2025 Winter Harbour Reports

[Samnjoe]

Just returned from winter harbour. Fishing was awesome. 4 of us on the boat and we were 4 fish short of a grand slam, limiting out on every species that we targeted!! Windy everyday that we fished but it did not slow the fishing down. A big shout out to Rob at Qualicum rivers for being an awesome host. We will be back next year !!! Love Winter H!! Skinny G herring aide with black flash was our go to…..

What areas were you fishing for springs?
We are in there next week

 

[Rockin Johnny]

What areas were you fishing for springs?
We are in there next week

We caught all of our keeper springs at the light house and at cliff. For us, lawn point, grant bay and top knot did not produce any good sized springs. Could be a whole new story next week.

 

[Samnjoe]

Thanks. I would have thought lawn. We avoid Cliff at all costs
Weed fest

 

[Hardy Guy]

Rob is a prince for sure.

 

[Sttr]

We were at lawn point this morning with the same results, moved to Cliff for the afternoon and hooked up a few springs. Quite a few coho around also. Bigger spoons out fished all the smaller gear today.

 

[Seeker]

Just back from a week in Winter. Lots of Salmon around. We fished mainly at the lighthouse and in Grants and off Lippy in 100 ft of water. Caught good sized chinook in all locations but moved out to Lippy after being sealed once behind Kains and 3 times in Grants. If in Grants, stay away from the north shore kelp bed, that is where that the seal hides among the bull kelp heads. Lots of coho in the 2 -3 pound range. Wind was certainly an issue for our first few days, but we managed to catch all our lings and springs, 12 of 16 coho and 2 hali's. Our go to was a black flasher and sand lance spoon(gold and silver). Of all the springs and coho we gutted, only one squid was found so they may not be in just yet, but they were full of sand lance. No massive springs, but a few high teenagers most around 14-15. The outpost once again has odd hours. 3-5pm Monday - Thursday, Friday 1-6 (sorry cant remember Saturday and Sunday)

 

[Samnjoe]

We just got back as well. Wind kept us from offshore most days. DFO cut our wild Coho limit to 1 in 27. Science based decision??

 

[Bottomfeeder1]

No just a political based decision based on no facts that they think makes them look smart and they know what there doing. Typical useless dfo. Lol

 

[Macdeep]

We just got back as well. Wind kept us from offshore most days. DFO cut our wild Coho limit to 1 in 27. Science based decision??

Ya, hoping that on July 1, it will go back to the usual 2 of any coho. All I know is that when you catch & release 20+ coho a day, a few won't make it, so might as well keep 2... just saying.

Pinks are gonna be horrendous pretty soon, and coho will be the least of our worries.

Any tips on how to avoid the pinks? I feel sorry for those who only really fish anchovy out there. Gonna be like 5-6 trays of bait a day just to get a few springs!

 

[Samnjoe]

Ya, hoping that on July 1, it will go back to the usual 2 of any coho. All I know is that when you catch & release 20+ coho a day, a few won't make it, so might as well keep 2... just saying.

Pinks are gonna be horrendous pretty soon, and coho will be the least of our worries.

Any tips on how to avoid the pinks? I feel sorry for those who only really fish anchovy out there. Gonna be like 5-6 trays of bait a day just to get a few springs!

Large herring in teaser heads big spoons and plugs

 

[Samnjoe]

That's the only way on the big pink years

 

[Macdeep]

Hopefully there's big bait around. Gonna be tricky if it's the usual fire cracker bait, or needle fish...

 

[Samnjoe]

Any recent report?
I have a buddy there now and he has been struggling a bit on springs

 

[Bearded wonder]

Any recent report?
I have a buddy there now and he has been struggling a bit on springs

Put in your time at the lighthouse and you get fish. 40-60’ of water right in front of the metal winch. Spoons worked great. There is so much bait in that area. Lippy point was on fire this morning.

 

[TroySchmidt]

Maybe this is me getting a little too excited, but sure looks like tuna could be within reach in the very near future!! Not a great shot, but looks like a pretty hard temp break off brooks! Our trip this year will be from August 1 through 8 and whenever weather cooperates, we want to focus on tuna! Did our first tuna trip last year out of winter harbour and had an absolute blast and good success. Would love to coordinate and buddy boat with people on some tuna runs while we’re there if anyone is interested!!

 

[Verdi]

Maybe this is me getting a little too excited, but sure looks like tuna could be within reach in the very near future!! Not a great shot, but looks like a pretty hard temp break off brooks! Our trip this year will be from August 1 through 8 and whenever weather cooperates, we want to focus on tuna! Did our first tuna trip last year out of winter harbour and had an absolute blast and good success. Would love to coordinate and buddy boat with people on some tuna runs while we’re there if anyone is interested!!View attachment 118446View attachment 118446

What App is this?

 

[TroySchmidt]

What App is this?

This is Terrafin. I believe it is around $120 for the year. I hear Ripcharts is another popular one. I believe it is similar in cost. I’ve been happy with Terrafin so far.

Fresh shots over the last couple days too. Looks like warm water is moving even further north and further inland!

 

[Tighthead]

This is Terrafin. I believe it is around $120 for the year. I hear Ripcharts is another popular one. I believe it is similar in cost. I’ve been happy with Terrafin so far.

Fresh shots over the last couple days too. Looks like warm water is moving even further north and further inland!

Do they have the chlorophyll charts? How are those looking?

 

[Admin]

There is a thread in the fishing reports section for Tuna 2025. You will get more traction getting answers to Tuna related fishing comments there.

 

[TroySchmidt]

Do they have the chlorophyll charts? How are those looking?

Indeed they do- here’s the latest halfway decent chlorophyll shot