Herring Weather

It's herring weather out there. From rain to hail to sun we are getting it all. The spawn has been slow to get down to Nanaimo, but just north of us it has been a good one.  It is now starting to hit Nanaimo today. There herring fleet is starting to fish around Pipers Lagoon this morning. Hopefully it will continue throughout this weekend. French Creek and Qualicum have bee the place to be all week, so now it's our turn. Either for catching herring or just nature viewing. 

The salmon fishing has been slower in and around the spawn. Too much bait for our gear to be noticed. However from Entrance Island, down Gabriola and all the way to Sidney Inlet it has been good fishing. Big green UV Tomic plugs are still one of the top lures, with our custom blue glow Northern King Herring Aid being the next best. We just got another shipment of Salty Dawg flashers which continues to be the winning flasher. It's always the go-to winter/spring flasher, so get your before we sell out again.

Now is also the time to gear up for prawning season in April. We are stocking up on Bauer Prawn Traps. They are the undisputed best trap, and are made on Vancouver Island. Just a heads up, all prawn traps must have rot cord and/or escape panels now this year. Check the DFO regulations and make sure your taps are compliant. It's an easy fix if you need to do it. We have retrofit kits for Bauer traps if you need.

The river fishing has been up and down with the water levels. The trout have been hitting on big hard beads like Great Lakes Fireball in 14mm and in the lakes small spoons like Gold Gibbs Mini G's are producing hits.

The Bass are slowly waking up, but won't get really active until we warm up more. But they are going to explode when it finally does, so get your top water and crank baits ready.

Thanks to Chris for the good pics and reports on the Denman spawn. 

Tips up, steve@harbourchandler.ca