VANCOUVER FISHING REPORT, DEC 10/2008
The local saltchuck has finally started to show some signs of life over the last 10 days. The chinook salmon are still primarily undersized but there is the odd nice keeper in the mix. The harbour has had some reasonable activity this week with an increased amount of bait starting to stack up on south shoreline of English Bay. Like usual in the winter months it is crucial to find the bait in order to get consistent results. We have had our success running our riggers between 75 and 115 feet trolling coyote spoons. The backside of Bowen Island has kicked out a few fish this week but is not worth the run right now. The reports towards Victoria and up north towards Courtenay/Comox have been very good so it bodes well for a strong winter fishery in Georgia Strait.
Crabbing has been really good in English Bay. We have been dropping our traps between 45-90 off of Jericho, Spanish Banks, and Stanley Park. Crab traps are dropped on every charter.
We are coming into prime time for winter chinook fishing in Vancouver. The months of December, January, and February can have some of the best action of the year. Ask about our great winter rates and promotions!
CHECK OUT OUR NEW FISHING BLOG AT http://www.bonchovy.com/blog
IT WILL BE UDATED WITH VANCOUVER FISHING NEWS, PICTURES, AND FREQUENT FISHING REPORTS!
Tight Lines
Jeff and Jason
604.763.5460
BON CHOVY REPORT NOV 4/08
The local Vancouver winter chinook fishery is slowly picking up. Fishing is still not hot, but there has been some quality fish around if you put some time in. Tunstall Bay, Hutt Island, and the 3rd Marker have been the go to spots this week with the odd fish being picked up to 15 pounds. Jeff was out yesterday morning and landed a beautiful 15-pound winter chinook at Tunstall Bay with his clients. Productive depths have been between 100-150 feet on the downrigger. It is always a good idea to keep the gear pretty close to bottom as winter chinook are notorious for being close to bottom. Coyote Spoons, anchovies, and hootchies have all been hooking fish. The key is to find the bait.
Vancouver harbor is still slow with the odd undersize chinook showing this week. Should not be long before the winter Chinooks pick up in the harbor as well.
Crabbing has started to pick up now that the commercial season has ended. We have been dropping crab traps on every charter.
Fishing should continue to get better and better as we get into November. Chinook salmon are available all winter long in Vancouver.
Please call us to book a winter chinook charters. Ask about our great winter rates!
Tight Lines
Jeff and Jason
604.763.5460
BON CHOVY FISHING REPORT, OCT 8/2008
The recent rains has definately slowed down the mature chinook fishing off the Mouth of the Capilano over the last week. The heavy rains in early October pushed the fish that were staging off the mouth, into the river. We have still hooked fish on most charters over the last 5 days, but not as many as we did before the rains. The rain has held off for the last couple days and the long term forecast looks like it will be dry so we should see numbers of mature chinook once again build off the West Vancouver shoreline. We have been hooking 1-2 fish per charter over the last few days but we are expecting and hoping for things to pick up with this dry weather. This fishery quite often lasts into the latter part of October if it is dry. On a positive note we picked up our first couple winter chinook this week. One fish was a 26.5 inch keeper and the other was a couple inches undersize. These fish are some of the earliest winter springs we have caught in recent years so we are looking forward to a good start to winter chinook fishing during late October and early November. A few nice coho and chum salmon up to 15 pounds have been hooked this week as well. Wild coho must be released.
Now is the time we start looking forward to our upcoming winter chinook salmon fishery. The fishery quite often starts in late October and keeps going into the spring! This fishery is one Vancouver's most consistent of the year. What the fish lack in size, they make up in their eagerness to bite and their fight. Last year we had our first really active winter chinook charter on the 23rd of October. Hopefully we get a good early start this year as well.
Call us to book a charter for the last big chinook of the year or an upcoming winter chinook and crabbing charter!
Tight Lines
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Fishing Charters Report, Sept 18
The West Vancouver shoreline and the Capilano mouth have continued to kick out good numbers of chinook salmon over the last week. This fishery is now coming into its prime as we get into late September and October. This truly unique urban fishery minutes from downtown will be the focus of the local Vancouver fleet for the next 4-6 weeks. Fishing the flood tide with herring and anchovies has been and will continue to be the ticket to success. Over the last week we have had good success with several multiple fish days. We have been hooking anywhere from 3-6 chinook salmon per charter over the last week. As we progress into late September we should see increasing numbers of chum an coho salmon as well.
The Fraser Mouth is also a really good bet for chinook during September. The Bell Buoy, T-10 marker, Sandheads, and the North Arm are typically good for Fraser bound chinook salmon this time of year. We will venture down off the Fraser on our longer charters when the tides are not condusive to fish the Cap mouth.
Call us to book a charter!
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Fishing Charters Report, Sep 09/08
Fishing has improved over the last couple days very close to home. The West Vancouver shoreline has produced some good numbers of chinook and the odd hatchery coho. Usually this fishery does not really start to get going till the third week of September so things are looking real good for a strong fall fishery. The fish have been scattered throughout the water column from 30-90 feet. We have been running bait almost exclusively now for these big 15-35 pound chinook salmon. West Vancouver should remain consistent for these big chinook salmon until the rains come in late October.
The Bell Buoy, Sandheads, and the T-10 marker have also been kicking out some nice fish as well. We have been spending most of our time at the Cap is it is a 5 minute run from our dock location.
Call us to book a charter! The prime weekend dates are starting to fill up for the fall chinook fishery!
Tight Lines
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Downtown Vancouver Fishing Report, Aug 28
This August we have been spoiled by some of the best summer chinook fishing we have had in years. There were still a few tough days, but overall fishing was very consistent for red chinook in the 15-35 pound range. This August fishery has been real bright spot in our local fishery over the last couple years and hopefully it continues in coming years.
The fishing this past week was slow over the weekend, with better action on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Tuesday we hooked 6 nice chinook on our charters, landing a 23 pounder in the morning and a 12 and 22 pounder in the afternoon. Yesterday afternoon there was a reasonable number of fish hooked amongst the fleet. We ended up a nice 17 pound white chinook. These fish have been hitting anchovies and white and glow hootchies from 30-80 feet. We have been focussing our efforts off the Bell Buoy and the Mile Markers.
As we progress into September our big Harrison Chinook should arrive off Point Grey and the Fraser Mouth. These fish are among the largest of the year with fish in the 40+ pound range possible. This fishery typically gets going around the first week of September and extends into the third week of September. Later in September our Capilano Chinook fishery should get going and keep us busy with large chinook until the third week of October. Give us a call to book a charter for these big chinook! Our prime weekend dates are booking quite fast!
Tight Lines
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Report, Aug 18 BIG SPRINGS ARE HERE!!!!!!!!
Well it seems like the fishing has gotten even better locally after the initial push of big chinook salmon rolled in last week. On Sunday, Aug 17th and Monday, August 18th we had some really good results on our charters. Our Grady White, Bon Chovy landed 4 chinook salmon in the 14 to 28 pound range as well as lost 4 on Sunday morning. The Seastar, our Big Uniflite had a good trip with the boys from EA Sports and managed to land 3 nice chinook between 15 and 25 pounds and a few spring jacks. This morning we had another great charter on Bon Chovy with the guys landing 4 nice chinook up to 25 pounds and a nice 7 pound coho.
We have been focusing our efforts around Spanish Banks and Point Grey. Trolling anchovies has been the ticket to success for us between 35-70 feet. The trusty ol' white hootchie even picked up a couple decent fish this morning.
These fish we are seeing are primarily summer red chinook heading for the Fraser. As we progress into September we should see good numbers of fall white chinook. The DFO is forecasting a really strong return for Harrison stock chinook this fall so with any luck we could see this great fishing continue into mid October .
Give us a call to book a charter for the biggest salmon of the year!
Tight lines
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Vancouver Fishing Report, Aug 11/2008
Well the Islander Reels were singing this week after a real slow start to August. We had some good success on 12-22 pound chinook over the last week over on the Gulf Islands and over the last two days there has been a significant push of large chinook into Vancouver Harbour and the Fraser Mouth as well. Yesterday morning we landed our largest chinook of the year at 36.5 pounds off Spanish Banks. It was caught by a 13 year old as well. There was a real good bite on the tide change yesterday morning where good numbers of chinook in the 15-40 pound range were landed. This should be the start of our big chinook fishery that with any luck should continue into mid October. Typically our biggest fish of the year are caught between mid Aug and mid September. Fishing for chinooks is still good into October but the fish average 15-20 pounds later in the early fall.
We expect and hope the good fishing to continue off the Fraser Mouth, Bell Buoy, and the Gulf Islands for the next while.
We have the best success with anchovies on the Vancouver side and coyote spoons over on the Gulf Island side.
Call us to book a charter for these big chinook salmon!!!!!!!!
Tight Lines
Jason
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Fishing Charters--Fishing Report July 19/2008
Fishing locally has been reasonably consistent for chinook salmon over the last couple weeks. There has been a couple real tough days, but on most days we are coming back to the dock with a nice chinook or two. The coho have started to trickle in now as well. There seems to be a few caught each day now off West Vancouver. We are hoping the coho will start stacking up off the river mouth in greater numbers towards the end of the month.
We have been concentrating our efforts this week in Howe Sound, Hole in the Wall in particular, as well as the West Van shoreline. You have to work for your bites but the fish that we are getting have been in the 13-25 pound range. We have been running anchovies almost exclusively from 30-100 feet on the riggers.
The Deparment and Fisheries and Oceans is forecasting a strong late summer and fall chinook run. This fishery usually starts in early August and it is when we get our biggest chinook salmon of the year. Fish over 30 pounds are common and fish in the 40 to 50 pound range are possible.
Give us a call to book a charter!
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
BON CHOVY FISHING REPORT, JUNE 13TH
The local saltchuck has been decent over the last couple weeks. There has been fish in all of the the normal spring chinook spots. The Gulf Islands, Seymour Bay, the QA, the Slash, Howe Sound, and the harbour have all had some decent days over the last couple weeks. The fish are higher in the water column now with the best depths being 45-90 feet in the Vancouver area and a little deeper over on the Gulf Island side. Anchovies are now taking the majority of the fish. Coyote spoons and greenish hootchies are also working. We have averaged 2-6 hook ups a charter this week. Crabbing has continued to be really good in the harbour!
Over the last few days we have our best success close to home in the inner harbour. Yesterday, June 12th we went across to Gabriola Island and hooked one chinook briefly off Thrasher Rock in the morning. In the afternoon we decided to run back towards home and fish the inner harbour to finish off the charter. We were lucky enough to hook 6 chinooks in the 6-14 pound range landing two of them. We also had reasonable success in the harbour on Monday and Tuesday this week. The fish have been around the bait.
The first coho of the season should start to stack up off West Van towards the end of June/early July. Early to mid July is when we also start seeing some better numbers of big mature chinook in the local area.
Give us a call to book a charter!
604.763.5460
www.bonchovy.com
Jason/Jeff
Bon Chovy Fishing Report, May 24/2008
The local saltwalter has remained productive over the last week. We have been hooking 2-4 chinook salmon in the 8-18 pound range per charter this week. We have been fishing off the south side of Bowen Island, the QA, Seymour Bay, and the harbour. Productive depths have between 50-120 feet. Anchovies have been the best producers for us over the last couple weeks. Crabbing has also been good in the harbour and traps are dropped on every charter!
There have some really good reports from the Gulf Islands over the last week! This fishery was slow to start this year but it looks like the fish have arrived over on that side. Fish up to 28 pounds were reported this week. We were scheduled to go over this past week but the persistent Northwesterlies prevented us. The Gulf Islands are usually really good from mid May to mid July. It is necessary to do an 8 hour or a 10 hour charter to do a Gulf Island trip due to the increased travel time and fuel cost.
Call or email us to book a charter!
Tight Lines
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Fishing Report, May 13
Over the last couple weeks we have had some consistent fishing for chinook salmon in the 8-18 pound range. We have brought keeper chinook salmon back to the dock on every charter since April 19. Hopefully the good fishing continues. We have had good success off the South Side of Bowen Island, Point Grey and Vancouver Harbour. We had some really good fishing close to home in the harbour over the last week.
The fish are hitting anchovies, coyote spoons, and hootchies. Our most productive depths have been relatively shallow between 60 and 90 feet. You can expect to hook 3-6 chinook salmon charter right now.
Crabbing has remained strong in the harbour! Traps are dropped on every charter!
Call or email us to book a charter!
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Fishing Report, April 28
Over the past 5 days we have had some of the best fishing we have experienced so far this spring. There has been good numbers of chinook salmon hooked off the South Side of Bowen Island and around the QA marker. There was a couple times last weekend that you could see numerous boats hooked up at the same time. The best action definately has been coming in the morning! We have been running spoons, chovies, and hootchies from 50 to 140 feet. We have hooked anywhere from 3-8 salmon per charter over the last week. The keepers averaged around 11 pounds with a few reaching the mid to high teens. Hopefully this good fishing continues.
There has been some fish in the harbour as well. We fished the harbour on April 30 and May 1 with good results.
Crabbing has remained strong in the harbour! Traps are dropped on every charter!
Call or email us to book a charter!
Jason/Jeff
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Fishing Charters Report April 6/2008
The fishing has rebounded locally after a real slow spell in mid to late March. The harbour has fished quite well over the last 5 or 6 days with some nice chinook salmon hooked. There is lots of bait in the harbour again and the salmon are chasing it around! We have been hooking 3-5 chinook salmon per charter over the last week in the 9-14 pound. The size of the legal fish we have been landing is noticeably larger than the ones we were hooking in the winter.
The bulk of our success has come in the middle of the harbour in the freighters. We hit a couple nice fish off of West Van on Thursday evening as well. Productive depths have been from 60-110 feet on the riggers. We have been running green glow, cop car, and army truck coyotes as well as anchovies!
We ran over to the Gulf Islands for the first time this year this week with disappointing results. There was a lack of bait and subsequently no fish to be found. The Gulf Islands are usually really good in the spring time. As soon as some bait shows up it should pick up over on that side.
Crabbing is still really good in the harbour and traps are being dropped on every charter! Give us a call to book a salmon charter. The local chinook fishery is generally quite strong in April.
Good Luck
Jeff/Jason
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Fishing Charters Report, March 13
The local fishery has still been productive over the last ten days. However, some days require a little more searching to locate feeding chinook salmon. The really consistent fishing we had off the West Vancouver shoreline during January and February has tapered right off over the last few days. There is still the odd fish being picked up, but the chinooks definately a little harder to come by off West Van. We have been having the bulk of our success in English Bay wherever we can find schools of baitfish. Yesterday, March 12 we found a few nice fish and were able to land an 11 pounder and a 13 pounder. My guest Richard kindly released the larger fish yesterday which is always nice to see! We have been averaging 3-6 hook ups a charter in the 5-18 pound range!
We have been hitting fish from 55 feet to 130 feet. Now that springtime is drawing near the fish will suspend more and more off the bottom. Over the last week we have had numerous hits around the 70 foot mark. Coyote spoons have been our lures of choice behind flashers.
The winter and spring chinook fishing should continue to be consistent for the next couple months. This is the time of the year that the Gulf Islands start heating up. The fishing for chinooks is often really good from April thru July. Gulf Island trip require at least an 8 hour to make up for the travel time and fuel costs. There have already been some reports of some good quality fish over there. Including a 31 pounder last week.
Crabbing in the harbour remains strong in 40-100 feet. Chicken and salmon carcasses seduce crabs quite nicely!
Give us a call to book a charter! We have some great winter rates until April 1! Call us to find out more!
Tight Lines
Jeff/Jason
604.763.5460
Bon Chovy Fishing Report Feb 19/2008
Fishing for winter chinook has still been productive in English Bay. Particularly along the West Van shoreline and around the QB marker. Fishing was really good last weekend, Saturday the 9th in particular. (4 keepers, 3 undersized to the boat). The fishing remained productive throughout the week The fishing dropped off a little bit over the last 2 days. We got nice keepers on both days but we only managed 3 hook ups on each charter. We expect the fishing to pick back up after this full moon this week.
We have been running anchovies, coyote spoons, and hootchies between 90 and 120 feet.
The ratio of keepers to undersize is now 1 to 1 on most days. Keepers are ranging in the 7-16 pound range. There is still a number of clipped hatchery fish around. If you do catch an adipose fin clipped hatchery fish please drop the head of at a salmon head depot. It helps the DFO with local chinook management.
Crabbing is also really good in the harbour and we are dropping traps on every charter!
The days are getting longer and spring is in the air. Call us to book a winter chinook salmon charter. Ask about our great winter rates!
Tight Lines
Jeff/Jason
604.763.5460
Vancouver Saltwater Report, Feb 06/08
The local saltwater salmon fishing has continued to be consistent over the last couple weeks. There is still herring around the harbour and the winter springs are still feeding on them. Over the last couple weeks it seems like there is a greater percentage of legal chinook versus undersize chinook, which is nice to see. The keepers have been ranging in size from just legal to 31 inches. (6-15 pounds) There has been some hatchery chinook around as well. If you catch one, you are encouraged to drop the head off at a DFO head depot. It helps the chinook management in our area!
We have been having most of our success working the bottom contours off West Vancouver. We have been running coyote spoons behind our flashers. Spoons in green, chartreuse, and burgandy have been our favourites over the last week. There has been reports of fish being taken around the QB, Spanish Banks, Hutt Island, and Tunstall as well.
Winter chinook salmon fishing is at its finest right now locally. You can expect to hook 4-8 chinook salmon per charter in protected waters. The good local fishing should continue into early April. In April we will shift our focus over to the Gulf Islands and the south side of Bowen Island.
We are dropping crab traps on every charter as well with good success!
Call or email us for our great winter rates!
Jeff/Jason
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
BON CHOVY FISHING REPORT, JANUARY 23/2008
WINTER CHINOOKS
There is nothing is really new to report lately. Fishing has continued to be really consistent in the harbour for winter chinooks over the last couple weeks. The continued concentration of small herring in English Bay could be the reason for the good fishing. The usual spots like the QB marker, Jericho, West Vancouver, and up into Howe Sound are all producing fish! We have been hooking 4-8 fish a charter recently. The ratio of keepers to undersize is now close to 1 to 1. There has been some nice keepers around as well, some into the mid teens. There was a 24 pounder caught off Ambelside last weekend as well.
Productive depths have ranged from 80-140 feet on the downriggers. Coyote Spoons and anchovies have been our favourite lures behind flashers. We have been trying to follow the bottom contours quite closely to pick up the feeder chinook. We have also had some success on cut plug herring off the downriggers recently.
Crabbing has also been real good as well in the harbour. We are finding them in 40-80 feet of water in English Bay!
Call us to book a winter chinook charters! Ask us about our great winter rates!
Good Luck
Jeff/Jason
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
BON CHOVY REPORT JAN 7/2008
Happy New Year!!!!!!
The local winter chinook fishing has continued to be consistent over the last few weeks. The usual haunts in English Bay and Howe Sound have been producing chinook.
We have had our success around the QB marker in 100-130 feet of water. We have been trolling coyote spoons, anchovies, and army truck hootchies with the bulk of our hits coming within 10 feet of the bottom. We have had real good luck on the 4.0 Army Truck Coyote behind a flasher this past week! The salmon are actively feeding on the small 3-4 inch herring that are in English Bay. We have had a couple good days off Ambelside and the Capilano Mouth this past week as well. Quite often there is some real nice quality off the Capilano Mouth in the winter, especially from January to March.
Hutt Island and Tunstall Bay have also been producing some nice chinook over the last few weeks. We have not been up that way as we have been having good fishing 10 minutes from our dock location at the Westin Bayshore.
Crabbing has picked up as well and will continue to improve into spring!!!
Call us to book a winter chinook charter! Ask us about our great winter rates!!!
Tight Lines
Jeff/Jason
www.bonchovy.com
604.763.5460
