Water levels on the Fraser River and local streams have stopped rising and are now starting to drop. The Mission River gauge shows close to a 1 meter drop this week so looks like the worst is over and water conditions are improving by the day. Weather forecast for next week shows a mix of sun, cloud and some rain towards the end of the week so I would expect local water levels to continue dropping. Fishing this past week was fair to good, see below for detailed report.

Fraser Sturgeon has been good this past week, we have had trips going out all week and all of our groups have gone home with some great stories and memories. We have been fishing between Agassiz and Mission with good results, mostly using lamprey and salmon parts. The larger sturgeon have been holding on the seam between fast and slower moving water and not being shy about taking the bait. Bites have been aggressive and theses fish are ready to do battle. Great week for large sturgeon if you know where to find them.

Vancouver Salmon fishing has been fair to good, Gulf Islands are really starting to heat up. For the most part, the most consistent activity locally over the last couple weeks has been from Cowan Point up to Cape Roger Curtis along the South End of Bowen Island. Most boats are concentrating their efforts in 200 to 400 feet of water doing long tacks back and forth. There has been lots of bait showing and it seems to be a mixture of medium sized herring and anchovies. Most fish have been coming reasonably deep between 80 and 150 feet on the downrigger. Bigger 4.0 spoons have been working best for us recently with the Silver Horde Homeland Security, Herring Aide, Irish Cream and the G Force Bon Chovy, Trailhead and Outfitter being our favourites.

Our Pitt River Fly Fishing trips have begun, water conditions are perfect and some big fish are starting to show up. June is the best month to target those larger sea run fish so great time to book a trip. With the cooler weather this week I would expect the Pitt River to start dropping back down so if your planning on running this river, be careful as water levels can drop a considerable amount in just a day or two. Our preferred method to fish this river is swinging big streamer flys but we also enjoy casting GibbsDelta spoons like the IronHead, Koho and Croc Series.

West Coast Salmon and Halibut, – We are heading over the Island this week with some equipment for the start of our West Coast season. This fishery is worldclass and still offers some of the best salmon fishing anywhere along our coast. 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 trips are 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. 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.

Fall Sturgeon Fishing is some of the best fishing you will ever experience, if you haven’t booked your Fall Fraser River Adventure yet, now’s the time to get it booked. The Mission area offers some of the best fishing there is on the Fraser, we run our boats from Mission Marina where we have facilities to host groups up to 80 people. We offer day trips or overnight accommodation packages that include fishing, meals and accommodations. Come join us for our 24 season on the Fraser.

Hope you have a great weekend and please feel free to call or e-mail us with any questions

Your Team at STS Guiding.

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.

Hope you have a great weekend and please feel free to call or e-mail us with any questions

Your Team at STS Guiding.

The fishing has been nothing short of amazing this past week, double digit days have been common for sturgeon and some great salmon fishing going on out on the ocean out of Vancouver. Trout fishing has been fair to good so looks like we have turned the corner and spring fishing has finally arrived.

April is coming to an end but the great fishing is just getting started, sturgeon fishing is on fire with some great days out on the Fraser. Best baits have been Eulichon, Roe and Lamprey. With spring freshet arriving we are now fishing some of our main haunts that can produce some big fish this time of year. May is a great time to get out and we have plenty of room for a last minute trip.

Salmon fishing has also been very good out in the open water out of Vancouver. South end of Bowen Island and Thrasher Rock are both producing some good results. May is a great time to fish both salmon and sturgeon so you can do day trips or we can offer a 2 day trip where you fish salmon one day and sturgeon the next.

May through to October offers some great fishing, if your looking for that trip of a lifetime, look no further. We fish 365 days a year and offer one of the strongest teams of guides anywhere in the province. Come join us for the 2018 season.

Hope you have a great week.

Vic Carrao

www.guidebc.com

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604-671-3474