OUTLOOK
August fishing is in full swing, and there are some great opportunities on the water right now. The Gulf Islands continue to produce excellent chinook fishing, while locally we're starting to see more salmon showing up along the West Vancouver shoreline and around the harbour. With Area 28-9 now open for chinook retention, local anglers have some additional opportunities close to home, and we're expecting the fishery to continue building as we move through August.
Beach anglers are also finding a mix of hatchery and wild coho, with smaller presentations starting to produce better as the fish become more cautious. For freshwater anglers, local rivers remain challenging in the low summer flows, but Interior lake fishing continues to offer some excellent opportunities where access and fire conditions allow.
Looking ahead, we're excited about what the next few weeks could bring. More chinook are moving into local waters, the Gulf Islands continue to fish extremely well, and the late-summer coho fishery is starting to take shape. If you've been waiting to get out on the salt, there's no better time to start planning your next trip.
As always, thanks for reading and we'll see you on the water!
CLASSES AND COURSES
Our courses for the Summer are sold out but it's never too early to start thinking about the Fall
Introduction to Fly Fishing
Fall Salmon River Fishing Floats, Spinners & Spoons
This 3hr evening seminar covers float fishing, spinner fishing and spoon fishing; the three most productive techniques to catch BC salmon in a river.
Cost: $85.00 +GST
Date: September 22, 2026
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
INDUSTRY EVENTS AND UPDATES
Join Our Team
We’re Hiring! We have two great opportunities to join our growing team. Check out all the details below!
Retail Sales Associate – Full and Part Time Opportunities Available
As a Retail Sales Associate, you'll be the face of Pacific Angler. You'll build relationships with customers, provide knowledgeable product recommendations, and help maintain a clean, organized, and welcoming retail environment.
Our customers choose Pacific Angler because they trust our staff to provide honest, experience-based advice. While no one is expected to know everything, every member of our team is committed to continually learning, sharing knowledge, and helping customers become more successful anglers.
Full job description is here
Product Data and Ecommerce Coordinator
Working closely with our ordering, marketing and retail team, you'll manage the flow of product information from supplier to customer. You'll be responsible for entering new products, maintaining accurate inventory records, publishing products to our Shopify website, and ensuring product information is complete, accurate and consistent.
This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving problems, improving processes, and takes pride in producing high-quality, detail-oriented work.
Review the full job description here
PRODUCT FEATURE
🎣 TOMICS ARE MOVING FAST — AND THERE’S AN IMPORTANT HOOK UPDATE!
Our Tomic Plugs sold through quickly, and we only have limited stock remaining. If you missed out on the plug you wanted, don’t worry — you can select the “Notify Me When Available” option online to get an alert when it’s back in stock. You can also give us a call at the shop and we’ll help you track one down.
In this short from our latest Chinook Trolling Tactics video, we’re focusing on the new hook size regulations coming into effect September 1st.
The new regulations limit the distance from the hook point to the shank to 22mm, so some of the larger hooks commonly used on plugs may no longer be legal.
We break down some of the hook options we like for Tomic Plugs, including VMC Techsets, Mustad Big Guns and Gamakatsu Big Rivers in open-eye Siwash sizes.
👉 Watch the short to learn what to look for, and check out the full Tomic Plugs video on YouTube for our complete rigging and trolling setup.
Missed the plug you wanted? Set up a back-in-stock notification online or give the shop a call — we’ll let you know when more arrive!
FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
River Fishing Update – Capilano & Chilliwack Rivers & Skagit Access Update
Local rivers are settling into the slower stretch of the summer season, with low, clear water making for challenging conditions on both the Capilano and Chilliwack. The summer red chinook fishery on the Chilliwack is nearly done, while Capilano coho are becoming increasingly difficult to target as they hold in deeper water and canyon pools.
At this point, patience is the name of the game. Many seasoned river anglers are looking ahead to September, when a good stretch of rain can raise river levels and encourage fresh pushes of coho and chinook into both systems.
For now, expect technical and challenging river fishing close to home. This is a great time to check your gear, restock your tackle and get ready—once the September rains arrive, conditions can change quickly and the fresh fish won’t be far behind.
Skagit Access Update
As of this week, the road into the Skagit is still closed.
The fire affecting the Skagit Valley has increased in size yet again to a size of just over 14,000 acres, with no indication of it slowing down. It appears to be growing and traveling further into the Canadian side as well.
BC Parks has closed Ross Lake Campground and Skagit Valley Provincial Park.
As of writing, the road is still closed at the 6km mark, with no current indicator of when it may open.
We are suggesting that anglers do not enter the park in any way, and to avoid the area.
More information can be found on the DriveBC website here .
Jordan Simpson
STILLWATER FISHING REPORTS
Interior Lake Fishing & Travel Reports
As we creep closer to September the lake fishing continues to be productive. That said, the extreme fire conditions have drastically impacted the travel plans for most summer tourists hoping to catch a few fish on their trip.
The fire season has been relentless prompting closures in many recreation sites and travel advisories. If you are planning a trip to the Interior do so with care. Impacted areas are asking travelers to stay away and leave room for evacuees who need the spaces. Smoke conditions have also been terrible making any time spent outdoors hard on your health. If you are traveling with a family or have health issues, we recommend re-booking. There are also restrictions on 4x4 recreation vehicles with no use on Crown land or parks due to the risk of sparking more fires.
Smoke and fire maps show the extent of the damage and the wide area affected.
Smoke map: https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/
Fire map: https://wildfiresituation.nrs.gov.bc.ca/map
Before BC issued its state of emergency, I had an annual trip planned to a remote lake. The lodge was still accepting guests with a mix of clear and smoking skies. The roads were unaffected by closures and fire, so we decided to proceed and make the best of it. High elevation lakes usually see a solid summer chironomid hatch that can lead to excellent fishing. Each lake will have its own timing, but we were fortunate to hit a large hatch that kept the action hot for the few days we were fishing.
Our group focused on flats and bays where the wind was blowing food items in too. As the wind changed throughout the day the fishing hot spots moved around the lake. We found most fish were cruising in about 20ft of water.
A host of flies were taking fish. I was successful first thing in the morning fishing off the bottom with bloodworms in red and green. This produced some nice fish but as the hatches started to move, chironomids started to hit and it was bobber down the rest of the day. The most productive patterns were large dark bomber style chironomids in size 12-8. These are huge by most anglers' standards, but they were hitting. I tried smaller options but settled on a size 12 zucchini style bomber.
The big holosheen and wine chironomids were crushing. I tie mine on the Aquatalon hooks.
I fish from a pontoon boat, so I am not fast moving on the water. This means I can’t rip lakes end to end in a hurry, but it gives me an opportunity to drop a sinking line and to troll my way to the fishing spots. This is a great way to explore a new lake and look for drop offs and weed beds. I picked up a few trolling to and from my favorite spots. The Little Fort Leech did its job and took some aggressive fish on the slow cruse.
Trolling Little Fort Leech
Overall, the fishing was very good. Let’s hope the fire conditions improve and we get a shot at some more lake fishing opportunity as summer slowly turns to Fall and those big-uns make their way to the shallows to fatten up for the winter ahead.
Eric Peake
SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
Saltwater salmon fishing is in full Summer swing, and there are some very good options for anglers heading out of Vancouver right now. The Gulf Islands are fishing extremely well for chinook, while locally we are starting to see more salmon showing up along the West Vancouver shoreline.
August fishing is off to a good start!
Vancouver Harbour & West Vancouver
Locally, chinook fishing has been a bit of a grind some days, but there are fish around if you are willing to put in the time. We expect to see the local fishery continue to build over the next few weeks as more chinook move into the Vancouver area - the best is yet to come!
There was also an important opening on August 12, with Area 28-9, off the mouth of the Capilano, opening for chinook retention. This means that both Areas 28-6 and 28-9 are now open for chinook retention, giving local anglers some additional opportunity to target chinook close to home.
We are also seeing some coho around Point Atkinson and along the West Vancouver shoreline. South Bowen is still producing some coho as well, although the fishing is not quite as consistent as it was earlier in the summer.
The harbour has been a little scratchy, but salmon are starting to show up, and we expect this fishery to improve as we move through August. With more chinook beginning to move into the local area, the next few weeks should be an exciting time to get out on the water.
Gulf Islands – Area 17
If you are looking for consistent chinook action, the Gulf Islands are the place to be right now. Chinook fishing in Area 17 has been excellent, with strong numbers of fish being encountered throughout the area.
Dezai’s guests had a productive day in the Gulf Islands
For anglers planning a longer trip, the Gulf Islands should be high on the list right now. The fishing has been excellent, and we expect this fishery to continue producing as we move through the month.
See you in the shop or on the water!
Jason Tonelli
Beach Fishing Report
The beach has been decent with regular anglers finding a mix of hatchery and wild fish. One thing to note is the larger presentations seem to be getting a few less hook ups. Try paring down your presentations and fish smaller spinners and spoons... or flies.
A special note on the flies this time of year. When the fish go stale and have been doing laps at the mouth of the river flies can do very well. I have seen more fly chuckers hooking up with small Neils, rolled muddlers and krill type patterns. These are best fished on the tide changes or slack when the water isn't ripping. Try long fluorocarbon saltwater leaders to help turnover flies in the wind and make that stretch cast to the fish moving far of. I like the bonefish leaders from Rio. These are durable and stealthy for those beach salmon hunters.
A fresh batch of beach flies to gear up for the coho fishery.
Fly anglers should invest in a stripping basket to help keep your fly line tangle free and away from the razor-sharp shellfish beds on the shore. This is also nice when wading deep with sinking lines, as sinking running line can drop at your feet and add resistance to shooting lines, limiting your distance.
Gear anglers are still finding most of the fish with coho and crocs or smaller spinners / spinner hoochie combos. I am still using fluorocarbon leaders to add some stealth to the hardware presentation. When fishing smaller lures, a more sensitive "whippy" rod will help get more distance. A medium rod in the 8-9ft range will help maximise the distance for shore casting.
I always close with a note that this is an urban fishery, and it can get very busy. Try not to crowd your fellow anglers and dispose of all garbage or line appropriately.
Eric Peake
