2021 Nanaimo Reports

Out this morning before the wind blew up. Couldn’t find any coho but the chinook fishing is nuts. Lost track after 20 fish in the first 3 hours. A lot of them are small like 30cm with a decent amount in the 40-50 cm range and some that definitely would have been keepers if they were open. Lots of doubles and sometimes couldn’t keep more than 1 line down. Small 3 inch night rider spoon out fished hootchie 4-1. 135-170 on the rigger in 120-200ft of water.
 

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Went out this evening for couple hours with the family. Little bumpy but they toughed it out. Went out deep to look for coho. Released 2 beautiful wild coho, one was decently big. Couple hits that didn’t stick ( I am believing they were hatchery to keep my spirits up). Couple shakers.
120 on the riggers was hot ( thanks @Aces ) small 3” AP spoon caught the coho.
 
Seems to have slowed down a bit out there but still some good ones around. Lots of coho shakers today with some small springs mixed in. About 10 minutes before we were about to pack it in we had a huge hit, peeling line before I even got it out of the rod holder. Passed it to one of my clients who had only reeled in a few small ones earlier on. He quickly realized it wasn’t going to be as easy! Some crazy freight train runs away and to the boat. Finally got it into the catch and release net. Weighed at the side of the boat in the net at 28 pounds. Brought in for a few quick pictures and back it went healthy as can be. This fish had some solid scars on it that were completely healed up, amazing how resilient these fish can be. Nice to see such good size this early in the season. Was caught on a 3” chrome spoon 170’.B53AC081-72F8-4BE9-8EE6-AC817083B9F4.jpegA328ABE3-7378-4006-8340-70423D5A8AAC.jpeg
 
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Unreel said:
Seems to have slowed down a bit out there but still some good ones around. Lots of coho shakers today with some small springs mixed in. About 10 minutes before we were about to pack it in we had a huge hit, peeling line before I even got it out of the rod holder. Passed it to one of my clients who had only reeled in a few small ones earlier on. He quickly realized it wasn’t going to be as easy! Some crazy freight train runs away and to the boat. Finally got it into the catch and release net. Weighed at the side of the boat in the net at 28 pounds. Brought in for a few quick pictures and back it went healthy as can be. This fish had some solid scars on it that were completely healed up, amazing how resilient these fish can be. Nice to see such good size this early in the season. Was caught on a 3” chrome spoon 170’.View attachment 67999View attachment 68000
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Well done!
 
Was out by entrance on Tuesday evening, was really nice out, borderline too hot for me. We got a few smalls, and had about 4 or 5 tiny ones dragging around we didn't notice. So great time on the water, but not so great fishing. However, we were also out the previous Friday. It was a bit windy and rough, didn't see any other boats out, but it was worth it! My father in law had me check his gear. So I pull it in, check it, it's all good, crimp a missed barb, ask him "So you still want to run the hoochie?" Yup, so I drop it down as per his request to 150' on the rigger, we're in under 200' of water, maybe 160/180. Pretty quickly it goes off, and not like I've ever experienced before. I tell him fish on, and its a nice one! He grabs the rod, gets a quick reminder why they call them knuckle busters, and starts fighting the fish. He must have asked me like 3 times, "Are you sure it's not snagged?" Like no man, we're drifting and the line peel is real. So we land the biggest fish we've ever caught, take a quick weight, and send it back on its way. It was at least 32+ as the wind had picked up and had a little trouble managing. Let it rest, revive, and swam away strong. Then he asks me if we should head back in???? No way I say. I tried to put the gear back out, but it was too windy, so we headed back in. Too choppy to get a good glamor shot with the fish, so this is the best I could manage. White/pearl hoochie.
 

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blazin_jason said:
Was out by entrance on Tuesday evening, was really nice out, borderline too hot for me. We got a few smalls, and had about 4 or 5 tiny ones dragging around we didn't notice. So great time on the water, but not so great fishing. However, we were also out the previous Friday. It was a bit windy and rough, didn't see any other boats out, but it was worth it! My father in law had me check his gear. So I pull it in, check it, it's all good, crimp a missed barb, ask him "So you still want to run the hoochie?" Yup, so I drop it down as per his request to 150' on the rigger, we're in under 200' of water, maybe 160/180. Pretty quickly it goes off, and not like I've ever experienced before. I tell him fish on, and its a nice one! He grabs the rod, gets a quick reminder why they call them knuckle busters, and starts fighting the fish. He must have asked me like 3 times, "Are you sure it's not snagged?" Like no man, we're drifting and the line peel is real. So we land the biggest fish we've ever caught, take a quick weight, and send it back on its way. It was at least 32+ as the wind had picked up and had a little trouble managing. Let it rest, revive, and swam away strong. Then he asks me if we should head back in???? No way I say. I tried to put the gear back out, but it was too windy, so we headed back in. Too choppy to get a good glamor shot with the fish, so this is the best I could manage. White/pearl hoochie.
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Awesome fish!
 
blazin_jason said:
Was out by entrance on Tuesday evening, was really nice out, borderline too hot for me. We got a few smalls, and had about 4 or 5 tiny ones dragging around we didn't notice. So great time on the water, but not so great fishing. However, we were also out the previous Friday. It was a bit windy and rough, didn't see any other boats out, but it was worth it! My father in law had me check his gear. So I pull it in, check it, it's all good, crimp a missed barb, ask him "So you still want to run the hoochie?" Yup, so I drop it down as per his request to 150' on the rigger, we're in under 200' of water, maybe 160/180. Pretty quickly it goes off, and not like I've ever experienced before. I tell him fish on, and its a nice one! He grabs the rod, gets a quick reminder why they call them knuckle busters, and starts fighting the fish. He must have asked me like 3 times, "Are you sure it's not snagged?" Like no man, we're drifting and the line peel is real. So we land the biggest fish we've ever caught, take a quick weight, and send it back on its way. It was at least 32+ as the wind had picked up and had a little trouble managing. Let it rest, revive, and swam away strong. Then he asks me if we should head back in???? No way I say. I tried to put the gear back out, but it was too windy, so we headed back in. Too choppy to get a good glamor shot with the fish, so this is the best I could manage. White/pearl hoochie.
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Nice one!
 
Has anyone pawned pylades channel or the other side of de courcy island? Looks max 200'
 

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Possibly some of the most phenomenal chinook fishing I have ever seen out there the last number of days. Some absolutely beautiful sized chinook are following the massive herring schools around. One of our 80’s had 7 6” herring in its stomach!! Not often do you fish with 6 guys on the boat and your putting back keepable sized fish. The last few days we have been fishing entrance island and the bait and fishing is incredible. 100’ deep herring schools mostly off the bottom of the main reef around 200-220’ fishing 165-210. Yesterday afternoon was an insane bite where most boats appeared to limit out within an hour. We had our limit of 3 in the 70-78cm range in under an hour. About 20 plus boats out and in an hour there was maybe 3 left. Today was just as nuts, out at 8:30am and the bite was on right away. Had 3 in the boat in the first 45min. Ended up limiting out with a 65,70,75,80,80. The 80’s were twins at 15lbs and the 75 was 14lbs, all were super thick and heathy fish. One of our 80’s came complete with a snapped off line and hook in its mouth. So if you lost a nice one in the area we picked it up, sorry! Also released 4 or 5 keepers along with a dozen or so smalls. Not bad for 5 hours on the inside waters. Any spoons seem to do the trick, find the bait and if you don’t hit them right away stick around, the bite times have been very specific but when it turns on it’s on!1C10E04C-0A99-4459-989C-3FC63FA1CA38.jpegBDE42E8B-4057-48D2-AF98-2D3E9114CE50.jpeg8BC36A62-1345-4C3A-8223-6EA7D8EAA1F2.jpeg
 
Unreel said:
Possibly some of the most phenomenal chinook fishing I have ever seen out there the last number of days. Some absolutely beautiful sized chinook are following the massive herring schools around. One of our 80’s had 7 6” herring in its stomach!! Not often do you fish with 6 guys on the boat and your putting back keepable sized fish. The last few days we have been fishing entrance island and the bait and fishing is incredible. 100’ deep herring schools mostly off the bottom of the main reef around 200-220’ fishing 165-210. Yesterday afternoon was an insane bite where most boats appeared to limit out within an hour. We had our limit of 3 in the 70-78cm range in under an hour. About 20 plus boats out and in an hour there was maybe 3 left. Today was just as nuts, out at 8:30am and the bite was on right away. Had 3 in the boat in the first 45min. Ended up limiting out with a 65,70,75,80,80. The 80’s were twins at 15lbs and the 75 was 14lbs, all were super thick and heathy fish. One of our 80’s came complete with a snapped off line and hook in its mouth. So if you lost a nice one in the area we picked it up, sorry! Also released 4 or 5 keepers along with a dozen or so smalls. Not bad for 5 hours on the inside waters. Any spoons seem to do the trick, find the bait and if you don’t hit them right away stick around, the bite times have been very specific but when it turns on it’s on!View attachment 68431View attachment 68432View attachment 68433
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awesome
 
Unreel said:
Possibly some of the most phenomenal chinook fishing I have ever seen out there the last number of days. Some absolutely beautiful sized chinook are following the massive herring schools around. One of our 80’s had 7 6” herring in its stomach!! Not often do you fish with 6 guys on the boat and your putting back keepable sized fish. The last few days we have been fishing entrance island and the bait and fishing is incredible. 100’ deep herring schools mostly off the bottom of the main reef around 200-220’ fishing 165-210. Yesterday afternoon was an insane bite where most boats appeared to limit out within an hour. We had our limit of 3 in the 70-78cm range in under an hour. About 20 plus boats out and in an hour there was maybe 3 left. Today was just as nuts, out at 8:30am and the bite was on right away. Had 3 in the boat in the first 45min. Ended up limiting out with a 65,70,75,80,80. The 80’s were twins at 15lbs and the 75 was 14lbs, all were super thick and heathy fish. One of our 80’s came complete with a snapped off line and hook in its mouth. So if you lost a nice one in the area we picked it up, sorry! Also released 4 or 5 keepers along with a dozen or so smalls. Not bad for 5 hours on the inside waters. Any spoons seem to do the trick, find the bait and if you don’t hit them right away stick around, the bite times have been very specific but when it turns on it’s on!View attachment 68431View attachment 68432View attachment 68433
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Nice was same up my way this evening, running 7 inch plug
 
if there is that much bait and the salmon are gorging that well, it should mean ever larger healthier springs as the summer progresses. great news. i have a 6 inch tubby tomic that i've been hesitant to use as it just looks so massive but maybe i should give it a go.
 
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