Fishing Report for Vancouver and the Fraser Valley June 26, 2012
Things seem to be challenging this past week and probably for the next few as well, but it is not the fishing or catching that is the problem, only the access to the river. We have seen many boat launching area’s close such as Hope for the Fraser Canyon, Jesperson’s, Gill Road and Kilby Park to name a few. We are seeing a slight drop in water levels in the North up in the Prince George area by almost 3 feet and this means about 3.5 days travel time to Hope with a current speed of about 32 feet per second, so she is ripping pretty good up there.
Some of you worry this will ruin their trips for Sturgeon fishing or for other planned trips to our area. Yes, the fishing can be up and down, but that is really no different then most days. We have seen days with 5 to 10 fish per boat lately and also seen days with 1 fish hooked up. There has been some good sized Sturgeon caught by our guests in the 5 to 7 foot range and I am sure we will see a few fish over 8 feet in the weeks to come. Key is persistence and knowing where the fish live and our team is on the water each and everyday of the year, we are not part time fishing guides, we take our fishing seriously.
Truth of the matter really is our industry is made up of many new guides that all would like to portray big guide operations but only use what we refer to as “jobbers” to just book trips when they are not even on the water themselves. Please check out all aspects of the potential guide outfitter and all their references. Does the guide or company participate and support the mark recapture program and if so how many years have they been doing this. If it were not for the hard work we volunteers have done in the past 16 years tagging and monitoring the White Sturgeon, there would be no jobs on our local rivers to guide Sturgeon.
Giving back is the key to the future and being part of the solution and not the problem. If you are not with a trained guide and in the mark recapture program you should not be handling these fish, our team have fish handling permits issued by both Department of Fisheries and Oceans as well as the Provincial Government. When you are planning a trip of a lifetime go with guides who make you and your family a part of the best fishing experience possible and get you involved in tagging, scanning and researching Sturgeon.
Now onto a few other great fisheries going on that are not affected by any floods or high water. The Pitt River has been fishing fantastic in the past week again, we have guests up daily and all have done excellent on the fly. Our team of professional instructional casting guides can make your days special with teaching and helping you improve as you fish. We have seen some big Sea Run Dolly’s over 10 lbs. and that adds up to very happy clients. A magical Wilderness jet boating trip for anyone looking for the best in single and double hand fly casting. This river will be fishing excellent for the next 2 months and the Chinook (King) Salmon will be arriving in the next month, can you say fly eating, line stripping power house chrome bars that run from pool to pool and need to be chased down in the boat. We have very few days left open so get in touch with us soon to book your time.
One fishery that has always been overlooked is the fishing on Chilliwack Lake only 30 minutes from Chilliwack. Big Dolly Varden and Bull Trout up to 20 lbs. and can be trolled for or bottom fished and the next few months are excellent timing. This is a glacier lake that is over 1000 feet deep in the middle the scenery and mountainous landscape is truly breathtaking. Over the years we have had a number of guests up fishing there and had many days with 20 fish or more to the boat. There is some nice Trout and Kokanee as well and a rare run of Sockeye Salmon that they believe will be over 20,000 this year. In late August early September you can watch the Sockeye and Kokanee spawning side by side in Glacier Creek, it is a sight maybe only few have ever seen and is nice to walk the streams to view this along with the Eagles and Bears.
Last and no least I would like to let all the recreational fishers to know that there are now many First Nation Fisheries happening on the Fraser River and we need to be aware of these fishing opportunities and when they are scheduled. You can always phone the ORR line of DFO’s and ask if there are fisheries in progress and you need to give them room to fish through area’s you are fishing. Easiest I find always is to just move to a location they are not drifting or set netting. There is so much room on the river and the First Nations fishing days are limited, so it is the nice thing to do to make as much room as possible without creating a possible dangerous situation like getting a drift net wrapped up on your boat. We all have a right to be safe on the river and common sense should always dictate, you never know when you might need a fiend on the river, so trying to be polite and do the right thing goes an awful long way. If you have questions or need guidance with any of this, please send us an email or give us a call.
Thanks for your time and consideration in my long fishing report and I personally and professionally hope we can always try to make a difference with educating all user groups that share these wonderful and Beautiful British Columbia waters.
Until our next report lets all go out and make a difference, take a child fishing or your family it will truly be life changing for someone.
Dean <”)))><
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