2021 Vancouver-Howe Sound-Sechelt Reports Thread

[ScoobyDoo]

Yeah but be careful how you’re saying it.
The ENGOs may claim success for their fishing closure agenda.
Unfortunately, this is their cash cow and they’re going to milk it for as long as the puppet master is in the office.

the abundance of bait in our local waters never gets mentioned in news and that’s the result of a lot of volunteer hours that have been put into reducing pollutants and increasing the health of the echo system. Those volunteers never look for government support / special funding and most of them are diehard fishermen and women.
sorry- back to fishing reports…

I think this is a great topic and the people on here generously providing fishing reports could organize to get some funding for eco system and fish habitat improvements as well as hatchery funding. Admin please do not delete this - if more appropriate please create a separate forum under fishing reports where all of our fellow anglers will see and pay attention to this and it can be discussed further? I think a discussion about how we can get more positive exposure for the benefits of recreational fishing and its economic impacts on local and provincial economies benefits us all.

 

[Verdi]

Winds look good tomorrow might make the crossing to try for winter springs at Gabriola. I have never fished their for winter/ feeder springs.
Is it the same as howe sound area just off the bottom this time of year. any suggestions entrance, the grande or thrasher?

 

[adanac]

Winds look good tomorrow might make the crossing to try for winter springs at Gabriola. I have never fished their for winter/ feeder springs.
Is it the same as howe sound area just off the bottom this time of year. any suggestions entrance, the grande or thrasher?

fish your regular reef tack off thrasher , some guys know it as the “ hook “ . Same as Howe sound within 10’ of bottom, I find it fishes better to the south on the ebb , better to the north on the flood . The bait really gets pushed around there .

 

[Rain City]

fish your regular reef tack off thrasher , some guys know it as the “ hook “ . Same as Howe sound within 10’ of bottom, I find it fishes better to the south on the ebb , better to the north on the flood . The bait really gets pushed around there .

Is it the backeddy effect that hooks them into the reef and holds them then? I always thought it was the other way around with the bait there. Not that I ever proved that with any meaningful success

 

[el.Pereh]

Is it the backeddy effect that hooks them into the reef and holds them then? I always thought it was the other way around with the bait there. Not that I ever proved that with any meaningful success

Yes, SE of the lighthouse

 

[Maxpri]

I've been on the water here my whole life and have never seen more Orcas and dolphins in our local waters.

Agreed! crossing the straight the other day I saw spinnaker dolphins, porpoises, a lone humpback and then another humpback and a calf.

 

[Maxpri]

Winds look good tomorrow might make the crossing to try for winter springs at Gabriola. I have never fished their for winter/ feeder springs.
Is it the same as howe sound area just off the bottom this time of year. any suggestions entrance, the grande or thrasher?

Tried my luck off grande for a couple of hours on Sunday, found a bit of bait here and there but it was pretty slow just a couple of shakers. Got just about as nice of a day as you can ask for though.

 

[Verdi]

fish your regular reef tack off thrasher , some guys know it as the “ hook “ . Same as Howe sound within 10’ of bottom, I find it fishes better to the south on the ebb , better to the north on the flood . The bait really gets pushed around there .

I fished Thrasher this morning 9:30-11:30 got 3 undersize , and some shakers. was the only boat. then fished entrance island for aroudnd1 hr no bait , 3 other boats, did not see any fish. then fished the Grande miss and lost 4 bites. Did not find much bait in any of the spots. Fish sandheads on way home at 3:30 till 4:30 got a feeder spring undersize, and a hatchery 6lb coho.

 

[Rain City]

I hear there's still fish out there.

 

[el.Pereh]

Got a chrome chum doe on bait at the north arm after work today 40’. Was hoping it was a spring

will smoke

 

[Rain City]

Got a chrome chum doe on bait at the north arm after work today 40’. Was hoping it was a spring

will smoke

Have chum will smoke

 

[UsedBoat]

Fished Cowan to Roger Curtis today, wanted to get out before the wind picks up. Landed a few undersized, no keepers.
All deep on spoons. Going to try to get out Monday if forecast stays good. Big high tide today.

 

[DUGALD JAMIESON]

So when your wife goes off to the Uk to see her mum you go out fishing in terrible conditions and pull in a hatchery Chinook
Picked this one up at the bell buoy near the bottom on an anchovy

 

[the butcher]

So when your wife goes off to the Uk to see her mum you go out fishing in terrible conditions and pull in a hatchery Chinook
Picked this one up at the bell buoy near the bottom on an anchovy

nice. looks like a red feeder? is that right?

 

[Brett83]

Today we started out at Tunstall. Ten minutes in I hooked into a really nice fish. It pulled a bunch of line. 140' deep, so it came up 100 feet off the back. Dad grabbed the net, hook was set really well. Next thing you know a seal explodes through the broad side of the salmon and displays it about a foot out if the water. The seal held it up for me to see for twenty seconds while we locked eyes. It was a nice fish. Over the next couple hours we caught a couple more that we essentially hogged into the boat the beat the seals. Undersized. Then we decided to move on from the seals and troll from Tunstall to Hutt. In between we found a ton of bait and end circling a giant bait ball and picked up a nice sized winter spring. Close to the bottom on a herring aid. It got pretty rough on the way home. All in all awesome day. I think we're in for some solid winter fishing.

 

[DUGALD JAMIESON]

nice. looks like a red feeder? is that right?

Yes
Someone told me that if it sheds scales all over the net and boat then it is definitely a resident feeder
That’s what happened with this one
Also I went out to the bell buoy for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and hooked into another on the bottom on anchovy within 5minutes but unfortunately it shook like a bugger and threw the hook

 

[DUGALD JAMIESON]

Today we started out at Tunstall. Ten minutes in I hooked into a really nice fish. It pulled a bunch of line. 140' deep, so it came up 100 feet off the back. Dad grabbed the net, hook was set really well. Next thing you know a seal explodes through the broad side of the salmon and displays it about a foot out if the water. The seal held it up for me to see for twenty seconds while we locked eyes. It was a nice fish. Over the next couple hours we caught a couple more that we essentially hogged into the boat the beat the seals. Undersized. Then we decided to move on from the seals and troll from Tunstall to Hutt. In between we found a ton of bait and end circling a giant bait ball and picked up a nice sized winter spring. Close to the bottom on a herring aid. It got pretty rough on the way home. All in all awesome day. I think we're in for some solid winter fishing.

Is that a 3inch or a 3.5 spoon??? I am wondering is the smaller spoons are going to be better for the winter fish? Any thoughts on that?

 

[Ringo]

Is that a 3inch or a 3.5 spoon??? I am wondering is the smaller spoons are going to be better for the winter fish? Any thoughts on that?

3” has worked very well for me in the Sound. Just make sure it’s clean and shiny and your hook’s super sharp. Later in the season and when herring schools start to show up, I go to 4” Skinny G, some times naked above a dummy flasher, and that works well too.

 

[Rain City]

Is that a 3inch or a 3.5 spoon??? I am wondering is the smaller spoons are going to be better for the winter fish? Any thoughts on that?

This is the only time of year I'll run the AP Sandlance

 

[Brett83]

Is that a 3inch or a 3.5 spoon??? I am wondering is the smaller spoons are going to be better for the winter fish? Any thoughts on that?

I typically have been using the ap depth charge 3". But it was taken along with the fish. I don't typically use Gibbs but I wanted something I bit darker so I used that herring aid. Personally I have come to the conclusion that salmon are in the mood for either something bright or something dark regarding spoons, depending on the day and lighting. I start with one bright and one dark setup. Then if I notice one side doing better I switch to both the same. Yesterday all the hits came on the dark side. Last year the coho killer size worked best overall for me, but the ap tackle version.