March is now the new June for salmon fishing! With the extremely high numbers of feeder Chinook throughout Georgia Strait, early spring is now a peak time for salmon fishing.
This week we are seeing more Chinook in the middle teens pushing down Georgia Strait. The Comox fishermen are reporting very good catches of nice fish averaging around 13lbs, and far less undersized fish than we have been seeing to the South. Powel River fishermen are confirming this as well. So French Creek fishermen should be seeing these fish next.
The top lures have been T-Rex Hoochies and 4.5" Lemon/Lime Looney Spoons. And the flashers have been Salty Dog and the new MJ Serries J Purple
The big mature white springs should be passing us out in the deep water. I haven't heard many reports of fishermen trying for them yet. They generally follow the 800-1000ft contour line as they migrate south. Troll around 200ft on the rigger for these big boys. Large bright plugs like 6" RVP 727 will catch these tasty fish. Glow Chartreus in-line flashers work well at these depths.
March/April is also herring season and some early spawns have already happened. Salmon Beach near Ucluelet had one last week, and Comox may have had a small early one as well. Nanaimo and area normally gets it's big spawn late March or April, but everything is early this year, so we will see. We have good sabiki (herring) jigs in stock if you want to catch your own.
With prawning season right around the corner now is the time to gear up. We have special pricing on the Scotty 2500 trap puller. We can't advertise it or put it online, but email if interested.
Tips up, steve@harbourchandler.ca
