Fresh Gabriola Island Fishing Reports

We folks the big fish have arrived, right in time for the opener this week! Nanaimo chinnook fishery has really made a comeback in last few year, it is quickly becoming one of the best fisheries on the island in terms of numbers. Most of the fish I’ve been catching will fit perfectly into slot limit! Nanaimo is a deep water fishery, I catch most of my fish below 200ft. These fish are aggressive and will bite most lures you put down, I personally recommend herring aid skinnyG’s or green or white hoochies, I tend to run longer leaders on my hoochies when fishing this deep, 48-54” behind purple or green flashers Best of luck everyone, God bless and tight lines!

At present, the Coho salmon fishing is very good in local waters (within 10 minutes of the marina). Lingcod are also presently open for retention, and as of July 15th chinook salmon will also open for retention. Typically the Chinook fishing is also very good as soon as it opens. I was out last week scouting and we landed several legal sized Chinook each day.

The Chinook salmon and coho are in! They are here in big numbers and size. Theses clients had a blast. Book now while they are still here

Well folks the coho have officially arrived in numbers! With coho set to open on june first, they showed up at the perfect time to start filling your freezer. I’m seeing more hatchery fish this year than previous years which is super exciting to see, and most fish we get to the boat are between 3-6lbs. They seem to be everywhere in the water column and biting anything you put in front of them. I personally recommend anything green or blue and set your gear between 80-150ft and enjoy the show. God Bless, and happy fishing!

Lingcod and rock fish opened May 1 and is on fire. Also prawning and crabbing are on fire. Get in on the few available spots left.

May is the Month for Lingcod They may be scary looking, but they sure are tasty. In fact, if I had to choose between halibut or lingcod, I’d pick lingcod any day of the week. Problem is, I have always found them to be a little tricky to catch. So, when I do fish for them, I check tides and tide tables religiously. Once fishing, I work ledges and drop-offs keeping my bait as close to the bottom as possible. The preferred method by many is jigging for lingcod. I like trolling for them using 4 to 8 oz swimbaits. It’s a lot of work and you must be on your toes since you are constantly bringing gear up and/or dropping it back down. But it can be a very effective way of hooking these “bucket heads” as they are sometimes called. On opening day this year, my group of two and I were greeted by a beautiful sunny morning. Knowing I just missed the tide change on an ebb tide, I choose to fish the northwest side of Gabriola. Trolling two of my favorite 4 oz swimbaits, I watched my depth as I began to work an edge. Once alongside of Gabriola Island near the old Cannery, we finally started having some action. Unfortunately, our customers where Quillback, Cooper Rock Fish, and a very nice Yellow Eye and an undersized Lingcod. We still hadn’t found our prize fish. With about an hour left in the trip, I was bringing up the gear as the depth changed from 160 to 90 feet when I noticed a slight bounce on the portside rod. I grabbed the rod yanking the line off the clip. I quickly handed the rod over to my guest and asked, “feel any better this time?” “Oh yes” was the reply. Five minutes later, we had our first nice lingcod aboard. Oh yeah! If you enjoy eating white meat from the ocean, Lingcod is the way to go. And, with salmon closed until the beginning of June, it is all we’ll be fishing for. As I tell my guests, May is the month for Lingcod.