Nanaimo Fishing Report, April 2017

Salmon: This past weekend, Reel Time Fishing Charters spent 3 days on the water.  On Saturday (April 1), we fished the shallows near Neck Point, the Brickyard and even went as far as Nanoose finding only small fish in the 100-130ft range.  Sunday (April 2), we tried the Northumberland channel for a few hours before moving to the south side of Entrance Island. There, we finally found some bait and hooked into a nice 14lb Chinook.  Monday (April 3), we started at Entrance Island but with the bait gone, we moved over to the Five Fingers.  The bite was on but nothing big enough to put in the box.  We moved to Neck Point which produced nothing but small fish as well.  With time running out, we took our chances in the deeper water off of the Fingers in a place called the Spoil Grounds.  One pass by a contour called “the boot” and we finally hooked into a beautiful 12 lb chrome Chinook.  No doubt, there are fish out there but they are scattered and in small numbers.  However, with the typically migration just around the corner, salmon fishing should pick up in the next week or two. 
Crabbing: Crabbing has been great in most of the typical places (Departure Bay, in front of Newcastle Island and Jessie Island).  Even the Pier in Nanaimo is currently producing some nice dungeness. 
Prawning: Though we didn’t set any prawn traps during the last 3 trips, reports from a few locals have told me prawning has been good.