Big News, Mark your calendars! The Pacific Angler Spring Super Sale is back. Join us in store Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1 for the most amazing deals of the season. As a weekly fishing report reader you’ll be the first to know of all the great sale items!
Outlook
Lake season is here! Good reports have been coming in all week from a number of iced off lakes up north, so if you are planning a trip move up your calendars! A number of friends are heading up to the lakes this weekend so we should have even more info next week. Check out the lake fishing report below for more information.
In the saltwater scene the hump was slower than we hoped but a few guys got into fish on Sunday afternoon and we heard a couple decent reports this week. We have a bunch of boats heading out this weekend. Any day now it should light up so check out Jason’s Saltwater report for more info.
On the cutthroat front rivers are rising with snow melt and shore access is limited but for those who put in the leg time or have a boat, things have been good. Check out the Stave report and Andre’s cutthroat report for more info.
The Squamish has been a real challenge this spring with the rising water due to heat and the Cheakamus is very high right now but the main river dropped over the last 2 days and our guides had some solid bulltrout days. It could be good this weekend so check out Matt’s Squamish report for more details.
Up Coming Courses
We have some awesome courses coming down the pipes over the next couple weeks. If any of them interest you call in to reserve your spot! 604-872-2204
Intro 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.
Dates: Apr 27 or May 30 Limited Spots Left
Cost: $45.00
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Intro to Chironomid Techniques – Trevor Welton
Chironomids are the number one food source for trout in BC’s lakes; however, few anglers have taken the time to become true masters of this discipline. Those that do are often rewarded with the largest fish. Trevor is a former member of the Canadian Fly Fishing Team and an excellent chironomid angler.
Dedication to his sport has helped Trevor become one of the top fly fishermen in the province as well as a fisheries biologist working for Hemmera. This course is comprised of one 3hr evening seminar. Content is for beginner to advanced.
Dates: May 4
Cost: $45.00
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Mastering Local Saltwater Salmon Fishing
Over 50 million salmon migrate past Vancouver annually. Learn how to catch these fish with a Pacific Angler. This course offers an in-depth look at the local saltwater scene. We cover the local saltwater salmon fishing for the entire year, showing you the how, when, and where. This course includes a 3hr evening seminar and a fully guided day on the water in one of our Grady Whites.
Dates:
Seminar: Apr 20 Guided: Apr 24 (Only 2 Spots Left)
Seminar: May 10 May 13 (1 Spot Left), 14 (1 Spot Left) or 15 (2 Spots Left)
Cost: $250.00
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Tying Chironomid Fly Patterns
Class Size: 7
80% of a trout’s diet consists of chironomids whose patterns vary from lake to lake. This 3-hour evening seminar will teach you how to tie a variety of the most effective chironomid patterns used in BC’s world-renowned lakes. You will finish this course understanding the very specific technical aspects ranging from beads, ribbing, colors, and body shapes. Students are required to supply their own vise, tools and materials. A 10% discount is available on materials and tools purchased for the course.
Dates: May 16
Cost: $45.00
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
This Week we have a very cool preview video from the boys with the Fly Fishing Film Tour. The event is May 3 and we are excited! The footage looks amazing! Check out the video and if you want to see the full length videos don’t miss out on the even May 3 at The Cinematheque on Howe Street. Come into the shop to grab your ticket or buy online here!
Stave River Fishing Report:
The past few weeks saw a increase in steelhead reports. Both fly and gear anglers did well with a few reports of multiple fish days. Being trouty in nature, many steelhead have been caught by anglers targeting cutthroat, an awesome surprise for anglers fishing lighter gear.
For those targeting steelhead, dark patterns should be a focus as the fish have been in the river for some time. Black and blue, black and purple, and even olive/brown sculpin patterns should not be overlooked.
For those using gear, Colorado blades and spinners/spoons should always be considered. These fish aren’t as fresh and will need something to make them move.
Remember, it is a new license year and one will need a steelhead conservation stamp. Leave the river cleaner than you found it, and have fun!
-Jordan
Local Vancouver Lake Report
With Spring arriving in style this year many of the local lakes have received their first and possibly second stocking. This is a great time to take advantage of the longer days and offers a great opportunity to take young anglers out after school and on weekends. Light tackle is all that’s needed and makes fishing for these ‘catchables’ fun. (The hatcheries call the stocked 10-13 inch trout “catchables”)
Various baits such as deli shrimp, canned corn, Power Bait, dew worms, and krill are all great choices and are easily found and readily available from your local tackle shop or grocer.
If you live in the general lower mainland, there are lots of local lakes found throughout all the municipalities, with directions and details easily found at the Freshwater Fishery Society of BC’s website, www.gofishbc.com This is a great site and resource, especially for those new to the area.
Heading farther North, the lakes in the Whistler/Squamish areas are fishing well with confirmed reports of good sized fish starting to prowl the shoals and drop-offs for a hearty meal.
Spinners, spoons, and various bait fish flies seem to be on the menu, with small to medium leeches always being good searching patterns.
Good luck, and always remember if you are not keeping your catch, carefully release these beautiful fish.
-Jordan
Interior Lake fishing report
We have heard a bunch of good reports from lake country and if you are planning a trip we recommend moving it up a couple weeks on the calendar. Looks like its going to be a good early season. We have heard some reports of chironomids in the lower elevation lakes but for the most part fish are focusing on scuds, leeches and dragons.
One of the best early season tactics before the water warms up is fishing mini leech under a strike indicator. After a long cold winter the trout are eagerly searching the shallow, warmer waters in search of food. Leeches are a predominant food source in that region of the lake. Often anchoring out in the deeper water and casting in close the shoreline with a mini leech under an indicator is a deadly early season technique. Perhaps later in the day, between 11 and 2 you might see the first chironomids of the year coming off, so make sure you have mini leeches, chironomids, indicators, fluorocarbon, and micro split shot in your early season grab bag. Andre’s Micro leaches hit the floor last week. They are specifically designed to fish well under an indicator or on a sinking line. Come down to the shop and the guys can show you have we rig them.
Specific Lake Reports
Ivey – off and fishing ok with no sign of hatches but some active fish feeding on leeches
Six mile – Off
Courtney and Lundbom – Off
Kane Valley – Should be off
Dragon – fishing well with leach patterns
Logan Lake – Off
Mamit – Off
Tunkwa – April 4 off
Roche – Off and has no sign of winter kill but it was turning over last weekend (04/08/16) – That said the fishing was very good fishing shallow with micro leeches.
bleeker – Off
Horseshoe – Off (not confirmed)
Little Heffley – Off
Bleeker – Off, murky water as of April 11th
Edith – Off
Red – Off
Stump Lake – Off but might be turning over
White – Turned
Englishman – Off but possible winter kill
Kid – Off
Heffley Lake – NOT off (as of 04/11/16)
Gump Lake – Not off (as of 04/11/16)
Hears- Off
Kentucky- Off
Allyne – Off
Scuitto – Off
Campbell – Off
Cutthroat Fishing Report:
The Harrison river is high. You can access the upper river but it is getting hard to find dry land to stand and fish. Most of the islands that held fish are now under water. We did manage to find a few fish but they were sitting in an awkward place and casting a fry to them was challenging. We landed a few on the light green backed fry patterns with silver bodies and also the dark back patterns with silver bodies. Look for water where fast current washes into slower water. The cutthroat will sit on the bottom of the flow and pick off the fry as they wash down stream. The fish are very spooky and you will notice that right away you will get a bite and then it will slow down as they take notice of you. You need to rest the run for a few minutes and try your luck again. If the levels keep rising it will make things difficult for the anglers on foot but boat angling should still be good for a few weeks. I also checked out the Stave river but didn’t see any sign of fry or cutthroat.
Andre
Chilliwack River Fishing Report
Only a few more weeks until the end of steelhead season on the Chilliwack. There are still some decent fishing so don’t pack the rods away just yet. The Vedder has come down just in time for the weekend so it will be in fishable shape. I’d expect it to rise once the weather warms up so keep your eyes on the graph. There can still be a few fresh fish moving through the river until the first week of May but the bulk of the run is in the river. This time of year you can inadvertently catch a kelt. A kelt is a steelhead that has already spawned and is heading back to the ocean. Steelhead have a unique ability to repeat spawn, this is another feature which makes them such a magnificent fish. You can differentiate a kelt (post spawn) to a pre spawn fish always by the lack of eggs or milt, this will make the fish look skinny unlike it’s pre spawn counterpart which will look full. If you do intercept one of these fish on its migration back to the ocean, please treat it with care and respect. Keep it in the water and do not drag it onto the rocks. This rule applies for all steelhead but needs extra care when dealing with post spawn fish.
Tight Lines.
Squamish River Fishing Report
She is back in shape! That said if you sneeze she might blow out. The river dropped this week with the colder weather and the bulltrout fishing was very solid. We did not hear any steelhead reports but very few guys were out. Looking at the weather, things should be good for Saturday but you will want to watch the river levels closely leading into Sunday. It may not go out Sunday but with 20 + degree weather it will probably go early next week. The anglers that found fish were using larger olive and white streamer patterns as well as fry patterns.
Good Luck and remember the Squamish is 100% catch and release barb-less fishery.
Vancouver Salmon Fishing Report April 15th
Well it is officially Hump season, but the fish don’t seem to know that. In checking with our journals and fellow guides, it is well documented that the fishing off South Bowen on the Hump usually turns on around April 10 to 15. Some seasons as early as April 4 and some as late as April 22. So far the fishing has been pretty slow so it looks like it might be a little later start this year. Don’t forget it can change in a hurry from slow to red hot, so hopefully that happens this weekend as we have multiple trips booked.
There have been a few fish taken and as usual for this time of year on the Hump the best depths have been 90-120. The fishing are feeding on a mix of bait from small immature herring, to large mature herring, and even stickleback. We see this every year, so a combination of bait and spoons seems to work well.
This chinook was caught this week off the Hump and had herring and a stickleback in its stomach.
There have been a few fish up Howe Sound as well. This is normal for this time of year as there are still some feeder chinook cruising these waters. We usually prefer to fish the Hump this time of year but Howe Sound can be a good back up plan if the winds are too strong to get out on the Hump.
We have also heard of the first few fish in the Nanaimo area. We usually start to head over to Thrasher and Nanaimo around mid May as the Hump is usually very good from April 15 to May 21 so there is no need to run across. We will see how the season progresses, but for now you are likely to have just as productive fishing in our local waters as it is a touch to early to be heading over to the other side.
I know of two other guides who hit coho this week as well. Some were hatchery and some were wild. These are small fish around 1 to 3 pounds are most likely Capilano fish. This is pretty normal as we usually start to run into the odd one while we are fishing for chinook out on the Hump.
Eddie’s guest from Sunday with a nice chinook taken off South Bowen
If you are thinking about booking a trip to the Hump or to Thrasher you want to book now! The best fishing is going to be in the next 4-6 weeks. A lot people wait for the hot reports and then they book a trip in late June but they have missed some of the best fishing that we will have in late April and all of May.
Call Jason at 778-788-8582 to book your trip.