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 There's something very inspiring about our fall sunrises and sunsets on the west coast. The colours are spectacular and certainly generate great photo opportunities! This fall, we had early rains through September and into mid October but we did get a few clear days to capture some great pictures! The rains increased water levels in local rivers and streams allowing fish to enter these systems earlier than usual. Normally fish would continue to collect and hold near these waterways waiting for heavy rains that would typically start around the second week of October. Despite this, the volume of fish returning was substantial resulting in strong fishing that continued through September into October.      We’ve now switched to our winter fishery targeting Chinook salmon that are feeding aggressively in local waters. These fish are cruising near the bottom feeding on large schools of herring and anchovies. The key for this fishery is to locate these baitfish schools and work the lines in and around them near the bottom to find the salmon. Having good quality sonar and knowing where these baitfish tend to congregate is critical to finding these feeder Chinook salmon. Crabbing and prawning is picking up again as well. We’re dropping crab traps for Dungeness crab on 6 and 8 hour winter charters. In addition, we’re dropping prawn traps on our 8 hour trips. It’s hard to beat coming home with crab, prawns, and fresh salmon in the same trip! Take advantage of our winter rates to experience a west coast day on the water!   Great fishing continued into September with some of the largest fish of the season now appearing in our local waters! Usually we can count on September to be relatively dry and sunny - not this year. Similar to last September, we’ve had a fair amount of rain which has allowed some fish to move into local river systems earlier than they might have in other years. That said, the fishing has continued to be very strong with multiple fish on most trips and new schools of fish moving into local waters with each incoming tide! The largest fish brought in by a guest this season was in September at 27lbs - what a great fish!   We’ve seen more Coho show up over the past few weeks and have had several very nice hatchery Coho to the boat with the largest being around 10lbs.    We're almost exclusively running bait (anchovies & herring) now to tempt these large Chinook and Coho to strike.   We expect Chinook and Coho fishing to be good through into October so there’s still time to book your trip to experience the thrill of west coast salmon fishing!      This August will be remembered as arguably the best fishing we’ve experienced in 30+ years for Chinook salmon. The average fish size ranged between 14 - 22lbs with the occasional larger fish in the mix. Multiple double hookups were common throughout the month with the occasional triple header thrown in! The fish were aggressive, hitting almost anything presented including spoons, hoochies, and bait.   It’s been an amazing time to introduce newcomers to salmon fishing. These fish have been hitting hard and taking long line ripping runs.    On many trips, it was difficult to get all the lines deployed before the next fish was on. There’s nothing quite like the anticipation followed by the pump of adrenalin when the lines go off after an aggressive strike!    Contact us to book your fishing adventure today!    After steady action through April, May, and June, July started off somewhat intermittent. Some trips had multiple hookups of Chinook and Coho salmon while on others, we worked hard to get a few strikes. However, as the month progressed, the fishing improved significantly with the last two weeks of July being very productive overall. As of July 15, guests can now retain 1 Chinook salmon per day as part of their 4 salmon per day limit. Pink salmon are now present in local waters. On any given day, guests have the opportunity of hooking into Chinook, Coho, and Pink salmon.  Now that we’re heading into August, bait in the form of herring and anchovies is our ‘go to’ gear. We’ve put the crab traps away until the fall as the majority of crabs are now undersize. Crabbing for ‘keeper size’ Dungeness should pickup again in late September.   8 to 10 hour charters are a great option this time of year providing the flexibility to travel to areas that are not feasible on shorter duration charters ... such as the Fraser river mouth to target the largest Chinook salmon of the season. In particular, a 10 hour charter enables us to fish through two tides (incoming & outgoing). The tidal influence is a key success factor when targeting salmon particularly in August through October. Schooling salmon will change locations and behaviour depending on an outgoing or incoming tide. That said, there are still closer locations that are holding good quantities of Chinook, Coho, and Pink salmon that are ideal for shorter duration charters.   Waves of fish continue to arrive in local waters with each passing day to feed and bulk up before heading into our local river systems. August through the first half of October is prime time for Vancouver fishing - especially for large Chinook salmon! We still have some openings but we are filling up quickly - contact us today to secure your trip.   Give us a call to talk about your options and get the most current information to help decide which trip is best for you.   Fishing continues to be excellent with the average Chinook size now around 14-16lbs. Coho salmon are also here now and are currently averaging about 5lbs. Both Chinook and Coho are aggressively feeding on large schools of herring in our local waters. This has the fish growing and putting on weight rapidly!  Guests are hooking into multiple fish each trip and can retain up to 2 hatchery Coho per license. The Chinook are hitting hard and taking long line ripping runs! We’re continuing to drop crab traps each trip and expect crabbing to be fairly consistent into mid July.   July through to mid October will see guests battle the largest fish of the season with the average Chinook size climbing to the 22-24lb range and some fish pushing into the mid 30’s. Every day will see more Coho and Chinook arriving in our local waters and we expect to see Sockeye begin showing up by the end of July ... if we’re lucky, we’ll see another Sockeye opening this year in August which always makes for exciting trips with double, triple, and even quad hookups. We still have available dates in July, August, Sept, and October but they are going fast given the great fishing we’ve been experiencing! Book today to secure your fishing adventure and avoid disappointment.   |
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