Outlook:
Well, on my phone today the weather app was showing a HIGH of -1 and LOW of -8. Suffice to say, I am won’t be walking a river over the next few days! Those of you who are be sure to take your hand warmers and dress for the cold!! Max was out fishing yesterday and got frostbite!
Of course, this means that the higher you go (Squamish v.s. Vedder) the colder you will get. Fish are being caught and one of our customers Dave, sent us this pic of a recent Vedder steelhead he caught after getting skunked on his first 5trips….persistence has paid off!
Dave: I caught this steelhead on a large black intruder fly last week on the Vedder. It put up a great fight but my new Redington 7wt spey easily handled the situation. This was the first fish that I have landed this year after 5 days of trying, but it was worth the wait. Adding to the satisfaction was that I tied the fly the night before.
The Georgia Strait Marine Forecast is calling for easterly winds all weekend 15-25knots. Keep checking for updated changes before heading out on the water and remember that quite often the area’s off of W. Vancouver will be relatively sheltered from any winds.
PACIFIC ANGLER CLOSED MONDAY, FEB 10TH “BC FAMILY DAY”
This weekend is a LONG WEEKEND! Monday, February 10th is BC Family Day, a stat holiday here in BC. Pacific Angler will be CLOSED on Monday, Feb 10th in honor of this stat holiday. We will be open regular hours other than Monday.
Featured Pacific Angler Course: Tying Intruder Patterns w/ Dimitri
This is the LAST intruder tying course until this fall! This course is designed for those that are interested in tying steelhead flies in the “Intruder style”. This style of fly is extremely productive for steelhead and salmon due to its profile and movement in the water. During this two night (5hr total instruction) tying series, you will learn the very specific techniques and unique materials used to tie this fly. Here are some pics of some of the flies that Dimitri ties!
This course is suitable for intermediate to advanced tiers. Students are required to supply their own vise, tools and materials. A 10% discount is available on materials and tools purchased for the course.
Class Size: 7 (3spots left)
Cost: $45.00
Date: (Feb 17 & 18)
Time: 7pm – 9:30pm
View full Pacific Angler 2014 Course Schedule online and see the 20+ courses we teach. Some courses are available throughout the year with multiple dates in the calendar.
Retail Product Feature: Pesca Spoons
The new Pesca spoons are now available at Pacific Angler!
The Pesca RSG spoons were extremely productive and popular this past summer and fall. Those of you who were lucky enough to get your hands on some of these last year know that these spoons glow like nothing else on the market. They produced extremely well for chinook and coho, especially when the water was dirty or when fishing deep. These spoons accounted for some awesome chinook fishing down at T-10, Sand Heads and over at Thrasher. They were originally available in 4.0, but by popular demand they are now available in two new sizes, 3.5 and 2.5. These new sizes have fantastic action! The action on the 3.5 and 2.5 is very erratic, more so than their big brother the 4.0, which tends to work best on a faster troll. I have been fishing the 3.5 and 2.5 this winter and they have been producing well for winter chinook. When you combine the amazing action of the 3.5 and 2.5 with the RSG glow finish and their new UV paints, you have a series of spoons that are going to be some of the top producers this season.
The RSG series and the amazing glow finish is fantastic, but sometimes we are fishing shallow and we don’t need a glow spoon. In these situations UV finishes can be deadly. That is why Pesca has launched a new series of spoons using UV finishes called the SPF series. Careful consideration was taken to develop color patterns that are effective for our local W. Van fishery, like a white UV finish with a red stripe for example.
Here is a picture of the Pesca SPF spoons under a UV light. You can see how their new UV finishes really light up!
Here is a picture of a new finish called the “Uncle Bob” that features a chartreuse stripe on the left leading edge, then white UV and then the famous RSG glow on the right portion of the spoon. This picture was taken in the dark and you can see how well it glows. Sizes from left to right are 4.0, 3.5 and 2.5.
Here is a picture of “Uncle Bob” in a 2.5 size under a UV light.
Here are is the selection of Pesca RSG and Pesca SPF spoons at Pacific Angler in sizes 4.0, 3.5, and 2.5.
Freshwater Fishing Reports:
Vedder: The words low and clear come to mind! The river is way down and continuing to drop. We are hopeful that this cold snap will throw in the towel by mid next week and make way for rising water and bearable fishing conditions. Some anglers that have put in their time and adapted to the conditions have been rewarded with fish. Baits like Jensen eggs, three egg roe bags, un-dyed prawn meat, and small pieces of roe are all good choices when the water is low and clear. Don’t be afraid to fish “heavy” water when the river is way down. Fish look to slightly deeper and choppy water for cover. Be sure to bundle up well and protect your extremities!
A frost bitten thumbs up. If your finger tips go from red to pale white, you might want to stop fishing. A concept Max is NOW familiar with as seen by pic of the swollen digits below.
Squamish / Cheakamus:
Well it looks like winter is finally here. With an amazing November, December and a fairly warm January, we have been spoiled. This weekend it is going to be cold – very cold. For trout fishing on the Squamish system this is not good. Water levels are plummeting, eggs and bugs have stopped coming out of the gravel and any hope that we would get an early fry hatch has been put on hold.
But don’t worry! It is not all doom and gloom. Anytime we get a spell like this it means the fish are not eating and are getting hungry. The second the conditions change the fish will turn on and we can see some of the best fishing of the season. Take a look at the weather for next week. If things don’t change too much Wednesday is going to be warm and wet with a high of 8. This is exactly what I look for when planning a trip. I can’t recommend heading up to Squamish for trout this weekend but everyone at the shop is keeping a close eye on water levels and temperatures for next week.
If you are going to brave the cold, turn your trip into an early steelhead scouting trip. Hike lots to stay warm and learn some new water. Though it’s still early a pass at one of the lower runs in the town of Squamish might not be a bad bet. Because the water is low a steelhead or two might get stuck down low and if they are fresh from the ocean it doesn’t matter how cold the water is or how clear it is they usually bite!
If trout fishing, streamers are starting to outperform the egg pattern. As the weeks drag on, less and less of the salmon biomass left over from the fall is present. This means that the trout’s food source is transitioning from flesh and eggs to sculpins, alevin and later fry. This weekend try small sculpin patterns or go big and swing steelhead patterns.
The Squamish and Cheakamus systems are a 100% catch and release – no bait/scent – barbless fishery so play by the rules, give other anglers space and have fun!
Harrison/Stave Rivers: The larger cutthroat will go up the creeks that feed into the Harrison as they begin their spawning cycle for the next month or so and they should be left alone. This causes the fishery to slow down for big fish but the fish in their two year cycle (smaller in size) will still be out in force. If you do find larger ones paired up they should be left alone to spawn but if you run into a pod of smaller fish dimpling the surface you are in luck. The cuties in the Stave will have a similar focus. Cover water, look for surface activity and fish floating lines or intermediate sinking lines with light tippet and small attractor patterns.
Saltwater Fishing Report:
It’s a chilly one! With highs of 0 and lows of –7 not too many anglers have been excited to brave the cold weather the last few days. We haven’t heard too many reports as most anglers are sitting this cold snap out and waiting for warmer conditions. Eddie was out last weekend and did well prawning and crabbing but any keeper winter chinook were elusive off the shores of W. Vancouver. Eddie is back out this weekend and hopefully next week we will have some warmer weather and some more reports. We do have some bigger tides coming up as there is a full moon on February 14th. Often we have some good fishing leading up to the full moon and it does look like it is going to get warmer and we are going to get some much needed rain (for all you winter steelheaders out there). I suspect we will have some good results for local winter chinook in the coming weeks. We just received a big shipment of the Pesca RSG and SPF spoons in 4.0 and the new smaller sizes, 3.5 and 2.5, which are perfect for this time of year.
See you in the shop or out on the water
Jason Tonelli
On behalf of the Pacific Angler staff we wish you the best in your fishing endeavors and we hope to see you either at the shop or on the water. To check out the latest Pacific Angler news view the Pacific Angler Facebook page.
Jason, Matt, Andre, Max, Eddie, Jordan and Bryce