May is a month where things really start to heat up in the Strait of Georgia. With Lingcod opening May 1st, anglers are being rewarded with some really great catches. These fish are aggressive, hard fighting and as a bonus.... they make some of the best table fare. Couple that with some spot prawns in the last few days before commercial prawning season starts and you have a winning formula for some great dinners. Jigging with stick jigs or bait are popular techniques but we also find that trolling right on bottom is an almost surefire way of getting some really nice fish and covering some ground. Chinook Salmon are really starting to show up now with bigger fish being encountered every day. As part of the Avid Angler program, we have the opportunity to take part in DNA collection which allows us to do catch and release fishing during this otherwise closed season. Spoons, hoochies and plugs are all very productive right now and the fish seem to be feeding very hard and growing quickly. Most of our Chinook are still being caught fairly deep between 80-140 feet but as time moves on we will expect them to move closer to the surface. Another great thing about May is that we are now starting to see Humpback whales fairly regularly as well as the odd Grey whale. Orcas are always present in the area although somewhat less common of a sighting. We are really looking forward to the great weather and fishing for the rest of this month and cant wait for the Coho season opener on June 1st. We love fishing with families and friends so send us a message and lets get out on the water. Good luck out there everyone, we can't wait to see you on the water.

**Fishing Report – Knuckle Busters & Winter Chinook** After a long stretch of freezing weather, it felt great to finally get back out on the water for some winter Chinook action. The forecast wasn’t looking too promising—calling for wind and rain—but we showed up anyway and were rewarded with a calm, glassy start to the day. With the conditions in our favour, we made the call to cross the Strait and hit one of our favourite spots, hoping to find some bait balls. With herring getting ready to school up for the spawn, we knew the salmon wouldn’t be far behind. The plan worked. Within minutes of dropping our gear, we were into our first fish. My new friends from Manitoba were buzzing when they saw it come up—looked like a solid one! A quick look and I knew it was just a bit too small, so we let it off the line. Now they were hooked (figuratively, of course). High fives all around, and it was time to find the big ones. It didn’t take long before Peter, the youngest in the group, saw a rod bounce and was on his feet like a pro. He reeled down, popped the clip, and set the hook solidly. “Fish On!” Then, like a true team player, he handed the rod to his buddy Adam—who was about to learn why we call mooching reels "knuckle busters." Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! The reel screamed. I told Adam to let it run, and just as he started to reel it in—WHACK! The reel handle smacked his knuckles hard, a not-so-subtle reminder of who was really in charge. After a quick lesson on how to palm the arbour, Adam started to get the upper hand, fighting the fish like a natural. If you don’t think three minutes is a long time, ask a boxer. When that fish finally hit the net, the look on his face was priceless—pure joy. A beautiful 21lb Chinook, and trust me, that's a great fish. It takes a mountain of a man like Adam to make that fish look medium-sized. The rest of the morning kept us busy with more Chinook landed and one particularly angry fish lost after a strong fight. All in all, an incredible day on the water—good company, plenty of action, and some well-earned sore knuckles. The winter season is quickly coming to an end so there's no better time to book your adventure. Chinook retention will most likely close March 31st so take advantage of this spring fishery and herring spawn while it lasts. See you on the water. Gear Used: -Chartreuse Flasher with G-Force No Bananas Spoon - White Hoochie with Black Onion Flasher - No Bananas Skinny G Spoon with No Bananas Flasher - Tomic Plugs - Westcoast Tackle Plugs Looking forward to the next round—bring on the big ones! ??

With the fantastic weather we have been having, we decided to kick off our season a bit early and that decision couldn't have been any better. Winter Chinook salmon tend to be aggressive feeders, building up energy reserves for their future migrations. This means big fights and great table fare. As soon as we found them, our reels were hard at work with regular action and a couple of double headers. Spoons and flashers were the winning ticket with fish also taking some plugs which we fished at the end of the day. All bites were deep, below 200ft and we had no problem filling out limits for Chinook. We finished our day pulling traps, getting a few crabs and prawns to sweeten the deal. Top producers were skinny G and G-Force spoons in a no banana's pattern. If you javn't tried fiahing for winter Springs, now is the time so book now! See you all on the water.