The summer Chinook openings have been released. It looks about the same as last year for area 17. Follow this link to read the fisheries notice
The Chinook are mostly 50ft down or more, and there are loads of them. It is going to be a great Chinook season if they stick around. Plugs have been the top lures all season for the Chinook. The best patterns have been 5" RVP2 Iridescent and 5" Game Changer 2.0.
Run these plugs with a dummy flasher or better still a Sointula flasher. The Sointula looks a bit crazy, but it is run close to the cannon ball, and throws out a lot of flash.
The last couple weeks have been hot for Coho and Chinook. I had a bit of time off so I got out for Coho last week and was into many, many fish. I was jigging North of Nanaimo in a 10ft dingy with no fish finder and was catching dozens of Coho and a few Chinook. My best lures were Chrome Delta Half Jiggs, and 42g Shimano Current Snipers in Sardine pattern. I was in only 15ft of water so I was seeing the fish take the lure. It was an absolute blast. Finding Coho in that area was a surprise, but with so many fish around you just never know where they might be.
For the guys trolling the clipped Coho are still in the top 30ft of water. Top lures have been the West Coast Tackles Superman spoon, and Gibbs Skinny G's in Purple Phantom. Pair either of these with a Gibbs Brain Freeze Flasher or Blue Watermark.
For the shore fishermen it's been a bit mixed. Some days have been great and some slow. The fish move in and out with the tides and bait. 40gram Mac Deeps and Irish Mint Lil' Nibs have been the most effective lures.
In other local fishing news, Harbour Chandler customer Dale Ksyniuk caught a 10ft six gill shark while fishing solo off French Creek. I had a chance to chat with him in the store on Thursday and it sounds like it was an epic battle. He released the shark unharmed, but got some great video footage. See this Chek news report for more details.
