Spring Fishing – April/May 2009
It's time to go fishing! We have had high numbers of Chinook salmon present in our local waters. The Vancouver area has been blessed with some of the best salmon fishing on the West Coast this Spring. This fishery started to produce some nice keeper size fish at the end of March and the schools have grown as we approach May. The size of these winter spring salmon have been surprising, with most keeper fish been in the 14lbs to 17lbs range.
Some of the bigger salmon have been into the low 20lb. pound range. April 30th produced the biggest fish of the year so far for the Vancouver area, as two of our guides Terry and Gary boated a 33lb. King salmon! As we head into the month of May, we'll see the first of our spring spawning salmon arrive. This group of fish should produce very well and average between 12lbs. and 25lbs.
We are fishing mostly off the south end of Bowen Island. Most of our guides have had luck with four inch Coyote spoons; especially green/glow, and black/white and Army Truck. Our guides have also been running "anchovy" bait and some hootchies like Purple Haze and Army Truck. We have been fishing depths of between 60ft and 120ft.The middle of English Bay is still producing nice fish with the last week being very productive. Soon we will be fishing Bell Buoy and the Q-A marker area as well as the south end of Bowen Island. Dropping a crab pot adds some fun to each trip as we have been bringing home some nice keepers for dinner.Enjoy the charter salmon pictures that we snapped in March/April 2009 and I'll update you later in May as the fishery changes.
Tight Lines: Kevin Addie
Spring Fishing – February/March 2009
February 12, 2009 English Bay, Vancouver.
We had a fabulous summer/fall season as the fishing and the weather were excellent! The last 2 years are ones to remember with record runs of Chinook and incredibly consistent salmon fishing.
The weather continues to cooperate with mild winter temperatures. Salmon fishing has been steady these past weeks – we’ve experienced some beautiful sunny days on quiet ocean waters which is a favorite time to be out for some locals and visitors. Our boats are covered and heated so that makes angling very pleasant at this time of the year.
Currently, anglers are catching lots of winter springs in the 8 to 14 lb range with a 22 lb. King caught off the Cap this week! However, we are releasing lots of “shakers” on each charter. We are fishing deeper at 80 to150 feet of water with a variety of gear attracting fish – spoons and hootchies are the most successful; we are not running bait in Feb. We prefer the glow army truck, glow pickle green and glow blood/bones hootchies with 4” Coyote glow white/green or black/white also attracting catch. These feeder kings will continue to increase in size throughout the upcoming months. Our winter fishery is usually very consistent with action and multiple fish caught on charters. The two best locales for chasing winter chinook are relatively close to the docks, in English Bay or along the south and west side of Bowen Island. Some people fish with no flashers due to the incredible water clarity at this time of year. Tide changes are not as critical in the winter months, which is a good thing as there are fewer choices of departure times with these short days.
The largest fish caught for the 2007 season was landed by a guest from Vancouver and her salmon weighed in at 45 lbs. The 2008 season brought us multiple trophies of 42-45 lbs. We mainly target Chinook (kings), coho (silvers), and sockeye depending on the season with the odd pink and chum runs enjoyed when they materialize in sufficient numbers.
Crabbing season in the local area remains a favorite activity for charter guests, and we are seeing great productivity in our crab pots lately, although the keeper crabs are of small to medium size this time of year.
Updated March 1, 2009
