OFFICIAL 2016 Vancouver-Howe Sound-Sechelt Reports Thread

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Teja said:
View attachment 30690 I am going to try to head over Sunday morning but for now I am going to look at a picture of last weekend's Tunstall fish.;)
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Ya that's awesome. I had 12 springs in 13 trips last year Jan to May so I'm hoping for similar results this year. Will you go round south end of Bowen to get there or north end?
Either way pls provide wx report... I guess (!) I'm also interested in how the fishing goes too
 
Fished HITW yesterday for a few hours in the snow. No action. Did see a few huge bait balls in the sounder but couldn't seem to get a strike despite trolling through it multiple times.

Cold wet rough day but better than being indoors!
 
Sangstercraft said:
Fished HITW yesterday for a few hours in the snow. No action. Did see a few huge bait balls in the sounder but couldn't seem to get a strike despite trolling through it multiple times.

Cold wet rough day but better than being indoors!
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That's wicked; did you take any pics? I'm dying to see HS in wintry splendour. How were the outflows along the wall?
 
Sangstercraft said:
Fished HITW yesterday for a few hours in the snow. No action. Did see a few huge bait balls in the sounder but couldn't seem to get a strike despite trolling through it multiple times.

Cold wet rough day but better than being indoors!
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That's wicked; did you take any pics? I'm dying to see HS in wintry splendour. How were the outflows along the wall?
 
Launched and planned to fish the harbor yesterday cause of wind, got a call saying crossing was not to bad. Decided to drop the crab traps and head across, good call as it was totally manageable even in my 18'. Dumped the prawn traps and fished west Bowen with a handful of other boats. Hit a couple just under the mark pretty quick then hooked up with one way deep but it didn't fight like a salmon? Thought maybe a hali but then way back we seen our salmon torpedo straight up and out of the water three times, like way out of the water! It spat the hook and we figured it must of swam straight up the whole 200'. Hit a couple more and boxed a real nice one. Small spoons were the ticket as usual, chovys and shiner perch in the belly. Pulled up a few prawns and 5 nice crab to finish off the day...
 
Nice work.
I'm hoping to get out Friday but they are presently calling for 30-40kt outflows. Did you cross round south or north end of Bowen?
 
jdv said:
Nice work.
I'm hoping to get out Friday but they are presently calling for 30-40kt outflows. Did you cross round south or north end of Bowen?[/QUO
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South end but usually I go around the north. Didn't really plan on crossing but when we poked out of the harbor it was pretty reasonable. Probably wouldn't have even looked cause of the forecast but the first hand weather update from a local guide really helped. Sometimes you just never know till your out there
 
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Bait&Sea said:
South end but usually I go around the north. Didn't really plan on crossing but when we poked out of the harbor it was pretty reasonable. Probably wouldn't have even looked cause of the forecast but the first hand weather update from a local guide really helped. Sometimes you just never know till your out there, I have not been let down yet by windty.com
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33 gusting to 41 kt at pam rocks according to enviro can. WindyTV says 3 kt lol, I don't trust windyTV for Howe sound but it's pretty to look at! Maybe im using it wrong...
 
Ya not even close! Although its always been good for me in the past. Editing post, don't need someone trusting that info on my word
 
Reeltime said:
For Howe sound fishing and i've switched over to Predictwind and i found to be pretty accurate compared to BWD,WDYTV , those are great for the harbour i found
just another option to help out there...

Link >> https://forecast.predictwind.com/atlas/#Wind
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The reason I'm harping about the crossing is I find it VERY difficult to get an accurate reading of the weather in Howe Sound without actually being in the sound (I know that sounds obvious but in this day and age, we should have better insight!). I did my degree in Atmospheric Sciences/Meteorology so I actually have quite a decent understanding but the issue is really lack of data. Pam Rocks isn't the best reflection of what's happening in the sound and we only get a reading once an hour. I'm strongly considering mounting a wireless station on Bowyer which I'll give links to. It will broadcast on cell 3g/4g networks. This won't happen next week but it's on my radar (pardon the pun). Cheers and thanks for the reports.
 
jdv said:
The reason I'm harping about the crossing is I find it VERY difficult to get an accurate reading of the weather in Howe Sound . Cheers and thanks for the reports.
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I'm new to the Sound and i've already seen the power of wind there ,25 from the east ,35 from the north all at the same time ,
you think the mountains will stop the east winds ...NO way it packed a punch coming down the mountain, all i can say just get out and slowly
experience all winds and get a feel for how crazy it can get ... wind changes so fast and direction .

The sound is a different animal ...

New thread if to be continued ... Back to reports cheers !
 
Bait&Sea said:
Ya not even close! Although its always been good for me in the past. Editing post, don't need someone trusting that info on my word
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Ya no worries, Howe sound is a strange beast! I like watching the storms on WindyTV though.

Sorry and on to the reports, OH incase anyone wants to know... launch at porteau is iced over and hwy gates closed due to icy entrance and 8" of snow.
 
In the summer the biggest contributor to winds and waves in Howe Sound is thermals. It inflows and outflows based on temperature gradients between vancouver, whistler and Lilouette with little to do with the larger weather systems. Warm air inland (or possibly ocean air in the winter in the gulf?) draws the cooler air in (or out) creating strong winds (simplistic view, but its the general idea). Kiteboarders have very little issue predicting winds in the summer at the squamish spit. I don't see it being much harder to do the same in the winter for fisherman. It's possible the conditions to look for are different, but i feel the concept would still be similiar. Look into how the local kiteboarders predict the winds in squamish it should help with figuring out winter thermals. Weather systems do effect the sound, but it's the thermals most don't understand, or even know they exist. And they can be very strong. Every time some disaster happens out there it seems due to strong thermal winds people were unprepared for. There really should be a public education campaign around Howe Sound Thermal Winds.

I can tell you how I used to do it in the summer. It was pretty simple. But i am not sure it applies properly in the winter. That would require some research to confirm. It's possible none of it does, tho i would be suprised if that is the case.

All we did in the summer was check liloutte vs whistler vs vancouver. If Whilster was 2 degrees warmer than vancouver and lilouette was 2 degrees warmer than whistler we would get a perfect 'hair dryer day'. Warm steady 20 knots inflowing (headint north from the south) right at the Squamish port. If the clouds came in and cooled things off a bit, it would shut right down. If it cleared up again (over squamish) it would power right back up again. Sometime around dusk it would start to switch to outflow for the night as whistler and liloutte cooled off.

I hope that helps abit :p
 
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Any of those apps or point forecast websites are near useless for howe sound. They simply don't accurately forecast winds that are driven by terrain and inflow /outflow effects.

Environment Canada and their howe sound forecast is usually pretty accurate. Conditions at Tunstall are usually mellow regardless, it's getting there that's the problem.

As long as the straight winds are not too strong the trip around the south is a good way to Dodge the strong outflows, but the mouth of Howe Sound around passage Island is usually the worst part of the trip.
 
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