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[BananasQ]

Hi, firstly - not looking for anyones "honey holes" - just looking to recover the weekend.  I had my annual trip with a couple of friends booked for camping and fishing up in Birkenhead planned for this weekend - was going to stick to trolling Blackwater lake.  However, with the forecast being a metric ton of rain we have called it off and are looking for a day trip somewhere.  Based in GVRD and happy to go as far as Sunshine coast - with the current closures are the only real options for Pinks:

1) North Van (Cap or Seymour)
2) Squamish river

Many thanks in advance!  If people would rather to email suggestions to me (I understand this is a public forum) please email me at barney dot harris at gmail dot com.

Barney

[Fish or cut bait.]

The rain, depending on how heavy it gets, will keep at least some of the gongshow hosts at home.

No best bet other than getting wet.

But the rain will run off quickly and rivers will rise and get muddy fast.

Whatever you decide be careful.
Know where you're going and let others know.
(People have been stranded or worse before)

Myself, I might just stay home and tie flies.

[76t7]

very good advice

[Knnn]

Both Seymour and Cap have lots of fish, but they have been there a while and are getting very tight lipped.

A better bet would be Furry Creek, particularly if you fly fish and can cast a reasonable distance.  Hit that 3 hours before the low until 1-2 hours after then go to the Squamish to hit the incoming fresher fish that like to move up into the rive on the high tide.  If you are going to try fly fishing at Furry or Squamish, let me know and I can provide more details to get you dialed in.

[BananasQ]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, getting wet looks unavoidable at this stage - but standing in water seems better than being sat in a canoe filling with water.  Plus getting time away to fish takes weeks of careful negotiation so I can't let this chance go. That's a really good point about the rivers getting a bit crazy - will play that one by ear.  For furry creek are goretex waders okay with the water temp or is it neoprene all the way?

[Fish or cut bait.]

Water's warm, I wear my Simms with a pair of shorts and still sweat.

[BananasQ]

@Knnn I think I will give that a try. I have a 5wt and I will be trying my luck. It will be my first outing single handed fly fishing so I will treat this as a learning process.   I have a collection of "pink salmon flies" from Sea Run already so I will look forward to using them.  Any pointers would be great, but I think I am good to go!

[TimL]

I was on the Sunshine coast last weekend (Sechelt area)..Lots of pinks in the area but most off the beaches don't take traditional lures...only flies..I'll email you the details of where I went if you're interested.

[Flytech]

Both Seymour and Cap have lots of fish, but they have been there a while and are getting very tight lipped.

A better bet would be Furry Creek, particularly if you fly fish and can cast a reasonable distance.  Hit that 3 hours before the low until 1-2 hours after then go to the Squamish to hit the incoming fresher fish that like to move up into the rive on the high tide.  If you are going to try fly fishing at Furry or Squamish, let me know and I can provide more details to get you dialed in.

Good advice.

[fishseeker]

@Knnn I think I will give that a try. I have a 5wt and I will be trying my luck. It will be my first outing single handed fly fishing so I will treat this as a learning process.   I have a collection of "pink salmon flies" from Sea Run already so I will look forward to using them.  Any pointers would be great, but I think I am good to go!

If you are going to  be fly fishing the squamish the dirty water can be a challenge.  I have done well there by making sure my flies get down a little using either a sink tip or weighted flies - the trick is to get them down without having them dredge the bottom - you will know you are too deep if you are snagging bottom a lot so you may need to tune the depth of your fly with split shots if you are using a floating setup.

Another very valuable trick I figured out this year was to just let the fly hang in the current below me for a bit before attempting a (very slow) strip retrieve.  It needs a bit of a wade to keep the fly in the deeper water but the approach was really effective because it gives the returning salmon plenty of time to see the presentation as they are swimming upstream. 

Anything works.  I did the same with small spinners or flies below a float weighted to the right depth - deadly effective as long as you keep the retrieve very slow without hanging up on the bottom.

[Knnn]

Hey Barney, check your email and let me know if you got the information I sent you.

[BananasQ]

Gratefully received! One very wet days fishing coming up.

[BananasQ]

A *huge* thank you to those that gave advice. We stuck to Furry Creek in the end and after no luck on my collection of pink spoons, we switched up to some jigs and flies with huge success! My friend limited out, I C&R many humpy males and kept a couple of nice females. Great day - I even left with a pocket full of buzz bombs as we were there at low tide. 

[Knnn]

That's splendid old chap!    

Glad to hear you had a great day. 

You made the right decision to stay at Furry.  The Squamish blew out and while you might have caught some fish there, it would have not been very good 'fishing'.