Outlook
If you guys saw the “Special Report” we sent out yesterday, it is lake season 3 weeks early! With this in mind, we have Trevor Welton’s Chironomid course coming up on the 18th and Matt’s Introduction to Fly Fishing Lakes on April 27th. We are also ramping up inventory on lake flies, indicators, and all your lake fishing gear over the next 2 weeks. Andre’s famous mini and micro leeches have hit the floor. They are one of the best early season flies to use under an indicator, so come down and get them while they last!
We have been keeping our ear to the ground and have a running list of iced off lakes in the lake fishing report below. The local lakes are also getting stocked so get out to take advantage of the good weather!
In the saltwater world, this is historically the week that the “Hump” really picks up. We heard of a number of “ok” reports but nothing crazy yet. There were some decent reports off the bell and a couple reports up Howe Sound. We have boats out all weekend. Check out Jason’s saltwater fishing report for more details. On a side note, we sold out of the “Salty Dawg” flasher and we are already seeing pictures of the fish this flasher has put in the box! We are rushing to get more in stock and are expecting them at the end of next week. Give us a call and get your name on the list if you want one. We will call you when they come through the doors so we can guarantee that you get one. 604-872-2204
On the river front the heat is bumping up the water levels. Andre had some success last weekend cutthroat fishing and though the Squamish was out, Matt and his guys found some fish. The Squamish came into shape on Wednesday and Dimitri had a great day for bulltrout but we are concerned about the heat blowing it out again. Check out Matt’s Squamish report for more details.
The Vedder had some of the better fishing of the season last week and we expect this to continue. Check out Sam’s report for more info.
Upcoming Courses
Introduction To Fly Tying
There is no greater satisfaction than catching a fish with a fly you tied yourself. This Introduction to Fly Tying course was specifically designed to give you the fundamental skills needed to tie proven fly patterns used here in BC for trout, salmon, and steelhead.
This course consists of 3 sessions; each session is 3hrs.
Students are required to supply their own vise, tools and materials. A 10% discount is available on fly tying materials and tools purchased for the course.
Dates: (Apr 12, 19 & 26), (Jun 8, 15 & 22) and (Sep 20, 27 & Oct 4)
Cost: $75.00
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Introduction To Fly Fishing Lakes with Matt Sharp
This course will give you an in-depth look at the fundamentals of fly fishing lakes. We explore equipment, techniques, major insect hatches and ideal lakes to begin with. You will learn all you need to plan your next successful lake trip to one of BC’s 5,000 lakes! This course is comprised of one 3hr evening seminar.
Dates: Apr 27 or May 30
Cost: $45.00
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
CALL TO BOOK TODAY 604-872-2204
Intro to Chironomid Techniques with Trevor Welton
Class Size: 20
Chironomids are the number one food source for trout in BC’s lakes; however, few anglers have taken the time to become true masters of this discipline. Those that do are often rewarded with the largest fish. Trevor is a former member of the Canadian Fly Fishing Team and an excellent chironomid angler.
Dedication to his sport has helped Trevor become one of the top fly fishermen in the province as well as a fisheries biologist working for Hemmera. This course is comprised of one 3hr evening seminar. Content is for beginner to advanced.
Dates: Apr 18 or May 4
Cost: $45.00
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
CALL TO BOOK TODAY 604-872-2204
The Fly Fishing Film Tour is coming to Vancouver May 3 at The Cinematheque on Howe Street. Come into the shop to grab your ticket or buy online here!
On To The Report!
Chilliwack River Fishing Report
There is still a few more weeks left to go in the season and fishing has been decent this past week. The river rose with the warm weather and I would expect it to do the same if we see some more high teens temperature in the forecast. If the water clarity is poor don’t be afraid to fish big 6” worms or go down to a 4” if the water is clear, this is another great spring time presentation. Fish are much more educated this time of year so make every drift count, sometimes lengthening or shortening your float depth or leader is the difference. It’s a game of inches this time of year. Fishing hard and have fun!
Sturgeon Fishing Report
Sturgeon fishing has been productive these past couple of weeks, now is a great time to get out to soak some bait in the “Big Muddy”. The warm weather has made thing very good. Lamprey and Eulachon have been productive baits and will continue to be productive throughout the spring. We have stock on dollar weights and wedge weights in a variety of sizes. We also have Eulachon, Lamprey, Dew worms, and single eggs in stock. Fishing has been decent from Chilliwack all the way to Delta. You can do this from shore or a boat so come down to the shop and we will will show you what you need.
Cutthroat Fishing Report
Last Saturday, just before the river started rising, we had an amazing day on the cutthroat course. It was the best day that I had seen since I started scouting on February 29th. As we were putting on our waders by the Kilby bridge the cutthroat were already slashing fry. I didn’t even have time to do my usual demonstration before we started fishing. The two students were into fish right away so the pressure was off for the rest of the day. There was fry and cutthroat everywhere. Unfortunately this fishery changes very fast. On Sunday the fish had disappeared and zero fish were caught.
Congratulations to Murray Pauls on a great day last Saturday
Unfortunately the river is rising due to early snow melt and access by foot is getting challenging. If you have a boat you should be ok and fishing should be good for a few more weeks. If you don’t have a boat check out Nicomen slough and the Stave river which are not affected by the heat. I hope we get some cooler weather to prolong this fishery. I will be out there regardless to see where the fish are hiding.
Congratulations Neil Stevenson on the Saturday course!
Andre
Squamish River Fishing Report
Is she done for the season? We had some more record setting temperatures yesterday and today in Squamish and we expect the river to blow out for the weekend. That said we have seen some epic fishing in the last 2 weeks. These windows were very brief but it will still pay off to watch water levels, monitor weather reports and stay flexible.
For some help knowing what to look for, the main river was out all weekend but came in to shape Wednesday. It will probably be out again by the end of today but watch and see. If it doesn’t go out fishing will be awesome as it rises. With any luck we will get some cold weather and things will be back on. Fish tributaries until this changes.
Good Luck
Lake Fishing Report
Well, we are hearing lots of ice off reports and more importantly the weather is warm up north. Sometime ice will come off and it is still to cold to have active fish. If things continue with the weather it could be a great lake season. We have compiled a list of lakes that are reported to be iced off and we are already hearing good fishing reports.
If you go, focus on micro leaches and scuds under indicators or troll them on heavy sinking lines.
For our list – there are many lakes that we have not heard about so call them in or email us and we can add them to the list. If you are planning a trip to a lake that is not on the list, look at the elevations of the lakes on the list and compare. This is the best way to gauge if your favorite secret lake is worth checking out.
Six mile – Off
Courtney and Lundbom – Off
Kane Valley – Starting to come off last Saturday
Logan Lake – 90% ice free
Mamit – Off
Tunkwa – April 4 off
Roche – Coming off and has no sign of winter kill
Little Heffley – Almost off
Bleeker – Off
Edith – Off
Red – Off
Stump Lake – Off but might be turning over
White – Turned
Englishman – Off but possible winter kill
Kid – Off
Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report
This past week there were some fish at the usual spots for April like the Hump, the Bell Buoy, QA, and up Howe Sound. I wouldn’t say one was hotter than the other, if anything the Bell Buoy seemed to be the best, but we do expect the Hump to turn on any day.
Historically, this fishery really gets going around April 10 to 15 so that is pretty much this weekend. This spot will be the main focus of our charters going forward. The Hump is more of a plateau that comes up to 450 feet or so from the surrounding waters of 600 to 1000 feet. If you head a few miles offshore of South Bowen, you will see the boats, often a lot of them, but don’t fear as this is an absolutely huge spot to fish so the boats are spread out.
Hot depths for the Hump are 60 to 180 on the downriggers with the shallower depths working on the darker days or with dirty water and the deeper depths when it is sunny or the water is clear. Usually the 90 to 120 zone is pretty hard to beat.
We use a lot of spoons and bait in this fishery. All of the spoons we have talked about in the past few reports work very well in this fishery. Use a 6 foot leader to a flasher that has some glow in it, like the Salty Dawg, Green Onion Glow, Purple Onion Glow, or Chartreuse Glow flasher. For bait a 6 foot leader to a glow green or glow green and chartreuse teaser head will get the job done.
There seems to be a lot of small cod around right now that people were refer to as P Cod, Hake, Tommy Cod, etc. Whatever you want to call them, they are pretty thick right now so make sure you check your lines at least every 30 minutes.
We will have multiple boats out on the Hump this weekend in anticipation of the fish showing up, so we will have more to report on this fishery next week.
