Outlook

It seems as though we are finally back to “normal” Vancouver weather. Last week’s cold snap has made way for mild and rainy weather. Friday’s rain will affect most of our Lower Mainland streams, although unlikely we may see them blow out for the weekend due to low freezing levels. Coho salmon season is winding down, but chrome fish can still be caught. Winter steelhead will start to trickle into the Chilliwack in the next few weeks, and it won’t be long until someone encounters one. It is time to start tying flies, leaders, jigs, and roe bags if you haven’t already!

 Feature Product

This week, I wanted to take a look at Simms jackets. In Vancouver we know how to have fun in the rain, and that means staying dry. As Canada’s third most rainy city, with over 161 rainy days per year, there is no better place to put rain jackets to the test. Simms makes some of the most high performance fishing outerwear and there is no other company offering such a wide variety of fishing specific jackets.

This week we are going to look at Simms’ two flagship jackets, the Slick jacket and the G4 Pro jacket. Both jackets feature a Pro Gore-Tex construction. Pro Gore-Tex is lighter, more breathable and more waterproof than standard Gore-Tex. Even though both these jackets are Pro Gore-Tex shells, they fill two unique niches in the fishing jacket world.

The G4 Pro jacket is a fishing machine. It features 3-layer Pro Gore-Tex construction, a short cut for deep wading, water proof pit zippers for ventilation, two hidden retractors on the chest for easy access to fishing tools, and lots of pockets for all your gear. It is 15% lighter than the previous G4 Pro jacket and the first thing you notice when putting it on is how light the arms are. This allows for a much greater range of movement when casting, whether it is gear or fly fishing. If you want the best fishing specific jacket on the market, look no further than the Simms G4 Pro jacket.

The Slick jacket is very different by design than the G4. Simms packed a ton of fishing features in a jacket that from the outside doesn’t look specific to fishing. With a longer cut and clean pocket design, you could easily wear this jacket around town and not look like a fisherman. That said, Simms has done a great job incorporating features hidden in the two front pockets. These divided chest pockets are great for storing all your fishing accessories, and they also have a thoughtful sunglass stowing pocket. Another great feature is the hidden pit zippers inside the pockets allowing you to vent and access inside your waders without unzipping the jacket. This is a great jacket for fishing in a boat because it’s long cut design covers your butt! The Slick is also
a fantastic river fishing jacket with the pockets placed high enough not to fill with water when wading deep.

Come into the shop and we can help you decide which jacket is best suited to your fishing needs!

Upcoming Courses

We have one spot left in our last course of the year! Join us on November 24th and 25th for our Tying Intruder Fly Patterns class. Call us at the shop to sign up today – this spot won’t last long!

TYING INTRUDER FLY PATTERNS

Class Size: 7

This course is designed for those that are interested in tying steelhead flies in the “Intruder style”. This style of fly is extremely productive for steelhead and salmon due to its profile and movement in the water. During this two night (5hr total instruction) tying series, you will learn the very specific techniques and unique materials used to tie this fly. This course is suitable for intermediate to advanced tiers. 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: $45.00

Dates: Nov 24th & 25th

Time: 7:00pm – 9:30pm

Our full 2015 Course schedule will be released in time to add the courses you want to take to your Christmas wish list. Stay tuned for more information!

 

Freshwater Reports

Local Rivers

Squamish River

The Squamish system has been very interesting this season. Warm temperatures and seemingly constant rain kept the water very high. For the last week or so the conditions flipped with freezing temperatures and dry conditions. The river levels plummeted and we saw good fishing for a few days after the weather flip. Quite a few people who had been waiting for the conditions to change hit the water and fishing was solid, but there was a lot of pressure.

This weekend it looks as though we have more seasonable weather. There is some rain in the forecast that will hopefully bump up the water levels and as long as it doesn’t rain too hard fishing should be decent. Expect the chum fishing to be almost over and perhaps one more bump of fresh coho. Egg fishing is also another fishery to look at. With some salmon now on their reds spawning, the bulltrout and rainbows will be feeding heavily. Fish a light rod with an indicator and either an egg fly or bead.

The Squamish System is 100% catch and release for all wild species. Retention of one hatchery coho (adipose fin clipped) is permitted. Be careful when identifying your catch, hatchery coho are rare on this system.

If you see any people fishing illegally make sure you call the ORR (observe, record, report) line 1-800-465-4336.

Matt Sharp

Chilliwack River

Salmon season has winded down on the Chilliwack. Anglers are still encountering the odd fresh coho and chum, but things are quiet for the most part. Friday’s rain is sure to bring the river up, and we may see a late push of salmon or even an early steelhead or two. Now is the time to get out and do some scouting, with the possibility of still hooking a chrome coho!

Sam Graham, Max Stickel, & Dimitri Roussanidis

Chehalis River

The salmon fishing is winding down on the Chehalis. That being said, there are still some nice coho and chum to be caught, and you can expect to see a late push of fish with the next rain. Float fishing with roe, colorado blades, and jigs is the most productive method to catch these fish.

Capilano River

The salmon season is over on the Capilano. The fish that are still swimming are dark and ready to spawn. Although the salmon fishing is over, this is a beautiful time of year to walk around the canyon and look at the fish in the hatchery!

Please note: ALL steelhead (adipose clipped and unclipped) must be released with the utmost care.

 

Local Lakes

As long as there is no ice, you may encounter trout in the local lakes, but fishing will be slow between now and next spring.

Max Stickel

 

Local Saltwater

This past week have had a few reports of the first winter chinook being caught. Don’t go rushing down to the dock and blow the leaves of your boat and race out there though! It is still early for this fishery and the best fishing will be from late December to early April. There are always a few guides and anglers searching for the first winter chinook of the year in November and our sources who have been out have indeed caught a few, but they have also been skunked just as many days as they have caught fish. In November we are usually concentrating on our river fishing guiding but very soon we will be heading down to the Gradys to start preparing for our first winter chinook trips of the year. One interesting thing to note is that we have some customers down in Washington who buy Pesca spoons from us and they are reporting some excellent winter chinook fishing already. We have also heard of some good fishing from N. Vancouver Island. Let’s hope this means we are in for a good winter chinook season in our local waters. As usual, for these fish you want to be right on the bottom because that is where the bait is. Anglers often do well on spoons with a 6 foot leader attached to their favourite flasher. In the clear water this time of year we often do well with a Green Onion or Purple Onion flasher, 6 foot leader and a smaller Pesca spoon or Kingfisher spoon. Prawning has also been off to a good start. In fact it never really ended as the prawning has been good to great almost all year except for a brief slow period when the commercial fleet was out.

If you would like to book a trip for winter chinook, some BC spot prawns, and some dungeness crab, give us a call at the shop and book some prime dates for late December and all of January, February, and March.

Tight lines,

The P.A. Saltwater Guide Team: Jason, Eddie, Dimitri

 

Give us a call on our charter phone at 778-788-8582 to book a charter or come by the shop for all the right gear and some friendly advice. The shop number is 604-872-2204.

 

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, Sam, Eddie, Dimitri, Kathryn