Jan 12 Weekly report update

Cold Clear weather has continued in the Fraser Valley so all rivers are very low and clear. Temperatures in the valley have ranged from -1 to -9 plus wind. Today is very calm and quite nice so would be a great day to get out to scout our local steelhead rivers. Please see below for our detailed report.

Vedder River Steelhead – low clear condition continue to be the story but quite a few steelhead have moved into the lower river this past week, lickman, burgman area has produced some good results but these fish are on the move under darkness so be sure you calculate night time movement if you are getting 2-3 day old reports from local tackle stores. If Burgman area was good on Monday and your planning a trip for Friday, I would suggest fishing 5-10km up river to find those same fish.

If you never read this article last week , here it is again.– http://guidebc.com/articles/earlyseasonsteelheadtactics.asp

Fraser River Sturgeon – This week we have had ice flows on the Fraser so local boat launches have been closed. The ice flows on the Fraser will not last long, these ice chunks tent to come and go quite frequently and if we have a few days of above zero temperatures, the ice will be gone and you will be able to fish the Fraser again.

Winter is a great time to fly fish for Cutthroat on the Fraser, you can fish main river flow in 2-4 feet of water. Back channels also produce good results but most of the back waters will be frozen over so I would suggest fishing the main flow.

Harrison River – clear cold weather is the story on all local Fraser Valley Rivers including the Harrison but that also means no people and lots of water to cover. There is a good population of resident cutthroat and there are still a few Coho swimming around although they are getting pretty tired. Some early Chehalis steelhead are moving in and during low clear water they will hold in the Harrison and wait for highwater before moving up stream. Good bet is to fly fish or light tackle spin fish above Harrison rapids all the way up to Morris confluence.

Harrison River Sturgeon fishing can be very good in winter conditions so if you plan on doing a little steelhead/cutthroat fishing don’t forget to bring along your sturgeon rods. Best bait on the Harrison is salmon eggs and chum flesh.

Vancouver Salmon Fishing – Winter Chinook fishing is available year round in Vancouver Harbour, although it can be cold and windy at times, most of the time it is calm and cool during January. This week was pretty good out there with several local guides producing some great results. Winter is a great time to fish the Gibbs/Delta Guide Series flashers with spoons trailed behind.