vancouver island fish

Fishing Charters - Salmon Fishing - Halibut Fishing - Boat Charters - Victoria BC




The Fish - Last Chance Fishing Adventures

Below you will find a list of local deep-water fish and the various techniques of catching them. These fish species include many varieties of Salmon, Halibut, Ling Cod, Rock Cod and Pacific Cod. This information is intended merely as a guide that may help you identify the different species. Mouse over the images to see a larger view. Please click here for information regarding Canadian fishing and licensing regulations.

The Tricks

Salmon There are hundreds of techniques for catching Pacific Salmon. During the winter months we troll for the resident feeder salmon with either bait or lures. Anchovy or Herring strip trolled slowly behind a Hot Spot flasher provides fast action for the lazy feeder springs which are found in water from 80-200 feet deep. For lures, a "hoochie" is trolled behind the same flasher, once again on the bottom. During the summer months, the sheer number of salmon allows a much simpler approach. Using large Tomic plugs or spoons provides the most action. For Coho salmon, small hoochies or even bucktails are trolled just below the surface. Halibut These monsters can swallow just about as big a hook as you can buy! Living down deep, we send the gear down on a spreader-bar with a two pound lead ball to keep it on the bottom where these large fish live. Depending on the tides and area, we either drift with the current or anchor on the hotspot. Cod For the makings of fish and chips, we must go to the shallow, rocky reefs and kelp beds where these guys live. With a whole arsenal of jigs, lures and bait, these colorful fish provide an excellent and exciting way to spend an afternoon with the kids.

The Fish
*mouse over the images for a larger view

		Chinook Salmon The chinook salmon is blue-green on the back and top of the head with silvery sides and white bellies; black spots on the upper half of its body with gray/black mouth coloration. Up to 58 inches in length and weigh up to 129 pounds; although chinook salmon is generally up to 36 inches in length and weigh up to 30 pounds.

		Coho Salmon This species is usually 18-24 inches in length and 8-12 pounds in weight. The head is conical with a snout bluntly pointed but greatly extended, thickened and turned down in breeding males. These breeding males are characterized by their inability to close their mouths. Adults in the ocean are colored a steel-blue to slightly green with silver sides, white bellies and small black spots on the back.

		Sockeye Salmon Silvery sides with a green or blue back and white tips on the ventral and anal fins. Sockeye have no large spots on back or tail, but some may have speckling on the back. The color gradually changes from silver with a dark back, to spawning colors dominated by a typical sockeye color pattern of a bright red body with green on the head and tail.

		Pink Salmon The pink salmon is metallic blue-green in the water from above and silvery from below; black spots on back and on the caudal fin. When spawning, males develop humped backs, hooked jaws and reddish-yellow sides. The females tend to be more greenish. Up to 30 inches in length and weigh up to 12 pounds; pink salmon usually weigh from 3 to 5 pounds.

		Chum Salmon A mature adult chum is usually about 25 inches in length and 10 pounds in weight. The snout is bluntly pointed but greatly extended, compressed and turned down in breeding males; the lower jaw is enlarged and turned up at the tip making it impossible to close this sharp toothed mouth. A steel-blue and the back and upper sides with fine black speckles turning into a silver-white on the belly characterize the chum.

		Halibut Halibut are more elongated than most flatfishes, the width being about one-third the length. Small scales are imbedded in the skin. Halibut have both eyes on their dark or upper side. The color on the dark side varies but tends to assume the coloration of the ocean bottom. The halibut taken by sport anglers are generally 15 to 20 pounds in weight, however fish over 150 pounds are frequently caught.

		Pacific Cod The Pacific cod is also known as grey cod. It is similar to the Atlantic cod, coloured brown to grey on the back, lighter on the sides, with a belly shading grey to white, and has the typical chin barbel of the cod. Typically 60 centimetres in length with a weight of 2.5 to 3.6 kilograms, the Pacific cod ranges the entire western coast of Canada.

		Rock Cod Rock cod are yellow-grey to red-brown with white fin margins.They have chin barbel. They may grow up to 50cm in lenght. They are found in caves in bays and coastal areas. They are frequently found inshore and inhabit shallow waters in the continental shelf with typical depth of 10m - 90m.

		Ling Cod This fish has a large head and it's length is up to 1 meter. It is recognised by its single long dorsal fin, large mouth and large teeth. The color is variable, bold, darker, mottling on many shades of brown, gray or green on back sides depending on environment. Some of the smaller individuals are strongly green with the colour permeating the flesh.

Please feel free to contact us for more information on native Vancouver Island fish species.

Fishing Charters - Salmon Fishing - Halibut Fishing - Boat Charters - Victoria BC

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