Shallow Chinook and Deep Coho

The fishing is still a little scattered around Nanaimo. Lots of nice fish are coming in, but no one area has been consistent. The Coho have decided to swap places with the Chinook and are now fairly far off 5 Fingers and up to 200ft deep. This is rather deep for Coho generally speaking. The bigger Chinook are mostly close to the bottom in relatively shallow water. However you never know, as Blake Philips of Unreel Charters proved with a big Tyee (Pictured above) caught just North of 5 Fingers 200ft down in 350ft of water on a Blue Meanie hoochie. It was the first salmon ever for the 16 year old guest on his boat. Who then decided to release it un-harmed and not even weighed. Good job guys! Also a large amount of smaller feeder springs have moved into our area. Most are just undersized, but this is great news for our winter fishery. I'm still using blue/green spoons, like Resurrection and Mavrik patterns, and green footloose flashers. If you want to run a hoochie, then of course try Blue Meanie. The little bit of rain we got should get a few more fish moving. The Pinks are apparently already hitting Nanaimo river, so we may not get a departure bay pink fishery this year. Tips up, Stephen Vavrik.