Fishing in Vancouver - Mid March Report
We have been out on the water quite a bit in recent weeks! Overall fishing has been good in the Gulf Island's and more hit or miss than it was than earlier this winter in Howe Sound. We have had some very good charters, but we have also had a few tough trips in Howe Sound. Crabbing and Prawning have been very productive on most of our trips. . Looking forward to April and May this is when we typically have some of the most consistent chinook fishing of the year in our offshore waters near Bowen Island, the Hump, the Gulf Island's, QA Marker and the Bell Buoy. Last year we had our best chinook fishing of the year in the last two weeks of April and the first few weeks of May. This was primarily on our full day trips to the Gulf Island's and further out in Georgia Strait. It will be interesting to see where the early biomass of Chinook salmon lands this spring!
Like usual in the winter months, most of the fish that are being caught have been very close to bottom in Howe Sound and the Gulf Island's. This pattern will slowly start to change in the coming weeks as the days get longer and warmer and triggers the first plankton blooms of the year and the spring freshet. We did notice some minor blooms earlier this week with the warm weather. When we start to notice more consistent plankton blooms, this will trigger our offshore fishery to begin. Depending on the year, this usually starts in the first or second week of April. We have already seen some fish start to congregate and suspend in the outer reaches of Vancouver Harbour, so it will be not too long now.. Areas that we will look to focus on as we move into April include the Freighter Anchorages in English Bay, the Bell Buoy, QA Marker, Cowan Point and the offshore waters off the South End of Bowen Island and the Gulf Islands. These fish will start to suspend more and more and soon it will be worth running some shallower lines.
We have been running primarily Skinny Gs and smaller 3.0 and 3.5 G Force and Silver Horde Spoons in recent weeks. Hootchies don't seem to be as productive as they were earlier in the winter fishery, but always worth a shot. In the Skinny G's and G Force Spoons we have had our best luck on the Outfitter, Bon Chovy and Killy Mcgee patterns. In Silver Horde we have been having our best luck on Irish Cream and Kitchen Sink patterns. As we move into our springtime fishery in Vancouver Harbour and the outer reaches of Howe Sound, we will start to run a little more anchovy. We often find when the waters dirty up in early April because of the plankton bloom and the snow melt, it is time to run an anchovy or two.
Give us a call to book your spring fishing trip! Our offshore chinook fishery should start to really get going in the second to third week of April. Until then, we will likely continue with our standard winter tactics in Howe Sound, the Gulf Island's and Vancouver Harbour. Our winter special is still happening until the end of March. Check out this link, it has all the details on this great deal!
bonchovy.com/site/fishingreports/1515701062.html
