The Harbour Chandler
Nanaimo fishing report - May 7, 2018
Two 17 pounders caught by Maceo. His dad Dane was skunked!
By Steve Vavrik, The Harbour Chandler
Chinook fishing is still very very hot. The general consensus is, it’s as good as we’ve ever seen it, at least in the last 30 years or so. That being said, you still need to fish where the fish are, and it helps if you get there when the bite is on.
I am hearing great reports from many different locations. There are still loads of mid-sized fish out on ‘the highway’. Target them at 140-200 ft out near the spoil grounds, a few miles northeast of Five Finger Island. These fish are actively feeding, so all sorts of lures are working, but best bets are glow spoons like Cookies and Cream and Yellow Tail by Silver Hoard. Green Glow flashers and scents are important for deeper fishing. I use Pro-Cure Herring and strongly believe in scenting all artificial lures.
There are larger fish starting to show up closer to shore around structures. These guys are often shallow, try 90 ft. Try pairing Silver Knight series Coho Killers with Gibbs black blade Footloose flasher. This combo is working very well.
Also if you are fishing near lots of other boats, pay attention to how they are doing. If you don’t see anybody landing fish, then move somewhere else.
Ling cod is open and some nice big ones have been taken from the usual locations.