Chum, Chum, Chum, Chum, Chum

Greetings loyal readers. Sorry about the lack of posts for the last while, but it's hunting season so I've been in the woods and not on the water. Anyways, it's not to busy on the water these days. There are good numbers of feeder Chinook out there, most undersized but fishermen who put in their time normally go home with one legal sized fish. Of course these fish are called feeders for a reason; they are putting on weight just as fast as they can. Plus, winter feeder springs are hard fighting and in great physical condition at this time of year. To target them troll deep and use glow spoons. My favorite winter spoons is 'Yellow Tail' and 'Lemon Lime Cream'. Prawning is the best we've seen in a while, so now is a great time to get some prawns for your Christmas dinner. So while the ocean is fairly quiet, the river fishing is not. We have the largest Chum run in decades - head to Nanaimo River and see the action. Currently only one in four are still perfectly silver, but all are hard fighting fish. While chum don't freeze well, they are a great fish to smoke. In fact some west coast native tribes felt it was the best salmon to smoke. Best bets for gear are casting spoons, weighted sockeye hootchies, or yarn. The Chum are still aggressively biting, so get down to the river and take advantage of this underutilized resource. And if you are walking the rivers, stop by and check out our selection of bear spray, and bangers. Remember, don't feed the bears. Tips up, Stephen Vavrik