Pacific Angler Outlook:
Welcome to the Pacific Angler Fishing Report for the last Friday of the year. It is hard to believe how fast this past year went. Vancouver experienced another great salmon season in 2011 with strong pink, sockeye, chinook and coho returns. We are hoping the steelhead returns this winter will mirror the excellent salmon returns of 2011.
Chris with a nice coho from this fall.
We received some heavy rainfall the last couple of days and as such we’ve heard reports that the Chilliwack River is blown out and will probably stay blown out (around a foot of vis) until sometime on Sunday. The short term Vancouver forecast is sun with a few clouds, no precipitation and a high of 5 degrees Celsius. Then on Monday Vancouver has a forecast for 80% chance of precipitation (20 mm) and a high of 8 degrees Celsius. It will pay to keep an eye on water levels this coming week, because as soon as the rivers drop and get a touch of clarity, the steelhead fishing will be excellent. These are fresh fish, so fish big, fish fast, and fish hard. If the fish are there, they will let you know in a hurry. The name of the game is to cover as much water as possible.
Local Saltwater Fishing Report:
For the Strait of Georgia the weekend wind report is calling for light winds Saturday morning and then increasing to 15 to 20 knots southeast Saturday afternoon. Then we are expected to have winds 15 to 20 knots southeast Sunday.
This is the time of year to get out and set traps for crab and prawns, and troll for chrome winter springs. We’ve heard of a couple decent reports over the past two weeks and things usually pick up right about now, so it’s definitely time to go.
As mentioned before in previous reports a few odd keepers and some undersized fish have been hooked around the Bell Buoy, Freighters, and West Vancouver shoreline. Spoons with some glow are working well, like the Night Rider, Cookies and Cream, Irish Cream, and Green Glow. Generally the fish are close to the bottom so make sure you have at least one of your lines 5-10 feet from the bottom. Of course an anchovy in a glow teaser head close to the bottom is always a good bet as well.
One of the best pieces of advice is to not wait for a good report! These fish are often here one day and gone the next, so if you wait for a report, it is often too late. The best way to catch winter chinook is simply to go fishing. Find some good flood tides that work with your schedule and go fishing. You can expect to have good fishing from now until March.
BC River Fishing Report:
The Lower Mainland received a good dump of rain over the past two days. Make sure to check the water levels before you head out to make sure the rivers are in shape or on the drop.
Steelhead are at the top of the list at this time of year. As mentioned earlier, the second the rivers come in shape, likely later this weekend, the fishing will be hot. For the float fisherman, it is hard to go wrong with pink worms this time of year, or medium sized BC Orange Goey Bobs. For the spey angler, medium to large intruders in pink and orange colors will get the job done. The fish aren’t too picky this time of year, you just need to cover water and find them.
A Vedder steelhead ready for release.
Lake Fishing Report:
The boys have not heard too many lake fishing reports. It usually won’t pick up until March/April when the local lakes get re-stocked.
We hope you get out on the steelhead rivers this weekend or out on the salt for some winter springs and prawns. We will see you out there!
Happy New Years,
Jason Tonelli