Fraser Valley Outlook for May and June, 2002

A look back into March and April
Spring is finally upon us, the birds are singing, the trees are in full bloom, and the salmon are just beginning their annual migration. A real indication that spring is here is that the Eulachons have made their way into the Fraser to spawn, seals have followed, and eagles are nesting on local islands, making this a very special time in the Fraser Valley.

The overall fishing has been excellent, fair and poor, much the same as the weather. One day it’s warm and sunny, the fish are biting, everything is wonderful. The next day the wind is 40 MPH, temperatures drop, barometer goes crazy, fish stop biting. That’s how most of March and even the first part of April was, crazy weather, inconsistent fishing. Although the weather made some days uncomfortable, the overall fishing was still pretty good. We managed good numbers of sturgeon on most trips and only had one very poor day with no fish. Steelhead fishing was excellent for the most part, especially the past few weeks. Our fly guide Erik has been hooking steelhead quite consistently on the fly. Trout fishing has been much the same as sturgeon, one day you hammer them, the next day you can’t find them.

Give credit when credits due, hats off to you.
Our largest sturgeon this past month was a 7‘ 11” caught by John and Barbara Queirolo of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Barbara managed to hang on to this fish most of the way with a little help from husband John. On this 3-day trip John and Barbara also managed to battle a beautiful wild Fraser Valley Steelhead weighing approx 9 lbs. Our guest from Oregon, Dyke Kinder, managed to land one of the most beautiful Cutthroat trout I have ever seen. Dyke worked hard for this fish and deserves the credit for finding, enticing and landing this beautiful 23-inch Fraser Valley Cutthroat. Hats off to our Hot Shot, Hot Rod Erik Skanning for his hard work and fly-fishing skills. Erik managed to guide our client Marcus Wide of Nova Scotia to an incredible 6 steelhead on the fly in 2 days fishing. Erik is still on fire as he hooked another 2 steelhead on Friday night and landed his first Vedder River Chinook weighing approx 18 lbs, hats off to you.

FREE DRAW
STS Guiding Service and Hub Sports are giving away a Free Quantum Spinning rod combo valued at $70.00 retail. All you need to do is e-mail us with Quantum Free Draw in the subject line. Winner will be announced in our next newsletter.

Early Season Chinook Fishing
As I mentioned above, one of our fly guides has already hooked a Chinook salmon on the Vedder River. We have had several other reports of Chinook being caught as well. What does this mean to you if you’re not a fly fisher? Even though the Vedder River is closed to gear and bait anglers you can still target these early run of Chinook. How you ask? The Fraser River opens to retention of Chinook on Wednesday May 1. You can target Vedder Chinook at the confluence of the Vedder/Fraser but you must stay below the boundary signs in the canal entrance. Trolling or casting Gibbs Kit-A-Mats, Crocs or Tee Spoons are very productive. You can read more about fishing this area in one of our past articles: http://www.guidebc.com/articles/earlychinookfishing.html

Chinook fishing on the Fraser
The Fraser River opens May 1st for retention for Chinook salmon. You may retain 1 Chinook over 50 cm and 3 under. The chances of catching Chinook under 50 cm are slim to none so think big and go for the large ones. Success will depend highly on water conditions; if the visibility is more than 12 inches you have a very good chance, if it’s under then fish the creek mouths where Chinook will hold and rest.

Mid to late June offer some of the best action for early Chinook. Although the action can be fierce it also is one of the more inconsistent fisheries in the valley. We like to plunk or bar fish early morning, fish creek mouths during late morning or on the incoming tide then go for a few Sturgeons late in the day. This makes for a great trip with some variety but if the Chinook fishing is hot, stick with your guns and wait it out on the bars, good things come to those who wait.

Fly-Fishing for Steelhead
Is it worth the effort? Absolutely. As long as the weather doesn’t get too warm, the river should stay in good shape for the best part of May. Once the river rises, it may get a bit difficult to fish, but lets keep our fingers crossed. Fishing the past few weeks has been excellent for both fly and gear fishers. Now that the river is fly only, this would be a great time to get out and try your luck for that trophy steelhead on the fly. We will continue to offer guided steelhead fishing on the fly until water conditions deteriorate.

Sturgeon fishing in May/June
As mentioned above, sturgeon fishing has been sporadic at best. One day you're catching lots, the next day you have to cover 5 miles of water just to find a few. Usually the sturgeon fishing is more consistent than this during April. This year the Eulachons have not spent much time in the upper river, in fact we have been netting the Mission area with very poor results. The last few days of April we have had much better success catching good numbers of small and medium sized sturgeon. Most of these fish were stuffed full of Eulachons so it looks as though they are beginning to reach the upper river area. Although this didn’t help us much in April, it could extend the sturgeon fishery well into May. The last trip out a few days ago resulted in one of our best days of the month with 19 sturgeon landed, of which 4 were over 5 feet.

Although June is considered a slow month for sturgeon, looking at last year's catch records we faired very well. Most days we caught a few nice fish with some very large catches during peak run off period. Fishing shallow water and knowing where sturgeon lie in high water is the key to our success. Fishing is not a hobby for us; it’s our way of life.

Summer fishery looking good
Department of fishery and oceans recently released the predictions for this summers run of sockeye salmon. The expected run size last summer was 6 million, this year the run size is doubled at 12 million. This means that from mid to late July strait through until September we should have some great fishing for sockeye salmon. The retention limits and dates have not been set yet, but it looks as though it will be much the same as last year. We will be able to keep 2 sockeye per day for a 2- to 3-week period beginning in late July early August. Like last year, when the Fraser closes to retention the crowds leave but the fishing is still great. You can still fish for Chinook salmon and retain 1 per day. Coho, late summer Chinook and Chum fishing will begin late September lasting well into November.

Don’t wait until it’s too late
We are beginning to sell out prime dates in August, September and October. For those of you wanting to experience some of the best fishing salmon and sturgeon fishing of the year you should be planning your vacation soon. We still have some prime dates available but they are going fast.

Please remember to handle your catch with respect and care. Conserve your catch, practice Catch & release

Tight Lines!

Please feel free to contact us for more information:
Web: www.GuideBC.com	Tel: (604) 671-FISH