fishin_magician
Well-Known Member
The PREDATOR'S PEN Date: April 14th/2007.
An update of the local saltwater fishing scene for Vancouver To : Saltwater Angler
By: David Korsch (Predator Charters)
E-mail: davek@dccnet.com Web Site: www.predatorcharters.com
Phone: (604) 329 - 8642 Fax: (604) 886 - 1928
Hello Fellow Anglers
The PREDATOR should now be "good to go" for the season as I was able to get the boat out of the water near the end of March for some minor fibreglass repairs and a fresh coat of bottom paint. The weather cooperated fairly well (though I don't know about that day of snow about 10 days ago.......), and I got it back into the water prior to the Easter weekend.
The weather was absolutely perfect on Good Friday, and so I headed over to the Gulf Islands for a bit of an extended charter since the Grande (Eastern Gabriola Is.) had easily been the best producing location over the previous couple of weeks. We passed a small pod of Orcas about 5 miles out from Gabriola, and I don't know if it was due to them, but the fishing started out PRETTY SLOW that morning. There were several of us plying the usual hot areas along Gabriola with only one hit between us from 7:30 until 10:30. At that time I moved to the South side of Thrasher Rk. where a decent number of fish had been located. This place is usually best on an ebbing tide, and it didn't fail today as the bite was quite good right up until the 2:30 low slack for all boats that moved there. We ended up keeping two fish (11, 17 lbs), losing another VERY nice fish, and releasing one about 8 lbs that was just a wee bit too short.
The action was about the same for all other boats with several other nice "teenage" fish landed, and at least one that hit 21 lbs. I sure would have liked to have started there earlier in the morning, but as they say....."hind sight is 20/20". Trips over to the Gulf Islands need to be longer than my minimum 5 hour trip due to the relatively long travel time (a little less than an hour in calm seas), and large fuel bill. A 7 or 8 hour trip would be "minimum" for one of these trips, and "making a day of it" with a stop in at Sylva Bay's pub for lunch can make for a really enjoyable trip.
In addition, it looks as if the South Bowen fishery is also starting up right on schedule. Anglers who have managed to get out there over the past week or so have had some pretty decent results most days. I stopped out off the Hump for 45 minutes while taking my boat from Gibsons back to Horseshoe Bay early last week, and put two legal fish in the boat in that short time. I would expect this area to continue to improve, and we should get a few stretches of extremely hot action in this area over the next 6 weeks or so. In past years it has been pretty common to have days with upwards of two dozen fish hooked up in a 5 hour charter during one of these hot stretches, and we generally consider this fishery to be our most active Chinook fishery of the year. Coyote spoons (blue/chrome, green/chrome) and anchovies trolled from 80 to 140 feet have been producing well, but don't be afraid to try hootchies (army truck, blood and bones, purple haze, green/white), as they always produces lots of fish at this time of year.
There also continues to be some nice sized fish located in Howe Sound (Tunstall Bay waterfall, Grace Islands, Hole in the Wall), so if the wind is blowing we still have some productive options available to us, and if the fishery evolves like it did a couple of years ago we may find that the Porteau Cove fishery becomes really hot again by the latter part of April and into early May. Overall, it should be a much better Chinook fishery during the next couple of months than we generally saw during the spring of 2006 since there were far more fish around throughout Georgia St. during the winter fishery, and that can only be good news.
Now that all major projects on the boat are completed, I am pretty much available any day for charters. I do have a few days during the month that are already booked up with charters or family commitments, but not enough that I shouldn't be able to accommodate your trip if you have a little "wiggle room" on your preferred date(s). If the fishing continues to improve and get hot, I could potentially get booked up quickly, so it may be an idea to let me know sooner rather than later if you are thinking of getting out in the next month. I can always book you "tentatively" so you have first dibs on a particular date.
As always, feel free to pass this information along to any associates whom may appreciate the report. If you have any questions, or wish to book a charter, e-mail me davek@dccnet.com), or call me at (604) 329 - 8642.
Tight Lines, and Best wishes
David Korsch
Predator Charters
www.predatorcharters.com
davek@dccnet.com
(604) 329 - 8642
An update of the local saltwater fishing scene for Vancouver To : Saltwater Angler
By: David Korsch (Predator Charters)
E-mail: davek@dccnet.com Web Site: www.predatorcharters.com
Phone: (604) 329 - 8642 Fax: (604) 886 - 1928
Hello Fellow Anglers
The PREDATOR should now be "good to go" for the season as I was able to get the boat out of the water near the end of March for some minor fibreglass repairs and a fresh coat of bottom paint. The weather cooperated fairly well (though I don't know about that day of snow about 10 days ago.......), and I got it back into the water prior to the Easter weekend.
The weather was absolutely perfect on Good Friday, and so I headed over to the Gulf Islands for a bit of an extended charter since the Grande (Eastern Gabriola Is.) had easily been the best producing location over the previous couple of weeks. We passed a small pod of Orcas about 5 miles out from Gabriola, and I don't know if it was due to them, but the fishing started out PRETTY SLOW that morning. There were several of us plying the usual hot areas along Gabriola with only one hit between us from 7:30 until 10:30. At that time I moved to the South side of Thrasher Rk. where a decent number of fish had been located. This place is usually best on an ebbing tide, and it didn't fail today as the bite was quite good right up until the 2:30 low slack for all boats that moved there. We ended up keeping two fish (11, 17 lbs), losing another VERY nice fish, and releasing one about 8 lbs that was just a wee bit too short.
The action was about the same for all other boats with several other nice "teenage" fish landed, and at least one that hit 21 lbs. I sure would have liked to have started there earlier in the morning, but as they say....."hind sight is 20/20". Trips over to the Gulf Islands need to be longer than my minimum 5 hour trip due to the relatively long travel time (a little less than an hour in calm seas), and large fuel bill. A 7 or 8 hour trip would be "minimum" for one of these trips, and "making a day of it" with a stop in at Sylva Bay's pub for lunch can make for a really enjoyable trip.
In addition, it looks as if the South Bowen fishery is also starting up right on schedule. Anglers who have managed to get out there over the past week or so have had some pretty decent results most days. I stopped out off the Hump for 45 minutes while taking my boat from Gibsons back to Horseshoe Bay early last week, and put two legal fish in the boat in that short time. I would expect this area to continue to improve, and we should get a few stretches of extremely hot action in this area over the next 6 weeks or so. In past years it has been pretty common to have days with upwards of two dozen fish hooked up in a 5 hour charter during one of these hot stretches, and we generally consider this fishery to be our most active Chinook fishery of the year. Coyote spoons (blue/chrome, green/chrome) and anchovies trolled from 80 to 140 feet have been producing well, but don't be afraid to try hootchies (army truck, blood and bones, purple haze, green/white), as they always produces lots of fish at this time of year.
There also continues to be some nice sized fish located in Howe Sound (Tunstall Bay waterfall, Grace Islands, Hole in the Wall), so if the wind is blowing we still have some productive options available to us, and if the fishery evolves like it did a couple of years ago we may find that the Porteau Cove fishery becomes really hot again by the latter part of April and into early May. Overall, it should be a much better Chinook fishery during the next couple of months than we generally saw during the spring of 2006 since there were far more fish around throughout Georgia St. during the winter fishery, and that can only be good news.
Now that all major projects on the boat are completed, I am pretty much available any day for charters. I do have a few days during the month that are already booked up with charters or family commitments, but not enough that I shouldn't be able to accommodate your trip if you have a little "wiggle room" on your preferred date(s). If the fishing continues to improve and get hot, I could potentially get booked up quickly, so it may be an idea to let me know sooner rather than later if you are thinking of getting out in the next month. I can always book you "tentatively" so you have first dibs on a particular date.
As always, feel free to pass this information along to any associates whom may appreciate the report. If you have any questions, or wish to book a charter, e-mail me davek@dccnet.com), or call me at (604) 329 - 8642.
Tight Lines, and Best wishes
David Korsch
Predator Charters
www.predatorcharters.com
davek@dccnet.com
(604) 329 - 8642
