Nanaimo Fishing

We are in an interesting time for Nanaimo fishing. Some guys who often do well are not catching anything, and some rookies are cleaning up. Just goes to show the old rule that 20% of the fisherman catch 80% doesn’t always hold true. Also it seems the guys who do things a little differently are out fishing the rest of us. Sometimes it pays to experiment. Over the last couple days most of the really nice springs are coming from 5-Fingers and from the Grandee. In both locations small anchovies have been producing the bigger Chinook. I guess they are just tired of seeing Irish Creams, and Pink Sink spoons. As for teaser heads, mostly green haze, silver betsy , and purple haze. I also saw a really nice 25 lb. spring caught yesterday on a plain old white hootchie. The fish are getting shallower as the season progresses, 80-140 ft. This means fisherman without down-riggers, and kayak fisherman, can now begin to reach decent sized salmon. There are some schools of fairly large Coho moving though.They seem to be changing location rapidly, so I can’t recommend a location. What was good today is probably not tomorrow. I target them by dragging a blue, purple, or green bucktail on the surface right in the wake. We have a rapidly diminishing supply of real polar bear hair bucktails, that we found in Nikka fishing’s storage when we bought all there stock over the winter. Don’t expect to be able to get your hands on polar bear hair again. At least not without a pair of scissors and a lot of luck. The Pinks are still swarming in like locusts. If anyone sees them moving into the bay please let me know. I am very much looking forward to taking my little daughter out for some beach fishing. On a sad note, there seems to be unprecedented poaching in the Nanaimo river this year. Four gill nets have been seized so far from non-natives. With the water so low it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. If anyone has time on their hands, go for a river walk with a camera and a phone. Observe and report violators, and post pictures online so we all know who is doing it. Nobody should be fishing the river right now and putting our salmon at risk. Tips up, Steve V