May 16 Fishing Report Update

I guess this next couple weeks is going to tell the story, while eastern BC is on flood watch, the Fraser Valley is holding on tight, hoping for the best. Local rivers are running very high and near record levels. The Vedder River in Chilliwack is about as big as we have ever seen it, the Fraser River is rising and is now at 5.6 meters at Mission Station and 9.2 at Hope Station. These are serious levels and by the looks of it, it’s going to get higher before it begins to recede.

Although water levels on the Fraser are extremely high we are still fishing for sturgeon on the Fraser, Salmon out of Vancouver and we are getting ready for our fly fishing season on the Pitt River and our West Coast Salmon and Halibut Season.

Fraser Sturgeon has been fairly good considering the high water, not as many fish as last week but some very healthy fish over 7ft were caught this past week. Best bait for this time of year is Lamprey Eel , Salmon eggs and Salmon Bellies. I’m sure other baits will work but these would be your key baits for consistent catching.

Fishing out of the main flow will be critical for fishing and safety while out during high water. Most fish move into the side channels where flow is less so if your targeting sturgeon, we would suggest doing the same. Fish the side channels and back eddies where debris and flow is less. Also keep in mind that travel will be limited due to high water, bridges such as Kilby Train Bridge, Barrow Town Pump Station and even Mission Train Bridge will be dangerously close to high water levels so safe passage under these bridges may be limited.

Vancouver Salmon fishing has been good to excellent this past week. Chinook Salmon has been the main target fishing around Vancouver and Nanaimo area. South end of Bowen Island, Tungstall Bay and Thrasher rock have all been producing good results. Best method has been trolling close to the bottom using the GibbsDelta Guide Series Flashers with G-Force Spoons, some guides are also trolling larger 4.0 G Force Trailhead, Bon Chovy and No Bananas and 4.0 Irish Cream and Homeland Security Silver Horde seem to be matching up well to the 5 inch herring in local waters!

Our Pitt River Fly Fishing trips are just starting up, we are doing a few scouting trips over the next week or so and then we will begin guiding on this river. Our main target will be sea-run Bull Trout for the month of June then as the sockeye and chinook roll in we will begin seeing some salmon action on those fly rods and light spin tackle. June is the best month to target those larger sea run fish so great time to book a trip.

West Coast Salmon and Halibut is also near start up, we will be moving some equipment over to the island in early June so we are ready for our first group of anglers by middle of June. We are almost sold out for 2018 but we still have June 30 – July 5 available and we can take one more group between June 21-25 . If you’re interested in some amazing salmon and halibut fishing, this is the trip to do.

Our Fraser Canyon Sturgeon Adventures/ Hells Gate tripsare almost full for the summer. STS Guidings founder and past owner Vic Carrao and deckhand Renee Coghill will be spending another summer fishing and jet boating in the Fraser Canyon. We still have a few dates available in August and September but dates are getting thin.

There is one Sunday still available on August 12 and another on Sunday September 23, these are the last two weekend dates available. We still have a few weekdays in late August and early September as well.

Fraser Canyon trips include; 132km round trip from Hope to Hells Gate, Sturgeon Fishing, Barbecue Lunch and skeet shooting if time permits. This trip has it all, incredible scenery, big white water, beautiful canyons and some amazing sturgeon fishing. Vic is one of the only Jet Boat Pilots that consistently runs this section of the Fraser so you don’t need to worry about safety. Vic can take up to 12 passengers so this makes for a great Corporate or family outing.