blog catch-up

  I really got out of the habit of keeping up with this Blog .  There is a lots to show and tell , and maybe I'll get some of it done here .  Stand by.  In the meantime , for looking forward , know that the forecast for our 2026 fishing is darn good , see previous post . 

2026, More Good Fishing To Come

 We have more of the same high expectations for 2026 . 

 Winter chinook fishing was very good. Indicators like juvenile chinooks growing locally and early cohos showing in abundant numbers in Georgia Strait are looking good and similar to the last several years which have been wonderful fishing . The returns of chinook to the rivers that produce most of our catch were very good for 2025 . Many of those were well above their spawning targets.  Things are looking darn good for planning your fishing trip .  I just said good several times . 

  A wrinkle is that all chinook stocks are not doing well, and we avoid the particular weak ones by regulation with non-retention of chinooks when a few of these early season Upper Fraser migrants might be passing by in the nearby migration channels.  So, from  April 1 to July 15 we can take day trips to the mainland side of our area, which is a great excuse for getting out into the scenic back country.  

 In a nutshell , fishing prospects look good.  If you are interested in learning more detail about the 2026 BC South Coast Forecast , take a look at Jeremy Maynard's article by that title in the March -April issue of Island Fisherman Magazine .  ( It may not be easily available online yet but worth pursuing if you want more backgrounding.)  

 

The Best of Times !

 

 

 The Best of Times 

  These are the best of times.  The latest measure is the 2023 return of Chinook salmon to the Fraser River, the major producer of Chinook salmon on the coast, which had the largest return since 1979 ! !( Extra Exclamation Mark ! ).   This year is shaping up strong as well .  Plus, the numbers of juvenile chinooks we’re encountering indicate good fishing for the coming years.  We don’t need the official count to know that the abundance of chinooks is high because we experience it in very good fishing .

 

 Yet, it is complicated.   We have regulations to limit the catch of weak stocks of chinooks that might pass by.  The particularly weak stocks are a type that spend a year in the freshwater streams before heading to sea, as contrasted to the ocean-type which go directly to sea.  Those few stream-type adults pass through our area in early season to spend all summer swimming upstream to spawn in the Upper Fraser where they and their offspring have numerous environmental challenges such as low water from diminishing glaciers and snowpack, warm water, forest fires, etc.  We can fish all year around, however in the period April 1 to July 15 we must travel out of the migration route of those stocks.  The fishing trips for chinooks in that time period are lovely scenic trips requiring a full day and these are some of my favourite trips. 

 There is an excellent article about the abundant and historic Chinook return written by Dr Richard Beamish and Chrys Neville in the Island Fisherman Magazine, May issue.  

 

  And cohos, too !  The recreational catches of coho salmon in the Strait of Georgia in 2023 and 2024 were the best since 1994.   This is a welcome improvement from those years in the early 1990s when the coho population declined and the remainder moved out to rear in the open ocean.  Again, I’ll point you to an article by Dr Richard Beamish and Chrys Neville , titled “Why So many Coho ? “, in the IFM , March/April issue.  This year the cohos are back again in excellent numbers.

 

 Yet, it is complicated.  In spite of the terrific abundance of cohos, the regulations allow retention of 2 hatchery marked cohos and no wild cohos until September 1.  This is meant to allow rebuilding and especially help the Fraser coho which mostly pass by before September 1, leaving good fishing for later-timed runs. 

 

 This ironic situation of abundant salmon but modest allowances for retention can be hard to explain to potential anglers.   The vitality of life in our area has been increasing with a trend toward more plankton in the nutritious soup bowl that is Georgia Strait and the nearby channels.  Herring live here and feed the salmon.  Humpback Whales are now very common to see as they slurp it all up.  Fishing is a fun and exciting and you get to keep some.  It is so good, even if the backstory is complicated.  

 

 

Planning April 1 to July 15

Yes, we can fish all year round.  I'd like to clear up some possible confusion and add an update. 

In the time period from April 1 until July 15 we love to fish in the channels and inlets on the mainland side of our area. This includes a wonderful scenic trip and requires a full day.  This is really a favourite time for me. 

If you only have a half day available you can choose a mix of coho fishing and participating in science research for chinooks. We will be measuring fish for length, taking a tissue samples for DNA which will identify the salmon's home river, and  tagging each fish with a tiny electronic tag. You will have the full experience of chinook fishing but no keeping.  All the chinooks will handled minimally and released carefully.  Cohos are smaller than chinooks and until September only hatchery marked cohos can be retained. The update is that in recent years very good numbers of coho have come back to live with us in Georgia Strait and lots of fun when you find a school of them. 

There is no downside at all if you are planning a day trip.  The fishing is good as ever. However, there is no retention of Chinooks in our nearest waters in the period April 1 to July 15.  

 Backgrounder.

It may seem odd to have restrictive fishing regulations when Chinooks appear to be so abundant. The reason for these regulations is to conserve certain weak stocks of Chinooks which migrate though our area in the spring and early summer.  Actually only a small minority of those particular fish migrate past us on the Inside Passage while the majority travel in the open ocean and turn in around the south end of Vancouver Island, heading for the Fraser River.   Those fish swim upstream in summer, far into the interior of BC to spawn in the tributaries of the upper Fraser. They have many challenges which are unrelated to fishing ; droughts with low water levels, warm water, excessive logging, landslides, chemical pollution from Vancouver, and more.  Furthermore, there are two types of chinooks, ones that go to sea in the same spring that they hatch and ones that spend a whole year in the freshwater streams before descending to the ocean.  The stream type chinooks are having trouble coping in our warmer modern world.  

 The ocean passages and inlets on the mainland side of our fishing area are away from the migration routes of those challenged chinooks, so we are still allowed retention of chinooks there during the April 1 to July15 time period.   

 

Holes in the Posts

  I have left big gaps in posting.  Fishing has been steady and good.  Too busy to go back and back-fill. 

December 31, 2024 . Last chance of the year.

  The last day of the year .  I slipped out for a bit of fishing all by myself . 

  

Silent Auction Tyee Fishing

   Check this out.  I'm donating a pair of rowboat fishing trips to support good causes for fish.  . The Campbell River Salmon Foundation has a reciprocal arrangement with the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society.  I'm glad to help both groups for their good work .  You can contribute too, with your bid.  

Here is a link to the auction .  See all the items , and this one is # 36 .  The on-line auction ends May 6 at the time of the Gala dinner. 

 2023-2024 FRSCS Sturgeon Conservation Challenge | Silent Auction Items | All Lots | Powered by Givergy (sturgeonchallenge.com)

 The auction item description looks like this : 

Two guided rowboat fishing trips in the 100-year-old tradition of the Tyee Club of BC, with Rick Hackinen of Brightfish Charters. For one to two anglers in the rowboat. The tackle is simple sporting tackle according to the rules, and you will handle it all yourself. All these mature chinooks are exciting and if you are lucky to catch one over 30 lbs. you can join the prestigious Tyee Club.

Each trip of 2 ½ hours is to be scheduled near to each other according to availability, on the same day, or on consecutive days, within the dates Aug 5 to Sept 15.

                         https://gobrightfish.com/tyee-fishing/  

 The Campbell River Fishing Guides Association has also donated a motorboat trip, which I helped organize as Chair of the CRFGA,  see Item # 25. 

Early season fishing the back country 2024

Planning 2024, Fishing the backcountry, April 1 to July 14

 One of my very favorite fishing trips is getting out into the marine backcountry with a lovely trip to the mainland side of our area in the early season.  It is a lovely picturesque cruise to where the ocean channels weave into the mountains.  

    

 We can

Website ;   www.gobrightfish.com 

     250 830 8680

    gobrightfish@gmail.com

 

More March great fishing

 Swapping stories of earlier days with a couple of other old-timers, and getting interrupted by the occasional fish.  These guys were already well established guides when I started.  They influenced my style of guiding.  
 

sargassum seaweed

A bit of floating seaweed with herring eggs attached.  This probably got blown up to here from the spawning areas further south. Notice the eyes in the eggs. 

This Sargassum seaweed is an invasive species .  https://www.exoticsguide.org/sargassum_muticum 

 

a Recapture today

 Today in the micro-trolling research project we recaptured a chinook that was first tagged by a micro-trolling crew nearly exactly a year ago near Nanaimo .  It grew from 237 to 470 mm. 

  It is regular procedure to scan every fish on the chance that it could be carrying a PIT tag.  This is the first recap that we've had in our boat that was tagged by micro-trolling in a previous year.  

Loonie Spoon works

The Loonie Spoon was catching fish today. 

 

March fishing continues being very good

Great guests , great weather , great fishing . 

Citizen Science

We're helping in salmon science research, again, as we have done for many years.  You'll be participating in the Avid Anglers Program.  We'll be recording the details of all the salmon we catch or release .   We'll  measure length and get a tissue sample for DNA which will be analyzed to identify the home river of each fish .  Also, the fish we release will get a PIT tag , a tiny electronic tag inserted in the body cavity, and then carefully released.  All my guests have been very supportive and gain a feel-good experience to contribute to the salmon knowledge base.   

 

Good News ! Amazing Chinook Abundance and More Good News !!

 

 The numbers are in for the returns of the chinook stocks that we fish for the most.  The counts are terrific. We remember the super fishing all year. The number of chinooks that returned to their rivers exceeded expectations and often by huge margins . 

Here are some numbers . 

The Thomson/Shuswap (called 4.1s) , in contrast to returns in recent decades of 75,000 to 100,000, in 2023 the estimated return was 627,000 !!!  Those are the short-nosed bullets that some people mistakenly call Columbias .  They are far north migrating and we generally fish for them in the narrow channel migration corridors in the north part of our fishing area. 

 The Harrison River stock came back at 150,000 , which is twice the escapement goal.  Those Lower Fraser  stocks make up most of the white-fleshed chinooks we catch in our area.  These chinooks tend to stick around in Georgia Strait, anchored by the abundant herring.  

Cowichan Chinook came back at 21,000 , with an escapement goal of 6,500.  These fish are very important in the Georgia Strait fishery, and they have grown back from low numbers years ago. 

 We have fishing restrictions with ample margins of precaution to protect weak stocks.  The strong returns are the main stocks we historically fish for.  It is such good news . 

 Even more good news is that indicators for the 2024 season continue to be very good.  Locally, the winter fishing for the growing immature chinooks has been extraordinary, for both number and size. 

What could be better ?  Add cohos .  Even more good news is that significant numbers of cohos are showing up inside Georgia Strait to indicate that a large portion of them are choosing to stick around rather than going out to sea.   We had wonderful coho fishing last year from cohos that stayed inside and it looks like things could be shaping up for that situation again ! 

For more detail , here is a cut and paste piece from the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia. 

. Information recently reported by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) offers excellent news regarding Chinook recovery and productivity. After several cycles of below average returns, some key stocks have rebounded leading to an abundance of Chinook in BC south coast waters that has not been seen in decades, or maybe ever. This surge and rebound is creating consistent angling success for all sectors and even greater availability of Chinook in BC waters for our iconic SRKW. 

There are two life histories of Chinook salmon based on the length of time they spend in fresh water before entering the ocean. . Ocean type Chinook spend only a few months or less in the river, quickly moving into tidal waters. Stream type Chinook spend at least a full year and up to two years in river before heading out to the ocean. It appears that 4-year ocean type chinook, known as 4.1s, are benefitting from current ocean conditions and other as-yet-undetermined factors that are influencing their survival and productivity. 

2023 returns of Summer 4.1 Chinook, which enter the Fraser July to September and spawn in the Thompson\Shuswap area, are currently estimated by DFO to be an unprecedented 627,000 fish! To provide perspective of how impressive that number is, average returns for the past decade have been in the 75,000 to 100,000 range. This Summer 4.1  stock is known to be far north migrating and therefore contributes to fisheries throughout the BC coast. Lower Fraser Fall 4.1 Chinook, which enter the Fraser River in August to October and spawn in tributaries below Hope,  are seeing similar recovery as evidenced by the return of  the Harrison River indicator stock. The Harrison River stock, closely monitored to provide a proxy for all the other rivers that make up the larger Fall 4.1 stock group, returned at 150,000, over double the science-based escapement goal. Cowichan Chinook, another carefully monitored indicator stock, is estimated at 21,000 and has been well over its science-based escapement goal of 6500 for over 7 years now. Enhanced Chinook returns to Barkley Sound are estimated at 200,000, and all West and East Coast Vancouver Island enhanced runs returns are at high levels of abundance in 2023. 

What’s even better news is the salmon outlook for 2024 indicates we can expect similar levels of abundance for these key stocks for the upcoming season. This is great news for , all fishing sectors, coastal and riverside communities, and should provide historic levels of prey for SRKW as they frequent the migration routes of these highly abundant stocks during the time, they are present in their greatest numbers, and at their largest sizes. 

So, while there are still salmon stocks along our coast that require attention, monitoring, enhancement, and support to aid in their recovery, the Chinook stocks detailed above are important indicators, well worth highlighting, and bona fide good news for Chinook, SRKW, and angling in BC for 2024 and beyond!

Bottlenecks to Survival Program

  Here is a video that shows what the Bottleneck To Survival science program is. 

I have been participating for several years .  It is just 4 1/2 minutes .   ( I'm in the last few minutes, and there are some cool shots of the boat from the air.    

Bottlenecks to Survival Program Volunteers (youtube.com)  

February. Winter chinook fishing keeps on being excellent

  The winter fish are looking good for both number and size,  They will keep growing like teenagers though spring and summer.   

Anticipating cohos

 If there is a strong coho population in our local waters again, as there was last year, it will be such a fun addition to our already great chinook fishing.  This photo shows a super July day when it all came together for these fellows, with one right-sized chinook and one hatchery marked coho each.  Indications are looking good for 2024.  
 

Surprise Winter Cohos

Cohos were biting our micro-trolling gear February 9 . Shamra and I were out for a half day just to check out the nearby area around Shelter Point for young chinooks for the Bottleneck science project . 

This especially interesting because nobody is catching cohos among the sport fishing boats.  We caught 17 in bunches when we ran into a schools.   This looks like a very good sign that significant numbers of cohos are staying inside Georgia Strait, as they did for the great coho fishing last year.   They will be true "Blueback " size by spring . 

December . Winter fishing is very good .