Hot Salmon Fishing

Saltwater Fishing Report for Gabriola Island Hello Fellow Anglers Chinook retention began in our local Gabriola waters on July 15th as we expected, and the action has been as hot or hotter than I've ever seen it in more than 35 years of fishing these waters. I'm only trolling tomic plugs for the Chinook, and on most days a limit of "slot sized" Chinook (62 to 80 cm) for up to 4 anglers was usually brought to the boat on the first pass...on one day it literally only took 150 seconds of actual fishing time to get 4 to the boat! It has allowed us to be a bit selective on the sizes we wanted to keep. I can't see the action remaining so hot indefinitely, but it should remain very good to hot fishing for the rest of the summer. I've already seen a few smaller "feeder" Chinook that will be remaining through the winter months. These fish will be growing fast and many more will become legal sized by late August and September, so as the maturing fish move off towards their natal rivers later in the summer, these will remain for us to target all fall and winter. At present, the regulations are stating that we will change to a limit of 2 Chinook per person per day over 62 cm (no maximum size restriction like now) on September 1st. There are some new hook restrictions coming into effect on September 1st (no treble hooks and single hooks need to have a gap size smaller than 22mm), but they won't really affect how I fish or our catches. The Coho fishing slowed by early July, but seems to be on the rise again over the past couple days. The percentage of clipped hatchery fish (the ones we can keep) also seems to be remaining higher than at other times as I've seen about a 50% clip rate on the coho I've had to the boat over the last three days. The abundance of this species will tend to ebb and flow over the next couple months as they are more of a schooling species than the Chinook and they arrive or depart en masse. Over here off Gabriola we also have the option of targeting Lingcod and Rockfish, as they opened for retention back on May 1st. The Lingcod are a bit "fished out" this late into the summer after the May 1st opening, but there is the odd one around, and they seem to "fill back in" later in September. I think they begin to migrate up into the shallows from the depths of the Strait of Georgia for their winter spawning in the shallows at that time. Prawning has also been decent most days...quite a bit better after the commercial opening than I expected...especially since it was crappy before the commercial opening. At present I have no openings until August 10th (open that afternoon), but I do have a fair number of open dates after that and lots in September. Accomodations on the Island will be hard to find during August, but a bit easier in September. For those wanting to do the popular package of coming over and spending the night on the island and getting a potential two day limit, both Pages and the Surf are likely booked up during August (but you can always inquire). Pages Resort (**hidden content**) is right in Silva Bay. They have both self-contained cabins (5 of them) or motel style rooms on two different properties. The Surf Lodge is another option (**hidden content**). They have "rustic rooms, but are attached to the Surf Pub and Restaurant. There are also a large number of B&B's on the island. I am working at compiling a list of e-mail addresses for them, so if you are interested in staying at a B&B, I can forward you those e-mail addresses. A few are within walking distance of the marina, but most would require driving to and from the marina so you would need your own vehicle or use of the Gabriola Taxi that is now on the Island. In addition to travelling to Gabriola via BC Ferries, there are daily flights with Gulf Island Seaplanes **hidden content**, **hidden content**, **hidden content**) departing from South Terminal and downtown. Prices are quite reasonable (roughly $139 each way last time I checked for the 20 minute flight though that likely changed lately due to fuel price increases), and when comparing pricing of a 10 hour charter departing from Horseshoe Bay to a half day trip departing from Silva Bay plus round trip airfare from South Terminal the total cost is quite similar except there isn't any pounding across the Strait in the boat for an hour each way. Another option is to catch the Hullo fast passenger ferry from Downtown Vancouver to Nanaimo (**hidden content**). The Hullo Ferry docks a few hundred yards from the Gabriola Island ferry, so you could just walk to the Gabriola Island ferry (they may even have a shuttle), then walk onto the Gabriola Island ferry. There is a taxi service on Gabriola, or I could meet you at the terminal on Gabriola and we would drive the 20 minutes to the boat and then depart on the charter (though you may have to wait for me to rig up the boat etc...). This option may be best if you are planning on bringing larger rolling coolers, as