OUTLOOK
Happy Friday!
Welcome to the final fishing report of 2025 - where did the year go? Things have been busy in the shop with Christmas gift-givers stopping in, fly tyers stocking up for winter break tying sessions, and anglers grabbing a few last-minute items ahead of warm-water Christmas vacations.
If you still have a few things to check off your Christmas shopping list (or want to treat yourself!), we’re open regular hours all weekend and into next week. We’ll be closing early on Christmas Eve and will be closed on Christmas Day, but we’ll be back in the shop for our famous Boxing Week Sale! More details on holiday hours and the sale are below.
Short on time? Order online for in-store pickup! Take advantage of our free loading/quick-stop zone out front, grab your order and be on your way.
On the fishing report front, while many local rivers remain high after recent storms, it’s time to start thinking about steelhead season. Jason takes a look ahead at what to expect for the 2026 winter steelhead fishery on some of our most popular systems.
For our saltwater anglers - yes, it’s been windy out there! But when conditions have allowed us to get out, the fishing has been productive.
Be sure to check out the full report below, along with some special features, including an important update on the Salmon Allocation Policy review and how you can get involved.
And yes - we know you’re eagerly waiting for details on our Boxing Week Sale! Keep an eye on your inbox, as we’ll be sending out the full sale list on Christmas Eve. The sale kicks off in store on Boxing Day at 10:00 AM.
Thanks for your continued support, and happy fishing!
Holiday Hours
December 19 – 23 – Regular Store Hours (check them out here)
December 24 – 10am-3pm
December 25 – Closed – Merry Christmas
December 26 – 10AM-7PM – Boxing Week Sale – In Store
CLASSES AND COURSES
Our 2026 Courses are Live online! From beginners just starting out to more seasoned anglers looking to refine their craft we have the course for you.
INDUSTRY EVENTS AND UPDATES
Salmon Allocation Policy Review & Update
As many of you know, the Salmon Allocation Policy is under review and salmon as common property available to the public, in this case by fishing, is under direct attack from First Nations and the Commercial Salmon fishing sectors. Both have made it clear that they want Canadians to be at the back of the bus when it comes to accessing this resource when sustainable harvest opportunities become available.
Here is what you can do to help make sure you can go fishing for salmon in the future:
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Read the SAP Review Discussion Paper paying particular attention to areas of disagreement between the First Nations, Commercial, and SFAB (Sport Fish Advisory Board that represents the public interest).
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Read the SFAB SAP Review Submission to learn about the SFAB position.
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Your input is critical; here are some Feedback Suggestions and I can’t stress how important it is you send an email response in your own words.
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Support the Public Fishery Alliance. Read more about Public Fishery Alliance Taking Your Voice To Ottawa and donate to this specific trip here PFA & Ottawa.
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Support the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia by becoming a member and participating in their raffle. The SFI has an excellent site called Salmon Forever with all the documents you need to get educated on the SAP Review.
This is easily the biggest moment in fisheries management in the past 30 years, and you need to send in an email to make sure your access to salmon is maintained.
The SFI and PFA are both doing great things on your behalf. Support them, become a member, fund that trip to Ottawa. It’s the least we can all do.
I will keep you update on how things progress. Deadline for input is Jan 23.
Jason Tonelli
SPECIAL FEATURE
A December Weather Review & What That Means For Anglers
December 2025: Wet, Warm, and Breaking Records
I felt like this must be one of the warmest and wettest Decembers I’ve ever seen, so I thought I would do a few searches to see if my suspicions were correct.
As it turns out, they were. Vancouver received an average December rainfall total in the span of one week, causing widespread flooding and multiple road and highway closures. On December 10th multiple rainfall records were broken with Abbotsford recording 86mm, Hope recording 132mm, Agassiz recording 92mm, and Chilliwack recording 110mm.
To make matters worse, it’s been unseasonably warm. On December 15th there were 28 temperature records broken across BC with many of those being in the Lower Mainland. At YVR the weather station recorded a 15.7C this month, smashing the previous December record of 13.0C set back in 1962.
Up in Squamish and Whistler records were broken as well, with Squamish recording a high of 14.2C, replacing the previous record of 12.2C back in 1962. Whistler had a high of 10.4C, one degree higher than the previous record from 1976.
So, what does this mean from an angling perspective? Quite a few things. First off, it’s been almost impossible to go river fishing for early season steelhead. The rivers have been in flood stage or high and dirty almost the entire month. Even when flows have come down to a fishable level the water has remained dirty in many systems due to all the debris and bank erosion from the floods. The warm temperatures haven’t helped matters, staying well above 0C at night in the higher elevation, which keeps the dirty run off flowing into rivers 24/7.
Unfortunately, the 14-day forecast does not look that great with rain forecast everyday all the way until the end of the month. It does look like we are going to get some cooler temperatures though, and this means some freezing up in the mountains and some snow. This will cause the rivers to drop and clear up. What will be fishable and when will be highly dependent on how much rain we get and how warm it is, but there should be some good steelhead fishing in the coming weeks as visibility improves.
These highwater events will have wreaked havoc on a lot of the salmon spawning redds as well. How much damage is yet to be seen and we won’t really know how successful the salmon spawning was until the offspring of this year’s brood returns in the future. I am particularly concerned about rivers like the Squamish were the river crested at 7m and basically looked like the Fraser. Despite these highwater events, the fish usually amaze me at how well they do after such destructive weather patterns, which seem to be the norm these days.
Hopefully things get back to normal this winter and we can build a nice snowpack for the rivers and for the lakes, and we get a nice gradual thaw in the spring and summer. Being that the extreme seems to be the norm these days, I won’t hold my breath but, as a fisherman, I am eternally optimistic.
Stay dry out there,
Jason Tonelli
FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
Steelhead Season River Fishing Report
It’s that time of year where the first steelhead will start to show up so let’s take a look at what to expect for the 2025/26 winter steelhead season on some of the more popular systems.
Vedder/Chilliwack:
This system is the go-to for many anglers when it comes to early season steelhead fishing and for good reason. Right about now the first steelhead of the year push into the river and many of them are hatchery. The main run continues all the way to March and into the first few weeks of April, with more wild fish showing up later in the run. Steelhead runs have really been up and down on a lot of systems over the past decade, but this river seems to be consistent, and we expect the same this year. All we need is some visibility, as of the time of this report the river is not overly high, but the recent floods have made it very dirty. Keep an eye on river levels and clarity going forward because once the fish can see a few feet, fishing for those first of the year steelhead should be quite good.
The ocean fresh, chrome steelhead are entering the rivers right now. All we need are some cooler nighttime temps and a little less rain to clean up the rivers and it will be game on!
Stamp River:
The Stamp has also been quite high with all the rain but is now dropping back into shape. Although the steelhead runs are a far cry from the double-digit days of the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s it can still be worth a visit. Bank access is possible around Stamp Falls Pool and other places if you do your research, but the best way to fish this river is with a guide out of a jet boat. This is an early river, usually fishing best in December to January, so the time go is now.
Squamish & Cheakamus Rivers:
These rivers have very few steelhead early on, like most Central Coast streams, they get the bulk of their fish later in March and all through April. The steelhead runs on these systems are quite small and fragile, with success being granted to anglers who put in a lot of time and cover a lot of water. All the fish on these rivers are wild, so should be played and released with the utmost of care. There is also a bait ban in place. The Squamish hit 7 metres a few days ago so that means there will be some new runs and some new log jams, so take care on your springtime steelhead trips later this season. A good tactic is to explore the river in the safer low flows often seen in January and February, perhaps nymphing or float fishing egg imitations for rainbows and bull trout, while you learn where the new runs are and take note of any hazards if you plan on floating it later on.
Stay tuned for more steelhead specific technique articles in the New Year.
Jason Tonelli
SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Winter Chinook Salmon Fishing Report
We don’t have a lot to report this week as it’s been difficult to get out there recently with all the wind and rain. We have a trip out today and some on the weekend as well and being that it’s late December, I am sure we will find some fish. On our last trip, fishing was solid with shots at legal fish and quite a few undersize in Lower Howe Sound and in the Freighters and Bell Buoy area, so if you are heading out that’s a great place to start.
Fishing for winter chinook in Vancouver is always quite consistent in late December and into January, the name of the game is getting that weather window to get out there. We will have our eye on Vancouver Harbour in the weeks to come, as it was late December last year when a bunch of hungry winter chinook showed up in this area.
Good luck if you are heading out there, and to book your winter chinook and BC spot prawn trip, give us a call at 778-788-8582 or visit us at Vancouver Salmon Fishing
Jason Tonelli
