Pippen said:
Rick......when you do make it out I would tend to think early summer may be pretty good. Keep in touch and I will fire an e-mail off to David and ask him.
The coho's start to pile up in the local waters in the early part of the summer (again this can vary)......springs....well they are always out there but the migrating ones could likely be targetted starting late spring (June).
Fishingmagician may be able to help out a bit too. I tend to head out when the reports seem good, but the "magician" seems to be VERY well versed on the local waters. I would tend to think if you want to start heading out once you get out here in May, that the earlier the better so you can start taking advantage of the local waters as early as possible with some good knowledge. We tend to focus our efforts in the local "Vancouver" waters from early-Mid June through to mid to late September. Sometimes you just have to roll the dice out there hoping that the runs have arrived, but guys/gals on here and some other local forums are a good thing to pay attention to.
There are a lot of good guys in the salt forum who may be able to chime in like BigJay, Dogbreath, Ortho, the Magician and kisinana. (sorry if I missed anyone :-[
)
Keep in touch!
Scott
Thanks Pippen, I spend a lot of time on local waters relative to a lot of people. I guide P/T as opposed to F/T now, and if I'm not guiding, and I'm not at my day job, I'm probably fishing on my boat, fishing on a friends boat, or doing some sort of fishing related acitivity.
My thoughts would be.....what do you want to fish for? Each month of the season has it's prime time for different species and different sizes.
A few of the "highlight" areas usually turn up year after year---however each year is a little different perhaps in the hot colour or location, or tides...and there are some times that you should definitely be fishing.
Since you're arriving in May....
I'd recommend that you get your boat rigged up...if you're going to charter which I recommend a couple of times before you go dropping cash at the tackle shop...June will probably run you over to "Thrasher" Rock---this is an expensive charter---and a long run. If you're not fishing Thrasher---you may be off the south end of Bowen or off the Fraser Mouth---that's where I'd be. July would have me off the Fraser Mouth or off West Van.
1. You'll need to ditch the spinning rods. You should buy 4 trolling or mooching rods. Single Action Reels like Shimano or Daiwa. If you're looking to make yourself out to be a big shot, you can go for the $1000 set up with Islander and mucho $$$ Sage Rods..but I'd save your $$$$ unless you're fishing all the time and you're an elitist.
2. Buy 15 lb Cannonballs. Nothing smaller. Nothing larger.
3. Release clips--make sure you have good Scotty release clips. The Powergrips.
4. Flashers---you're going to need at least 4 flashers. Hot Spot all the way. No Konezones. Any guide will tell you why.
5. Get yourself hooked up with Nikka Industries and Berry's Bait and Tackle...they'll save you $$$$.
6. Invest in a good collection of Coyote Spoons/Gypsy Spoons in the 4.0 Size. Never mind the 3.5s, Maybe a few in the 5.0 size, but don't over do it. $80 tops in this department. these are flutter type spoons and give you a big speed range---are cheap---and most of all ...THEY WORK.
Must have colours for Vancouver: Glo/Flo, Cop Car, Kermit, Blue/Nickle, Green/Nickel. Pick colours imitating the baitfish. Maybe a Punk Skunk, or Mother of Pearl too. An Army Truck Spoon too. Forget any of the fancy dancy spoons they use in the lakes.
Tied on a 4.5 to 5 foot leader for feeders---perhaps a 6 or 7 foot leader for mature springs. These spoons work well for Mature Springs too...particularly the glow flo, Army Truck, or Mother of Pearl.
7. 40 lb test leader material. Tie everything with this stuff it'll save you gear.
8. Hootchies. For When sockeye opens...the guys at the tackle shops I mentioned will hook you up. Never mind the dummy flashers..you don't need 'em...however...they do help....but when the sockeye are in thick...you'll do just fine without the dummies. Tackle expense is about $5 for a package of these. 28 to 32 inch leader---on 40 lb test minimum.
9. Hootchies for the rest of the year...you probably shouldn't bother...there's more effective ways to fish. However, an "Army Truck", and a "Blood and Bones" are definitely good ones to have on board if you don't want to fish all your rods with bait. At least until you learn the rest of the basics about trolling. Forget learning how to mooch around Vancouver, the trollers will open a can of whoopass on you in the prime locations, and they'll probably outfish you badly. You probably don't need any more than about 6 hootchies in your tackle box. Tied on 40 lb test, 35 inch leader for springs. Anything longer and you better be moving fast to get action. Anything longer and you better have a ton of fish around.
10. Learn how to tie up Anchovy rigs, and Herring Teaser rigs. You'll need these when fishing bait like 5 inch herring and 4 to 6 inch Anchovies. You match these to the size of fish in the area at the time...if there are BIG fish, fish BIG bait. Also get yourself a small tupperware container and some pickling salt/fisheries salt for brining about a half dozen or dozen depending on how many rods you're going to fish with.
11. Buy the most expensive hooks you can afford. I recommend some spare stainless steel Mustads for the spoons, and nothing but Gamakatsus for the bait rigs. Forget the VMC and Owner Hooks...not worth your time or money and don't listen to what the tackle shops will tell you. Gamakatsus are expensive, and they'll pay for themselves..trust me they stay sharp!!! The others will rust or lose their sharpness---and won't resharpen that well. Get yourself some good beadchain swivels for your rod end that attaches to the flasher. use a beadchain when fishing with bait, and a barrel swivel when fishing with the hoochies. Some quick change snaps for swapping lures on the lure end of the flasher. Cheap...like $10 for all the gear.
12. A basic fish finder capable of reading to about 300 feet of water. Anything more expensive is just your personal taste. You just need to see bottom, and bait. That's it.
13. All the other types of lures---fuhgeddaboudit...not needed and not necessary. Do the others work...yep...many of the others do..but not needed, and the above stuff will do you just fine. If you're fishing elsewhere on the coast, I'd recommend a whole lot more..but not required and not needed around Vancouver/Georgia Strait.
14. A tide book and charts of the area....know where you're fishing and why, and the right tides to fish for best results. Get a copy of the regs, buy an annual salmon fishing license with a Chinook Stamp. Learn how to identify wild and hatchery fish, and the 5 species of salmon.
By no means complete, but the tackle and attaching hardware expense will likely run you about $200 and the rods and reels will probably set you back around $150 each.
15. A Diary. Keep a log of the situation at the end of your trip----where, when, how, what, etc...will prove useful for later years (hint hint)
I'm not going to spill and spell out all the timelines locales, lures, techniques, and locations here, but I'd recommend reading the fishing reports week by week, and getting out on the water as much as possible heeding the advice of those reports by different operators. One thing you can do is learn the names and appearances of the charter boats, and go out and fish where they fish, and that'll give you a very good indication of what's going on. Get your hands on a couple of books...fishing for salmon by Charlier White..the basics...and the advanced techniques books. Good reading for you..and explains the tackle and fish behaviours. Guides use channel 88 Alpha or 88A as a working channel. Listen in and you may hear a juicy morsel of information.
If you're looking for a "behind the scenes and involved look" at what's going on... chartering will help you out, but it ain't cheap to go 4 to 5 times a season at different times with a pocketbook set for longer charters than the standard 5 hour fare---if you're passionate about fishing 5 hours goes by in a wink of an eye and doesn't get you too far unless the fishing is close.
However, I don't want to mislead anyone, it's not Shangri-La out there in Vancouver area waters, we've got a lot of water to cover, and it's not like we have a conveyor belt of fish swimming by, and we do have a Fraser River with tons of run off shutting down the feeding behaviors of mature fish moving into the area. The Fraser River is a bit of a mixed blessing for us here in Vancouver. If this were Sooke, or Port Hardy, we'd have hundreds and hundreds of boats out on a given weekend.
Anyways, to get the hang of fishing in the Vancouver area---be prepared to invest lots of time and money for gas---as you'll burn lots of it fishing throughout the season. Don't go racing all over the place like a madman---rather pick a spot and work the area thoroughly, however, that's not to say you shouldn't change spots. Have a plan, have a strategy.
At some of the best times, fishing in Vancouver is challenging enough to send seasoned guides from other places on the coast wimpering away mumbling "fishing sucks in Vancouver" and "there ain't no fish" with their tails between their legs.
If anything, if fishing is your passion, you probably won't be too discouraged after a skunking or few.
