Fresh West Vancouver Fishing Reports

? Opening Day Success! ? What a way to kick off Chinook season in Vancouver! A husband-and-wife team joined us for their very first salmon trip — and crushed it. They landed their limit of Chinook (one pushing 20lbs ?), plus a hatchery coho, a few pinks, and even a great feed of prawns. We made the run to the Fraser River Delta, and it paid off big time. With salmon season just opening, now’s the moment to get out here. ? Spots are filling fast — come join the adventure!

With big winds in the Strait, we decided to stay close to home and take advantage of the amazing Coho and Chinook salmon fishing that Howe Sound has to offer. Currently the waters of Howe Sound are murky green from the vast amounts of Plankton which supports massive shoals of Herring and Anchovies. Today was an amazing display of the life that is supported by these bait fish. A large group of humpback whales was breaching and rolling in the tide while we fished nearby, eating as many of the tiny morsels as they could. Gulls gathered in large groups and ealgles took thoer share as well. It was incredible.... Perhaps the most amazing part was the fishing. The same herring that brought the humpbacks was being attacked voraciously by hungry Chinook and Coho salmon. We could see the baitfish frantically boiling on the surface trying to avoid the jaws of the hungry hunters below, only to fall victim to the gulls above. It was truly natures poetry in motion. These amazing days of fishing in June and early July are truly some of our favorite times to be around the Sound. Hatchery Coho salmon are now open for retention, we are still doing DNA sampling on Chinook salmon and prawning is still fairly productive. Reach out now and book your trip before you miss your chance to see the boom of life that early summer brings to Howe Sound.

With Lincod season opening May 1st, we've been working hard to stack some of the best bottomfish fillets for our guests and today certainly didnt disappoint. We set out traps and headed accross the Strait to one of our favorite Lincod spots to hunt for these oceanic dragons. Within 30 seconds of dropping our first line, we hooked into an early beautiful coho, a great sign for the upcoming opening on June 1st. Having not even set both of our lines we were already high fiving and having a good laugh. Soon we got our gear deployed and trolled on bottom and within 5 minutes had our first legal sized Lingcod. For the next hour or so, the action would remain steady with many ling cod coming up to take a look at the boat before being released, we were looking for something just a touch bigger. Then it happened.... I saw the rod bend and i knew we were in to another but then the rod suddenly buried itself in the water. This must be a big one! As the fish came to the surface, it was difficult to tell what we had hooked, it was a strange shape and didnt swim normally. Pulling it in closer to the boat we realised that we had a regular sized Ling on the gook which an absolute monster Ling had partially swallowed and was not willing to let go of so i netted them both and brought them aboard. After a few pictures with the beast, we released it as the larger Lingcod are the major breeders and not as nice to eat as 10-20 lb fish. Once we had our Lingcod limit, we moved over to Salmon fishing. White hoochies and bait busters were quite successful in getting us into 13 Chinook of various sizes with a few really nice fish in the mix. Finally when we pulled up our crab and prawn traps, we were pleasantly rewarded with 121 prawns and 4 big dungeoness crabs to finish a fantastic day on the water. If this sounds like the type of day for you, reachnout and lets go fishing. Thanks everyone. Capt' Al.

May is a month where things really start to heat up in the Strait of Georgia. With Lingcod opening May 1st, anglers are being rewarded with some really great catches. These fish are aggressive, hard fighting and as a bonus.... they make some of the best table fare. Couple that with some spot prawns in the last few days before commercial prawning season starts and you have a winning formula for some great dinners. Jigging with stick jigs or bait are popular techniques but we also find that trolling right on bottom is an almost surefire way of getting some really nice fish and covering some ground. Chinook Salmon are really starting to show up now with bigger fish being encountered every day. As part of the Avid Angler program, we have the opportunity to take part in DNA collection which allows us to do catch and release fishing during this otherwise closed season. Spoons, hoochies and plugs are all very productive right now and the fish seem to be feeding very hard and growing quickly. Most of our Chinook are still being caught fairly deep between 80-140 feet but as time moves on we will expect them to move closer to the surface. Another great thing about May is that we are now starting to see Humpback whales fairly regularly as well as the odd Grey whale. Orcas are always present in the area although somewhat less common of a sighting. We are really looking forward to the great weather and fishing for the rest of this month and cant wait for the Coho season opener on June 1st. We love fishing with families and friends so send us a message and lets get out on the water. Good luck out there everyone, we can't wait to see you on the water.

**Fishing Report – Knuckle Busters & Winter Chinook** After a long stretch of freezing weather, it felt great to finally get back out on the water for some winter Chinook action. The forecast wasn’t looking too promising—calling for wind and rain—but we showed up anyway and were rewarded with a calm, glassy start to the day. With the conditions in our favour, we made the call to cross the Strait and hit one of our favourite spots, hoping to find some bait balls. With herring getting ready to school up for the spawn, we knew the salmon wouldn’t be far behind. The plan worked. Within minutes of dropping our gear, we were into our first fish. My new friends from Manitoba were buzzing when they saw it come up—looked like a solid one! A quick look and I knew it was just a bit too small, so we let it off the line. Now they were hooked (figuratively, of course). High fives all around, and it was time to find the big ones. It didn’t take long before Peter, the youngest in the group, saw a rod bounce and was on his feet like a pro. He reeled down, popped the clip, and set the hook solidly. “Fish On!” Then, like a true team player, he handed the rod to his buddy Adam—who was about to learn why we call mooching reels "knuckle busters." Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! The reel screamed. I told Adam to let it run, and just as he started to reel it in—WHACK! The reel handle smacked his knuckles hard, a not-so-subtle reminder of who was really in charge. After a quick lesson on how to palm the arbour, Adam started to get the upper hand, fighting the fish like a natural. If you don’t think three minutes is a long time, ask a boxer. When that fish finally hit the net, the look on his face was priceless—pure joy. A beautiful 21lb Chinook, and trust me, that's a great fish. It takes a mountain of a man like Adam to make that fish look medium-sized. The rest of the morning kept us busy with more Chinook landed and one particularly angry fish lost after a strong fight. All in all, an incredible day on the water—good company, plenty of action, and some well-earned sore knuckles. The winter season is quickly coming to an end so there's no better time to book your adventure. Chinook retention will most likely close March 31st so take advantage of this spring fishery and herring spawn while it lasts. See you on the water. Gear Used: -Chartreuse Flasher with G-Force No Bananas Spoon - White Hoochie with Black Onion Flasher - No Bananas Skinny G Spoon with No Bananas Flasher - Tomic Plugs - Westcoast Tackle Plugs Looking forward to the next round—bring on the big ones! ??

With the fantastic weather we have been having, we decided to kick off our season a bit early and that decision couldn't have been any better. Winter Chinook salmon tend to be aggressive feeders, building up energy reserves for their future migrations. This means big fights and great table fare. As soon as we found them, our reels were hard at work with regular action and a couple of double headers. Spoons and flashers were the winning ticket with fish also taking some plugs which we fished at the end of the day. All bites were deep, below 200ft and we had no problem filling out limits for Chinook. We finished our day pulling traps, getting a few crabs and prawns to sweeten the deal. Top producers were skinny G and G-Force spoons in a no banana's pattern. If you javn't tried fiahing for winter Springs, now is the time so book now! See you all on the water.