OUTLOOK
The May Long Weekend is shaping up to offer a little bit of everything for anglers across the region. While the spring freshet has pushed many of our local rivers high and dirty, there are still opportunities available for those willing to work for them especially on the Sea to Sky systems if cooler weather helps keep flows in check.
The cooler, unsettled weather forecast for the weekend should actually help lake anglers, with lower temperatures and cloud cover, keeping trout active throughout the day. Chironomid fishing remains the main event on the Interior lakes, with some excellent reports coming in from Regions 3, 5, and 8, while local lakes around the Lower Mainland are also fishing well for stocked trout.
If you’re heading out this long weekend, make sure to pack for changing weather conditions and be prepared for busy campgrounds and boat launches. Whether you’re chasing trout on the local lakes, exploring the Interior, or sneaking in one last spring river trip, there are still plenty of opportunities to get out on the water.
While we don’t have a report this week for saltwater anglers, bottom fishing across the Strait has continued to be productive as well as crabbing! Things are looking to be a bit windy so be sure to check your marine forecast before heading out.
If you need to pick up a new setup or some gear before heading out, we are open regular hours all weekend and closed on Monday for Victoria Day.
Long Weekend Hours
Friday May 15 | 10am-7pm
Saturday May 16 | 10am-6pm
Sunday May 17 | 11am-5pm
Monday May 18 | Closed
Good luck, travel safe, and enjoy the long weekend!
CLASSES AND COURSES
Introduction to Fly Fishing
Introduction to Fly Fishing Trout Streams
Stalking trout on mountain streams defines fly fishing. In this course we will teach you the fundamental techniques for fly fishing trout streams; dry fly fishing, nymphing, and streamer fishing. This course will get you as close to being Brad Pitt (River Runs Through It) as you will ever be! This course is comprised of one 3hr evening seminar.
Cost: $85.00+GST
Date: June 16, 2026
Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm
FEATURE – FAVOURITE STILLWATER FLY FISHING SETUP
Our Favourite Stillwater Fly Fishing Setup | 10’ 5 Weight Breakdown
If you’ve been thinking about refining your current stillwater gear or are building your first lake setup, now’s the time.
We just dropped a new video breaking down Jason’s favourite all-around stillwater setup: The versatile 10’ 5-weight. This rod setup shines for indicator fishing, sinking lines, chironomids, leeches, blobs, boobies, and more.
Check out the full video now on our YouTube channel and see why this is the setup he reaches for most often on BC lakes.
Questions? Visit us in shop or online and let us help you get dialed in before your next lake excursion
PRODUCT FEATURE – LOWRANCE EAGLE ON SALE
The Lowrance Eagle – A Perfect Lake or Light Saltwater Sounder Solution
With the rapidly increasing popularity of lake fishing, it has become clear that anybody who wants to consistently catch fish needs to have a good, modern fishfinder on their boat- and no, even though the old “Fishing Buddies” were cool, I wouldn't quite call them "modern"...
The Lowrance Eagle series has been around for a few years and has already proved itself to be simple, easy to use and effective for all types of freshwater fishing. The Eagles are offered in four different sizes (4”, 5”, 7” and 9”) with four different transducer options (Bullet Skimmer, Splitshot HD, Tripleshot HD and the Eagle Eye) to suit your needs. Some upgrades from the old Hook Reveal series include autotuning sonar, optimized user interface, improved portability and an IPS screen that can be viewed with polarized sunglasses.
What does all this technical data mean? Auto tuning allows you to spend more time fishing and less time fiddling with settings. The ISP screen is noticeably brighter, clearer and higher resolution. Beside the improved polarized sunglass viewing they have used the extra definition to do a better job at defining the data from CHIRP and Down Scan signals. Just so we are all on the same page, if you want to see bottom, logs, rocks, vegetation and other structure features, down scan is king. If you want to see fish, CHIRP is what will pick them out most effectively. With the new screen, the unit does a great job of defining the two so you can make out what is bottom what is a log or vegetation and, more importantly what is a fish.
While these units were designed for use in freshwater, they can still hold their own in light-duty saltwater applications. As such, they can be a great option for small boat owners who make the occasional trip into saltwater environments to do some crabbing or salmon trolling... though they will struggle in over 200' of water.
Different Eagle Models
The Bullet Skimmer is a simple, single-frequency transducer that will find bottom and mark fish but does not come with any fancy bells or whistles and is only available on the 4” model.
The Splitshot HD is available with the 5” and 7” screens and offers the improved target separation of CHIRP sonar while also being equipped with Downscan imaging, which offers improved definition between structure, vegetation and fish directly below the boat.
The Tripleshot HD is available with the 7” and 9” screens and features CHIRP sonar, Downscan and Sidescan imaging, which offers incredible top-down structure detail for up to 600' on either side of your boat.
The Eagle Eye is an entry-level Live Sonar system that is sold as a package, complete with a 9" screen and transducer that features Live Forward (Forward-Facing Sonar), Live Down (Down-Aspect Forward-Facing Sonar), CHIRP sonar and Downscan imaging. This unit is perfect for those who are interested in the benefits of Forward-Facing Sonar (FFS) but can't bankroll a top-of-the-line system.
All of these units (excluding the bullet) also have Genesis live. This gives you the ability to create your own custom bottom contour map of your favorite fishing spot. This is a big game changer when indicator fishing because you can circle your spot, map out the bottom to within ½ a foot accuracy and then know that when you cast to the left of the boat you are in 14ft but off the right you are in 17ft.
The Eagle units are designed to be as plug-and-play as possible, with no setup needed- just mount the transducer, plug the unit in and fish. The Autotuning sonar will take care of the finicky process of adjusting the sonar sensitivity and the simple transducer and power connections make turning the Eagle into a portable system very easy. I have a ton of experience with the previous-generation Hook Reveal 9” Tripleshot and have always been impressed with how good it was, so the improvements in the new Eagle units are sure to make an already great fishing tool even better. We’ve got ‘em in stock and on display if you want to come in and have a look, and I’ll be honest, it’s easier to explain their features in person than it is to write about them…
These sounders fit perfectly with the Scotty Sounder mount system that Matt uses in his Scotty lake boat build video. If you missed it above and want a solution for mounting this sounder or any small lake sounder, check out the video here.
Making things even better some of these models are on sale – check out the details in store or online here! Looking for Lowrance (or other electronics) that are showing as sold out? Give us a call at the shop at 604.872.2204 – in most cases we can order these in for you!
FRESHWATER FISHING REPORT
Chilliwack/Vedder Fishing Report
There’s not too much to say about the C/V system at this point.
The steelhead run is pretty much done, with almost all of the fish being in the upper and mid sections of the river- both of which are closed to fishing. The lower river is the only legal option, and even then, it is a fly-fishing only opening, with a mandatory catch and release regulation for all trout- both resident and otherwise.
In addition to this, the warm weather has kicked off the freshet, so the river is high and pretty much unfishable due to the turbidity.
The next fishing opportunity on this system will be in July, when the river re-opens and the summer salmon (chinook and sockeye) start to show up. There will also be some opportunities to chase trout when the river re-opens, so stay tuned for some in-depth articles on those fisheries in June.
Taylor Nakatani
Squamish River Fishing Report
The late Spring Is a tricky fishery up the Sea To Sky. The major migratory runs are done, and the river maintains a higher flow. If we get a break from the heat and daytime temps stay mild, we get some short-lived fishing opportunities in a stunning spring backdrop. This late into Spring we don’t expect to see amazing fishing, but if the river holds you have the potential to find fish.
The Sea to Sky rivers are subject to the typical spring freshet we get on most free run coastal rivers. This will bump water well above fishable levels. This past week we are seeing a slow downward trend back to a high but fishable main stem level. The Spring also brings cloudy glacier runoff. This is a tough one to account for as clarity can change throughout the day.
That said, we have some cool weather that might keep levels on the low side for the weekend. Once things get hot again expect larger flows to return.
I have had successful late season trips but expect to work for your fish. Look for resident bull trout and rainbows holding in “trout feeding” water. These are current seams and eddies that give fish an opportunity to rest out of the heavy current and scoop up any prey items that wash by. Think lazy fish. I also look for areas that might have some cleaner water inflowing to the coloured main stem. Sometimes fish will hold in the confluence where the clear and dirty water mix.
Fly anglers can target fish with sink tips and larger swung flies. Trout rods in the 5-6wt range are a good start like the Orvis Encounter combo or Redington Wrangler. Anglers looking to fish two handed fly rods can still take the big sticks for a walk, but I would focus my effort on the inside seams and resist the urge to fire cannons way out to the main river. I like large intruder and leech style flies for these conditions. Favorite colours for me are black and purple but have had success on brighter patterns in pink and chartreuse as well.
Gear anglers can fish the same water with spoons and spinner very effectively. In fact, gear anglers may have the edge in these conditions with a big clattering piece of metal for the trout to chance down. Coho and croc spoons in medium sizes will go the trick. I like a good medium action 6- 8.5 ft rod for these fisheries. Check out the Daiwa Revros or Daiwa Crossfire combos for a few solid spinning options. These rods are also great for the upcoming coho season.
The campsites will be busy over the long weekend with people looking for secluded spots up the valley. Please be bear aware and keep a pristine campsite with food and garbage stored appropriately.
The road is still closed at 21km with some slide damage around 19km. Some adventurers have packed up past the slides on foot or two wheels buts it’s not easy. Because the road has been inactive for so long expect to encounter plenty of blowdowns and rip rap on the road. No ETA on reopening.
It’s looks like the recent fire ban was rescinded as of noon today to allow for small campfires. This is a nice opportunity to roast marshmallows with the family but keep it civil. No large fires or open burns.
Have fun stay safe!
Eric Peake
STILLWATER FISHING REPORTS
Local Lake Fishing Reports
The stocked trout lakes around Vancouver are fishing well right now, and the cooler weather moving in over the long weekend should make conditions even better. Lakes like Rice Lake, Sasamat Lake, and Browning Lake are all fishing well. The incoming cooler temperatures, cloud cover, and light rain will help keep water temperatures stable and oxygen levels higher, which usually makes trout more active and willing to feed throughout the day instead of only during short morning windows.
The best fishing will still be early in the morning and again in the evening, especially from first light until around 9 a.m. and then the last couple hours before dark. With the colder weather this weekend, anglers may also see improved midday action, particularly on overcast days when trout stay shallow longer. Fishing from shore near drop-offs, weed edges, or wind-blown banks has been productive lately, especially on recently stocked lakes where trout tend to cruise close to shore searching for food.
For bait fishing, Power Bait, Berkley Gulp worms and shrimp under a float are all good choices right now. If bait fishing isn’t your thing, small spoons like the 3/16 Gibbs croc or small Mepps Spinners will work just as well. Silver, gold, white, and chartreuse colours have all been effective, especially when retrieved slowly with occasional pauses. The cooler long weekend weather should create some of the better trout conditions local anglers have seen in the past few weeks.
Fly fishing can also be productive, especially when there’s a lot of fishing pressure and trout are being finicky. The local lakes are a great spot to practice your fly casting and maybe hook into a fish or two while you’re at it. Small Leech patterns, blobs or even bright shiny chironomid patterns will all produce fish.
The cool overcast weather is perfect for a trip to the local lakes.
It should be a good weekend out on the local lakes around Vancouver. Remember to dress for the weather; I’d expect we will get some sporadic showers of rain this weekend.
Good luck out there.
Jacob Leboe
BC Interior Lake Fishing Reports
It’s prime time and a lot of lakes fished well this past week in Regions 3, 5, and 8 with chironomids being the focus of the fish and the angler.
Looking at the May Long Weekend, I don’t expect much to change except there is a low-pressure system coming in. This system is forecast to bring low single digit nighttime temps to many lakes on Friday and Saturday and even below zero temps at the higher elevations. This might slow down some of the hatches, but this time of year the chrons often don’t care and will hatch regardless of the weather. Luckily the cool weather is short lived, and things seem to get back on track for Sunday and Monday.
It’s chironomid season! The hatches are prolific right now and the fish have the feed bag on, resulting in some of the best fishing of the year.
To learn more about chironomid fishing techniques, including how to fish chironomids under an indicator 3 different ways (static, retrieved, wind drifted) check out my recent video How to Fly Fish Chironomids Under an Indicator | 3 Techniques That Work
Although chrons will be the go-to on most of the lakes this weekend, some lakes are already seeing some mayflies coming off and damsels won’t be far behind. On the lakes where the hatches have been light still (higher elevation lakes) anglers have had good success with leeches and blobs, either retrieved or under an indicator. I had great success on both on a recent trip around 5:00 pm after the chron hatch had died off. I put a blob on one rod and a balanced leech on another and caught some of the largest fish of the day while others were packing up their rods.
To learn more about how to fish a blob under an indicator, check out this video How to Fish a Blob Under an Indicator . You can take these techniques and tips and tie on a blob or a leech as the techniques are interchangeable between those 2 flies.
Have a great long weekend and I will see you in the shop or on the water.
Jason Tonelli
