SOUTH ISLAND REPORT - Sidney, Saanich, Victoria, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, Peddar Bay

SALTWATER - Winter (chinook salmon) springs are the target species. So far most of the springs are undersized and have to be released, but there are a few larger ones into the high teens.

Pedder Bay - Winter springs up to 8 lb. and lots of shakers are hitting the lures. Some boats were bringing back limit catches. Coho fishing has slowed down. Anglers were catching most of the springs near Church Rock and Whirl Bay. Bloody Nose and Purple Haze teaser heads have been popular with bait. The best flashers were Silver Betsey and Purple Haze. Hootchies and squirts were good in Purple Haze, Cloverleaf and glow/green for springs and coho. Coho Killer spoons in green/white and green/silver Coyote spoons have also worked.

Victoria Waterfront - Constance Bank has smaller feeder springs, but most anglers are staying away from them, preferring to let them grow to adulthood. Fish are moving around on the bank, so some anglers were catching large numbers while others were not. Along the waterfront it was spotty for springs, but some nice ones were caught Nick Shubert caught a beautiful 15 lb. spring on the waterfront near Trial Island at 90 ft on a purple hootchie. Gary Caton caught a 14½ lb. spring on a J-79 squirt.

This time of year you search for the bait and stay near it if you want larger winter springs. Anglers were catching a few coho and the occasional chum salmon in late November. Coho Killers, green/glow and Mongoose Coyote spoons were working for coho and springs. Hootchies and squirts are good in Purple Haze, Cloverleaf and glow/green.

Oak Bay - The Flats had small, (minimum retention size) winter springs. Anglers were catching springs trolling right on bottom in 60 to 120 feet of water with squirts, Baitrix tiny strip, small anchovy or Coho Killer spoons. Good squirts are the Cloverleaf, J-79 and Jellyfish. With spoons, 3½" or 4" Gypsy, Titans, and Coyotes in Cop Car or silver/green and Gold Star Coho Killer. Glow in the dark flashers would be best for springs now.

Sidney - There are lots of just undersized springs and a few bigger ones. Bob Haney kept 10½ and 8½ lb. springs as well as a 9 lb. chum. Bob was using an Electric Chair squirt and fishing near Coal Island. No reports of coho from this area. Many anglers have been using anchovies in Bloody Nose, Purple Haze and UV Green teaser heads. Squirts had been out-producing hootchies recently and the hot patterns for springs were Purple Haze, Glow Below and Electric Chair. Mongoose Coyote spoons have also been working well.

FRESHWATER - Fishing is good on the local lakes for trout, but slowing down for bass. The fall stocking of catchable rainbow trout into Island lakes has happened, so expect better action in your favorite lake as the water clears.

Lake stocking – The Vancouver Island Trout Hatchery has been releasing Fraser Valley Rainbow Trout 3N catchables. In September Shawnigan Lake and Langford Lake each received 2,000, Elk received 2,000, Fuller 1,224, Prospect 2,700 trout, Thetis 1,490, Spectacle 927, Durrance 2,000, Glen 1,000, Langford Lake 725, Kemp Lake 1,500 trout. In October Elk Lake received another 1,918, Langford 1,000 trout, Prior Lake 500, Lookout Lake 250, Prospect 2,000, Lookout 500 trout. So far, 59,652 trout.

Many anglers are catching trout on either Powerbait Gulp eggs, or worms. Fly anglers are mostly using Wooly Buggers or leech patterns. Trollers have been doing okay with Rhys Davis Baitrix Trout lures, and UV Mini Strip Teasers work well for larger fish. Other good trolling lures are the Apex Trout Killers. Flatfish and/or Kwikfish have also been effective in sizes 5 to 7 in frog, yellow with red spots or blue/silver. Smaller Rapalas in Rainbow Trout or Brown Trout patterns also work well. Lastly, Willow Leaf Lake trolls with a worm-tipped Wedding Band will almost always catch fish. The biggest trout continue to be caught at Elk Lake with Langford Lake being your next best bet to hook into a real lunker.

Bass Fishing – Slower presentations such as soft plastics work as the water cools. As winter approaches, look for the fish to move into deeper water and suspend. They might become less active and take a little more "coaxing" to bite. Langford Lake, Shawnigan Lake, Prospect Lake and Elk and Beaver Lakes are the best bass lakes. St. Mary’s Lake on Salt Spring Island is also a great lake.

Island Outfitters, 3319 Douglas St., Victoria, ph: 475-4969

WEST SHORE REPORT Pedder Bay, Sooke, Langford

Fisheries updates: Halibut: closed. Prawn: pulse fishing now in affect. Last 2 weeks of every month. Lingcod and rock cod: closed.

Saltwater overview - Sooke: fishing for springs has been fair. There has been a few winter springs and coho caught around Constance Bank off Victoria as well as Sooke. The fish have been found down between 60’ and 130' on the downriggers. Anchovies behind a flasher have been producing the best success. Effective leaders range from 4'-6'. Hootchies and squirts in finishes such as Purple Haze, Electric Chair, white, white rainbow, Clover Leaf, and J-79 have been picking up a few fish. Best hootchie leader lengths have varied from 48-28". Try using spoons as well in the typical blue/nickel, green/nickel, glow Cop Car, green/glow.

Freshwater overview - Trout fishing has been decent as the local lakes are cooling down. Shore casters, still doing okay on Powerbait in a variety of colours (lemon lime, and fluorescent yellow and sunrise being the most popular colours). Various scents such as shrimp, herring, salmon egg, and X-10 oils are used to coat the eggs.

If you’re heading out there and plan on using flies, use a sinking line (sink rate of 3-6 inches per second) to reach the fish sitting at the lower depths because of the thermocline. Olive, brown and black and olive leeches/buggers have been the most productive.

Troll with Rainbow Wedding Bands, tipped with a worm behind a gang troll, fishing deep.

Email us notable catches, pictures, etc. info@westshoresportfishing.com

Craig and crew at West Shore Sport Fishing Centre, 117-693 Hoffman Ave., (Victoria) off Veterans Memorial Pkwy., Langford, 250-298-HOOK (4665)

SOOKE REPORT

From November to the end of March, the salmon fishing in Sooke is excellent. The winter springs range from 5 to 20 lb.

There are times when you can catch 30 to 50 fish in four hours.

From February to end of May the halibut fishing is also very good. For our weather, the seas are usually very calm. The temperature usually aren’t that cold. If you like fishing, this is a fishing trip you can't pass up. It is fantastic!

Winter rates run until April 30.

Until next time happy faces and tight lines.

Al Kennedy, Reel Excitement Salmon Charters, www.salmonexcitement.com  email fishing@salmonexcitement.com  250-642-3410 cell 250-880-1004

LAKE COWICHAN AREA REPORT + Port Renfrew & Nitinat

Saltwater - Sansum Narrows and The Bluff are good for winter chinook fishing. Troll 100 feet with anchovies and flasher, also jerkers doing well. Fish up to 12 lb. Prawning and crabbing going strong.

Freshwater - Cowichan Lake fishing has picked up. Try trolling creek mouths with three inch Tomic plugs in the new amazing iridescent colours. Also good success with Apex lures and Wonder Spoons. And try out the new Sea-four lures. They come in awesome new colour patterns. The design of the lure when heated in hot water enables you to adjust the action.

Fly casting at creek mouths with Wooley Buggers or leeches is also productive.

Remember bait ban and single barbless hooks until April 15, 2012. Cutthroat and rainbow trout over 50 cm must be released.

Kissinger and Lizard lakes to the west, good rainbow trout fishing, try Corky and single egg rig off the docks and beaches. Trolling with small Spratley’s, leeches, Wooley Buggers, Flatfish and small spoons.

Fuller Lake, Chemainus Lake, Dougan’s Lake, Quamichan Lake, and Somenos Lake also producing well. These seven lakes have been recently stocked.

Cowichan River Trout Fishing: Mid-river resident rainbow and brown trout. Single egg copies.

Skutz Falls to 70.2 trestle excellent for browns and rainbows. Single egg copies and minnow or Rolled Mudler flies. Stanley creek to 70.2 trestle loaded with rainbows that have dropped from the lake to dine on the salmon eggs and prepare for spawning. The largest browns in the river are found in this section. Flies of choice: single egg patterns, Rolled Mudlers, Prince Nymphs, Hairs Ear Nymphs, Pheasant Tail Nymphs. Stick to the bead heads and weighted flies - the river is still quite high and it is important to get down deep.

The Cowichan River will open for retention of one (1) coho salmon (over 25 cm) from Skutz Falls to the Highway No. 1 Bridge (Silver Bridge), in Duncan, until 23:59 hrs December 31, 2011 (jack or adult).

Steelhead Fishing - Cowichan River: Try Silver Bridge area for early steelhead. Pink worms, blades, Spin-N- Glows are your best bets. Mid-river (Riverbottom Road area) try pink worms, blades and smaller roe imitations. December/January yields the largest fish of the season followed by the February/March run of smaller but more plentiful fish.

Nitinat, San Juan, Harris Creek: All excellent rivers for late summer-runs and winter steelhead. Best fished when coming off of high water.

Fly Fishing: Heavy sink tip lines are necessary when the rivers are running in winter conditions.

Flies of choice: Always popular egg and roe copies, General Practitioners in black or orange, Squamish Poachers, and any large and bushy fly. The best of the best are Jim Humphrey’s Intruder Flies that could entice a strike at any time.

Put your time in and as the weather improves the odds of landing a winter steelhead will only get better.

May your rod bend to the butt and your smile go from ear to ear.

Stop by the store for current fishing report.   View our webpage   www.cowichanflyandtackle.ca

Gord March, Cowichan Fly & Tackle 82 South Shore Road, Lake Cowichan BC 250-749-4964

NANAIMO FISHING REPORT

Fishing in most Island lakes has proven to be fairly successful. As the weather cools down and water temperatures drop, trout tend to move towards the bottom.

Trolling a size six Flatfish or Kwikfish rigged with a worm on the hook should help entice a feeding frenzy. Trolling Wedding Bands and gang trolls rigged with worms will also ensure many strikes in your days fishing.

Anglers fishing from shore should tie on a bottom fishing rig using a slip weight and a Powerbait egg. Casting Blue Fox spinners and Bolos should also produce trout.

The Nanaimo River opened up for salmon fishing, giving anglers a chance to hook into either a chum or a coho. Casting spoons and spinners in deeper slower moving water, and in faster water anglers were casting a float rigged with a piece of blue or purple yarn. With salmon moving up the rivers, trout anglers can look forward to some very productive cutthroat trout fishing. Try egg pattern flies or small Blue Fox spinners.

Steelhead should begin running up the rivers over the next couple of months. Steelhead tend to bite pink plastic worms, and salmon egg imitations. On rivers without bait bans, sand shrimp and natural roe will ensure many strikes.

Gone Fishin’, 600-2980 North Island Hwy. ,Nanaimo, ph: 250-758-7726

PARKSVILLE / FRENCH CREEK REPORT

Saltwater - There was a good chum salmon fishery off the beaches and off-shore, but it’s tapering off now. The seiners and gillnetters went through, that brought an end to the sport fishery. They’re still fishing chum in the rivers.

The harbour expansion project in French Creek has really taken its toll on fishing. They’re ripping out the old breakwater and putting in a new one, expanding the harbour by 1/3. Each day they dump 40-50 loads of boulders, stirring up silt and sounding like depth charges, and spooking the feed and the fish. That expansion project is supposed to be done by January; after we may get a winter spring fishery. Fishing usually begins in December and runs through March. Drop a crab trap while you’re out there.

The hatchery reported that there were good numbers of coho.

Bottom fishing remains closed, expect it to open up again in the spring.

Freshwater - The Little and Big Qualicum rivers have been providing decent fishing for chum salmon. Casting jigs and yarn have been effective.

Trout fishing on the local lakes should be worth pursuing through the winter. Pick a nice day and dress warm.

Casting Blue Fox #1 and #1 spinners or bottom fishing with worms or Power Bait are good ways to hook into the bigger trout. Fly fishers will want to use sinking line and wet patterns like Wooly Buggers.

Cameron and Horne lakes can produce some big fish in winter, especially if you’re trolling deep.

French Creek Marina Store 5 - 1025 Lee Rd., Parksville, ph: 250-248-8912

ALBERNI & BARKLEY SOUND REPORT

Saltwater - There is the odd spring salmon out there, but fishing for winter springs will really pick up at the beginning of January and run through to the end of March.

Some of the areas that are usually productive for springs include 10 Mile Point and further out at Nahmint Bay, Vernon Bay, Pill Point and the Bamfield Wall.

Productive depths for winter springs are from 100 feet down to 150 feet. Small anchovies are the best bait. You can also do well trolling with 3-1/2 and 4 inch spoons in Cop Car and Nasty Boy.

Freshwater - The rivers were full of returning chum and coho, but that fishery has come to an end for this year. There’s some steelhead in the Stamp now but look for the big run of winter steelhead to show up in December. Around Christmas we have some of the best steelheading using pink Spin-N-Glo with a bit of peach yarn. Trout beads with a bit of yarn, or Gooey Bobs, or imitation egg clusters are also good lures. Corkies in pink and red are also good baits. In high and dark waters switch to big pink worms for greater visibility. The river is closed for bait.

Fishing with Hot Shot plugs off the Great Central Lake bridge is a great opportunity to fish from shore using these effective trolling lures.

The trout in the lakes are a bit docile right now. Gang trolls with a Kokanee Flatfish, or a black Flatfish with silver specks can get their attention. A bit of worm on the end will help. Lake fishing can be very productive in the early winter especially when you target creek mouths using salmon roe during and just after heavy rainfall.

Good luck. Gone Fishin’, 5069 Johnston, Port Alberni, ph: 250-723-1172

COURTENAY / COMOX REPORT

The winter months are a fantastic time to head out and fish for winter springs. Keep a close eye on your sounder as Denman Island has many potential hot spots. Feeder springs will hit mainly on smaller Tomic Plugs, no bigger than 4". They will also try to feed on needlefish hootchies, anchovies, and 3.5" spoons.

Tribune Bay at Hornby Island is a great spot for crabbing as it’s a shallow bay with a nice flat bottom, the perfect feeding grounds for crabs. Prawning is always at its best from December to May. Make sure to be in an average of 300’ of water and close to a ledge if possible. Always use Ace of Baits pellets with a mixture of either Ace of Baits prawn scent or Pautzke with Carlyle Cat Tuna. These mixtures will give you top results.

Winter time is perfect for cutthroat fishing in our local lakes. Some whoppers have been caught in Comox Lake in the past years. Trolling slow near creak mouths with a 3"-4" Tomic plug or a larger Flatfish can produce some beauts! Fry and leach patterns also work well for fly casting and dragging behind your boat while trolling or rowing. Casting with spoons near creek mouths is also very productive. Bottom fishing from shore with roe or worms is fantastic all year round.

Check out our new web-site at www.tyeemarine.com or join us on facebook at tyeemarine@telus.net

Kerry Amos, Tyee Marine (Peter’s Sport Shop) 870 Cliffe Ave., Courtenay, 334-2942

CAMPBELL RIVER AREA REPORT

Saltwater - Chum fishing is becoming less productive as the bulk of the run has now passed through our local waters.

The bright spot is that there are good numbers of feeder or winter chinook (springs) holding in the Lighthouse and Hump areas. These fish are typically here for most of the winter, until the herring spawn in March. Smaller than mature summer chinook, winter springs key on smaller bait and tackle offerings.

Tomic plugs in 4", and 4" Tubby sizes are good choices, as well as needlefish hootchies and 3.5 or 4" Coyote spoons.

Freshwater fishing has slowed down in rivers as the coho salmon run tapers off. November is typically quiet, with little effort until the first winter steelhead arrive near the end of the month.

Lake fishing has been excellent as it usually is this time of year. The mouth of nearly every creek flowing into lakes will produce. Cutthtroat spawn over winter and are congregating close to their native streams by now.

Call in your fishing reports or e-mail: tyeemarine@telus.net

Tyee Marine, 880 Island Hwy., Campbell River, 250-287-2641

NOOTKA SOUND - MOUTCHA BAY FISHING REPORT

Matt Kuharic won our Labour Day weekend kayak fishing derby with his 27 lb. chinook. Have you ever seen a 27 pounder tow a kayak around – amazing! Matt hooked and landed his winner right in front of the lodge.

After a great season. We closed the resort Sept. 20 until the spring. Moutcha Bay is located right where the staging salmon wait for fall rains before entering the rivers to spawn. There’s great fishing within the sight of the property. In the mornings and evenings we can catch fish right off the docks. When guests and guides want a change, we head up one of the five rivers in our area and try fly fishing or tossing spoons and spinners for the same salmon while they are still bright chrome, and full of energy. The Conuma River is one of the only rivers left on Vancouver Island with catch-and-keep freshwater opportunities; this autumn’s retention was two chinook and two coho daily, hatchery or wild.

We will be expanding our facility over this coming off-season, adding additional yurts, and more camping and RV sites.

Moutcha Bay Resort & Nootka Marine Adventures,

250-337-8834 or 1-877-337-5464   www.nootkamarineadventures.com

WINTER SPRING FISHING TIPS

It’s winter spring salmon time, why not maximize your fishing enjoyment by matching your gear to the size of the fish. Put away your heavy salmon tackle that you use for those 20 lb.+ fish and use trout or steelhead rods for fishing the 6 to 10 lb. winter chinooks. When fished off of a downrigger, you’ll catch just as many fish and have a ball doing it.

When you are trolling deep for winter chinooks and using a downrigger, you should make sure that your release clip is attached with at least 3 feet of leader. This long leader will make it easier to see rod tip action, indicating an undersized grilse is on the line, and allowing you to quickly reel in and release the fish and get back to trolling for the big boys.

Speed up for winter springs! They are much more active feeders than the summer fish, and by trolling a little faster than you would in the summer you can cover more water and present your lure to more fish. And don’t forget to keep your bait close to the bottom too.

Tips from Island Outfitters Sportfishing Center, Victoria