Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Pacific Angler]

January Winter Springs

http://www.vancouversalmonfishing.ca/guide-journal/?p=515

Well it is that time of year, the Holidays are over, the retail rush has subsided, and we start to head out on the local salt scene in search of some winter chinook.  We had a charter on Monday, Jan 2nd, our first of 2012 and despite the forecast for rain and gale force winds, the morning was stunning.

We were the only boat out this morning as we left the dock at 8 am to fish the flood tide and the high slack at around noon.  We started off in the W. Van area from the mouth of the Capilano up to the Pink Apartments.  We marked a good amount of bait close to the bottom and as the tide backed off towards noon the bite turned on.  We hooked two decent chinook and unfortunately both got taken by seals before we got them close to the boat.  We were fishing right off the bottom with flashers and spoons.  On one side we were running an Oki Big Shooter Kinetic, Jelly Fish, UV Green flasher with a 6 foot leader and a 3.5 Glow Green spoon.  On the other side we were running a Hot Spot Purple flasher with glow tape on one side, silver on the other, with a 6 foot leader and a 3.5 Night Rider Spoon (black and glow).  We released 3 undersize chinook as well as the two that got eaten by seals, so there was a pretty good bite on the last two hours of the flood.

One of the chinook we released had this small herring in its mouth.  You can see why 3.5 and 4.0 spoons like the 3.5 Night Rider in the picture above work this time of year.  They imitate juvenile herring very well.

As the tide turned to the ebb, the bait seemed to disperse and the bite died off.  We pulled our crab traps and did well with limits of Dungeness crab.

Expect the fishing to pick up this month and some larger fish to show up as the season progresses.

If you are interested in booking a charter, please call Dave at Pacific Angler, 604-872-2204.

If you have a boat and want to learn from the pros, you can sign up for our Local Saltwater Salmon Course where we teach you how to hook salmon in the local waters 12 months a year, with a theory session at Pacific Angler and full day on the water as well.  Here is our 2012 Course Schedule for a list of all our courses and dates.

I am looking forward to some more winter chinook charters and some personal fishing as well.

See you on the water or in the shop,

Jason Tonelli