ukfishermanbc, unfortunately the bad news is that you will not find most of the common coarse fish species that you used to target here in BC. The only one that is somewhat abundant in lakes and sloughs is the common carp.
The good news is, you're going to have plenty of fishing opportunities on new species that many anglers from around the world come here for. Salmon, trout, steelhead and sturgeon are four kinds of freshwater fish that people commonly target in BC.
If you are still keen on doing some coarse fishing, there are still some opportunities. Between the month of May and September, the Fraser River and its tributaries are full of
peamouth chub and
northern pikeminnow. From Vancouver, the closest spots for these species are
Garry Point Park,
No. 2 Road Pier at London's Landing,
No. 3 Road Pier,
North Arm of the Fraser River. All these spots are in the tidal portion of the Fraser River, so you are required to purchase a tidal sportfishing licence and check the tides before heading out. Best times would be two hours before and after peak tide. If you get a high peak tide during an evening, then the fishing should be excellent.
For common carp, there are several places you may wish to try out. The canals/sloughs in Ladner, Deer Lake, Burnaby Lake,
Lafarge Lake, canals/sloughs in Maple Ridge. All these spots are classified as freshwater systems, so a freshwater sportfishing licence is required.
The lakes around Vancouver are also stocked several times per year with rainbow trout. These rainbow trout range between 12 and 16 inches in length and are ready to be caught once stocked. To find out which lakes have been stocked recently, take a look at the
Region 2 trout stocking database. For shore accessed lakes, I recommend Brohm Lake, Trout Lake, Deer Lake, Lafarge Lake, Sasamat Lake, Buntzen Lake, Mill Lake.
For salmon, openings and daily quotas vary between different species and locations. The Capilano River currently produces
coho salmon for a few more weeks. The Chilliwack River should have
chinook salmon from July til October and coho from late August until November.
Chum salmon, most abundant of them all, are available on the Chilliwack River, Stave River, Squamish River, Harrison River, Chehalis River, Fraser River in October and November. For more specific information and the type of gear to use, I highly recommend you to visit either
Anglers West Fly and Tackle or
Berry's Bait and Tackle as both are in the Vancouver/Richmond area. You can purchase your sportfishing licences at both stores and they carry all the salmon and trout gear that you need.
If you need more information on coarse fishing at the above mentioned locations, I am putting on a fishing event on july 8th called
Fish for the Future and you are welcome to come down and check out what we are catching and ask questions whenever I am available.
I hope this is helpful, good luck.
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Topic: I just moved to vancouver help (Read 2879 times)