fishing the salt. access

[saddlemaker]

I have a couple of days that we are planning on fishing the salt water off of vancouver. I would appreciate any suggestions as far as where to launch and areas to fish. Neither of us have fished that water. We will be driving from Merritt. Thanks Andy

[jamfarm]

West Van - free boat launch but it's shallow on low tides, depends on the size of your boat too, only 5 parking spots so you may have to park up the hill a bit.
Vanier Park in Vancouver - $19 to launch and park, they've upgraded the west side of the launch, always lots of parking.
Cates Park in North Vancouver - about $20 to launch and park

Fish at the Q62 bell buoy off the north west corner of UBC, North Arm of the Fraser or Capilano river. On calmer days fish the T10 marker or Sandheads. Be careful of the closure at the mouth of the Fraser.

[ASPEN]

Best bet would be Vanier Park near Burrard St. bridge

[guest]

McDonald Park in Richmond, North side of the Van airport. #2 road in Richmond, near Steveston ..... Limited parking. Ferry Rd boat ramp in Ladner near Capt.Cove Marina and the Tunnel. Also another near Westam Island in Ladner. All are affected by tides and depending on the size of your boat can be challenging.

Good in luck and watch marine weather reports ....... South of Nanaimo for info. Also fish weather .com is up to date live wind reports. Be careful, the River mouth can be ....... Wow depending on wind and tide conditions.

[MB_Boy]

As curly top said....good spots to launch if south of Vancouver.

Saddlemaker....what size boat are you launching?

Vanier Park right in the heart of Vancouver is also a decent launch (improvement over what it was) since they have just completed all the upgrades. Like the ones in Richmond/Ladner it can be a bit dodgy at a LOW tide depending on what size boat you are launching. If you do launch there definitely utilize the west ramp as it is deeper. I live right by it and was walking the dog the other day on an ebbing tide...walked to the end of the new western float; part way through a change going from 13' to about 5' and there was PLENTY of water to launch any size boat. I could barely see the end of the ramp/concrete so there had to be a good 12-15' of water there. There is a decent amount of parking and generally you can find a spot to park, even on weekends I haven't seen it completely full as of late. All in all good, quick access to the Bell/QA/Cap/North Arm but a bit of a run if fishing south.

One thing to bear in mind.....it has been one VERY odd year locally. Very inconsistent and definitely a slower year than average; who knows if the bulk of the fish are late or we are just in for a year with very low returns. Arguably the most consistent (and I use the term loosely :tongue:) has been down south at Sandheads. Depths have varied but in that 30-60' range....but if you aren't finding them don't be afraid to venture down to 80-90'. I know for us that bait has largely been the most consistent but some glow white (and white combo) hoochies have also produced some fish.

The Bell Buoy/QA marker area off Point Grey (UBC) as mentioned earlier should also be pretty good this time of year but as with everywhere it has had some decent bites but I sure haven't heard much as far as consistency or a "hot day" or two. If in that area, feel free to troll south towards the north arm of the Fraser....again should be good this time of year but has been inconsistent as well. Same with down through the T-10 area.

If fishing off ANY of the Fraser arms....don't be afraid to venture out into some deeper water; we have had some success WELL away from the general 'pack' out in 250'++++ of water but still staying in the lure depth range as noted earlier.

Who the f*** knows if the Capilano fishery will heat up this year.....it's been such a weird one everywhere else locally since the late spring!

If the Cap does get going.....if I can tell you one thing....stay away on weekends as it will be an utter complete shit show there. Boats tacking across the pack....boats unable to figure out the general flow of the tack there despite people telling them otherwise in tight quarters. It's amazing how clueless some people are when they see 90% of the boats fishing east/west generally following one another to move to the outside on the one tack and there will be a dolt or two trolling north/south ACROSS the entire fleet. :roll::roll:

As mentioned earlier...if running out of the Fraser arms keep an eye on tides and winds as they can make for some tumultuous water even if running a larger boat.

Env Can's site is good for "current conditions" but I find their forecasting pretty bad. Just click on this link and you'll see a 'weather conditions tab'.

http://weather.gc.ca/marine/forecast_e.html?mapID=03&siteID=14305

http://tides.gc.ca/eng/find/zone/10

I have been happier with the forecasting on www.windyty.com (http://www.windyty.com) and www.predictwind.com (http://www.predictwind.com)

[Sasquatch]

I launch at Macdonald Beach most of the time. Decent ramp, lots of parking. Not too far to the Bell and the Cap. As others have said, watch the mouth, it can get ugly.

Also, when running the river in and out from Macdonald, keep to the west side of the river, the east side has some really shallow spots and people run aground all the time and have to wait for an incoming tide, even in small boats. (ask me how I know)