Outlook:
Now is the time to start looking at your trips in 2014. Where will you be going fishing? Have you booked any destination fishing trips? Warm water? Local or international?
Whatever the trip is that you are looking to go on in 2014, Pacific Angler has the gear you need to give yourself the best shot at hooking up!
JT has been an order taking madman this week and products are arriving every few days stocking our racks, shelves and pegs in every part of the store!
We have our favorite quintessential warm water roads, the Sage Xi3’s! We have them in stock including the new Motive! You can read more about these amazing rod’s on the Sage Xi3 and Sage Motive sections on the Sage website!
The weather over the next couple weeks looks like we are stepping into winter now. Time to start thinking steelhead! We have flies & worms in and ready to go!
For those of you that are looking forward to the local WINTER chinook fishing we have the Shimano gear bags in stock that we use on both of our Grady Whites. Plenty of room to store your leaders, hooks, spoons and flashers! Come and get one OR put it on your christmas wish list!
The Shimano Blackmoon Fishing Backpack is built for anglers who walk to their local lake or river for a day of fishing. Heavy duty material provides durability and thick shoulder padding reduces fatigue. Expect nothing less than the highest quality and performance product.
FEATURES:
• Durable textured fabric construction
• Front loading tackle box storage with adjustable dividers
• Includes 4 Plano 3650 utility boxes
• Leader winder side pockets
• Multiple pockets for accessories and gear storage
• Elastic loops on both sides for pliers and other tools
• Zip out cover to protect contents from sudden light rain fall
• Custom Shimano zipper pulls
• Thick padded shoulder straps for comfort
STAFF’s PICK – Max Stickel
Hareline’s Dyed UV Polar Chenille
What can’t this material do? Dyed UV polar chenille is best described as a synthetic hackle. Similar to palmer chenille, yet buggier and more versatile.
I first used this product a few years ago while spinning up a couple last minute pink salmon flies. I was amazed at how easy to use and durable it was. Just a few pieces of flash in the tail, dyed UV polar chenille palmered up the body, and your done. Body and hackle all in one step!
With the winter steelhead season around the corner, I have been occupied spinning up some simple and dirty flies. In previous years, I have tied and fished a lot of big profile single and double stage intruder type flies that use polar bear to prop up the materials.
These flies have a huge profile and are still very easy to cast (not fun to snag up). After using nothing but small single hook patterns all summer run season, I realized that my winter box was filled with huge flies. With some inspiration from Dimitri Roussanidis (this guy uses A LOT of Polar Chenille), I began to spin up some very simple and wiggly flies using dyed UV polar chenille instead of bear and fox fur.
Whats that luminescent material glowing through the marabou? UV POLAR CHENILLE!
After using it on simple steelhead flies, it wasn’t long before I was dressing jig hooks with it too.
A prawn may or may not find its way onto the back of those jigs. I have used this material while tying anything from pink and coho flies, to jigs, and even steelhead dry flies. After tying with this material in a variety of different applications, I would say it is one of the most versatile synthetic materials on the market.
Be sure to swing by the shop and check out our fantastic selection of 14 different colors of Dyed UV Polar Chenille and other fine Harline products.
Tying and ramblings by: Max Stickel
Squamish River
The river is obviously dropping with the cold weather. That said the levels on the graph are still not “too low” and it is suppose to warm up this weekend. The river is hovering around 2 meters. This means that the water is clear and less fresh salmon will move in on the lower river. Last week we saw record numbers or late fish enter the system. This means that the upper river will fish well for at least another 2 weeks as these fresh late fish make their way up the system.
With cold clear water we have been using smaller more drab patterns for the coho. Olives, purples and reds are best in these conditions. For gear, choose smaller spoons and spinners in purple, red and copper. Our favorite are blue foxes and Mcphearson spinners. When float fishing go to smaller purple jigs for the chum, small copper blades and natural colored roe imitations
Egg fishing has again been solid on the upper river, Cold temperatures will slow this fishery but we expect it to be good for quite some time. Max was out on Wednesday and the lower water allowed him accesses spots that were inaccessible for the last few weeks. The go to bead color variations has been pale apricot and caramel roe.
Nicomen Slough
We had some good reports off the slough fishing around Harrison. Obviously the fishing is slowing down as we get to the end of the season and the weather becomes colder but we did hear some good reports all week. Guys were doing well on muddler minnow for coho and Andre’s smaller olive patterns.
Capilano River
We have not heard any reports of late salmon fishing but we are expect steelhead reports soon!
Fraser River
With winter finally showing its face with these frosty mornings, one will want to bundle up to stay warm. Proper laying techniques can play a vital role in enjoying your day on the water, whether you catch fish or not.
From my own experience of fishing in BC’s Queen Charlotte Islands all the way down to the warm water of Hawaii, layering for the day and dressing properly is very important.
With the coho starting to wrap up, one should start to focus their efforts on any number of the many other game fish that make up this amazing ecosystem. From rainbows and cutthroat to dollies and chub, this amazing system has a lot to offer those who are willing to brave the cold.
Just like humans, the fish will be more active on warmer days. On the colder days, fish will want to conserve energy as their metabolism slows down. They’ll want to eat what they can opportunistically rather than aggressively. It’s on these days that slow retrieves and bait can sometimes sometimes be the winner as fish will want to eat but not work for it.
On the warmer days, fish will become more active, actively seeking out food This can sometimes lead to incredible fishing as the fish will want to bulk up for the upcoming days that are predicted to be colder and for when they will become less active.
Places to concentrate on would be where small streams or creeks feed into a bigger side channel. Usually the water around these areas are warmer.
At the same time, cold weather and low rainfall can equate to clear water. Flows that were at one time much heavier and faster will start to drop, making fish seek out cover and structure. Look for areas that have troughs, under-cut banks, log jams, and rocks. Side-creeks and back-channels that exhibit all of these features would be a good place to start.
Small baitfish patterns, nymphs, and attractor patterns would be good flies to toss as would small spinners and spoons. Roe, worms, and deli shrimp are other good baits to toss on the bottom or under a float.
As winter approaches and the days grow shorter, the Fraser River, as it winds through small townships and communities, can provide a great break from the daily grind and a good place to take small children to catch the many coarse fish that inhabit the rocky shallows. Ultra-light spinning gear, some hooks, split-shot and a bobber is all that is needed to keep these youngsters occupied and to spark their interest in the outdoors.
Tight lines and loops,
Jordan Simpson- the new guy.
Harrison
We have a lot of sunshine in the forecast and the river is very low and clear. This means that the fish are super spooky and no big waves of fresh fish are going to push through. You will be casting over the same school of fish that are holding in the deepest part of the slow moving channel. The key is to change your flies every 10-15 min as the fish get bored of seeing the same pattern.
The more patterns you cycle through you increase your chances of hooking up so every fly is a hero for a few minutes. The flies must be small and sparse using Fluorocarbon tippet.
Fish early morning and before evening on the bright sunny days. There is still a chance to catch a few Coho until the season ends soon. In some years there is a late run of Coho that will surprise you in December. Remember to dress really warm as it is very cold and windy on the main stem Harrison.
Happy fishing,
Andre
Vedder
It is time to get ready for winter steelhead tying flies, making tips of different lengths, grains and tuning up your casting a double handed rod. There has already been a report of steelhead caught on the Vedder river while Coho fishing. This could be an indication of a good season ahead of us There is still Coho in the river but hard to find as the river is clear and dropping fast.
– Andre
Local Saltwater
The first winter springs are starting to get caught, but it is still very, very early in the season. We have heard of the odd fish up Howe Sound, and we don’t expect much to happen off W. Van or out by the freighters until we get into December. So far the pawning has been great, and the crabbing has been good and once we get into December the local winter chinook will start to show up in fishable numbers.
If you plan on heading out, try your favourite flasher and spoon, and keep your gear close to the bottom. We are pulling our boats out of the water next week for maintenance and plan on heading out for some winter chinook, crabs and prawns the week after that!
Stay tuned for our report at that time – JT
We will be releasing the 2014 Pacific Angler Course Schedule in late November and we plan on adding new courses to the program!
On behalf of the Pacific Angler staff we wish you the best in your fishing endeavors and we hope to see you either at the shop or on the water. To check out the latest Pacific Angler news view the Pacific Angler Facebook page.
Jason, Matt, Andre, Max, Eddie, Jordan and Bryce