G'day Henry,
Not sure why you'd want to fish in Vancouver when you are able to fish the Eastern Coast of OZ, but I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
I miss those saltwater fisheries in OZ that are always so unpredictable on what species you might catch. Anyway, here are some of my recommendations for the time of your stay around Kits.
To be honest, the late July/early August period can be a bummer for fishing around Vancouver. Most anglers tend to head toward the interior of BC for stream or lake trout fishing, or the Fraser Valley for summer salmon fishing. Jericho Beach Pier does produce the odd soles, flounders, small cod etc, but overall the fishing is not that spectacular unless you are just looking for ways to kill time. The size of the fish is dwarfed by what you are able to catch back home. In addition, it will be fairly busy time of the year when the pier and beach are congested with swimmers etc.
That being said, here are a couple of options for you to toy with. On the other side of Lions Gate Bridge is North Vancouver. The Capilano River, which is just west of the bridge, has a run of coho salmon that starts in early May and ends in October. In July and August, the river tends to be very low and returning salmon often hold and wait at the river mouth or nearby bays. This is a good opportunity for anglers to target them from the beach. It is an early morning fishery, so you'd need to arrive one hour before sunrise. The fishing maybe good from that point to about 8:00am before tapering off completely. The style of fishing would be quite similar to casting lures from a beach in Queensland, except with a slower retrieve and light jerks at times. The size of the lures should be in the 10 to 20g range. Some people choose to use a weight with a leader that has a small spinner tied onto it. Some people use Buzz Bombs. Spoons would also work. There is brand of lures from OZ that works quite well for these fish too, which I will email you about with a personal request soon.
While you fish, you'd most likely see fish leaping on the surface from time to time. This does not mean the likelihood of catching them is big. In fact, a good morning of fishing would be a couple of bites. Your chances are limited, these fish are often picky when holding outside the river for so long. The fish are between 4 and 10lb in weight.
A couple of things to note. The hook on the lure needs to be a single hook and barbless when fishing for salmon (or for most species around here actually). If you wish to keep a salmon, you'd need to purchase a salmon stamp in addition to your saltwater fishing licence. The coho salmon that you keep must be hatchery-marked. A hatchery-marked coho salmon can be identified by the absence of the adipose fin, which is clipped off before they were released from the hatchery during the juvenile stage.
The other option would be to come south to Richmond and try fishing the Tidal Fraser River. This may or may not be good for late July/early August, because the river may still be quite muddy from the spring snow melt. If the river is clear enough (and you'd only need 1 foot of clarity), then fishing would be possible. Northern pikeminnow fishing is usually good in late August, but you may have a chance to do that during your stay. The fishing technique employed is once again spinning. This is a light tackle fishery, a small spinner or spoon that weighs 1/8oz or less is adequate enough. Richmond has several different locations where you can do this. Garry Point Park, River Road between No. 2 Road (southern end) and No. 3 Road, River Road west of the northern end of No. 1 Road (Terra Nova) can all be good. Timing is key once again, but not so much the time of the day, but more influenced by the tide. High tide is best, between two hours before and after its peak. Northern pikeminnow has no eating quality compared to other species that are available in BC. They are edible, but the flesh is filled with tiny bones, which makes it almost impossible to enjoy. We tend to catch and release them. Their weight range is 1 to 4lb. There is also a chance, but a slim one, of encounter a bull trout or cutthroat trout. These are beautiful looking fish. Retention is not allowed for these fish, but you can certainly enjoy catching and releasing them.
Here are some additional readings about this fishery.
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=38http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=43The rod and reel combos that you have listed are fine. I'd bring both if luggage space is not an issue. The Stradic 2500 with 8 or 10lb test line is good for the coho fishing in North Vancouver. A slightly smaller reel with 1-4lb test line and ultralight spinning rod is more ideal for the Tidal Fraser River fishery.
These two options are my recommendations if your transportation is limited.
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Topic: G'day - visiting and fishing (Read 9596 times)