, whales and more wind slowed down the saltwater and we had a mixed bag report from the lake region. Next week the weather is expected to return to seasonal norms – Check out the Vancouver Forecast and Kamloops Forecast
The forecast for this weekend is a bit cooler but don’t put away your fishing rod. We expect great things from both the interior lakes and Vancouver saltwater fishing.
Please read below for the marine forecast. This is a great resource to check the conditions before you head out on the salt chuck.
Environment Canada – Georgia Basin Marine Report
Marine Forecast:
The Georgia Basin has been experiencing some strong Northwesterlies for the past week. This has resulted in some very challenging fishing conditions. However, the forecast for this afternoon is for the wind to diminish and becoming southeast. This is good news for the angler looking to get out on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Throughout the weekend you can expect a south east wind ranging from light to 10 to 15 knots. Right now they are calling for some stronger south east winds on Monday. However that forecast is likely to change as we get closer to holiday Monday. It pays to check the latest forecast to get the most accurate weather conditions.
BC Lake Fishing Report:
Chironomids are consistently hatching on most of the low and mid elevation lakes. Ants have hit a few lakes making for great fishing during the hatch then awful fishing after because the fish are packed full of acid. We have heard of damsel hatches and the odd sedge on different lakes across the Kamloops merit regions so bring a full arsenal – the insects are active and happy and so are the fish. Micro leaches and smaller chironomids will still be the main focus for most lakes in the interior. Look to the shallows for Damsels and try to stick around late for possible sedge hatches.
We are running the famous Trevor Welton Chironomid Course on Thursday May 24th. We still have availability! The course is $30 and will give you the tactics you need for the upcoming season.
Latest News
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first – A few lakes have seen confirmed “winter kill”. They are: Beaton, Frisken, Isobel, Ida, Campbell and Bleeker. Pass, Englishman, and Island by Highland Valley experienced some winter kill.
That’s enough of the bad news so lets look at the good news and the interior lake fishing reports that we received.
Dragon lake was reported to be moody but had some good reports on both small green chronies and large black bombers.
Blue Lake was relatively cold and slow. Some of our customers worked hard and caught a few down deep. Last weekend nothing was up on the shallows and nothing over 4-5 pounds. This should change when water temperatures level-off. Hopefully, we can look shallow for some damsels.
Ron was up at Roche and though they found fish they missed a large ant hatch last week and it make for a slow week while the fish digested the ants. On the plus side Roche should have some great fishing this weekend when they all wake up. Ron was getting fish on stripped leaches with a full sink line at 20 to 30 feet as well as fishing with size 12 red and black double ribbed chronies on a full sinking line at the same depths. Ron mentioned that you really hard to work hard at finding the fish as they seemed to be in isolated pockets.
Corbett had some solid chronie fishing again and the Lakes in the Kane Valley were good.
We expect all the lakes to fish well over the next week, which will make for some great long weekend fishing.
For iced off lakes the elevations are up in the 4,500 ft range. These lakes were confirmed “Off” last week and should be fishing great over the next few days.
We heard of an epic late evening sedge hatch on OK(island) Lake though also had reports on slower fishing during the day.
The Ice off List
Lakes that are “Iced-Off” are: Paska lake, Mile high, Idleback, Island, Elkhart (50% mid last week), Kentucky & Aileen Lake, Kump, Kidd, Courtney, Roche, Marquart, Lundbom, Logan, Harmon, Kamloops, Peter & Hope, Horseshoe, Frisken Lake, Black, Bleeker, Morgan, Lac la Jeune, Jacko, Stump Lake, 6 Mile Lake near Morgan, Edith, and Scuitto Lakes.
Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report:
There is nothing worse than knowing that the are fish out there but you just can’t get at them because of weather conditions. That’s what we saw this week with heavy winds keeping most self-respecting anglers off the water. A few braved the seas and caught fish. The Salty Dawg (our saltwater guide boat) pulled out of the harbour on Sunday and hit a triple before all four rods were down. Unfortunately all three fish were lost.
Do not despair the wind should die through the weekend. The Pacific Angler team is heading out on Monday for a day off and we are guiding both Saturday and Sunday so give us a shout for a report from the water. Or check out the Guide Journal for a fully detailed report.
BC River Fishing Report:
Local river fishing will mostly be over due to the heat and snow melt. Watch the weather and your River Levels. There might be some hot last minute steelhead & dolly fishing. We’ve heard of some decent sturgeon fishing and trout fishing on the Fraser and Harrison, although river levels are high and moody.
Another great spot to look at is the Capilano. We have heard more decent reports of early Coho. This system will start fishing well over the next 2 months. Fish float rigs, small green and blue spinners or use a full heavy sinking line and small flies in the deeper pools . There are also summer run steelhead showing up (remember that all steelhead are catch and release).
If you have any questions about our fishing report please do not hesitate to drop by our store at 78 East Broadway or give us a call at 604-872-2204.
Have a great weekend I’ll see you out there,
Matt Sharp