Outlook:
CANADA DAY WEEKEND HOURS:
Pacific Angler will be open today till 7pm, Saturday 11am-6pm, Sunday 11am – 5pm and CLOSED on Monday.
Once again the weather has been all over the place the last week and I do not need to tell you how wet it has been. However, that being said the weather in the forecast starting on Sunday is for great temperatures and steady barometer and some heat!
While the weather in the Gulf and Vancouver Harbour has also been up and down it has not been as bad as forecasted. Check the Government Marine Forecast even the morning before you go to see what is going on.
Long weekend so schedule your travel to and from your destination so you can avoid the traffic jams and make it an enjoyable and safe Canada Day weekend!
We are getting amped up for upcoming beach fishing season for pink salmon that will be in W. Vancouver, Howe Sound, Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm plus Fraser river etc…
Andre has produced round 1 of his amazing beach flies so come and get them while they are here! Visit Andre’s website called Frenzy Flies!
2013 Beach Flies by Andre
Stillwater Report:
We have not had alot to report on stillwater fishing this past week because the weather has been horrible and all over the place.
Being the Canada Day long weekend…it will be crowded in some spots but also the weather (again) looks like it is shaping up and the fishing should heat up again. We have yet to see a steady barometer in the high 20’s so elevation of your lake selection should not be that important. Just get out there and wet a line.
Rice Lake Coho!
Locally, we have confirmation that there are the occasional coho in Rice Lake. A friend of ours, Max was in our shop this morning and showed us a picture of a coho he caught with his brother at Rice Lake last week! The rumours are true!
Locally you can track down which lakes are best to target by checking out the local fish stocking reports published by GoFishBC
Remember to browse some of the online forums. You will find useful information in the forums at flyfishbc including their stillwater section. Flybc.ca is another great forum to check in on to see what people are sharing and talking about.
Chironomid hatches should be coming off this weekend and keep your eyes on shoals and weedbeds to see what else might be coming off so you can match the hatch.
River Report:
Upper Pitt River:
The Pitt River was a mean mistress this week. Fluctuating water levels and times of heavy rain bounced the river around hard. The clarity was actually fairly descent for the conditions. On Wednesday we saw 1.5 ft of visibility that then cleared up over the day coming into shape nicely. We found fish in the afternoon and hooked a couple big fish in the upper river but we could tell that the fish were not comfortable with the high water levels. Good job to my guys for doing a great job at getting some good numbers in tough conditions.
nice bull trout!
On Thursday we were hopeful – We expected the river to come down but when traveling into the untouched wilderness of the upper Pitt valley it is difficult to predict the conditions. Once again the river rose over night but unlike the day before it did not stop rising. Again my guys did an admirable job of finding fish in tough conditions but again the fish were picky and we had to work hard. We fished deep with heavy sink tips and monster flies all the while dodging trees that were tumbling down river. The outlook for this weekend is much better with rain backing off and sun in the forecast I am looking forward to fishing hard this weekend.
Capilano: All this rain has pushed the coho up the river so good fishing can be had stripping flie’s or with gear from the river bridge up to the stacked cable pool. Pick your times to avoid the crowds and don’t hesitate to do a careful walk/hike to find some good spots to get some fish.
Fraser: Not open for chinook till mid-July, we will post exact date when fisheries posts it.
Saltwater Report
Eddie Matthei: Well despite having the strongest tides of the year, the Gulf Islands continued to produce. The gear is the same I’ve described on my previous reports. spoons, hoochies and even bait works. Thursday the conditions changed. The first thing I noticed was the lack of good bait concentrations which resulted in very slow fishing. Only a couple of boats in the entire fleet managed just a handful of fish. Maybe whales rolled in but who knows.
LOW tide at the dock
As you are reading this (noonish Friday) report, I’m on the water fishing locally for the few cohos that have started to arrive and I’m listening for good reports from across the Strait to make the run. Seems slow there today again. Maybe killer whales had something to do with it but who knows. Locally I have 2 options. Hole in the Wall which has produced a few springs already although its been slow there lately. Bait is working best but experiments with spoons and hoochies may pay off too.
HIGH tide at the Dock – 6hr between LOW & HIGH tides.
The cohos are here. With all the rain lately most of them are shooting up the river but soon the rain will decrease and the numbers will increase. Reports further up the island indicate we’re in for a bumper crop. Five fingers for coho’s is probably the best bet. Small 3″ spoons like the green glow and cop car are good bets and hoochies like the Strawberry Sunday are working. The hoochies will start to work soon as we start seeing the crab spawn.
Courses:
We will be sending an updated course list with new courses available next week. Beach courses etc. Stay tuned for those details!
From all of the staff at Pacific Angler we look forward to continue to be “Vancouver’s Store for the Fishing Enthusiast”.
Kind regards,
Jason, Matt, Andre, Dimitri and Bryce