Special Announcement
OK everyone! – It’s time to take 5 minutes to do something for the fishing community! If you haven’t heard they are trying to shut down the Ambleside boat launch. In a city with limited public access to fishing opportunities this can’t stand. There have never been more people out enjoying salmon fishing in the harbor and limiting access will only put more strain on other access points. At Pacific Angler we try to stay out of politics. We feel that the only valid politics is between you and the fish but we want everyone to take 5 minutes and sign this petition. It could really make a difference and the decision makers need to hear from all the people who use, love and enjoy this facility.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION!!
Outlook
We have been hitting the water hard over the last two weeks on a numbers of fronts. Andre and Max have been up in the interior fishing the lakes and we have some great pictures from a trip Andre did early this week. The guides have been fishing hard out in the salt at Thrasher Rock and up Howe Sound. Matt made a little hop down over the border for some classic drift boat trout fly fishing – So there is lots going on at the store and on the water.
Sam and Jason are back from their trip down to Cuba and they are now heads down catching up at the shop but they had a great time. A number of guys hooked grand slams and though they didn’t all land the coveted bonefish, tarpon and permit in one day, there were lots of opportunities. We will be posting some pics over the next little bit so stay tuned.
The weather is going to be a little wet for the weekend but this might bode well for the rivers both in the immediate future and for water levels over the summer. The Capilano should be worth a look in the next couple days. Check out the river report for more details.
Upcoming Courses
We have a couple great courses to look at over the next 3 weeks. Matt has his Intro To Lake Fishing Course next week (May 30th) and there are still spots available in his Introduction to Fly Fishing course on June 7th. If you have been thinking about getting into fly tying, we have Andre’s Intro to Fly Tying course that is a 3 day course that runs over 3 weeks. It starts June 8th! We still have a couple spots left in each course so give us a call today to reserve you spot or chat with one of our guys about the details. 604-872-2204
Introduction to Fly Tying – last introduction to tying course until September!
There is no greater satisfaction than catching a fish with a fly you tied yourself. This 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 materials and tools purchased for the course.
Cost: $75.00
Dates: June 8, 15 and 22
Time: 6:30pm to 9:30pm
Introduction to Fly Fishing
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. The dates below show the seminar date first and casting date second.
Cost: $125.00
Seminar: June 7, 6:30pm to 9:30pm
Casting Date: June 11
On To The Report
Chilliwack River
The next fishery on the Chilliwack system will be red springs starting July 1st.
Capilano River
The Capilano continues to be quite low but with rain in the forecast they might open up the dam. Coho will start moving into the system over the next couple weeks whenever they open the dam. These fish are typically low light biters this means it pays to be on the river in the dark waiting for first light. If you aren’t a morning person fishing in the evening till dark is another option. Float fishing colorado blades, roe, and yarn ties are all great options for the float fisherman but sometimes casting spoons and spinners will outperform the float fisherman. Fly fishing using the Type 6 Full Sink technique with fluorocarbon leaders and tippet can be quite productive in these low water conditions. Andre has brought in his Cap Bugger for the coming season and though having some different options in your fly box is important this fly is one of the best when fishing the upper pools for coho.
Chehalis River
The Chehalis River has been closed for the past month allowing winter run steelhead a break from the pressure and a chance to spawn. It will re-open on June 1. This system is fun if you like hiking and is a great float fishing river. Summer run steelhead should be showing up soon. When we get some reports in you’ll be the first to know.
Interior Lakes
Lake fishing continues to be the best option for fishing right now. In order to have good fishing on the lake, you want to see a steady or rising barometer. This may be an issue with cooler temps for Saterday but things will be heating up Sunday and early next week. This is the time when the temperatures reach the high 20s and you will notice damsels hatching. The way to fish damsel nymphs is by using a floating line with a long leader. You want to station yourself close to shore and retrieve the fly towards you. As the damsel nymphs tend to swim to shore and crawl on weeds before they hatch to its adult stage. If the water is choppy it is best to use clear intermediate line to keep the nymph under the surface. You will also notice a May fly hatch in the afternoon if the sun gets covered or on a cloudy day as they do not like direct sunlight.
In the evening you might hit a caddis hatch while on the lake, and if so, it could be the most exciting fishing you will experience. Make sure you have your damsel, caddis and May fly both in nymphs and dries.
Roche, Peter Hope, Glimpse, Harmon, Kump, Tunkwa, Marquart are fishing well. Lakes in the Cariboo region should start fishing well soon as well. If you want to have a shorter drive check out the lakes around the Coquihalla summit.
Here is a report from Andre’s fishing earlier this week!
The long weekend weather forecast wasn’t so great for camping or fishing. Fortunately I was working on the long weekend and off on Monday Tuesday, Wednesday. When I got to Merritt on Monday morning I knew the campsites would be full. When I arrived at the lake I talked to a couple that were packing up and the fishing report was not optimistic. I almost left but the sun was breaking through the clouds for the first time in a couple days and more nice weather was in the forecast.
I got onto the lake at around 1:00 pm, and was lucky enough to witness one of the craziest chironomid hatch I had ever seen. After a few pattern changes and some tinkering with the depth I was into fish averaging 25-26 inches! I thought these were amazing fish but when one almost took my rod in the water I knew the big boys were around.
I tied a new tippet and checked all the knots and was ready for battle. After staring at my indicator for a good 15 minutes with my hand on the rod the indicator disappeared so fast that I didn’t even have to set the hook. After a 10 minute battle, I landed a huge trout. After about ten fish this size I was ready to pack it in and go home. I didn’t think I could top this but I changed my mind and headed to Harmon. I got up Tuesday morning with sore arms from fighting the fish and got into the lake around 9:30. Chironomids were already starting to hatch in some areas of the lake. From my previous trip to Harmon a couple weeks ago, I had already mapped out the deep holes where the monsters could be hanging around. After a few position changes I began fishing one of may favorite spots in around 20ft to 25 ft depth and managed to catch a couple nice 5-6 pounds (see pic). The water temp was around 58 degrees so I moved and anchored in 35 ft of water with my chironomid at 24ft and it was game on.
I caught 6-10lb fish (see pic) constantly from 12:00 to 4:00 until I decided to give my arms a break and head home a day early. I also play guitar as a profession and worn out arms and fingers are no fun at a gig. This trip will be in my memory for a long time.
Happy fishing,
Andre
Local Lakes
For an even shorter drive don’t forget the local lakes. Rice, Lafarge, Como, Buntzen, and all the other local lakes are fishing well. We encourage people to take the introductory angler in their life to one of these stocked lakes. It is a great way to get people into the sport based on how willing the fish are and proximity to the city. Drop by the shop and we can give you some tips and set you up with the right gear.
Saltwater Report
It has been an interesting week of fishing with a number of good reports. We heard of a couple really big fish, great number days, and a few tough reports mixed in. We would like to see more big number days but we have been seeing lots of bait everywhere and the general consensus is that it is spreading the fish out. Good levels of bait should be a good thing for the future of the fishery but it might make dialing in the spots a little more challenging.
Anglers have been finding decent numbers of fish at Thrasher but with weather concerns yesterday, all our boats headed up Howe Sound. We had very solid fishing and also heard a numbers of reports just south of Bowen Island.
The hump has been a let down this season. We took a look back at records and historically there is usually one more good flurry of action at some point within 15 days after the full moon. Full moon tides are hard to fish but once they calm down fishing is usually very good. If you are out this weekend take a pass or two and see what happens. Our guides will be keeping it on their radar for the next little bit. If something happens we will post it next week.
4 of the best glow spoons
Homeland Security, Pesca Spoons, Titan Spoons, Skinny G Spoons
Up Howe Sound, we have been fishing a little shallower and still finding lots of fish. With darker overcast days we lean heavily on glow flashers and spoon in the shallower 60-110 range. When things go back to being sunny we will lean toward 90-120.
At thrasher the water is clearer and though we still hedge our bets shallow on overcast days 120-200 are common depths to search. On a sunny day 240 is not out of the question.
We have boats out all weekend and we should have more info early next week so as always don’t hesitate to call in and ask for and update or even better call in your report if something interesting happens out there. 604-872-2204. If you want to book a trip call NOW to get a spot! 778- 788-8582
GOOD LUCK!!