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ALBERNI SOCKEYE LIMIT 4

Comox Valley

The Hump off Kitty Coleman still seems to be the local hotspot for Chinook fishing. Though fishing has slowed up a fair amount, anglers continues to bring in fish in the 8 to 15 lb range with the odd 20 plus pound fish in the mix.
Reports of coho off Lazo are telling of large numbers of hatchery fish being caught (hatchery coho still being the only retainable coho) with triple headers not uncommon. These fish seem to be suspended from 75 feet of water down to the bottom in about 200 feet of water.
The new baitrix strips seem to be the ticket in both the smaller blue, and the larger black styles. It would appear the UV finish is making a big difference in performance, something to keep in mind for targeting Chinook as well.
The ants are hatching in large numbers now that we have had some sun for more that one day in a row. Fly fishers would do well to bring dry fly patterns in black to entice fish. Unfortunately while this is a great angling opportunity, once the fish are full of ants they will sulk on bottom for a week while they digest. This can make for some slow fishing, there isn’t a lot you can do to excite a trout with a stomach ache.
With weather warming up, anglers may want to move away from fishing the smaller lakes, and try hitting the bigger lakes as the water temperature is still a lot lower. This means fish aren’t as likely to wait out the heat on bottom, and fish you do catch are much easier to revive and have a better survival rate due to the higher oxygen levels in the water.
Worms and powerbait are still top choices for targeting trout on bottom, but more and more trout anglers seem to be taking to trolling for trout using small tomic plugs, flatfish, spoons, and laketrolls.

Port Alberni

Labour Day weekend is fast approaching and with it comes the biggest weekend of the year for Port Alberni. The 39^th annual salmon festival is just under 2 weeks away and expectations are for some large Chinook to be caught. Fishing for the month so far has been hit and miss, However, over the last week areas of Barkley Sound and the Alberni Inlet have been picking up. Assists Island, Pill Point and Diplock have seen some nice springs get caught. Cop Car, Nasty Boy and the Bad Attitude have been some effective spoons. Also, various colours of hoochies have been working too. White, oil slick and glow seem to be catching fish in the sound. If you’re fishing in the Inlet, Lone Tree Point and Holm Island seem to be the spots. In here pink hoochies and smaller coyote spoons seem to do the trick. Of course running bait in any of these areas is always a good bet. While Chinook numbers are low this year for Robertson creek, the Coho run is expected to be good to very good, so if you’re trolling around not catching much it might be a good bet to try spoons trolled fast and with a little shorter leader. Around 32 to 36inches is pretty standard for these explosive fish.

It is also opening day today for the Stamp River and we already had some reports of fish caught. The fisheries’ notice has been posted and the limits for the river are 2 springs only 1 may be over 77cm and 2 Coho hatchery or wild. The bait ban remains in place until later in the year. Fishing in here should be good. In slower water, spinners such as blue foxes, bolo’s and kroc’s will be effective. In faster water try using some wool in chartreuse, red or white. The Gun Club, Galaxy Way trailer park and Somass park are good easily accessible spots to try this fishery.

As for the lakes, as usual, the larger lakes are producing nice fish trolled or shore fished. As we approach the fall though the smaller lakes like Loon, Dixon and Lowery will become a lot more active. Trolling here with a small gang troll and flat fish or shore fished with worm and bober will catch you some nice trout.

RIVER MAPS

Nanaimo

Now is a good time for an another gear check as the big fish are showing up; look at your fishing line for signs of fraying, all rod guides for nicks, hooks for rust and sharpness. It is also a good time to get your Scotty downriggers serviced to ensure it will perform throughout the season. We have Scotty technicians at all of our stores.

Chinook salmon have been caught in the Nanaimo area like Neck Pt, Icarus Pt, Bellinas, Winchelsea and off the Five Finger Islands. Pick up the hot new Rhys Davis Bulletroll Teaser head with a larger cavity, introducing new pre-drilled holes for special wire rigging. Five inch coyote spoons such as the Nasty Boy, Army Truck and Green Glow colors should produce a few fish. Also try trolling Green Spackle Back, Blood & Bones or Purple Haze hoochies. For flashers, go to colors are the classic Green Glow and Red Glow and are always the most popular with fisherman. Anglers looking to try some newer colours should try the Oki Purple Onion and Kinetic flashers. Jigging Buzz Bombs and Gibbs Minnows around the Bellinas Island area has proven successful. Anglers should be on the look- out for larger schools of bait.

Pink Salmon have been showing in Departure Bay and at the mouth of the Millstream River. New in season regulation changes for Departure Bay include the use of single barbless with a 15mm or less hook to shank measurement. Small Blue Fox spinners, Gibbs minnow jigs, A-Just-A Bubble float trailing a pink fly 3-4 ft will entice these salmon to bite. In season changes for the Millstream are use of artificial fly only. Remember rule of thumb for pinks is use something pink.

Area 17 regulations: Lingcod open May 1^st, 2010. There will be a daily limit of 1 with a size limit of 65cm and annual limit of 10. Rockfish will also open on May 1^st, 2010 limit of 1 per day (no size or annual limits), check your regional regulations and be aware of local Rockfish Conservation Areas. Jigging at depths of 40 to 80 feet with Zingers, BuzzBombs and other jigs will catch a lot of fish. Most colours should produce fish but a historically good colour is white. Try jigging whole herring or tipping hooks with squid. Be sure to pick a heavy gauge hook as anglers will most likely be bouncing bottom. Cod fishing is a fun and productive way to pass some time while waiting on those crab or prawn traps.

Nanaimo area lakes are heating up with Bass fishing using Rapala X-Rap or Countdown minnow plugs, soft plastic worms rig either Texas Style or Carolina Rig fished towards Shore. Fly fishers using 4-6 wt rods with floating line using Frog patterns and Bass poppers.

Top producing lakes include Fuller Lake, Westwood Lake, Green Lake and Long Lake.