The Feeder Springs are Feeding

From Campbell River to Sidney  the feeder spring fishing has been consistently good this week. The fish are in particularly nice shape this season, with bright chrome bodies and fatty meat. With all the bait around this is a good sign for the rest of the year. There are lot's of fish in the 10-14lb range all along the East side of the Southern Gulf Islands. From Gabriola, all the way down to Galiano. Chartreuse Splatter-back hoochies and T-Rex Skinny G Needlefish spoons trolled right on the bottom in 200ft have been the best choices. The top flasher of the week has been Chartreus Watermark. This is a go-to winter flasher and is on par with Salty Dog.

There are starting to be bigger Springs caught on the West Side of the Gulf Islands, and up to the Neck Point area. Including by the shore casters at Rocky Point. Delta Half Jigs are working from shore, and our new Reflex Herring Aid spoons from the boat. This is early for the inshore fish, but along with the herring everything seems like it's a couple of weeks early this year. I spoke with one of the guys doing the test sets for herring and he thinks we are still on track for an early spawn around the first week on March.

I'm still not hearing much about Coho, unlike last year at this time. A few fishermen have got some, but not nearly in the numbers we have had for the last two years. This might mean they have mostly migrated out to the open Pacific. This is odd as there is loads of bait in Georgia straight. So hopefully we have a good Coho year when they open, but time will tell. If you have caught any Coho over the winter I'd love to hear about it.

Tips up, steve@harbourchandler.ca