Manny and Bozi had a great chance to try out some awesome Pink Salmon fishing on the Mamquam River.  By late afternoon the Squamish winds had really kicked up so casting a fly was a challenge as the line would often pile up on the back cast.    Bozi was a quick study and after a few lessons graduated to hooking and landing his own fish in short order. 

 Manny got the feel of casting a sink tip and soon both were landing fish with even a double header to make things interesting. Click here to see Manny's Tilt with a feisty Pink.  A fast sinking tip with a weighted chartreuse fly was the formula which works so well for Pinks.

By the end of the afternoon, we had some great fish for the barbeque.  Bozi talked about some family recipee that would use pink roe, seasoning and other things in a blender to make a type of patee.......haven't tried it yet but with the great roe from the females it looked like he was going to have something to put on crackers.

While the Squamish is open, the pink run is maturing and there are noticeably fewer silver fish, but with two high tides in the afternoon there are fish in the water that will take a fly. With the continued dry weather, the Mamquam has dropped again considerably and as of today August 22nd, 2015 THE MAMQUAM  is CLOSED TO FISHING TILL FURTHER NOTICE. 

This means, it is only the main stem of the Squamish River which is still open to pinks. So, bottom line, check your regulations and fisheries notices as this drought continues.

The Fraser on the other hand has gone into full closure for salmon fishing.  With the high temperatures, low flows and very low Sockeye numbers the Department of Fisheries shut down all the salmon fishing.  This was likely due to the drop in numbers and the insistence on lots of fisherman to use the bottom bouncing technique.  This doesn't discriminate between species and so the risks to Sockeye were too great.  As you can see in the graph below, the green line shows the sockeye numbers are way below 2010 or 2014.

With the closure on salmon, the impact on Chinook this year and four years from now could be very great.  This year's Chinook numbers seem to be peaking well above last year and if they survive the run upstream with no sport or first nation food/ceremonial catch, there might be a good survival this year.

So as we head into the end of August, it looks like with the continuing hot weather, the rivers are continuing to drop and the number of fish under stress are increasing. Therefore, with a week to go till people start thinking about the labor day weekend, unless it rains, it will be salt water fishing and perhaps just the main stem Squamish River.  Here's hoping it rains soon!

The Squamish Pink Salmon run has begun in earnest.  The fish have now begun their rush into the system and the main stem of the Squamish and the tributaries are starting to fill with chrome and feisty fish.  Today was a fabulous day on the river, weather wise and fishing wise with most people getting their two fish limit quite easily.  Today was Dave's first day fly fishing and he rose to the challenge.

The fish were extremely fresh in the mainstem and at the mouth of the Mamquam and frequently put up spirited battles.  They readily took the chartreuse pink or lime green flies, purple jigs or drifted spoons and would tear off line and do cart wheels worthy of a coho.  With the right presentation drifted just above the rocks the action was pretty much continuous throughout the day.  Check out Dave's Epic Battle by clicking on this link.  

By the mid afternoon, our wrists were sore and the knuckles slighty bashed up by all the burning runs the fish made and reluctantly we had to leave with our limit of two chrome fish each but Dave has a real good fish story to tell and the pictures and barbecue material to prove it!

The beaches in Howe Sound were also very busy with people working the rising tide.  The mouth of the Capilano also did well for coho first light this morning for those who were able to get up and get a spot.  So while the Fraser is still fishing slow and the Vedder is low and the fish are reluctant, there are several other spots to head and have a great day fishing!...  Tight lines.

Like last year I will be updating the progress of the Fraser Sockeye and Chinook runs and being this is a pink year, also the Fraser River Pink Runs and if all goes well, the river temperature conditions.  This is indeed a tough year for salmon in all the south coast rivers however learning about what is happening is the first step in doing something about it.  And by doing, I mean things like practicing catch and release more, reporting poachers, and calling or e-mailing your MLA or MP and letting them how much you value your environment and what it means to you, and what you feel should be done to protect it......Good Fisherpeople also make good citizens.  Anyways, let's start off by comparing the 2010, 2014 and 2015 Sockeye runs.

This graph may look a little busy but the Blue line is the fabulous 2010 sockeye run, the red is the 2014 return year of the 2010's offspring and the green line is this years 2015 run.  This year was never expected to match the 2010 or 2014 run however the low snow pack, low freshet and lower flows are making it tough on fish.  River flow right now is 37% below average.  The temperature line on the chart is an approximation and will be updated once the data base is up and running again but as it currently stands it has been flirting with the deadly 20 degree mark but recent weather has caused it to cool a little.  Time and weather will tell how it does.

As for Fraser Chinooks, the 2014 vs. 2015 run comparison is below.

This comparison is a little messier than for the Sockeye but it seems that the peaks are a little lower and a little earlier in 2015 than they were in 2014.  This has been consistent since mid June.  Based on today's numbers it looks like it could be a decent weekend on the river but that it will taper down by the middle of next week.  Here's hoping it doesn't and the Fraser Fishing stays the same or improves.....Its fishing, so time will tell.

Still nothing on Fraser Pinks.  That doesn't mean there aren't any in there, the net mesh's are generally larger and targeting the sockeye and chinook but so far the catch is a big fat zero for pinks.

The Squamish River was the scene of some epic battles of fresh from the ocean pink salmon.  Click here for the Female vs Fish Tilt!  The weather was hot, the sun was shining, the wind was blowing and the Pinks were trickling in from the tide water a few kilometers downstream.

Art was being very pragmatic in his technique and because he was still nursing an injury he chose to sit back and "cast strategically" hoping to tie into one of the silvery pink salmon that would occasionally breach in front of him.

Elly on the other hand decided that persistance and more persistance would eventually pay off and with a little guidance was able to land two silver slabs which would make for fine barbecue material.  The onset of the afternoon tide was getting later and later in the day so there was not a great rush of fish until near the end of our time.  That gave us some opportunity to look at other holes and the Mamquam and Cheakamus rivers.  The Mamquam was reported to be quiet as the fish from the morning tide had sped up river and the new ones hadn't made it there yet.  The Cheakamus was high and turbid and again, not many fish had made it into the system yet.

The salt water beaches in Howe Sound were productive and once again, persistence was the key.  Fish were hitting on both fluorescent green and chartreuse flies, and it was more a matter of getting the fly in front of them as they zipped by.  It seems that many of the fish might still be staging out at the mouth and along Howe Sound.  Another week, and things could really change!...Tight lines!