Outlook
It has been a beautiful week for weather here in the lower mainland. We are still a month away from summer, yet it feels like it is already here!
Aside from the Capilano, our lower mainland rivers are now in freshet. Local lakes are fishing very well for stocked rainbow trout. We are also hearing some good lake reports from different areas of the interior.
Nanaimo to Porlier is producing well for chinook salmon and should continue to fish well until late June. Our Thrasher Rock charters and south Bowen charters have been pumping out fish so call soon to book a trip!
Upcoming Events
F3T- THE FLY FISHING FILM TOUR
Join us June 12 to kick off the 2014 Salmon Season and give DAD the gift he wants for Fathers day: tickets to the F3T!
We will be back in our favorite theatre, at the Norman Rothstein Theatre at Oak and 41st ave.
Again we are pleased to have thousands of dollars in GIVEAWAY PRIZES, including a trip to Ruddocks, a $1000 Fly rod from our friends at RL Winston, tons of SIMMS merchandise and we also have a ton of glasses to giveaway from our friends at COSTA.
Join us at 6:00 for adult bevies, with the show starting at 7:15.
Net proceeds from this show will be going to a donation to The Seymour Fish Hatchery and the JCC Theatre Company.
Tickets available now online and very shortly in all your local flyshops.
Ticket giveaways from our friends at FlyBC and Fishing With Rod, so keep checking their site!
Freshwater Reports
RIVERS
Squamish
The Squamish River is well into freshet. The graph did drop slightly, however, that really doesn’t mean much this time of year. There won’t be much to say about this river system until september. Resident trout can be targeted in the late summer months with nymphs, streamers, and dry flies. We have a feeling that the river is past the point of return for the spring season, however, it is possible that it could come into shape for a small window.
If you are planning on going up this weekend, please be safe. We would recommend that anglers do not drift the river. That being said, we have been wrong in the past and we would love to see some pictures of the river or get a first-hand account of what shape it is in.
Squamish Cheakamus system is a100% catch and release, single barbless fishery so play by the rules and have fun!
Chilliwack River
The next fishery on the Chilliwack system will be red springs in July and August.
**The Chilliwack River is closed to fishing above the Vedder Crossing Bridge May 1st-May 31st**
**The Chilliwack River is open to FLY FISHING ONLY below the Vedder Crossing Bridge May 1st-May 31st.**
Chehalis River
The Chehalis River is now closed to fishing. It will reopen June 1st.
**The Chehalis River is closed to fishing for the month of May**
Harrison River
The Harrison is now in full freshet.
Capilano River
We have heard mixed reports from the Capilano as of late. The coho fishing seemed to slow down this past week compared to previous weeks. That being said, the fishing overall will improve as we get into June. Anglers who have been getting an early start and putting in their time have been catching coho. Please exercise caution while fishing from the cliffs.
Please note: ALL steelhead(adipose clipped and unclipped) must be released with the utmost care.
The most popular method for this fishery is short-floating with light/medium power casting and center-pin rods. Productive baits include cured roe, roe bags, krill, dew worms, and Colorado blades. Fly fishing is also quite effective for these early run coho. 7-8wt single hand fly rods equipped with full sinking type-6 lines allow you to strip your fly reasonably fast while maintaining a deep presentation. The most effective flies are olive woolly buggers (Andre’s Cap Coho Bugger), muddler minnows, and small polar bear winged flies in sizes 8-12.
-Max Stickel
Interior Lakes
We are approaching the end of May, where the chance of hitting unstable weather diminishes. The temperature is nice and high and not freezing at night which makes it a more pleasurable for camping. All the lakes at 3600ft and above should be fishing well and turned over. This is a good time to fish chironomids as they make up for 90% of a trout’s diet before they turn on to other food sources by mid June. If you are new to chironomid fishing, try fishing lakes where the fish are known to be willing biters(Tunkuwa,Leighton,Englishmen etc.). This will help to decrease the learning curve. At the same time always have Leeches and scuds in your arsenal. Chironomid fishing starts as early as 11:00am and lasts till 4:00pm more or less, so before this the fish might feed on leeches and scuds.
Here are some lakes that are worth checking out in the Merritt area: Davis, Englishmen, Harmon, Marquart, Lundbom, Kump, Corbett, and Courtney. For more in depth information and getting set up for your trip please drop by the store.
Andre.
Local Lakes
Rice, Lafarge, Como, Buntzen, and all the other local lakes are fishing well.
It is a good idea to play around with different techniques to find the most effective method on any given day. When experiencing slow fishing with stationary bait rigs like float fishing or bottom fishing, a spinner or a spoon can really change your luck.
We encourage people to take the introductory angler in their life to one of these stocked lakes. It is a great way to get people into the sport based on how willing the fish are and proximity to the city.
Stump Lake in Squamish is fishing well for smaller cutthroat trout. Because this lake is tannin stained, dark coloured bugger and leech patterns are most effective. Don’t be afraid to fish some flashy flies to target some of the bigger cutthroat that may be feeding on the invasive pumpkin seed.
The Whistler Lakes are starting to heat up. We have heard good reports from Alta lake recently. The species of target in Alta lake are cutthroat trout and rainbow trout. Cutthroat are best targeted with woolly bugger and minnow type flies like muddlers and belly dancers or small spoons like a Dick Nite. The rainbows can be taken on a variety of flies. Chironomids fished under an indicator can actually work quite well on Alta for rainbows.
We have also heard decent reports from the Pemberton Lakes recently.
Local Saltwater
Thrasher has been hot and cold this past week. The fishing seemed to slow down a bit earlier in the week but it is starting to pick up again. Both off shore and the reef have been producing some nice chinook. Anglers who are willing to take a chance and venture out off shore have been greatly rewarded with some fast paced fishing once they have located fish. We have been hitting our fish from 75ft down to 135ft on the riggers on a mixture of spoons and hootchies. Productive flashers have had some glow on them as the water has been pretty dirty.
Entrance, Snake, and Five Fingers have also been fishing well at times. The hot depths for us at these locations were 160-200ft on the riggers. The fish seem to be down deep as the water up there is very blue.
The Hump has slowed down this past week. Hopefully another wave of fish come through and heat things up again. Best depths seem to be 70-110ft as the water has been fairly dirty with the Fraser River starting to freshet and the usual spring algae. Hot spoons have been the Pesca 3.5 in Leprechaun, Gut Bomb and Italian Stallion. We have also been catching fish on anchovies in glow green teaser heads. The best tide seems to be the ebb tide but we have also heard of some fish on the flood. This is a big area, so you just have to put your time in and cover water and the fish will come.
This time of year if you are thinking about booking a charter we do strongly recommend trying to make it over to Gabriola, as it often provides some of the best chinook fishing of the whole year. The best fishing is likely yet to come as it usually gets red hot late May and early June. Our phone has been ringing steadily, so if you want to take advantage of this awesome chinook fishing, please give us a call as soon as possible as open dates are becoming limited.
To book your trip give Jason a call at 778-788-8582. If you are heading out in your own boat, stop by the shop for the latest up to the day report and info on the hot flashers and spoons.
See you in the shop or on the water,
Jason Tonelli
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, Max, Andre, and Jordan