Chinook Opening Monday

We have been eagerly counting down the days until Chinook opens for retention this Monday July 15. Sadly we have just learned there will be a slot size imposed, with a Chinook maximum size of 80 cms. This notwithstanding Chinook fishing is excellent. I've never seen this many Chinook in Georgia Straight with 20-30 fish caught per trip still being common. Large Chinook have moved in close to shore but fairly deep, usually beyond 140 ft down. Many many mid sized Chinook are up at 80 ft feeding vigorously on herring. 6-7 inch herring are feeding on large schools of krill (so are the Coho). I saw a video of a Krill school near Five Fingers that was dense enough that the water was orange. Best lures have been Skinny G's in 'Herring Aid' and 'Mavrik' patterns. Best flashers have been 'Salty Dog' and U.V.  Herring Aid. Try the Salty Dog with a Silver Knight Yellow Tail spoon or T-Rex Hoochie down deep between the 200-400 ft contour lines just North of Five Fingers for the bigger Chinook. Jigging has been very successful with the new Zippy butterfly jigs being very effective in shallow over structure. Or just find one of the many bait balls and jig it. Lingcod fishing continues to good, and prawning is still decent for this time of year. Tips up, Stephen Vavrik