Vancouver Friday Fishing Report, January 25
January 25, 2013
It has been a busy week here at Pacific Angler with courses being held each night, everything from Steelhead on the Fly to Introduction to Fly Fishing. Matt was also out this past weekend showing students how to effectively fish with egg patterns. Check out the pictures below. There is simply no better way to learn than on-the-water instruction.
The conditions have definitely improved from a couple weeks ago. This week has seen a bit or rain plus mild air temperatures. We expect the fishing to keep improving this weekend for the river guys with more rain and some big tides pushing fresh steelhead into our local rivers. The saltwater fishing over the past weekend was slow but seemed to perk up mid-week with a couple reports of winter chinook being caught.
In the fish conservation world the Steelhead Society of British Columbia is hosting their AGM this weekend on Saturday January 26th starting at 10:00 AM. To check out the itinerary, guest speakers and address click on the link – SSBC AGM. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow steelheaders, renew your membership, and learn about these amazing fish and how you can help protect them.
Now lets get back into the fishing. The Vancouver Weather Forecast is calling for cloudy and rainy conditions for the weekend and well into next week. The daily high temperatures range from 5 to 8 degrees Celsius while the daily low temperatures range from 2 to 4 degrees Celsius. The rain and milder conditions are definitely welcome as they will bring up the river levels and push fresh fish into our local river systems.
For the saltwater angler the Straight of Georgia Marine Forecast is calling for southeast winds ranging from 5 to 15 knots over the weekend. On Friday the winds will be from 15 to 20 knots but then diminishing over the weekend. It should be another great weekend to get out on the saltchuck.
River Fishing Report:
Chilliwack River: The Vedder has been fishing well for the last week. A number of fish pushed in this week with the rain, such as the one below Dimitri took to hand on Thursday. If you look closely you will see this fish has sea lice on it so it goes without saying some chrome fish are pushing into the Vedder as we speak.
We are expecting more bumps of water this week so it should continue to bring in fresh fish. Pacific Angler is heading out for a number of courses this week and we have high hopes for both fly and gear. The forecast is for rain but from what we have seen we don’t expect a blow out. Keep your eyes on the water levels and remember that if a clay bank goes mid-river look to the upper river for clear water. Yesterday the visibility was 3 to 4 feet so use that as an indicator with water levels.
Chehalis River: The Chehalis River flow is fed from the Hemlock valley. This means that it will have different flow volumes from the other Lower Mainland systems. Hemlock got a ton of snow with the last rain and because of that the river is low as of yesterday. This means that the Chehalis River is low-and-clear which makes for difficult fishing. Keep your eyes on the water levels and plan to go out after we get a good bump of water.
Squamish River: We held our annual Egg Fishing Course this weekend and we were pleasantly surprised. With the rivers in the area very low we did not expect much success.
The egg presentation proved its worth with a number of fish each day and a couple fish well over the 5lb range. We learned a number of things that seemed to make a big difference. The first was light fluorocarbon tippet makes a different. The second was very small egg patterns. The fish seemed to key in on ones that had a relatively bright peach or orange color with a veil of egg yarn. The last key was persistence in the right water. All the fish came out of the middle parts of 3ft to 6ft deep runs. Not in the tail outs, not in the heads of the pools and not in heavy water on the outside seam. We found that if we moved through the head and tail of the run fast, then “pounded” the bucket with relatively short precise casts for long periods of time we consistently hooked fish. Good job to all they guys in the course and thanks for a great day!
Capilano River: It looks as though the dam has been opening intermittently throughout this week with the rain. This should have brought in some fresh fish and it is definitely worth getting out on the river. We recommend float fishing the Capilano River but there are a couple areas that you can find room for fly fishing. And of course all hatchery and wild steelhead must be released. Remember there are some summer runs on the Cap and the Seymour and many of these fish have been in the river for 6 months and are stale and over wintering. These fish are often visible due to their darker coloration from being in the river for so long. It is best to leave these fish alone and target chrome winter fish. Look for these grey ghosts in the tailout…
Stave River: The Stave River has had some decent egg fishing with the warmer weather. We had a good report of guys catching whitefish below the dam last week using indicators and eggs. This fishery should only pick up over the next months if it warms up a little. The other thing to look for is an early fry hatch on this system. Because it is dam fed it runs warmer which often means the fry hatch a bit sooner than on free flowing systems.
Harrison River: The Pacific Angler staff heard of a few cutthroat reports over the last week. Although we haven’t heard any big number days the fishing has been consistent. Guys have been heading out with fly rods and small bead head nymphs and picking up a couple fish on each trip. We recommend a floating line and long leader with pheasant tails, prince nymphs and an assortment of small bugger imitations. Because the Chehalis is very low we expect some steelhead to be stacking up near the mouth in the Harrison. I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear steelhead reports on the Harrison River over the next few days.
On behalf of the Pacific Angler staff we wish you the best in your fishing endeavors and we hope to see you either at the shop or on the water. To check out the latest Pacific Angler news view the Pacific Angler Facebook page.
Happy fishing,
Jason, Matt, Dave, Dimitri, Andre, Ron
To view the Pacific Angler Friday Fishing Report on the Pacific Angler Blog please click on the link below:
http://pacificangler.ca/blog/?p=2300&preview=true
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Topic: Pacific Angler's Friday Fishing Report, January 25th 2013 (Read 3006 times)