OUTLOOK
More great weather in the forecast! We might see a few clouds this weekend but they are expecting high 20s and sun right through the week! There are a ton of great fishing opportunities that are heating up too. If you are thinking about getting out on the ocean, fishing is picking up and with the big tides from last week mellowing out we expect good things. The latest from the water is in Jason’s saltwater report this week.
Though the tides are not perfect for beach fishing we are going to start seeing some low tides in the morning this weekend and we expect some good fishing. Though reports have not been awesome lots of anglers are getting fish from the beach and it should get better over the next 10 days. Andre’s beach fishing report has more details.
There have been some regulation changes for the Vedder to protect sockeye and we are hearing of more guys pulling on chinook. Check out those details in this week’s Vedder report.
This week we have something special. Matt has finally finished his Upper Skagit video! The footage is pretty amazing. If you love this fishery you will want to check it out. The underwater footage they captured, though in no way professional grade, is pretty epic. If you are relatively new to the fishery check it out for the techniques. There is some great footage of swung fly and nymphing techniques. The guys wished they could get more dry fly footage but that will have to be saved for the next video. You can find the video in the Skagit River fishing report where Matt will also talk about his predictions for the next week.
INDUSTRY EVENTS
If you’ve been reading our reports you know the Vancouver Chinook Classic will be in full swing in just over 3 weeks. There is still time to sign up so get your fishing partners ready and register today. If you’re already registered for this derby or another one this summer be sure to read on about our thoughts on the best tournament hooks!
Vancouver Chinook Classic Catch and Release Derby
The Vancouver Chinook Classic is a premier 2-day Catch and Release Salmon Fishing Event hosted annually at the new Pier 73 Marina at the Pacific Gateway Hotel. This is one of our FAVOURITE events of the summer angling season and something we look forward to each year.
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for the tournament and at $300 per angler (supply your own boat) you can’t beat that for an amazing weekend and a chance at the largest cash prize of any fishing derby in Vancouver!
Don’t have your own boat? Experience the Vancouver Chinook Classic on one of our Grady White boats outfitted with the best tackle and fully guided for $1,000 per day (non-inclusive of angler fee). To inquire contact us on our charter line at 778.788.8582.
More details on this not to be missed tournament weekend here!
Getting Ready for the Chinook Classic
Best Tournament Hooks and they are 10% off this week only!
With the saltwater season now well underway, many anglers are going to see that bait is king in the back end of the season. In the next 2 months the fish will get bigger and more mature. This makes them smarter and in many cases much pickier than the early season fish. So now is a great time to start pre-tying your anchovy and herring leaders- either with just hooks, or even going as far as to pre-rig them on teaser heads and then wrapping them on a board.
Even more important is getting ready for derby season. The Chinook Classic is Aug 19th and 20th and over the next couple weeks we are going to show you a couple products that the competition anglers have been using over the last few seasons. These are products that you may not need to use every day out on the water but when money and pride are on the line they are proven to buy a few % points performance.
This week we are looking at probably one of the most important pieces of gear. The thing that is closest to the fish, your hooks. If you want the best look no further than the Stinger Trebles from Owner.
These hooks come in silver/nickel, or in black and are the sharpest and strongest in relation to their diameter on the market. This means they are light enough to not wobble your bait, alter the role or be easily seen by the fish, yet they are still super strong. The business end of these hooks are also as good as it gets. They have super sharp tines with a semi-flat surface that pierce incredibly easily and hold fish. When it comes to sitting in your tackle box for months or getting fished multiple days, beaten up and put away wet there are probably better, longer lasting, cost affective hooks on the market but if you need to bring the A game check out Owner Trebles. If you are going to be tying some leaders and would like to try the “best” then we have all owner trebles at 10% off for this week only. Tell the guys you read the report and we can show you how we set them up.
For more information or if you have any questions, feel free to pop on in to the shop where our expert staff can help you, or give us a ring at 604-872-2204.
Tight lines,
Jordan Simpson
CLASSES AND COURSES
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.
Cost: $125.00
Dates: August 15 (seminar) and August 20(casting)
Seminar Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Casting Time(s): 2pm – 5pm
FRIDAY FEATURE PRODUCT
Simms Rod Tubes
We’re stocked with Simms Rod Tubes.
Simms is coming out with some awesome new products this season and for the traveling angler they have a great lineup of rod tubes with some very smart features. More importantly they have some great sizes to fit 1, 2, 4 and 6 single hand rods as well as Spey sizes. If you are planning a warm water trip or are hitting the Dean or Skeena this season there have never been better options for packing rods.
What make these tubes amazing? – Aside from a great range in sizes appreciated features include a detachable, adjustable shoulder strap and centered padded handle for quick grab-and-go performance, plus compression-molded end caps with removable foam to give flies a place to dry at day’s end. Dual locking zippers enhance security while rods are in transit, and a retractable luggage tag comes standard.
We have a great selection in stock and this week only we are offering 10% off on all Simms rod tubes in the store. If a trip is in the future get down here and take advantage of the great deal. Let the staff know that you saw the tubes in the feature product of the fishing report and they can walk you through the options.
FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
Chilliwack River Fishing Report
Gone is the fast flowing torrent that was the Vedder early in July to be replaced by low(ish) and clear water. Red chinook are spread throughout the system now and we are now in peak season for these fish for the next week or so. This fishery is hit or miss at the best of times but we have had a few reports of red chinook encounters so it is at least promising and worth a look. The setup of choice is typically a drift fishing setup and pro-cured roe, though colorado blades, single eggs, wool ties, big spoons, and big spinners can also produce. Fly guys can also get into the game too and while big intruders like the General Practitioner are typically what comes to mind when fishing for these massive fish, they can be caught on smaller patterns too. One of the keys for both gear and fly is to get your presentation down to the fish in addition to covering a ton of water. Remember that this run does not have a large population of fish so finding them is imperative.
A recent fisheries notice has closed fishing for sockeye in all of region 2; this includes catch and release of this species on the Vedder. While you may come across sockeye as a by-catch, please release them with care as quickly as possible to ensure every fish makes it to the spawning grounds.
Alex Au-Yeung
Capilano River Fishing Report
The river is low, and I mean dirt low. I passed over it the other day and had a hard time picturing any fish coming up the trickle of rapids in the lower. While I’m sure a few fish do still go up, the majority of the fish in the river have been in there for a while. Thus, these fish have seen a lot and have a great case of lockjaw. This doesn’t make them impossible to catch but it does make it a tough fishery. Either going flashy and loud to irritate them like with spoons and spinners or going the low and clear finesse route by fly fishing small wooly buggers, leeches, or flash flies might stir one or two into biting. If you just want to see some salmon locally for some inspiration to wet a line, the upper reaches of this river and the hatchery are great places to see coho Salmon!
Alex Au-Yeung
Skagit River Fishing Report
This week I finally finished the little Skagit video we have been working on for the last few weeks. Though we do not claim to be professional video guys, we are pretty happy with the footage. Check it out here if you want a little fish porn before heading out or if you are learning and want to see some of the presentations in practice. We focused on the swung fly and nymphing in this video but we are hoping to do another one to capture some dry fly fishing.
On the report front we have been getting asked a lot if the water levels are down. From the numbers I am seeing off surrounding watersheds it should be getting close to good levels. The river is perfect right now for water clarity only that it is a challenge to access spots as the water is high. Last week, a number of anglers managed to cross at areas where we couldn’t a week before. If you are looking at ideal levels we are still about 10-20 days out but I think if you are adventurous there should be a lot more river that is accessible this week.
Make sure to have a good selection of prince nymphs and golden stones. These are what we were using in the video for the nymphing. For bulltrout, we were using olive and white streamer patterns and though we missed getting any dry fly footage when the hatches came off they were brief but intense. We were too excited to pick up the camera but the fish were hitting larger grey/brown mayfly imitations.
Good luck, remember that the Skagit is a 100% catch and release fishery and have fun!
Matt Sharp
SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
Vancouver Beach Fishing Report
Last week the low tides were in the afternoon, which made it a little tougher fishing on the bright sunny days. From August 1st the low tides shift into the morning again so until then it if you can go first thing in the morning as this is the best time for low light conditions.
From what we have heard and seen on the water the wait is over. I am getting more and more positive reports from Ambleside. Both coho and pinks are being caught consistently which is good news. It’s nice to have the pinks around for a while as they ease the pain a little bit from the stubborn coho that are not as willing to bite. Though it is not hot fishing yet, it should only get better. With more sun and no rain in the forecast we don’t expect them to open the dam and more fish should stack up each day.
Over at Furry Creek the pinks have been spotty, some days it has been good but there have been quite a few days with no fish around. Hopefully this will change and we will get a big push of fish over the next week. There were also reports of chinook hooked while fishing for pinks but if you are not actually targeting them it is pretty hard to land a big chinook on a lighter tippet but it’s still a nice surprise when the line pills of your reel for a few seconds.
See you on the beach,
Andre
Vancouver Saltwater Fishing Report
This past week we split our efforts between the Bell Buoy for chinook and West Van for coho and pinks. Overall both locations had a few good days and some slow days. Hopefully things will get a little more consistent as we move into August.
Off the Bell Buoy we have been getting chinook from 40-80 on the riggers, with 50-60 been the go to area, as per usual for these Fraser bound fish. Bait is generally the best producer, so make sure you stock up on your favorite anchovy or herring teaser heads. As we get into August this fishery will become more consistent and will peak around the 3rd week of August.
Captain Tom’s guests landed this beauty earlier this week at the Bell Bouy.
On the other side of the harbour we have been fishing from Point Atkinson all the way down to the Cap Mouth looking for Capilano coho and migrating pink salmon. So far it has been pretty slow for this time of year. One would think there should be more Squamish and Indian River pinks around by now. Perhaps they are late, or maybe we are looking at a diminished run size this year, time will tell. For the coho we like to use white UV hootchies on about a 28 inch leader behind your favourite shallow water flasher that should be UV or chrome finish. The pinks will bite this gear as well, even the odd chinook. Keep your gear shallow, 20-50 on the riggers for the most part and keep your speed up as these fish like a faster action.
All smiles during a day on the water with Captain Eddie.
We have also heard of a few chinook off South Bowen, so this could be worth a try if the winds cooperate. There are still some good size bait balls in the area and the chinook are usually not too far behind. If the Bell Buoy or West Van are slow for you, fishing from Cowan to Roger Curtis would be a good back up plan.
Jason Tonelli