OUTLOOK
Well we’ve closed the driest May on record and are hoping for a little more rain in June!
The Capilano River has remained very low with the lack of rain, making fishing difficult. If you’re heading out of town for the weekend Interior or Cariboo Region lakes should be a good bet for fishing. That said its looking to be warm in the Interior to that may slow down the fishing there. We’ve been fishing the Pitt River getting ready for our upcoming guided jet boat trips and its looking like it will be a nice season up there.
Saltwater fishing has been tough over the past week with fishing at Thrasher much slower than normal for this time of year. We’re hoping a new moon phase and a strong high-pressure system coming in will mean the fishing should pick up. We’ve had steady fishing throughout the week off of South Bowen so don’t strike that fishery off your list just yet!
INDUSTRY UPDATES – NATURES TRUST
Our friends at Nature’s Trust are working to purchase a very important piece of riverfront land in the Salmon River Estuary on Vancouver Island. The Salmon River is a great fishery for steelhead, and also supports plenty of salmon, plus anadromous char and cutthroat.
They have less than a month to go in their campaign to raise the remaining funds to secure the property. $162,500.
Click the link below to read more about this important project and how you can participate: http://www.naturetrust.bc.ca/salmon-river/
COURSES
Get ready to hit the saltwater. Don’t miss out on our upcoming beach courses and the new date for added to keep up with demand for our mastering local saltwater salmon course. We’ve got a few spots left in a number of our freshwater courses too, so read on below for all the great classes coming up.
Mastering Local Saltwater Salmon – NEW DATE!
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.
Cost: $250.00
Seminar Date: June 22, 6:30PM to 9:30PM
On the water: June 26 or June 27
Introduction to Fly Tying – last introduction to tying course until September!
There is no greater satisfaction than catching a fish with a fly you tied yourself. This course was specifically designed to give you the fundamental skills needed to tie proven fly patterns used here in BC for trout, salmon, and steelhead. This course consists of 3 sessions; each session is 3hrs. Students are required to supply their own vise, tools and materials. A 10% discount is available on materials and tools purchased for the course.
Cost: $75.00
Dates: June 10, 17 and 24
Time: 6:30pm to 9:30pm
Tying Beach Fly Patterns – 1 spot left
Join Pacific Angler for a 3hr evening seminar of tying flies specific to catching salmon on our coastal beaches. Without a doubt, fly selection is critical while beach fishing. These flies are often not commercially available, so successful beach anglers learn to tie their own patterns. Your instructor will walk you through each fly pattern step-by-step. This course is suitable for fly tiers with a basic knowledge. Students are required to supply their own vise, tools and materials. A 10% discount is available on materials and tools purchased for the course.
Cost: $40.00
Date: June 23
Time: 6:30pm to 9:30pm
Introduction to Fly Fishing Trout Streams
Stalking trout on mountain streams defines fly fishing. In this course we will teach you the fundamental techniques for fly fishing trout streams; dry fly fishing, nymphing, and streamer fishing. This course will get you as close to being Brad Pitt (River Runs Through It) as you will ever be! This course is comprised of one 3hr evening seminar.
Cost: $45.00
Date: June 29
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Fly Fishing on Beaches
This single evening 3hr seminar will cover the basic principles needed to be an effective beach fly fishermen in BC from Howe Sound to the east coast of Vancouver Island. Topics covered will include rods, reels, fly lines, flies, tides, and techniques. Andre Stepanian, the instructor for this course, has been chasing salmon on our local beaches for over two decades. Remember, east coast Vancouver Island has a pink salmon run every year and last year the Capilano had 12,000 coho!
Book this course early as we sold out all 3 courses in 2014!!
Cost: $45.00
Dates: July 6, July 14 or July 22 Time: 6:30pm to 9:30pm
Student Byron with a pink salmon.
FRESHWATER REPORTS
Capilano River
As with previous weeks the levels of the Cap are dirt low, which means there is still not much fishing to be had. We are hoping for a wet June so that the dam will release some water, which should help, some fish enter the system. Some early Capilano coho will likely enter the system, as they are only a couple pounds and don’t need much water to move up river. If there are any in the river you can expect them to be very spooky. Pray for rain or get your saltwater gear and try for the coho waiting to get up the river.
Pitt River
As we mentioned in last week’s report we have been fishing on the Pitt River quite a bit over the last two weeks. Like last week the fishing has remained consistent this week and have definitely eased our river fly fishing withdrawals!
Guide Dimitri with a great bull trout landed on a scouting trip this week.
In the update last week we covered some of the gear you need to get out on the river, so if you missed last weeks report be sure to give it a read on our blog.
If you’d like to get out on the river to experience this amazing fishery give us a call at the shop or on our charter booking line at 778.788.8582. We run our 18 ft Jet boat up every week and would love to get you on river.
Chehalis
The Chehalis River is now open to fishing. We have not heard anything from this system yet. If you are in this area, we would love to get a first hand report on fishing and river conditions.
STILLWATER REPORTS
Interior Lakes
The best report I had this week was from Corbett Lake. Customers had amazing fishing all day with May flies both on nymphs and dries. Note that the lake is associated with Corbett Lake Lodge so if you’re heading up for the day and not staying there you will need to pay the day rate to fish. This week the temperatures are expected to hit 30 degrees in Merritt and Kamloops so we anticipate fishing will slow down and you’ll need to head for higher elevation lakes.
If you want to restart your lake fishing with leeches and chironomids like you did in Merritt two months ago it is time to head to the Cariboo regions the water temps are around 50 degrees. Cariboo lakes are also well known for its hatches of dragonflies. Fish these patterns on a full sink line retrieving it from the bottom to the top. Another great fly to fish this way is the “Booby fly” which comes in several colors. Strip the fly with short pauses in between and the foam head will bring the fly up as you stop and then it will dive as you strip. Make sure you have an assortment of Dragon fly patterns both in Dardnelles and Gumphus.
Some of the lakes in the Cariboo region are: Big bar, Bridge, Dekka, Mahood, Valentine, Warren and Fawn.
Andre
Local Lakes
Whistler lakes are your best bet if you’re looking to stay local. Alta, Nita, Green and Lost are a few lakes worth looking at this time of year and they have been fishing well. Olive Woolly Buggers, Buick 52s and Muddler Minnows are effective patterns in Whistler/Squamish corridor. Dry fly fishing can also be very exciting when the fish are willing.
If you’re looking for something in the lower mainland low elevation lakes like Rice and Lafarge will fish better in the morning and evening as they are most likely very warm by now, or will be with the warm weather coming this weekend!
Drop by the shop this weekend and we’ll get you set up!
Maxwell
SALTWATER REPORT
It’s early June and usually the chinook fishing at Thrasher is great this time of year, but if you were out this last week you would have experienced the much slower than normal fishing in this area. The weekend was particularly slow fishing and lots of good boats got one or none. After the great fishing we had this winter and on the Hump in April and May, the fishing this last week is admittedly disappointing for the first week of June. We have a full moon that just passed this Tuesday and a high-pressure ridge with NW winds so this could be the formula for some good fishing in the coming week. Often once the full moon passes the fishing turns on and the NW wind seems to favour the fishing in this area as well. The trick will be getting there. As I write this report late Thursday evening the forecast does not look good for a crossing, especially later in the weekend or on Monday with a forecast of NW winds up to 20-30 knots. Hopefully the winds aren’t as strong as predicted and we can get over there to see what the fish have in store. We are likely going to sneak across this morning (Friday) with some clients, very early in the morning, to catch the high slack, then comeback early before the NW picks up. If you do make it across to Thrasher the fish continue to be caught rather deep in the clear water. Try 150-225 on the downriggers. We mentioned what flashers and lures to use in detail on past posts, so at the risk of being repetitive I will skip that in today’s report. To read past reports where flashers and lures are mentioned, go to our blog on our website and read past late May reports for 2015.
Dimitri’s guests all smiles with one of the rare Thrasher Rock fish from this past week.
Also as we mentioned in previous reports, don’t discount the “Hump” off S. Bowen. There have been chinook caught there all week and some days a lot more than at Thrasher. There have also been some coho caught as well, perhaps some of these are Capilano coho, but as of yet we have not caught any hatchery coho off the Hump. Productive depths off the Hump have been 90-130. Usually a little deeper if it is really sunny and a little shallower on darker days.
We have been asked a few times about coho off W. Van by anglers coming into the shop, but we haven’t heard of much or seen much yet. In years past there have been fishable numbers around by mid June, so it is worth checking out. We are usually fishing Thrasher a lot this time of year so we don’t put much effort into the coho fishery until Thrasher slows down in late June. If you are looking for a local trip or a quick morning fish, give the W. Van shoreline a try and you might get into some of the first coho of the year. Early in the year the fish tend to be aggressive and shallow. Troll fast with an Oki’ Tackle Purple Onion flasher to a white or UV white hootchy with a short, 28 inch leader. For depths keep your gear from just under the surface down to 60 feet, but usually the 15-35 foot range is productive, especially in the morning.
See you on the water or in the shop,
Jason Tonelli