OUTLOOK
Happy Easter Long Weekend – if you’re getting out this weekend, we’ll be in the shop regular hours all weekend and closed on Monday
What a week – lakes are icing off and we have been hearing great early reports on a number of lakes south of Kamloops. River fishing is still going strong and we have never seen more chinook in our local waters. Oh ya, the government also thought they should regulate the same chinook fishery with a total disregard for science, effective conservation and economics. It is a complicated issue so be sure to have a read of Jason’s detailed review of the situation in this week’s saltwater fishing section of the report. These new regulations are for non-retention of chinook but you can still get out there and practice catch and release. Fishing is nothing short of amazing right now and it is always a great day on the water whether you are taking something home or not.
On a lighter note the Jordan, Matt and PA guests are back from Christmas Island. They had another amazing trip. Lots of bones, some epic trigger fish, more tuna than they could count and Jordan got an 8ft sailfish. We will be going back again next year and we will have a full report and details out soon.
This week we’ve got reports on the Vedder, Squamish and Harrison as well as a brief report on what we have heard from interior lake fishing.
As a reminder here are out Easter Long Weekend Hours:
Friday April 19| 10am – 7pm
Saturday April 20 | 10am – 6pm
Sunday April 21 | 11am – 5pm
Monday April 22 | Closed – Happy Easter
Have an excellent long weekend everyone!
INDUSTRY EVENTS
Fishing For The Future
Chat, Chew and Brew. A Public Fishery Access & Awareness Event
- Expanding the distribution and reach of sportfishing issues, promotion and awareness through social and traditional media
- Sustained and regular presence in Ottawa to advocate on behalf of the sector to senior bureaucrats, Ministers and MP’s
- The creation of a legal “war chest” to build a foundation for future legal action.
Tickets are limited!!! Over 90% already sold. Get them while they are available.
Date: Saturday May 11, 2019
Time: 6PM
Location: Jimmy Mac’s Pub 19935 96th Avenue, Langley BC
Ticket sales in
advance from:
Chuckfishing@hotmail.com
$20 Burger and Drink
Come enjoy and evening of information and fundraising. Silent auction, toonie toss, square board, and much more!
CLASSES AND COURSES
April is almost halfway over. It’s time to think about all things lake fishing. Get ready to go in by taking Matt’s Introduction to Fly Fishing Course and his Introduction to Lake Fishing Course. Dates are below – call us at 604.872.2204 to sign up today.
Introduction to Fly Fishing
This course was specifically designed to give the new fly fisher the basic knowledge, casting skills and fly fishing strategies to effectively fish our local BC waters. This course is comprised of two sessions; 3hr evening seminar and a 3hr casting session. The dates below show the seminar date first and casting date second.
Cost: $125.00 + GST
Dates: Seminar Apr 24 Casting Apr 28, 2019
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Casting Time(s): 10am – 1pm or 2pm -5pm
Introduction To Fly Fishing Lakes
This course will give you an in-depth look at the fundamentals of fly fishing lakes. We explore equipment, techniques, major insect hatches and ideal lakes to begin with. You will learn all you need to plan your next successful lake trip to one of BC’s 5,000 lakes! This course is comprised of one 3hr evening seminar.
Cost: $45.00 + GST
Dates: Apr 30, 2019
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
Chilliwack/Vedder Fishing Report
Just a couple more weeks to go! It seems like Steelhead season has been here forever but it is almost finished on the Vedder, as once May rolls around it will be fly fishing only from the Crossing bridge down and in June there is a complete closure. The water levels have fluctuated within the 1.7-1.8m range and conditions have been favourable. There are still some fresh fish moving into the river and I would focus on the lower section of river to target them. There will be fish throughout the system but the further up you go the more likely you will be to encounter spawning fish.
Get out there before it’s too late! Come into the Shop to get your last minute Steelhead supplies.
Alex Au-Yeung
Squamish River Fishing Report
The river spiked up with yesterday’s rain. We have not heard anything off the water from today but from the numbers we expect it will be high and dirty. The tributaries should be fishing well with the bump in water but you might encounter dirty water across the system. Larger flies and larger gear presentations should be in your kit. The weekend looks good for weather and with any luck it will crest, and we should see good conditions.
We are getting to the end of the season and the second we see some warm weather expect freshet (spring snow melt) to kick in. The good news is that the longer it holds off the better the fishing gets. It is usually very good fishing just before everything blows out for the season. Get out there and enjoy it while it lasts!
Matt Sharp
Harrison River Fishing Report
We continue to hear good cutthroat reports off the Harrison. The salmon fry are getting bigger now but you will find that they come in waves. Some days you will be finding small very young fry coming down the river and then the next day all you will see is larger more mature fry. Carry a spread of fry patterns in your box ranging from small to big and cycle through them on a given day. It is common this time of year for the cutthroat get picky because there are so many fry in the system. You will find that they key in on one size or shade and it is your job to find the right pattern to match.
Good luck,
Matt Sharp
STILLWATER FISHING REPORTS
Local Lakes Fishing Report
As the month progresses and weather is slowly but surely warming up our local lakes are getting more attention. As we mentioned in last week’s report You can check your local stocked data on: www.gofishbc.com . This website is a great resource for stocking as well as some basic information on access and amenities for local lakes.
Local lake fishing is very fun and approachable fishing for all skill levels. There isn’t a big secret to getting these stocked trout. When you head out try everything from flies, lures, bottom rigs and float style rigs as trout can be keying on specific technique. For fly fishing, you can match the hatch for a better success.
Alex took a detailed look at some methods and gear in a lake fishing report from April 2017. Have a quick read of it here (just scroll down to the Local Lake Fishing Section).
Have fun out there!
Interior Lakes Fishing Report
The ice off reports are coming in thick and heavy. We have also heard some epic fishing reports. As a general rule right now most lower elevation lakes are ice off. Below is a list of lakes we have heard ice off report from. If you are planning a trip you need to do some homework. Find lakes on this list that are at a similar elevation to the lakes you plan to fish. It is not an exact science because each lake has its own little micro weather pattern, but you can make some educated guesses when heading out. Here is the running list of lakes we have heard about.
Cane Valley – Off, Lundbom 90% ice off, Jacko – Off, Tunkwa – Off, Roche – Off, Leighton – Off, Corbett – Off, Courtney – Off, most Whistler lakes – Off, 6 mile – Off, Morgan – Off, Barnes – Off. This is a rough list we have compiled from the internet and reports from friends. There are many more lakes that are off, but this should help.
In the early season you will want to focus on food sources that are available. This means the meat and potatoes of lakes fishing – Leaches, scuds and blood worms then general attractor patterns. As things warm up, we will start hearing of lakes turning over. We have heard of a few already. This is when the different temperatures of water flip with the warm water at the bottom of the lake switching with the cold water that was against the ice all winter. (this is a generalized explanation of turnover – All you lake biologist and indicator Jedi’s please don’t get angry, we know it is more complicated) For you guys new to lake fishing just know that with this turnover the water gets murky with debris from the bottom of the lake and fishing will be off for a few days. If you turn up at a lake that is in this state, we recommend braking out the map and finding another lake close bye. Usually the next lake down the road will not be in turn over and fishing will be awesome.
Good luck and keep sending in the reports!
SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Saltwater Salmon Fishing Report
Well it’s official. The DFO and Fisheries Minister have made it non-retention for chinook salmon on the south coast. They just shut down some of the best fishing I have ever seen in our local waters and what is very likely the best fishing on the entire coast right now. That’s just our area. Let’s not forget about the iconic sport fishing communities on the Island like Tofino, Ucluelet, Bamfield, Campbell River, Renfrew, and Victoria, just to name a few. The result is thousands of people are going to lose their jobs and it is going to cost this province hundreds of millions of dollars.
So how did we get here? Well it’s a complicated scenario and the road to this closure has a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns, but it goes something like this. Chinook stocks are diverse. Some come from the Fraser, some from rivers that empty directly into the ocean, some spend 2 years in the freshwater before they leave to the ocean, others out migrate right away, some spend their ocean life in local waters, some go way offshore. So, as you can imagine, some stocks might be suffering while others are doing very well. Large blanket closures are an ineffective way to manage such a diverse resource.
Enter interior Fraser chinook. These fish spawn in the interior tributaries to the Fraser, and they hang out in these rivers for 2 years before out-migrating. To say things are not going well up there is an understatement; less water, long hot summers, warm water, forest fires, siltation, are just a few of the issues these fish have to face for 2 years. The end result is the survival rate is extremely low. The few that do make it after 2 years then have to make it past the seals as they leave the Fraser. Of all the out migrating salmonids, these 2 year old chinook smolts are some of the biggest, only second to steelhead smolts. As a result, the seals focus on them, as they do steelhead smolts. As many as 47% of them are consumed by seals. The few that make it then head offshore to feed and return 2 years later. In general, they come back around the south end of Vancouver Island and into the south arm of the Fraser, returning in the months of April, May, June, and July. There is no doubt these fish need to be protected and we are all for that. Sport fishing regulations have been in place to do so for many years, so much so that our exploitation rate for these fish is either at 0% or so small that it is negligible.
So, what about all these fish off South Bowen right now and over in Nanaimo and Gabriola? Well these are not the fish I just described above. DFO has a lot of DNA data that shows what fish we are catching, that is how we can be so certain. This is a scientific fact, not speculation. The fish we are we catching in these areas are from a variety of rivers where things are not as dire as the conditions seen in the interior of the province. The chinook stocks from these systems are stable, and in some cases are at or near record returns. There is no conservation concern for these stocks and a 2 per day limit is sustainable. A 1 per day limit is certainly sustainable and acceptable from a scientific fisheries management viewpoint. If you have been fishing these past 2 weeks you know how many fish are out there.
Then why did we get shut down? This is the question you should be asking and I am going to tell you the politics behind it. The reality is this. The interior Fraser chinook need protection. Sport fishing regulations have been in place to do so for many years as noted earlier, and commercial troll opportunities for these fish have been reduced heavily in the past and this year are non-existent. The last piece of the puzzle is First Nations in river fisheries for these same fish. You can’t carve any more meat off the bone from the recreational or commercial fleet, the rest has to come from First Nations in river fisheries. This isn’t me speaking; this is the DFO science that was presented in a variety of meetings and forums. The only way to put more of these fish on the spawning beds is to stop in river netting of these fish. Hence the recent closures and reduced opportunities for First Nations over the coming months as per the announcement yesterday. I hope you are connecting the dots here and asking yourself this question. So why is a sustainable fishery like we see off South Bowen, for non-interior Fraser chinook, which are experiencing good to excellent survival rates, closed? You should also be asking yourself why this fishery is closed when it has absolutely nothing to do with these interior Fraser chinook. Well we asked these very questions to the Minister and DFO these past few days. The answer we received was this. Despite the fact our current local chinook fisheries have no impact on these interior Fraser chinook, they have to close the recreational fleet on a grandiose scale so they can reduce First Nation in river harvesting opportunities for interior Fraser chinook. We pointed to their science that shows we aren’t catching those fish and asked if we could have 1 a day, the answer was no. We asked if we could keep a hatchery only, which has absolutely 0 effect on Fraser fish as these fish are from the USA, the answer was no. In short, the answer is the recreational fleet has to be closed first, and then they can take fisheries measures for First Nations second. That precedent was set in a case that is often referred to as the Tommy Case. Let me make this clear. If there is a conservation concern, I will be the first to put the rods away, and if anyone has a right to the first harvest of those fish, I agree it should be First Nations for ceremonial and food fish purposes. I get that if we are fishing for the same fish. What I don’t agree with and what I don’t get, is the DFO shutting down one distinct fishery and user group so they can shut down another user group on totally different fish. This is ludicrous and political, this is not scientific, and this is mismanagement of the resource at the highest level. So, I think it is important that we are all very clear that this Minister just shut down the entire south coast so they can attempt to reduce First Nation in river impacts on interior Fraser chinook. On our home waters that means they just shut down South Bowen, Thrasher, Nanaimo, which are all experiencing amazing fishing (for non-interior Fraser stocks), just to have the opportunity to keep First Nations nets out of the Fraser to save interior Fraser stocks. You can see my frustration. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is going to do much to help these fish. DFO needs emergency hatchery production for these fish, the habitat needs some help, and we need to deal with the seals. None of that is happening anytime soon from what I can see. Since the DFO has sacrificed the whole south coast, I hope they plan on making sure the Fraser is net free until July 14. I hope fisheries like this have now been closed 2019 Open Times for the Mid & Upper Fraser River First Nations Fisheries – Week 16. I will give the DFO the benefit of the doubt on this one and assume that is the case; I certainly hope so for the fish. In the meantime, diverse and sustainable recreational fisheries remain closed and the south coast marine fishery and economy has been cut off at the knees.
If you think this management strategy is unacceptable, you need to let DFO know. Send an email to these people and let them know this is not acceptable. Let them know how it is affecting you and let them know how you are going to vote next election.
Hon Jonathan Wilkinson Minister Jonathan.Wilkinson@parl.gc.ca
Rebecca Reid, DFO Regional Director General, Pacific Region Rebecca.Reid@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
We have had a lot of calls asking if you can still go fishing. The answer is YES. The regulations say non-retention of chinook, so you can still fish. You will have to practice catch and release on chinook. Fishing is nothing short of amazing right now. Here is a picture from a charter yesterday and fishing was fantastic. Of course, if you head out now it is catch and release, but that is still a lot of fun.
There are also some bigger fish showing up, just like I mentioned they would in last week’s report. We saw a picture of a 26 and a customer of the shop got a 28.
There are lots of fish off South Bowen from Cowan to Roger Curtis and the Hump and QA have been good as well. 90-120 on the riggers has been good. Nanaimo and Thrasher have also lit up and are very good but the fish are generally deeper 90-175 on the riggers. Tackle details are in last week’s report and not much has changed since then. If you want to head out and experience this hot fishing, give us a call at 778-788-8582 and we would be happy to take you out!
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli