Deer fellow bass & carp fishermen of the lower mainland!
I know just how Deer bass and carp are to you, so in case if you didn't catch the hint already, and haven't had any luck on the Pitt / sloughs lately, try fishing at
Deer Lake, Burnaby.
I have witnessed the following fish there with my own two eyes AND recorded on camera:
-Big carp, on corn & boylees during sunrise.
-Large mouth bass, on anything really, try sticking your finger in the water
.
-Pumpkinseed sunfish, worm & microlures.
-Little catfish, seagulls catch them & eat them on the beach.
-Rainbow Trout, on bottom rig intended for carp.
-Chum salmon, just peek into the spawning stream by the main parking lot.
I also have photos of a bass, red side shiner, northern pikeminnow caught on the
brunette river. I have also seen some healthy chum females swimming about in there. I went down there four times in 2014, seen a lot of lost gear stuck in the bushes, and a few fishermen scratching their heads. The sewer pipes change the water colour from clear, to brown, to reddish, to bright white; it smells like laundry detergent and poop. Regarding sewer content, Burnaby lake is very-very-doubtful, but Deer Lake only has 4-5 crystal clear stream inflows that definitely don't come from under any factories. Vancouver is literally the cleanest urban fishery on this planet, so if you consider Deer Lake to be toxic, you are one spoiled Vancouverite
I have also witnessed all of the above mentioned fish in the
Pitt Meadows sloughs a few years back. The time of year seems crucial. One trip you can keep yanking out the little catfish on every cast, occasionally having a pumpkinseed or a bass take your hook, while on another trip the place seems entirely dead (although you can see some minnow surface activity)
A flyfisherman from a nearby fishing store named "cannot recall"does flyfishing bass guides. I am willing to show you the same spots he does and get you into ultra light micro lure fishing for 20$ hehe
. He seems to have done his research and claims that there was a planned release of bass into Deer Lake a good few decades back. As the stocked trout mostly lurk in the deep parts of the lake, bass and pumpkinseeds provide amazing urban fishery fun close to shore. A 10 minute drive, or a 15 minute bike ride away and you don't even need to bring a boat!