Nanaimo & Area Winter Fishing Report

This season’s winter spring salmon is the best we have seen in 3 or 4 years. Both for quality and quantity of the catch. Fishermen are reporting most fish in the 10-14 lb. range, but an increasing amount of 17-20 lb. are being boated. Quite a few larger fish in the 20lb.+ range have been reported as well. The fish are a deep 150-200ft, or near the bottom. Hot spots are Porlier pass, Thrasher rock, East Side of Gabriola, 1-2 miles east of 5-finger Islands and Winchelsea islands. Vancouver guides are crossing Georgia Straight to fish Porlier area. Early season gear: Anchovies with glow heads, glow/chartreuse hootchies, 3”- 4” Goldstar or Coyote spoons such as Mongoose, Cop Car, Yellowtail AKA No Bananas. Also the surprise colour pattern of the year is orange, green and glow/white. This pattern is known as Homeland Security, Irish flag, Red Racer (Goldstar red racer is orange not red. Weird eh?) We have this pattern in 5” Tomic spoons as a custom colour. Large numbers of mature herring are schooling up in our area and should continue to draw in hungry Chinook. Look for the gulls and sealions to find the herring, and the salmon should be there too. Winter crabbing is excellent. Personally I’m throwing back keepers as I’m catching more than I need for a couple meals. Prawning is exceptional, but be sure to check the DFO website for current closure. Many normally open Nanaimo areas are closed despite the good catches we were seeing. Get out there and enjoy the nice warm and calm weather we have been enjoying. cheers, Steve V. Please send me your fishing reports! Tell me what you’ve seen and I’ll reply with detailed info about what I know. email hc.tackle@shaw.ca In particular right now I want to know where the schools of herring are, and any spawns you see or hear about.