Predator's Pen - Saltwater Fishing Report - May 28th, 2016
Last edited on: Jun 04, 2016 01:14:41 PM by Predator Charters
Hello Fellow Anglers

This year is tuning out to be quite a bit different from what we have come to expect in recent years.

The local fishing has remained very good to excellent. I would attribute this excellent action to the unprecedented amount of Anchovies that have been hanging around Howe Sound (and even into Burrard Inlet) for the past few months. You can actually see the black masses of Anchovies schooling near the surface in many areas.

Most of the action has been concentrated in fishing spots around the lower portion of Howe Sound (Hole in the Wall, Tunstall Bay, Salmon Rock/Gower Pt.), and tight to the south Bowen Island around Cowan's Pt, and Cape Roger Curtis. The added Anchovy food source holding in these areas could end up providing us with with some local Chinook fishing in June that we haven't seen for several decades.

As for my usual June fishing destination of the Gulf Islands, the numbers of Chinook over there are lower than expected, but this may just be due to the fact that many are on the Vancouver side of Georgia Strait instead. There have still been some good to excellent "bites", but it is the consistency that we have come to expect that is lacking so far this year. Of course this could change at any time, and we could find that June provides us with the usual good to excellent Chinook fishing over there. This area can also provide very good action well into July as some larger maturing fish migrate down past these Islands.

On our trips over to the Gulf Islands we have had great success Lingcod fishing so far this year. My guests have already released 3 large females (27, 31, and 34 lbs) so far in addition to retaining quite a few nice 10 to 16 lb fish. Releasing these large females will help to insure that their stocks will be healthy and that we will have a sustainable fishery into the future.

2015 saw what was easily the best summer of Chinook fishing that I have seen in more than 30 years of guiding in these local waters. The interesting thing about 2015's run is that all of the "reds" were small fish (10 to 16 lbs) instead of the 18 to 25 lb fish that we typically catch during August. This would be indicative of a very strong return of 3-yr old Chinook in 2015, and the common consensus is that a strong return of 3-yr olds means the brood year had excellent survival, and it will be followed by a great return of 4-yr olds the following year. While it is hard to see into the future, the excellent fishery we have been having this spring also seems to point towards the possibility that we could see even better Chinook fishing this August and September.

Tight Lines,
David Korsch

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