South
Island, Victoria and the Gulf Islands
Ex-Stream
guide James Norquist
with a beautiful Coho Salmon
|
The Southern
region of Vancouver Island has salmon travelling through Juan
de Fuca Strait each month of the year. Chinook salmon (kings)
run every month of the year, with summer and fall producing
the much-prized Tyee chinook (30 lb. plus). Mix in major migrating
schools of pinks, sockeye, chum and coho, and you're in for
some incredible sport angling. Halibut fishing around Vancouver
Island has moved front and centre, and is a game fish to be
reckoned with. If a tug-of-war battle is to your liking, then
test your skills on these powerful slabs of fish.
The southern
end of Vancouver Island, the "Banana Belt," enjoys
a favourable climate for year-round fishing. The four main
areas in the south are Port Renfrew, Sooke, Victoria and Sidney.
Travis
and Scott Blewett with a
super Cowichan River Brown Trout |
On the
West Coast, Port Renfrew
offers some of the richest waters around. In turn, it blesses
them with incredible salmon and halibut catches. Large chinooks
(kings) averaging in the 30 lb range are not unusual.
The extra large, tackle-straining coho (silvers) are courtesy
of the San Juan Salmon Enhancement Society. Their tireless
work helps enhance Mother Nature and makes for incredible
light-tackle and fly fishing opportunities.
Numerous lakes and rivers hold steelhead (summer and winter
runs) and trout (rainbow and cutthroat), which are joined
by massive salmon runs in the fall. Along with excellent crabbing,
bottom fishing and sandy beaches, this rugged area makes camping
almost a year-round endeavour.
Trap
Shack, Beechy Head, Church Island and Otter Point are a few
names in the Sooke area that cause a glint in the saltwater
anglers' eye. The Sooke
area is known for fantastic salmon fishing, with halibut fishing
now gaining a huge following on Vancouver Island.
In May, off the Sooke Bluffs, Jay Arsenault and Earl Harrison
were surprised with a solid tug when out fishing in their
small boat! With help from another boat, they pulled up a
206 lb. halibut on their salmon gear!
Terri
Hawkes from California
releasing a Summer Steelhead |
Victoria
has the winter chinook and halibut to keep anglers busy fishing
the waters around Oak
Bay, Victoria and Sooke all year round! These amazing
fisheries are minutes away from downtown Victoria, and give
you the option of splitting the day between fishing, shopping
and sightseeing.
Eager south island anglers always look forward to the large
runs of summer and fall chinook, sockeye, pink, chum and coho
salmon.
Most of
the island hotels, B&Bs and restaurants are used to cooking,
packing and shipping your catch if you so desire. A better
alternative, for the future of sport fishing, is to pack your
camera or video camera with your fishing gear and capture
the fight and subsequent release of your fish.
In Sidney
this spring, our saltwater guides have been releasing 20 lb.
chinooks! (released in accordance with size regulations imposed
to protect American Nooksack Salmon). As of May 1999, you
have been able to retain four salmon per day, two of which
may be chinook. With this as a preview for the area, Sidney
will enjoy a successful salmon season, local halibut hotspots
are in good numbers and bottom fishing is excellent.
From Port
Renfrew to Victoria
and around to Sidney, there are also sea-run cutthroat in
many of the estuaries and off the beaches. If you time your
trip with the fall salmon run, you can cast for them with
gear or flies, as the pinks, cohos and sea-run cutthroats
all chase bait fish close in to shore.
Andrew
Foxley of England releasing a large male Chinook Salmon
|
For freshwater
fishing, the Cowichan
River is perhaps the finest year-round trout stream in
British Columbia, with its large brown trout (up to 10 lbs.)
and resident rainbows and cutthroats.
Both hatchery and wild steelhead fill this river with their
supercharged runs, powerful leaps and bulldog battles.
In
the fall, massive salmon runs of chinook, coho and chum combine
with winter steelhead to make angling a must!
The generous Cowichan River offers world-class angling, with
flyfishing only areas and guided driftboat trips that access
those hard to reach places with ease - we have the river;
you have the trip of a lifetime!!
The Vancouver
Island Trout Hatchery in Duncan is a worthwhile visit for
everyone! Visitors enjoy an extensive interpretive centre
with over 30 displays showcasing wild fish conservation, fish
habitat protection and fisheries management practices.
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