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. The fish are generally higher in the water column now so we’re hooking most fish in the top 80’ of water. 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. Give us a call to talk about your options and get the most current information to help decide which trip is best for you. 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.

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.

Overall May was a fantastic month for fishing in local waters! Several trips had guests hooking into more than 10 fish. Most of the salmon have been in the 8-12 pound range. However there are a few much larger fish around. Our biggest fish of the season so far was an estimated 21 pound chinook caught by John Carr - well done John! Great battle with long line ripping runs before it finally came to the boat. Then safely released after a few great photos. What a fish for this early in the season! We had Orca’s pass through one of our prime locations at the end of May. It’s always a special day when we see these amazing mammals. However, the salmon were less enthusiastic given they are on the killer whale menu. This definitely impacted the fishing but it’s hard to complain when you get to see these top predators in their natural environment. Crabbing continues to be very good. We’ve been dropping traps on every trip. Spoons and bait (anchovies) are continuing to be very productive. The season for Coho salmon opens June 1 and we should see them showing up in numbers locally during the second half of June. We still have openings if you want to experience great west coast salmon fishing. Reserve your trip today!

We’ve been enjoying some great fishing throughout April with consistent feeder Chinook in the 8-10 lb range on every trip. Most of the fish we’ve caught have been feeding on herring but some have been stuffed with other small bait fish as well. Crabbing and prawning has continued to be very productive. We’re currently dropping crab traps on every trip & prawn traps on the longer charters (6hrs +) - it takes more time to set and pull prawn traps given the depth of water we fish them in making this most feasible on longer charters. Given the fish are aggressively feeding this time of year, they tend to be less selective and are hitting many different lures. We have mostly been using a variety of glow spoons in various shades of green to imitate herring. There’s been no need to run bait since the artificial lures have been working so well but we always have some on board ready to deploy if the fish show signs of being picky! The government agency that manages our tidal water species, Dept of Fisheries & Oceans ( or DFO), has recently modified the regulations requiring catch and release for Chinook salmon until August 1st. Other salmon species such as Coho can be retained. In mid to late June, we will see schools of Coho salmon showing up in Vancouver and guests can retain 2 hatchery Coho each. These Coho will be in generally the same areas as the Chinook and feeding on the same schools of herring & anchovies. This is always an exciting time anticipating if the next hit will be a Chinook or Coho! Once they arrive, the Coho will be prominent in our local waters into early October. As we progress through July into August, we will also see the arrival of schools of Pink & Sockeye salmon. Prior to releasing any Chinook, we’ve been bringing them onboard for a few quick photos before safely sending them on their way. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing several guests catch their first salmon this April. Now is a great time to get out on the water to catch your first salmon as well!