Fishing Report for Chilliwack to Vancouver – March 25, 2014
Nothing Better than Sun and Sturgeon
Make 2014 the year that you take your family fishing a priority!
Spring is officially here and the fish are biting! What a fantastic few days of weather we have experienced over Spring Break. It was nice to have some families out fishing and enjoying our Beautiful British Columbia rivers. Introducing your family to fishing gives them many options growing up and can make a real difference through teenage years and into the early twenties. I am now old enough to have witnessed this so many times over the past 26 years in the fishing industry.
First fish of the day!
Families that understand and make efforts implement this, I applaud you. I truly would never have chosen this as my career if it were not for my family and their undying love for fishing. This year we are expecting a possible return of Sockeye Salmon that could reach 67 million fish, great fun to catch and excellent to eat too! These fish are easy to catch and makes learning fun!
Now onto the fishing report for and how our rivers are producing . Let’s start with the Vedder / Chilliwack River, things are really happening right now for steelhead. There was a big push of both hatchery and wild fish come into the system just
Awesome day to hit the Vedder!
over 1 week ago and there are spread out throughout every nook and cranny. The river is absolutely amazing condition and the water level is dropping. I visited the lower river the other day and in the 2 hours I was down by Peach Road to Lickman I seen 3 or 4 fish landed. Most were using roe and deli shrimp, but many things work at this time of year and I cannot stress the need to bring a few of everything. If you are chasing these fish on the fly, fry patterns are coming into play as well as make sure you have some squamish poachers and something with some good flashabou and crystal flash in it. There has been some monster Steelhead hooked in the past week as well and just the chance at hooking up to
1st Steelhead!
such a powerful beautiful fish makes most shutter. Long story short here, this next month or more will be some of the best fishing on this river of the entire year for productivity.
The Fraser River has been dropping since the past week of cool temperatures up north and locally. Sturgeon fishing has stayed strong and we are now seeing the first push of Eulachon in the river. Good indicators are the birds and the seals, we seen many seals up and around the Sumas canal yesterday and there will be a big push of fish in this area over the next
Steve had to take this one to shore!
weeks. The Mission area has been producing fish from Hatzic to Cox’s landing and below there is good numbers of fish in the Matsqui island and Stave river area. Lower River has started picking up from Albion right down to the Portman Bridge in key area’s like Barnston Island and the Billy Miner. Tides are important and using them to your advantage is key to good Sturgeon fishing catches. Eulachon, Lamprey, Roe and dew worms have been the best producing baits for our team.
Trout Fishing has been very good on the mainstem Fraser River since it cooled down up North and the river came back down and cleaned up. The next 2 or 3 weeks will be excellent and you should be starting to use some fry patterns again as I see they are trapping fry above Mission for science purpose and to indicate what is travelling out to the ocean.
Catch and Release
Fly fishing, spoon fishing and float fishing are all the best methods for targeting Trout. It really is as easy as finding a back channel that has moving water in it and fish a worm on the bottom with a float. This fishery is for everyone and an excellent way to spend family days. Also worth a mention is the Stave River as it has some real nice cutthroat Trout there and is accessible in certain area’s with the river being low.
The Lillooet River has also been dropping and coming into shape, this is one amazing river for fly fishing adventures. This river is in great shape right now and we have been fishing it with a number of clients. It takes a little to get there but it is
well worth the effort an especially if you have access by jet boat. It in my opinion is one of the most pristine rivers left in the Fraser Valley and due to the slide 4 years ago this river was unfishable for 3 years and has just cleaned up and has given us another chance to fish it. This river offers a wide variety of species of fish from sea run bulls and dolly’s, Cutthroat, Rainbow, Steelhead and every Salmon species. In 2015 we will be offering our wilderness
camp again for only 6 anglers at a time for instructional fishing. This will be run for 3 weeks only and will be from the end of March through to mid April. Only 2 professional fly fishing guides and boats and on an entire river for you to explore and fish. Contact us if you would like your name on the list.
Over the past week I was asked to share some of my knowledge of the watershed and my perspective of it on the Vedder / Chilliwack corridor by the Water Wealth Project – www.waterwealthproject.com
A fantastic group that has done most everything to save our watershed and having a chance to speak to all age groups that participated on the walk brought over me many feelings from my days growing up. My Grandparents owned and farmed adjacent to where we walked and I spoke. Having the connection to the river and all what a healthy watershed means to the future for us in Chilliwack means we have to be active and participate in keeping it healthy. If anyone is looking for a fantastic bunch of people with a direction to better our community this is the group you should help out. Get involved to make a difference!
One on board and another hooked up!
I sit and finish up yet another report as I look outside to a incredible sunrise, what a day to go fishing. So off to the river I go to chase prehistoric dinosaurs and to create amazing memories for both myself our clients. I can’t think of another job I would exchange for this one and I am truly thankful that I live here in Chilliwack – one of the greatest sportfishing destinations in the world today.
Keep our rivers clean, pick up some garbage and make sure you tell a few others to do the same. Clean waterways will reward us all with years more great fishing and fun.
Cheers and great fishing, forever, Dean <”)))><
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