Pacific Angler Outlook
This weekend promises to be one of the best weeks of salmon fishing in the Lower Mainland and Sea to Sky Corridor. The salmon are here! The past weekend and week has brought us some amazing fishing which will continue into the weekend and next week. Check out the pictures below from Pacific Angler’s Salmon on the Fly course with Andre. Andre still has a couple spots available for the two upcoming courses so give us a call if you are interested!
Pacific Angler also does guided trips on the top producing salmon rivers throughout the Lower Mainland. If you would like to book your day on the water do not hesitate to contact Pacific Angler’s dedicated booking manager Dave @ the shop (604-872-2204).
The Vancouver weather forecast for the weekend has fortunately been downgraded. Originally we were expected to receive another big dose of precipitation on Saturday and Sunday but it now looks like that weather has been pushed to Tuesday. While we still are expected to receive some rain over the weekend, 10-15 mm on Saturday and 5-10 mm on Sunday, it shouldn’t adversely affect the fishing. Daily temperatures for the weekend and into next week will range from 9 to 12 degrees Celsius. Precipitation throughout the weekend and week will keep our rivers at a relatively medium to high level. Overall, the weather conditions will be good to great for salmon fishing.
The local saltwater salmon season has officially come to an end. The Pacific Angler staff has heard reports of shakers (immature salmon) being caught in and amongst the freighters in the Vancouver Harbour. I haven’t received any reports of any mature salmon being caught at the mouth of the Capilano River. It will be a few weeks before winter chinook salmon start showing up locally. Jason will be out on the water as soon as he hears that very first report, so stay tuned!
For a detailed look at Vancouver’s river fishing scene please read the reports below. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact our friendly staff at 604-872-2204 or better yet, drop by our store at 78 East Broadway.
River Fishing Report:
For a detailed look into the local river scene read the river fishing report below:
Chilliwack River: So far so good with the Vedder River this last week. There are thousands of fish around. We have been seeing plenty of coho salmon coming through, and fresh pushes of ocean chrome chums. There are some chinook salmon coming through as well, but the majority of them have already entered the river. With the fluctuating flows caused the by the rains, fishing has been great. The fish are forced to move around and stay active giving the angler a great chance to catch them. Float fishing jigs or small pieces of prawn in combination with wool has been the ticket for chums. Roe, spinners, spoons and small wool ties worked well this week for coho salmon.
Chehalis River: There are coho salmon around, but there hasn’t been much talk of it this week. The river gets a later push of coho salmon that run through the month of November. The heavy rainfalls bring this river up and down a lot, and good water conditions have been tough to find. Because of the large canyon the river flow fluctuates drastically every time it rains. Fly fishing in the lower reaches down by the Harrison River is extremely effective at times. Float fishing roe, and Colorado blades is the ticket when it comes to the river itself. The coho salmon in the Chehalis love copper hardware, spinners such as blue foxes in a #3 & #4 or Gibbs Croc 3/8ths oz. and Koho spoons size 35 & 45.
Harrison River: The coho fishing was pretty slow after the big rains we had last week, most of the fish left the Harrison and moved on or went up to the Chehalis. The Harrison bumped up to 9.45 this week and is now slowly dropping. Ron and Andre were both out on the Harrison this week fishing for fun, scouting, and guiding. They both found some nice fish, chrome bars, so it looks like a new wave has shown up. At this river height the coho have plenty of hiding spots so it is a bit more difficult to find them. There are also a lot of guide boats this time of year which can move the fish around. Regardless, if you take the time to locate the fish you can have some great success. Andre and regular customers Stu W. were into some pretty good numbers of chrome fish yesterday. We should see some good fishing this coming week and into November. The fish have been hitting small flash flies and muddler style flies. We have a good selection of these flies, custom tied by Andre. Some of our customers have been doing well on spinners and spoons. Brass and copper have been good for spinners and for spoons the Gibbs Koho in size 45, silver with the fl. orange back, has been deadly. If you are looking to experience this amazing coho fishery, stop by the shop for a point in the right direction and some custom flies you can fish with confidence. We also offer guided jet boat trips with Andre, specializing in coho on the fly rod. Don’t forget about the chum as well. There have been waves of chrome chum entering the Harrison all week. Overall it seems the chum numbers have been pretty strong this year and the fish are big! The chum have been hitting purple and pink flies or purple and pink marabou jigs.
Fraser River: Sturgeon fishing is in full swing at the moment. This is the time of year to be out on the water. Favourite locations are near Chilliwack and Mission. If you would like to get out with a guide please do not hesitate to contact Pacific Angler @ 604-872-2204.
Squamish River: Early this week the Squamish River finally dropped back into shape after the two massive blowouts last week. The Lower Squamish River has been fishing well for both chum and a few coho. The upper river has been fishing well for coho salmon. Andre’s custom salmon flies have been producing the best. Anglers have also been having good success with smaller spinners.
Capilano River: The Capilano River has been fishing well this past week. Angler’s have been most successful with smaller spinners in silver and copper. Don’t be afraid to hike downstream of the favourite pools to find fish that haven’t seen as many anglers. It is always rewarding when you find a secret pool with a ton of fresh fish eager to bite your lure!
Stave River: This past week the coho fishing on the Stave has really picked up. The chums are getting pretty old now, we were guiding there this week and we didn’t see too many chrome chums. If you are looking for chrome sea lice chum I would head to the Harrison or Squamish, there are plenty coming in there. Okay back to the coho! Anglers have had success on the Stave in the slower, tanky pools for coho on small spinners and spoons in brass or copper. We hit some nice coho on sparse muddlers, flash flies, and mickey fin variations. We were using clear intermediate lines and clear intermediate sink tips. Sturgeon fishing at the mouth of the Harrison has also been excellent. If you do want to fish for the chum, try fishing lower down in the system for chrome fish using purple and pink flies or marabou jigs.
Skagit River: This will be the last weekend to fish on the majestic Skagit River. The end of October can be a beautiful time to be fishing in the Skagit Valley with hungry trout rising to your flies and fresh snow in the mountains. Productive patterns for this time of year are emergers and dry flies for rainbow trout and then streamer patterns in different shades of olive, green, white and yellow and sizes for bulltrout. The afternoon should be the most productive time of the day as the water temperature will usually rise a few degrees.
Skeena Region – Nicholas Dean Lodge Report
Based on the weather we’ve experienced in the last week here in Terrace, it appears that Winter is slowly starting to strengthen its grip. Air temperatures have dropped down below freezing consistently through the night and into the morning hours – exactly what was needed following last week’s rains to help bring water levels back into fishable levels. Currently, rivers are in excellent shape and are dropping and clearing each day. Not surprisingly, the fishing has followed suit and guests have done well this week while fishing on the Skeena and its tributaries.
Best fish of the week went out to Barry Macdonald from California, who was on his first trip with us, and his first trip ever for Steelhead. On his third day of the trip, he landed a 21 lb buck – well done Barry!
This past week, the majority of fish were caught on black and blue flies – certainly a standard as far as Steelhead colour combinations go, which made a few guests want to fish these colours exclusively. While it’s very important to have confidence in the fly you’re fishing, it is also very important to show fish a different colour, profile or size when fishing through the same run twice, or with an angling partner. Giving the fish something just a little different can be key, which is why we’ll almost always have one guest fishing a dark fly (black, blue, purple) and another fishing a lighter coloured fly (pink, orange), on different sink tips.
With temperatures forecast to remain cool over the weekend and with periods of snow, rivers will likely continue to drop and clean into next week. Snow and Steelhead – such a great combination. More on this, next week!
Tight lines,
Chad Black
Operations Manager, Nicholas Dean Outdoors
On behalf of the Pacific Angler staff we wish you the best in your fishing endeavours 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.
Happy fishing,
Matt & the Pacific Angler Staff